What does a script supervisor do?
The script supervisor — "scripty" on set — is the person who makes sure the film can actually be cut together. They track what was shot and how, keep the story continuous across takes and angles, time the day, and hand the editor a clean record of everything that happened. It is a quiet job with an outsized cost of failure: a missed continuity note or an unlogged take can surface months later in the edit, when it is expensive to fix.
The short version: line the script, log every take, guard continuity, time the scenes, and give editorial a report they can cut from. Get it right and nobody notices; get it wrong and everybody does.
Lining the script
Lining is the script supervisor's core notation. For each setup, they draw a vertical line down the page across the lines of dialogue and action that shot covers — straight where the actor is on camera, wavy where they are off. At a glance, lining tells editorial exactly what coverage exists for every moment of the scene, and where a line was only captured in one size.
Logging takes
Every take is logged: its number, whether it was good, no-good, or a hold, and which were circled as the ones to print or prioritise. Notes ride along — a fluffed line, a great reaction, a technical problem — so the editor walks into the cut knowing which takes to reach for first.
Guarding continuity
Continuity is the part everyone knows: the coffee cup at the same level, the jacket buttoned the same way, the actor's eyeline and screen direction matching from angle to angle. The script supervisor watches these across takes and setups — often with reference photos — so shots filmed hours or days apart still cut together as one continuous moment.
Timing and the daily report
The script supervisor times scenes and tracks the day's progress — pages shot, minutes captured, scenes still owed. That feeds the production report the whole team relies on, and gives the editor a sense of how the picture is running to length.
Handing off to editorial
At the end of the day it all becomes a report for post: the lined script, the take log with circles and notes, continuity references and timings. The cleaner that handoff, the faster and calmer the edit. This is why the role is really about records — accurate, legible, complete.
Doing it on an iPad
The job has moved onto glass. A dedicated app lets a script supervisor line the script with a finger or pencil, log takes in one tap — good, NG, circle — and pin continuity photos and voice notes to the exact setup. When a new draft comes in, a good tool re-imports it without losing a single logged take, and exports a clean PDF for editorial.
That is what Scripty is built for — the script supervisor's continuity and lining, on an iPhone or iPad, offline, with an export editorial can actually read. See what a lined script is, the daily progress report and script supervisor apps compared; there is also a Mac version.
Prefer paper, or need a blank form today? Scriptease publishes free printable script supervisor templates, including a continuity log.
The role in one line: the script supervisor is editorial's representative on set — protecting the cut before there is one.
Script supervising, answered.
What does a script supervisor do?
A script supervisor tracks everything editorial needs to cut the film: which lines were covered and how (lining the script), which takes were good or circled, continuity of action, props, wardrobe and screen direction, and the timing of each scene. They hand the editor a clean log of the day.
What is lining a script?
Lining is drawing a vertical line down the script for each setup, showing which lines of dialogue and action that shot covered — straight where the actor is on camera, wavy where they are off. It tells editorial, at a glance, what coverage exists for every moment.
What is the difference between a script supervisor and continuity?
Continuity is one part of the script supervisor's job — making sure action, props and wardrobe match across takes and angles so the shots cut together. The role also covers lining, take logging, timing and the editor's report.
Do script supervisors use apps?
Many now work on an iPad. A dedicated app lets you line the script by hand, log takes in one tap, attach continuity photos and voice notes to the exact setup, and export a clean PDF for editorial. Scripty is built for exactly this.
The digital brain for script supervisors.
Scripty lines the script, logs takes in one tap with continuity photos and voice notes on the exact setup, survives a new draft without losing a take, and hands editorial a clean PDF.