What does beat. mean in a script (The sixth Sense)?

Question:

What does beat. mean in a script (The sixth Sense)?

If you look up The 6th sense script in google youll see the word beat. In It, I just got Final Draft 7 and have started to wright one, And int. ext. is there, what do they do?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: "Beat" would mean to wait a moment, as in conversation where one party might pause a moment for thought. In the film it could create a dramatic moment or allow the audience to take in what is happening.

Int and ext most likely mean interior (like the interior of a house, etc.) and exterior, or outside.

Also, what you found for 6th Sense is more properly a screenplay. A script would be for a stage play, and likewise a teleplay would be for TV. They would each have separate staging or scene directions, like in a script (for a play) the entrances, exits, stage left, etc.

A screenplay would necessarily have lots of camera, lighting and location information contained within for the benefit of the reader. I can only assume that each writer/ director (which M. Night is both, and more) has their own style or screenplay writing and probably abbreviations, etc.

BTW a bit of trivia... a screenplay typically has one page for each minute of finished film.

Visit your local library and get some books on screenplay writing...

Have fun and happy reading (and writing!)

Thanks!