Screenplay Transitions: CUT TO, DISSOLVE TO, SMASH CUT and More

Transitions tell the reader how one scene hands over to the next. This guide shows where they sit on the page, what each common transition means, when to use it, and why most modern spec scripts use very few of them. You'll also learn how to suggest a transition in the action instead, and the mistakes that make a script look dated.

Updated September 2026 · 7 min read

1. What a transition is

A transition is a short instruction, written in capitals, that describes how the film moves from one scene to the next: a straight cut, a slow dissolve, a sudden smash cut. It's one of the standard elements of screenplay format, alongside scene headings, action, character names and dialogue.

Transitions are really editing notes. In the finished film, the editor and director decide how scenes are joined. In a screenplay, a transition is your way of saying "the way we get to the next scene matters here."

2. Where transitions sit on the page

Almost every transition follows the same three rules:

• Right-aligned. It sits against the right margin, on its own line.
• All capitals. CUT TO:, never "Cut to:".
• Ends with a colon. The colon points forward to the scene that follows. The exceptions are the endings, FADE OUT., FADE TO BLACK. and CUT TO BLACK., which usually take a period because nothing follows them.

Leave one blank line before the transition and one after it. The next line is almost always a new scene heading. On a real page the transition appears at the right edge; in the examples below it's shown at the left for readability.

The one famous exception is FADE IN:, which opens a script and traditionally sits at the left margin, above the first scene heading.

3. The common transitions

These are the transitions you'll meet most often. Terms are fairly standard, but writers use some of them in slightly different ways, so treat the "when to use" column as common practice rather than law.

Intercutting has its own rules for dialogue and locations. See how to write phone calls and texts for full examples.

4. Why modern scripts use so few

Older scripts often ended nearly every scene with CUT TO:. Today most readers see that as clutter. Here's why:

• A new scene heading already implies a cut. When the reader sees EXT. HARBOR - DAWN, they know we've cut. Writing CUT TO: above it adds nothing.
• Editing is not the writer's job. In a spec script, the one you write to sell or to get representation, you tell the story. How scenes are joined is decided later, in the edit.
• White space is precious. Every transition takes two or three lines. Across a whole script, that can add pages and slow the read.
• Rarity creates impact. If you only write one SMASH CUT TO: in 100 pages, the reader feels it.

Practice does vary. Shooting scripts, some television formats and some writers' personal styles use more transitions, and no reader will reject a script over a few of them. But when in doubt, leave it out.

5. Implying a transition in the action

You can get most of the effect of a transition without writing one. The trick is to let the last image of one scene and the first image of the next do the work in the action lines.

Instead of writing MATCH CUT TO:, you can simply set the two images side by side:

The reader sees the match without being told. For a smash cut, end a scene on a promise and open the next on its opposite:

This works because the scene heading already marks the cut, and the contrast carries the joke. Writing SMASH CUT TO: here is still acceptable; it's a style choice.

6. When a transition earns its place

Use a transition when the join between scenes is part of the storytelling, not just a change of location. Good reasons include:

• A deliberate contrast the reader might otherwise miss, marked with SMASH CUT TO:.
• A visual or sound rhyme that connects two moments, marked with MATCH CUT TO:.
• A felt passage of time, such as a DISSOLVE TO: at the end of a long day.
• A meaningful ending or pause, such as CUT TO BLACK. at the story's final beat.

Ask yourself: if I removed this transition, would the reader lose anything? If the answer is no, delete it.

7. Common mistakes

• CUT TO: after every scene. It's the most common sign of an outdated format. Let scene headings do the work.
• Forgetting the colon, or writing transitions in lowercase.
• Placing transitions at the left margin, where they can be mistaken for a scene heading. FADE IN: and intercut labels are the usual exceptions.
• Stacking transitions, such as DISSOLVE TO: directly above FADE IN:. One is enough.
• Using a transition to fix a weak scene ending. A dramatic SMASH CUT TO: won't add energy that the scene itself doesn't have.
• Inventing transitions like "SWIRL TO:" or "WIPE TO BLUE:". Unusual ones can work in the right comedy or genre script, but only when the reader instantly understands them.
• A transition at the top of a page. A transition belongs with the scene it ends. Most screenwriting software keeps it with the text above automatically.

8. Frequently asked questions