GlossaryPage elements
Off-Screen (O.S.)
Also: O.S. · O.C. · off-camera
Off-screen, abbreviated (O.S.), marks dialogue or sound from a source that is physically present in the scene but outside the frame — a character calling from the next room. On multi-camera shows the equivalent is (O.C.), off-camera. Both attach to the character cue.
O.S. tells the reader the speaker is really there, in the scene's space, just not in shot. A voice from the kitchen while the camera holds on the hallway is off-screen.
Off-camera (O.C.) means the same thing in multi-camera and sitcom formats, where "camera" is the more natural reference than "screen." Choose one per project and stay consistent.
Sam freezes at the sink, dishrag in hand.
JORDAN (O.S.)
Is someone in there?