Is it "End scene!" or "And......... Scene!"?

[Chronos]

Hey, WhyNot, welcome back! Haven’t seen you around in a while.

[blondebear]

Watching Community S2E9 just now as the fake Professor Professorson arises after being killed by a fake shotgun blast saying “And…scene!”

[Cayuga]

@Cayuga

I only ever heard it in acting classes. The students who were performing would reach the end of the dialogue and continue to sit/stand/whatever there in character until the teacher called out “Scene.”

The “Aaaaaaand …” part is only added when you’re doing it to be funny.

It’s possible that improv performers call “Scene” today to indicate the end of an improv. But I studied and performed improv back in the 20th century and never heard anyone do that.

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.)

[GTBase]

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.

[digs]

@Gangster_Octopus

“And…scene” would be used in rehearsals for movies and stage shows.

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.

[MrAtoz]

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.

[Ludovic]

@Yorkshire_Pudding

@david263

“false etymologies” (sometimes erroneously called “folk etymologies”), which are, well, just false. Never guess at an etymology; it is like starting a rumor. It is like guessing at all the Across entries in a crossword puzzle and writing them in ink without checking out the Down entries. A good way to look up an etymology is to look up the word in the Oxford English Dictionary or another good etymological dictionary.

The OED lists “folk etymology”.

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.

[Briny_Deep]

Nice example at 03:56 here:

Madtv - S07E08 - Drama Queens 101

[Andy_L]

What is the origin of the phrase "And scene!"

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.

[Lucas_Jackson]

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.”