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.