It's an often (and passionately) debated topic. In my latest column for Script Magazine, I give my thoughts on "we see" and use HEAT and THE BREAKFAST CLUB as examples. Read on to find out which used it well, and which didn't! http://www.scriptmag.com/features/specs-the-city-we-see-and-heat-the-bre...
Screenwriting : Do you use "We see" in your screenplay? by Brad M. Johnson
Do you use "We see" in your screenplay?
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No, never. There's always a more clever way to set the scene you're about to write.
Never have. It looks wrong, feels wrong, and is totally unnecessary. Interesting article, Brad.
I'll use 'we see' when I'm not just the writer, but the director as well. ;)
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Actually, Dan, it's a bit more nuanced than that. As screenwriters our job isn't to tell a story, it's to tell the story of a movie. That's a subtle, but key difference, and one that a lot of beginning screenwriters don't understand fully. It's perfectly acceptable to use writing techniques that help a reader to understand how the story would unfold visually on a screen. In a way, "we see" is no different than including "FLASHBACK" or "CUT TO:" in your scripts. No one complains that these non-narrative phrases take a reader out of the story, they way that they do about "we see". I agree than the majority of the time there is a different way to get your point across, while staying in that cinematic mind frame, without using "we see", but to write it off with a black-or-white view of never using it, is neither realistic nor necessary.
When I directed I always ignored we see, cut to, or anything that tried to make decisions for me. I ended up rewriting the script the way i wanted it anyway and i think thats how most directors operate. So I avoid it as a writer, unless its something I plan to direct.
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Nothing wrong with using we see. Just don't overdo it.
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"we see" thing is, if you've used it properly to begin with, you can just drop it and start your sentence immediately after it. The only time I use it is to indicate something that the audience sees but the character does not. I really like the Hitchcock-esque-ness to inform the audience more than the character, a detail sadly lacking in The Tourist. I honestly think with just a 15 sec addition to inform the audience to exactly who Johnny Depps's character was, would have meant the difference between a respectable break-even and the dismal failure that it was. but I digress...
Well, "we see" breaks the fourth wall -- so to speak. It also seems dated, but not wrong to use... Perhaps just keep its use limited.