Do lines like "Off his panicked look . . . " and "ON THE CLOSED BUS DOORS" belong in specs or are they shooting script lines that are referring to where the camera is pointing? I often see "off" lines that close out scenes, serving as a kind of cliffhanger, such as the below exaggerated example: INT. OFFICE - DAY Jasmine pulls out a knife. Off David's panicked look . . . EXT. PARK - DAY In a spec, would one instead write the above as follows? Jasmine pulls out the knife. David reacts with panic. EXT. PARK - DAY The "on the closed bus doors" line is from the script for Monsters University on your site; I'm guessing it's a shooting script and doesn't follow spec conventions, or perhaps I'm wrong and "on" lines are okay in specs.

Boobkworm, there are no rules, so one can't say this way or that way is definitely right or wrong. There are, as you note "conventions" and even those are fluid when it comes to format and style. Re your specific question: You can use "Off David's panicked look" in a spec. It does read a bit more 'scripty' than the more literary feel spec scripts - in contrast to shooting scripts - tend to have nowadays, whereby writers generally avoid using camera jargon and directing lingo. The whole point of NOT using 'scripty' jargon is not to jolt a reader out of the story by reminding them, "Oh, yeah, this is a script." So probably better NOT to us "on / off" which suggest a specific camera shot. You can do pretty much the same thing simply by describing the character's reaction.