The basic rules fit in a paragraph, and the scene number glossary entry covers them. This post is about the scripts that don't behave: phone calls between two locations, a montage across four sets, two scenes merged into one, and the day a producer asks to "just renumber it clean."
When numbers go in
Number the script once, when it becomes the production draft that the breakdown will be built from. Before that, numbers cause more trouble than they solve, because writers are still moving scenes and a numbered draft invites people to start referring to "scene 42" in emails. The Final Draft 13 manual notes that scenes are traditionally not numbered until pre-production begins and recommends against numbers on a spec script.
After that first pass, the numbers are fixed. Pair numbering with locking pages so both references hold still. The locked script entry covers why ADs care about both.
What gets a number
Every master scene heading gets a number, printed in the left and right margins level with the heading. A master heading is a new INT or EXT with a location and time of day.
The trouble starts with everything that isn't clearly a master heading. Here's how I'd handle the common cases, with the reasoning, so you can make your own call:
| Script element | Numbered? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| New INT/EXT heading | Yes | The basic unit of the breakdown |
| Secondary heading inside a scene ("KITCHEN", "HALLWAY") | Usually no | Same location, continuous time; one strip unless the set is physically separate |
| Secondary heading that's a separate set (upstairs and basement built on different stages) | Consider yes | Different sets shoot on different days, so they need separate strips |
| "LATER" or "MOMENTS LATER" in the same room | Usually no | Same set, same lighting; a wardrobe or makeup change gets noted on the sheet instead |
| INTERCUT between two locations | Depends | See the phone call example below |
| Montage or SERIES OF SHOTS | One number, or one per location | See below |
| INSERT (a close-up of a note) | Usually no | It shoots with its parent scene |
| FLASHBACK to a location already in the script | Yes | New story time means different wardrobe, makeup, and possibly dressing |
| Title cards, supers | No | Not shot on set |
In Final Draft, the manual's advice for a heading you don't want numbered is to format it as a Shot element instead of a Scene Heading, since the Scene Numbers command numbers Scene Heading elements by default.
Intercut phone calls
17 INT. MAYA'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 17
Maya dials.
18 INT. JOE'S TRUCK - NIGHT 18
Joe answers, driving.
INTERCUT - MAYA / JOE
Two scenes, two numbers, one INTERCUT line. The breakdown gets a sheet for 17 (apartment set, Maya) and a sheet for 18 (truck, Joe, process trailer or LED wall), and both sheets carry a note: "Intercut with 17/18. Dialogue runs across both." That lets the 1st AD shoot Maya's side on the apartment day and Joe's side on the truck day, with a reader or playback feeding lines.
The alternative, one number with "INT. MAYA'S APARTMENT / INT. JOE'S TRUCK - NIGHT", looks tidier and schedules badly, because a single strip can't be in two locations on two days. If a script arrives numbered that way after lock, don't renumber. Split the strip on the board as 17 (apartment portion) and 17 (truck portion) with a note, and ask the writers' office to use separate numbers in the next revision if the scene changes.
Montages
A montage of Tess renovating the shop across four locations:
88 SERIES OF SHOTS - TESS FIXES UP THE SHOP 88
A) EXT. SHOP - DAY - Tess scrapes the old sign.
B) INT. HARDWARE STORE - DAY - Tess buys paint.
C) INT. SHOP - NIGHT - Tess asleep on the counter.
D) EXT. DOCK - DAWN - Tess hoses down the dock.
Keep one number (88) and letter the pieces in the action (88A through 88D is also common). The breakdown gets four sheets, one per piece, because each is a different location, time of day, or both. Page count gets divided by feel across the four; note the split so the eighths still add up to the scene's total.
Watch the collision: if the montage pieces are called 88A to 88D and the writers later insert a new scene after 88, the obvious number for the new scene is 88A, which is taken. Lettering montage pieces inside the action text (A, B, C) avoids this.
Adding scenes after lock
| Situation | Number |
|---|---|
| New scene after 42 | 42A |
| Another new scene after 42A | 42B |
| New scene between 42A and 42B | Many offices use 42AA; confirm with the script coordinator |
| New scene before scene 1 | A1 |
| New scene after 12H | 12J (skipping I) |
In Final Draft, go to Production > Scene Numbers, check Add Numbers, and make sure Keep Existing Numbers is checked. The manual's example inserts a scene after 28 and it comes out 28A, with every other scene keeping its number. If Keep Existing Numbers is unchecked, Final Draft renumbers the whole script, which is the one outcome you can't have after lock. To set a specific number by hand, put the cursor in the heading and use Production > Edit Scene Number.
Cutting scenes
Place the cursor in the scene and choose Production > Omit Scene. The heading becomes OMITTED and the number stays. The manual shows a small triangle icon that lets you view or restore (Unomit) the scene later, and warns against deleting an omitted scene outright because remaining scenes would then have to be renumbered.
Runs of cut scenes collapse to one line, like "57-59 OMITTED" or "57 thru 59 OMITTED". The omitted scene entry shows the page layout.
Merging and splitting
Two scenes merged into one keep both numbers on the heading:
60-61 INT. SHERIFF'S OFFICE - DAY 60-61
Every document that referenced 60 or 61 now finds the scene. The alternative, keeping 60 and marking 61 OMITTED, also works, but anyone who looks up 61 on an old schedule sees OMITTED and assumes the material is gone.
Splitting goes the other way. If the writers break scene 72 into a daytime half and a nighttime half, the first half keeps 72 and the second becomes 72A. Both breakdown sheets need updating, and the eighths from the old 72 get divided between them.
A revision worked through
Here's what one set of blue revisions does to a numbered range, and what changes downstream:
| White draft | Blue revision | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| 41 | 41 (dialogue trimmed) | 41's eighths drop from 1 2/8 to 7/8; update sheet and strip |
| 42 | 42 | No change |
| (none) | 42A INT. GAS STATION - CONTINUOUS | New sheet, new strip, new speaking role (clerk) |
| 43 | 43 | No change |
| 44 | 44 OMITTED | Pull strip; release the location hold if nothing else shoots there |
| 45, 46 | 45-46 merged | Merge the two sheets, combine eighths, one strip |
A breakdown that follows the numbering rules absorbs this in an afternoon. A breakdown built on a script that got renumbered clean would need every strip, call sheet reference, and department list rechecked by hand.
Numbers the camera department uses
Scene numbers also end up on the slate, and letters on the slate usually mean camera setups (42, 42A, 42B for the master and coverage in the lettered-setup system). That's a second use of letters that has nothing to do with A-scenes in the script. On a show that uses lettered setups, a script scene 42A shot with three setups can produce slates like 42AA, 42AB, 42AC, depending on the script supervisor's convention. Settle it at the production meeting and tell the editor. The script supervisor owns that mapping on set.
When software reads the numbers
Breakdown and scheduling software pulls scene numbers from the script file, so a bad numbering pass flows straight into strips and call sheets. Storiara's scene parser reads INT and EXT headings deterministically and accepts headings that are already numbered, but it numbers scenes 1, 2, 3 in script order instead of keeping the printed numbers, so check lettered and omitted scenes on the Scenes page and put their numbers in the scene names. A revised draft can go on the same story as a new version (see upload a new script version) until scenes are on the stripboard, which blocks the switch. For the older step-by-step on numbering from scratch, see how to number a film script for production, and for the paper colors that go with each revision, script revision colors.