If the dialog spoken by a character is appearing Off-Screen (for example, a person yelling from outside a house), you must specify it as follows: The character’s name should always be capitalized. The character element proceeds any dialog spoken by that character. There are three things that, as a rule, should always be capitalized in a piece of action: the initial appearance of a character with dialogue, sound effects (and, if present, the objects producing the sound), and camera directions. The most important quirks are the rules surrounding capitalization. Action is written in standard paragraphical format, albeit with a few quirks. The meat of your script, action describes everything that is happening within a scene outside of dialog. Shots can also be used to specify on-screen text, such as superimpositions. Avoid using too many articles in your shot descriptions – try to make them as short as possible. For example:Ī common method of being more specific with your shot lines is to use phrases like ‘ ANGLE ON‘ or ‘ CLOSE ON’ to preface the subject of the shot. Shots are always capitalized, and separated from the action by a line break. The shot element allows you to specify a subject within your scene, guiding the reader’s perspective. A good rule of thumb is to go from general to specific in terms of these elements, for example: If you wish to add more elements to your scene heading, such as shot types or subjects, separate them with a dash. ‘ AFTERNOON’ or ‘ DUSK’.Ī properly formatted scene heading should look like this: ‘ DAY’ and ‘ NIGHT’ are the most common, but you can use more specific words, i.e. The third part will specify time of day, usually in relation to the prevailing lighting conditions that you envision. The second part of your scene heading will refer to the setting – a house, a plane, a farm, whatever. If a scene is taking place both inside and outside, you can write ‘ INT. The first part of a scene heading specifies whether it is inside our outside, written as ‘ INT’. or ‘EXT.’ (Interior or Exterior). Scene headings denote the time and place where a scene takes place. The following will break down the basics and show you a few different alternative approaches that you can use to make your script read properly. It’s crucial to know what each formatting element means, and understand how they can be manipulated to write more complex scenes. However, just because something is done automatically doesn’t mean that it’s not worth understanding. Celtx’s script editor handles the formatting automatically, and will intuitively guide you to the next logical element position on the page. Option 2Ĭeltx’s is fully featured, free, and integrated with a suite of planning tools that make writing, editing, and expanding your script into a production a fast and fluid process. With a lot of practice, you will be able to do all this quickly and with only moderate damage to your carpal tunnels. Also, you’ll have to load in a new page every 60 lines. Don’t forget to manually add page numbers at the top right corner of each page (7.2″ from the left margin and 0.5″ below the top of the page). Practice manually adjusting your margins so that shot headings are 1.7″ from the left margin, dialogue is 2.7″ from the left margin, and that character names are ALWAYS 4.1″ from the left margin. Purchase a sturdy typewriter, multiple ink ribbons, and a large quantity of 20lb bond 8 1/2″ x 11″ white paper, 3 hole punched. If you want to write a properly formatted script, you have two options: Option 1 The objective of screenplay formatting is to ensure that the information that is critical to conceptualizing how the film will be shot is displayed prominently and clearly on the page, as well as making the content of your story easy to parse and isolate for editing. Scripts as we read them today a product of decades of development and fine tuning. You can imagine what they’d think of an improperly formatted scene heading. Coverage readers (the people who review spec scripts that are submitted to production companies) are likely to toss a script in the garbage if there’s spelling or grammar mistakes on the first page. Think of them like legal documents – discrepancies can render them inadmissible. Scripts are bound by some of the strictest formatting guidelines of any written medium.
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