Format question

[mydoggeorge]

I am writing a screenplay and trying to write something into a scene -
the problem I am having is:
I want to have part of a scene do a fast forward or quick time and then I want the rest of it to be normal or regular time.

Here is what I wrote:

FAST FORWARD:
Buildings rise to the sky on both sides of a busy city street.
Clouds jet past as the sun arcs from east to west.
NORMAL TIME:
An explosion of glass from high above. Shards scatter across the open void of sky -- rain down to the ground.


I just want to show the sun streaking across the sky as the clouds jet past and then...
have everything slow to the explosion.

Not sure if I am making sense.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[speakingofsegues]

Hey there mydoggeorge,

Assuming what you're trying to get at is the effect found in this link:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrGcd6PN7EE (not my video)
then I hope I can offer some assistance.

I'm not sure if there's technically a "correct" or "proper" term to use for this in the industry, but I do know what you're trying to say. I think a better way of saying it would be to do something like the following:

TIME LAPSE BEGINS
We look up at buildings touching the sky on both sides of a busy city street as the clouds zoom by and the sun dances like a strobe light in between patches of blue.
TIME LAPSE ENDS

Don't use "Normal" time when it's back to normal, because if you do it like how I just posted, it will be obvious. I'd use "time lapse" instead of "fast forward" because "fast forward" makes me think we are JUMPING to a point later in time, and clearly this is not what you want to do. A time lapse, however, is known as a sped-up recording of something. When you're filming it, you shoot it at a frame rate much lower than normal, so when you play it back it looks as though things are on speed.

Also, maybe just a minor thing for me, but when you wrote "Buildings rise to the sky on both sides of a busy city street", my first thought was that we are watching construction happen as a building is actually built. I'm guessing, though, that how I described it as looking up at the buildings is actually what you're going for? It's just that verb "rise" which gives me the impression we're watching them move somehow, as opposed to having them be static.

Anyway, hope this helps!

[mydoggeorge]

Speaking -
Thank you - that is exactly what I was thinking of. Also I will re-write the buildings on both sides. I don't want the buildings to be constructed - I just want the sky moving in quick time.

I appreciate it.