Obviously, a writer who is employed by a production company who writes on assignment, or a writer who has already built a name for themselves within the industry will be writing the latter of the two. At that point, they're not considered 'unknowns' or 'amatuers'. They'll also be allowed to use formatting rules a little more loosely, and because of this, you will see some variation from time to time. Bottom line is, though, there are formatting rules for everyone, and you need to know them.
The big difference between the two, besides the obvious fact that the big names will be more willing to see one than the other, is formatting. For a spec script, formatting needs to be tight, precise and correct at all times. (You've got to show them that you know what you're doing!)
There are so many stages that a script goes through that at some point, different rules will apply and my advice in this installment of Screenwriting 101 probably won't be worth a bucket of beans. Beans are good though, don't get me wrong. Point being; if you're already a pro, you won't be taking notes on my blog, but if you're an aspiring writer, I may just be able to help you, so we're only focusing on what the aspiring writer needs to know about formatting.
Let's get the beginners advice out of the way, first and foremost. The first thing that ANY new screenwriter needs to know is that if you write one script, DO NOT try to sell it. Big round of applause for you if you've completed your first one and you feel good about it, BUT, this doesn't mean that you're ready to go headlong into the pursuit of an industry that doesn't need or want any new writers. You've gotta know your stuff inside and out, you've got to have experience, and you've got to have more than one script. Period.
Why? I once heard an industry professional use an analogy that put it all into perspective, so I'm going to borrow it from him. If you want to be a painter, and you start painting, you can't expect an art enthusiast to purchase your very first painting for thousands of dollars. If you've ever tried painting, you know that it takes a great deal of skill and you only grow better with experience. So, more than likely, that first painting that you produce isn't going to be worth anything to anyone but you and possibly your mother. So, give it to her.
I promise you that from the time you finish your first screenplay until the time you finish your third, fourth, fifth, or even twelfth, you will look back on that first script (or third, or tenth) and think "This is wrong, that could be better, here's a plot hole...." Trust me, you don't want to waste time and emotion on trying to market something that no one will ever buy. Not even Troma.
So, that's the first piece of advice. What's the next piece? Well, you should do massive amounts of research and studying. Visit sites like Simply Scripts and Script-O-Rama and read as many screenplays as you can. Become familiar with the feel and the construction of the various types and styles that each different writer has used.
If you remember a little something about this from a film school that you attended and/or graduated from, great! However, I know A LOT of film school grads that come out knowing ZILCH about industry standard screenwriting or even how to pursue their film industry dreams. This, of course, isn't always the case. Look, all's I'm sayin' is do some independent research!
So to film school kids or not, to people like me who have dedicated years to learning, studying, networking with industry people, or anyone who just has the desire to write a film, the biggest piece of advice that anyone can give to you is to listen, learn, allow constructive (and not so constructive) criticism. Be willing to learn. No matter how good you're doing, keep in mind that you've still got a lot to learn. Hey, we all do.
Now, formatting is tricky, but even with the most complicated format needs, you'll become better suited to use your own good judgement in presenting a unique scene or idea in your script once you have a great deal of experience. All I want to cover today is basic formatting, so maybe we'll get to those trickier parts sometime later. For now, its all about The Big Four, as I'm calling them... because I'm a nerd.
The Big Four
There are four elements to master in basic screenplay formatting:1. SCENE HEADINGS (aka Sluglines)
2. SCENE ACTION DESCRIPTION
3. CHARACTER NAMES (aka Dialogue Header)
4. CHARACTER DIALOGUE
1. Scene Headings (sluglines)
A scene heading is what appears at the beginning of each new scene. A scene heading should include mention of and interior or exterior environment, the place/setting of the scene, and the time that the scene takes place.
Example:
INT. STEPH'S HOUSE - NIGHT
EXT. MOVIE THEATHRE - LATE AFTERNOON
A.) INT. / EXT. (Interior / Exterior) is for technical use. (Yeah, it's part of the story, but as I mentioned in an earlier installment of Screenwriting 101, screenplays are more like an instruction manual. The story is what comes later in movie form.) It's used by production crews who work on the production of the film, and it tells them if the scene will be inside or outside. Simple, right?
B.) The location designates where the scene takes place. Keep these short, you don't want a two line slugline, and you don't want things to get confusing or sloppy. Keep in mind, these only tell the production crew which sound stage or set to put the rest of the crew on when the filming date come around. You don't have to make it poetic, just keep it simple.
C.) Crews need to know what time of the day the scene needs to be filmed in. Shooting schedules are a big deal, and if they're following a slugline that reads EXT. CAFE - MORNING, they may just need to know when to reserve a cafe so that this scene can be filmed according to the story's needs.
You'll want to keep this as short as "DAY" or "NIGHT", "EVENING", "MORNING", etc, so in an instance where the state of your story hinges on a clock, how do you approach it? If in the event that Little Suzie needs to be at the olympic tryouts at 8:00 AM sharp, and her punctuality-challenged mother is rushing her in the building at one minute til, you'll need to incorporate that into your Scene Action so that it, in some way, can be communicated to your viewing audience.
Other Things You Should Know About Sluglines
-Scene Headings/ Sluglines are always ALL CAPS. You'll use spaces and hyphens to separate the int./ext., the location and the time, just as in the examples above.
-A new scene occurs each and every time the time/location changes in your story.
-Once in a while, you'll need to use SUBLOCATIONS.
Ex: INT. WHITE HOUSE - OVAL OFFICE - DAY
-You can also include FLASHBACK or MEMORY or PREMONITION as your time in a slugline.
2. SCENE ACTION
This is the block(s) of text found right under the slugline. It contains character introduction (on first appearance only), character actions, important enviromental elements (couch, tv, large window for the killer to peep through, etc). In Scene Action, you MUST keep lean writing, as discussed in my second installment, at numero uno on your priority list. This "instruction manual" should not read like a novel, kids! Remember, Screenplay= Instructions to creating a story on film.So, you want the screenplay to read easily, to not be cluttered and to look profession as well as being professional. You're going to use your S.A. to describe what is happening on screen, which characters are in the scene or will come into the scene, and what is going on around them in between bits of dialogue.
Example of Scene Action (with a slugline):
INT. MAUDE'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
MAUDE, 92, knitting a doily while sharing the couch with fifteen cats,
watches the evening news. Staring at the tv, she POKES herself with the knitting
needle.
Screaming and gushing blood, she LEAPS from the couch, disturbing many
sleeping cats and heads for the bathroom.She rushes back out with a toilet paper- covered hand.
Other Things You Need To Know About Scene Action
-Make sure to keep it in present tense.
-Only mention detail (clothing, house layout, hairstyles, etc) if this plays some role in the storyline through the dialogue.
-Try to keep your text in blocks of less than four. Break up the text by imagining/using your own judgement to render the breaks in each shot. See above example.
-Notice in the above example, some words in the Scene Action are CAPPED. This is to bring emphasis to certain actions. Don't over use them, just use them when you feel it's an absolute necessity. It's not complicated, in fact, it's THAT simple.
3. CHARACTER NAME (dialogue header)
The names of your characters will be used frequently thoughout your script, be it in Scene Action or as the Dialogue Header. When used as the Dialogue Header, it should always be CAPPED. Even minor characters require this formatting, whether they have a name or just a "man in striped socks" or "police officer #2" kind of reference.
Your Dialogue Header/Character Name must also be placed in CENTER, with CAPS, and it has to be ABOVE the dialogue... not to the side or slightly somewhere near it.
**Now, unfortunately, I can't really give you precise format examples because this is a blog word processor, it's not screenwriting format software. I'll get to the software issues later, but keep in mind, you're going to need one to ensure that everything in your script is where it needs to be.
4. DIALOGUE
Ok, you should know what dialogue is, but did you know that it has to be block form indented and directly underneath your Dialogue Header?
Again, showing you format won't be exactly correct because I'm presenting it via this blog, but let's give a crude example:
INT. MAUDE'S HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
MAUDE, 92, knitting a doily while sharing the couch with fifteen cats, watches the evening news.
Staring at the tv, she POKES herself with the knitting needle.
Screaming and gushing blood, she LEAPS from the couch, disturbing many sleeping cats and heads for the bathroom.
She rushes back out with a toilet paper- covered hand.
MAUDE
Oh Lordy! I've cut myself good
Oh Lordy! I've cut myself good
this time!
Other Things You Should Know About Dialogue
-Single space your dialogue, follow standard writing rules.
-Do not use quotations around your dialogue unless the character is quoting someone.
-Know how to use Parentheticals before you slap them on the page. (I'll cover this in Formatting II.) This will include correct usage of (V.O.) and (O.S.).
As a final piece of information, proper formatting CAN be achieved without a formatting program. Though, it's really tough and time consuming, and in this day and age, you shouldn't have to be toiling away in front of a sixty year old type writer, wasting precious time, when all you have to do is get yourself a good computer program that will instantly format everything for you.
Many writers will tell you that Final Draft, or even Movie Magic, is the only way to go, but I disagree. These programs are expensive and sometimes hard to obtain for a aspiring screenwriter, and with so many freeware programs out there, like Cynergy and Celtx, there's no reason to be without a good application to help take care of the really technical stuff so that you can focus on creating a great story.
Personally, I would suggest Celtx. I use it and I love it. I've used several programs, and considering that this program is freeware, comes with instant access to a great online community for the writer, and has such a widespread variety of tools and helpful applications, I honestly believe it to be the best program out there. You should give it a try, if you're looking for a good screenwriting program.
So, there it is; the basics of screenwriting. I'm planning to do a second part to formatting, and I plan to get into the really complicated stuff later on.
For now, I hope this helps and I hope that you'll take the time to educate yourself on all of the knowlege that lies between the lines and in the gray areas. Just go read some scripts! You'll catch on.
Until next time!...
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