Hey, WhyNot, welcome back! Haven’t seen you around in a while.
Watching Community S2E9 just now as the fake Professor Professorson arises after being killed by a fake shotgun blast saying “And…scene!”
This.
(It wasn’t until after I’d clicked the Quote button that I realized I was agreeing with myself. I guess I shouldn’t feel too stupid; it was eight years ago.)
I wondered this myself and it’s interesting that so many people on this forum seem to believe, without a doubt, that it’s “and scene” because growing up, I’ve actually seen/heard/read “end scene” more often. It has only been in the latter half of my life (so over the past 20 years) that “and” has started to take over.
It wasn’t for film and was generally for improv acting, or an acting scene involving improv acting, to establish the fact that the scene, or at least their part, was over.
Strange how it changed over the years.
The rehearsals I’ve been in have ended with the director saying “Okay, that was _______ !” [good, not bad, weak, utter shite]
(There was one who ended every interaction with “No, no. No, no, NO! Does NOone listen to a single word I say?” …annnd, throw script on floor)
Point is, the directors and actors I’ve worked with speak in Actual English. I’ve never heard them use cutesy jargon.
I’m only an amateur, but I’ve been doing community theater for probably close to 20 years now. I’ve worked with many different directors at many different theaters. At least two of those directors were, at one time, professional actors who had worked in New York.
And no one has ever said “And…scene” (or “End scene,” for that matter), unless they they were trying to be funny. It’s just not a thing.
That’s for the appropriate use of “folk etymology”, namely, a false etymology that has been miscomprehended by so many people that it influences the actual etymology of the word by changing its spelling or pronunciation.
discusses this phrase and cites an interesting reference
I found a helpful source: Is it "End scene!" or "And......... Scene!"? - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board
It seems that in rehearsals and improv, to signal that a scene is over, there was a word that a director would use: “Scene.” But adding “And” in the beginning made it flow better and seem more emphatic.
I’ve been in a few acting classes, taken several screenwriting courses and even been in a play or two and I’ve never heard it used seriously.
The only time I’ve heard it used is for comedic effect. Actors might use it ironically as a joke but much more often I’ve heard it, for instance, when a Karen throws a giant hissy fit in public then storms out, one of the bystanders will say, “Annnd… scene.”