Misplaced Pages

This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Prelap" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Prelap is a screenwriting term that means the dialogue from the next scene precedes the cut, and the beginning of the dialogue is heard in the outgoing scene. As an example:

ADRIAN (V.O., PRELAP)
Peter?  Peter, where are you?
EXT. THE WOODS – DAY
Adrian is out looking for Peter.  
We see him wander around in the small forest.
ADRIAN
Peter?  Hello?  Are you there?

In this example, Adrian's voice precedes the scene out in the woods. The "V.O." means "Voice Over" and the "PRELAP" indicates that Adrian's dialogue should be heard before the next scene begins. Adrian, in this example, might not even be in the scene the other characters are in when the prelap occurs. ("O.S." or "Off Screen" would not be appropriate as the term should only be used for characters unseen but on set.)

Prelaps can be of sound or dialogue, or anything non-visual, since a visual would indicate a direct cut to a new scene.

This article related to film or motion picture terminology is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e

• Film and video terminology
• Film terminology stubs