Scene numbers are how everyone on a production refers to the script. The 1st AD schedules "scene 42," props preps "the ledger in 42," the script supervisor slates "42 apple, take 3," and the editor finds it later by the same number. A page number isn't precise enough, since one page can hold three short scenes or half of a long one.
This post is the practical numbering pass, done once when the script goes into prep. For edge cases like numbering before scene 1 or between two lettered scenes, see scene numbering rules.
When to number
Number the script when it becomes the shooting script, usually at the start of prep when the producer and director agree the draft is ready to be broken down.
Don't number too early. Spec scripts and development drafts normally go out without numbers, and a draft that's still changing heavily will pick up so many A scenes and omissions that it becomes hard to read.
Don't number too late either. The script breakdown, the schedule, and the budget all refer to scene numbers. If the AD starts breaking down an unnumbered draft and someone numbers it afterward, every sheet has to be relabeled.
Who does it varies. On features, it's often the production coordinator or 1st AD working with the writer's file. On television, the script coordinator usually handles numbering and revisions.
Step 1: Go through every heading
Read through the script and look at each scene heading, like INT. HALE HOUSE - KITCHEN - NIGHT. Each one normally gets a number.
The judgment calls are the places where the action moves without a proper heading, or where the writer uses shortcut headings. Ask whether the camera, set, or lighting has to change. If it does, the scene needs its own number, because it will be scheduled and shot as a separate setup.
| Script says | Number it separately? | Why |
|---|---|---|
KITCHEN (secondary heading, same house) | Usually yes | Different set, may shoot on a different day |
LATER | Usually yes | Time jump often means a lighting, wardrobe, or makeup change |
CONTINUOUS from kitchen to hallway | Usually yes | Different set, even if the story doesn't pause |
INTERCUT - DELL / JUNE (PHONE) | Each location gets its own number | The two sides are shot separately |
MONTAGE or SERIES OF SHOTS | Often one number with lettered shots, or one number per location | Depends on how it will be scheduled; ask the AD |
INSERT - THE LEDGER | Sometimes | If it's shot separately, give it a number or letter |
BACK TO SCENE | No | Returns to a scene that already has a number |
If you're not sure, talk to the 1st AD. They're the one who will schedule it, and it's much easier to give a scene its own number now than to split it later.
Step 2: Number in order
Start at 1 and number every heading in order. Put the number in both the left and right margin on the heading line. Writing software does this automatically once you turn on scene numbering.
Only use plain numbers at this stage. Letters come later, when scenes get added to a numbered script.
Step 3: Publish and lock the numbers
Issue the numbered draft as the shooting script, with the date on the title page. From that moment, the numbers are locked. Tell departments this is the draft to break down from.
Many productions lock pages at the same time, so page numbers also stop moving. More on that below.
Step 4: Adding scenes after numbering
When a new scene goes between 42 and 43, it becomes 42A. Everything after it keeps its number. Another new scene after 42A becomes 42B.
| Before | After adding two scenes |
|---|---|
| 42 INT. HARDWARE STORE - BACK ROOM - DAY | 42 INT. HARDWARE STORE - BACK ROOM - DAY |
| 43 EXT. HARDWARE STORE - LOADING DOCK - DAY | 42A INT. HOLLIS'S TRUCK - DAY |
| 42B EXT. HIGHWAY - DAY | |
| 43 EXT. HARDWARE STORE - LOADING DOCK - DAY |
Conventions for trickier cases vary by production, like a new scene before scene 1 or one squeezed between 42 and 42A. Some shows skip letters that look like numbers, such as I and O. Pick a rule and tell the office, then check scene numbering rules for the common options. The glossary entry on A scenes has more examples.
Step 5: Cutting and combining scenes
When a scene is cut, leave the number where it was and replace the scene with the word OMITTED:
27 OMITTED 27
Now anyone who looks for scene 27 sees that it's gone on purpose. The breakdown sheet for 27 gets marked OMITTED too, and the strip comes off the schedule. See omitted scene.
When two scenes are combined into one, a common approach is to keep the heading under the first number, show both numbers on it (for example 42-43), and mark the second number OMITTED if it would otherwise appear on its own. Check which style your production uses and apply it the same way every time.
Step 6: Locked pages and A-pages
Locking pages means page numbers stop changing too. It matters because departments write notes by page as well as by scene.
When a revision adds text to a locked page and it overflows, the extra goes on a new page with the same number plus a letter. Page 12 becomes 12 and 12A. When text is cut, the page stays with whatever is left, and if whole pages disappear the script says so, like "Pages 31-32 omitted" at the bottom of page 30.
Revised pages are printed on colored paper and marked with the revision date, and each changed line gets an asterisk in the right margin. The common color order starts white, then blue, pink, yellow, and green, though productions publish their own list. Script revision colors goes through the sequence and how to issue revised pages.
A revision, worked through
LOW WATER's shooting script goes out white on October 1. On October 8, the director adds a short scene and cuts another. Here's what changes:
| Change | How it appears in the blue pages |
|---|---|
| New scene where Hollis drives away after scene 43 | 43A on page 38A, blue, dated 10/8 |
| Scene 57 cut | 57 OMITTED on page 49, blue |
| Two lines of dialogue changed in scene 61 | Page 52 reissued in blue, asterisks beside the changed lines |
| Everything else | Stays white |
What doesn't change: scene 44 is still 44, page 39 is still page 39, and every breakdown sheet that isn't affected stays valid. The AD adds a strip for 43A, pulls the strip for 57, updates the page count for 61, and re-issues the schedule.
Doing it in writing software
Final Draft, WriterDuet, Fade In, and most other screenwriting programs can number scenes automatically, keep numbers locked while you add scenes (applying letters for you), lock pages, and track revisions with colors and asterisks. The exact menu names differ between programs and versions, so check your software's help for "scene numbers," "lock pages," and "revision mode." If you're breaking down directly from a Final Draft file, how to break down a script in Final Draft covers the workflow.
Whatever program you use, don't renumber by turning numbering off and on again after the numbers are locked. Some programs will renumber everything from 1, and every A scene and omission you had becomes wrong.
Mistakes that break paperwork
Renumbering after prep has started. Every breakdown sheet, strip, shot list, and call sheet refers to the old numbers. Unless the production is willing to redo them all, don't.
Deleting cut scenes instead of marking them OMITTED. The numbers then jump from 26 to 28 with no explanation, and someone will ask where 27 went, usually on set.
Numbering a scene that needs to be split. If an AD later splits scene 50 into two setups at different locations, you end up with 50 and 50A in places that don't match the story order. Catch it in step 1.
Letting two versions circulate. Put the revision color and date on every page header so a department can see at a glance which pages they have.
Leaving intercuts as one number. The two locations will be shot on different days, possibly weeks apart.
After numbering
Once the script is numbered, the next steps are measuring each scene in eighths (how to calculate script page counts) and filling out a breakdown sheet for each number. The scene number you just assigned is the ID for that scene on every document until the film is delivered.
Scene numbers in Storiara
When you upload a PDF, Word, or Final Draft script to Storiara, scenes are split from the headings (INT., EXT., I/E, and EST. headings), including headings that already carry scene numbers. The Scenes page lists each scene with its page count in eighths, and you can reorder, add, or delete scenes there. If extraction fails for a scene, Retry Extraction runs it again. Numbering and revisions are still best done in your writing software before upload.