Format
· Title page with title and contact number, agent address and
contact number>
· Scene headings titles in capitals, indicate setting, time of
day
· Scene action double spaced under heading.
· Limit paragraph of scene action to four/five sentences
· New scene has heading triple-spaced from previous screen text
· Always follow scene heading with line of scene action
· Character cues are in capitals, and indented (not centred),
first letter
of character cues are always aligned
· Characters can be referred to by role title, first or last
name, but this
title must remain constant throughout the play
· Dialogue appears under character name in normal type.
· If dialogue crosses page, re-state character cue ie. “Character
#1 (cont)
· All parenthetical instructions, ie. Pause, are in small text
and in
brackets ie. (pause)
· Dialogue must ALWAYS be preceded by a character cue.
· Overlapping dialogue is represented by two columns, ie.
Character #1
And then I told him that he looked like a muffin and he didn’t
believe me
but it’s true |
Character# 2
Where on earth did you get that umbrella from? It wasn’t here
a second ago! |
Then the rest of the scene
should be presented as normal.
· Foreign languages should not be written on the script (this
may confuse
the actor). Instead you should use duel dialogue and parenthesis to
indicate
this. ie.
Character
#1 speaks in German, English subtitles
Character
#1
And then the next day I saw him again, and he was looking in a bakery
window, and when he saw me he said that he was “Conferring with
his kin”
Character
#1
Und dann am nächsten Tag sah ich ihn wieder, und er schaute in
einem
Bäckereifenster, und als er mich sah, sagte er, daß er "mit
seinen Stämmen
konferierte"
· At the end of every scene, the script should specify what is
happening
next (ie. CUT TO) in capital letters.
· To specify time passing within a scenario, subtitles such as
“LATER” are
acceptable
· When you wish a character to heard and not seen, specify this
at the
beginning of dialogue ie. CHARACTER #1 (O.S)
- (O.S) is off screen, to be used if character may enter scene later
or has
left scene
- (V.O) is when a character is head narrating, and may not be at all
linked
with the action of the scene.
· Use the term INTERCUT to indicate that you are moving back
and forth
between two locations, but continuing the same scene ie. A phone
conversation would go thus:
PHONE BOOTH,
CITY STREET, DAY TIME
CHARACTER
#1
(into phone) I can’t believe you never told me!
INTERCUT TO
LIVING ROOM
CHARACTER
#2
(into phone)I don’t tell just anybody I’m a yukka plant.
INTERCUT
CHARACTER
#1
Why the hell not!? It’s rather important, isn’t it?
INTERCUT
CHARACTER
#2
It’s private.
· If you wish to indicate
text within a scene, you must either specify ie.
THE SIGN ABOVE SAYS : Free Banana Shoes
Or, for something longer like a letter, enclose text in quotation marks
ie.
THE LETTER READS: “Dear Sam, I’m sorry for not telling you
the truth. Yes, I
am in fact a rare form of yukka plant. I had to hide it from the world
so I
could get a discount on my banana shoes. Please understand.”
· Flashbacks are indicated by first a heading stating that they
are a
flashback, then specification that the characters are younger ie. CHARACTER
#1 becomes YOUNGER CHARACTER #1 for the duration of the flashback.
· Scene numbers aren’t usually included in the film specifications
script,
only on filming and stage direction scripts.
· Finish your script with words like FADE OUT, then THE END centred
at the
bottom of the page ie.
CHARACTER
# 1
I’m sorry. I suppose I’ll have to come to terms with the
fact that you’re a
yukka plant, you think that man is a muffin and you’re addicted
to banana
shoes.
CHARACTER
# 2
Oh, I love you so very much. Let’s go scrape a rhino.
FADE OUT
THE END
