SCRIPTWRITING 101 - SCRIPT LANGUAGE

Formatting scripts correctly is crucial if you wish to present a screenplay as professional. Any mistake made with formatting gives a reader an excuse to put your script down and move to the next one. Although a prose writer may initially find the prescriptions for style in a screenplay needless and excessive, they will quickly come to realise the charm and benefits of consistent formatting. Indeed, the formulaic patterns of a script can be compared to the rigid regulations of Haiku, and are equally capable of expressing poetic and literary qualities through the drama described, as opposed to the textual arrangement itself.

The message here is loud and clear - don't attempt to be creative with formatting - save that for the story!

Screenplay Time

Providing you stick to the correct layout, 1 page almost always equals 1 minute of screen time. Thus a 120 page script will film as a two hour story.

General Rules

Font: For tradition and clarity, screenplays are always written in 12 pt Courier. This resembles an old typewritten font, and remains one of the easiest to read.

Page margins are traditionally set at Top 2.5cm, Bottom 3cm, Left 3.5cm, Right 2cm.

Page numbers are traditionally set at the top right hand corner.

Title Page

Keep the title page clean and simple. Don't tart it up with photos etc

Have the title in CAPS, centered, underlined about one third from the top of the page.

Have 'by John Smith' centered right in the middle of the page or just above.

Have 'First Draft. Year, Month'. A spec script is always a first draft. A script only goes to second and subsequent drafts after it's green-lighted. Besides, 'Thirty-Fourth Draft' doesn't impress anyone. It just makes them think you don't know what the hell you're doing.

At the bottom left of the page write the address and telephone number of either a) The producer, if one is attached; b) Your agent if you have one; or c) Yourself.

Ironically, although it is the first page of the script, the title page should be the last page your actually write. This is usually done with a great deal of satisfaction!

Basic format elements

A script contains three basic elements which need to be formatted differently, with some sub-elements in each one.

The three essential elements of a script format are: scene heading, action description (commonly referred to as 'the big print'), and dialogue. Let's look at each.

Scene Heading

A scene heading is used at the beginning of each scene! Scenes are the most recognisable unit of a film. A scene is simply action taking place in a single location. Thus, if you change location, you need a new scene. Even a new room is a new location, so heading from the bedroom to the kitchen, or even into the en-suite, is a new scene. Scene headings use this format:

INT or EXT. LOCATION - DAY or NIGHT or CONTINUOUS

For eg:

INT. STUDENT DORM ROOM - NIGHT

INT or EXT: Refers to Interior or Exterior. This is quite self explanatory, and is a quick glance guide for a producer as to possible locations for shooting. Interiors tend to be cheaper and easier than exteriors because they are less prone to bad weather, lighting shifts or working around local conditions.

Verandahs, marquees, tents and roofed cars are all considered interiors.

Covered bus stops, gazebos, motorcycles or roofless vehicles are considered exteriors.

LOCATION: We have a new scene when we change time or place. Location descriptions should only be as specific and descriptive as strictly necessary for the storyline. Most often a quite generic description is sufficient. We can say 'BUS STOP' without having to say 'THE BUS STOP OUTSIDE BEN'S HOUSE' if we already know from the preceding events where the general location is. We can simply say 'BAR' if the point of the scene is to be in a bar - we don't have to name it or overly elaborate in our scene heading.

One reason however that we may add slightly more detail to the location description in a scene heading is to save wasted space in the rest of the script. For example it is more effective to simply say 'BIKER BAR', 'GAY BAR', 'TRENDY BAR' than to spend a whole paragraph after the scene heading describing the decorations in detail. In these cases, a well placed adjective is highly effective.

There may be some times when quite specific description is called for, in which case you would describe the specific and then the general, separated by commas. So:

INT. BEDROOM, BEN'S FLAT - DAY

If we then move to another scene in Ben's flat (say the bathroom), we would not need to repeat that it is Ben's flat, as that would be obvious.

DAY or NIGHT or CONTINUOUS: Like interiors and exteriors, shooting at day or night has an impact on logistics and hence budget. Basically, night shoots involve overtime and are hence more expensive. This is even more so with night exteriors; interior night scenes can often be filmed during the day, depending on the exact scene.

Do not get fancy with the time descriptions in the scene heading. Don't put EARLY MORNING, LATE MORNING, LUNCH, BRUNCH, DAWN, DUSK, TWILIGHT, EARLY EVENING, COCKTAIL HOUR, SIESTA TIME or any other variation! Day or night is just a quick guide for the producer, nothing more, nothing less. If it is really significant to the story what the exact time or day or night is (and it usually isn't) then there are a million way to indicate it in the main script, and that's where it should be done - not in the scene heading.

CONTINUOUS simply means that the scene follows immediately in time after the previous one - or at least a very short time after. If a character is inside a house, then goes outside to their car, the second scene is continuous from the first. However if the character starts a car, and then we cut to a scene of them stuck in traffic, we would simply say DAY or NIGHT again, rather than continuous.

If the script calls for large jumps in time, it may be necessary in some scene headings to attach an indication of the year after the day/night tag. This is done as follows:

EXT. GALIPOLI BEACH - DAY (1914)

UNUSUAL LOCATION TRANSITIONS: There are some examples that arise where the scene, as imagined by the writer, involves movement that would normally result in a new scene heading but may be handled with one scene heading. These are accomplished with a '/' notation and the appropriate combination.

For example: A character steps off a porch onto the lawn and we expect the camera to follow it as one shot, rather than cutting. This could be shown as:

INT/EXT. PORCH/LAWN - DAY

Or getting out of a car could be written:

INT/EXT. CAR/STREET - DAY

Note that the two locations are shown in chronological order of the action. Another example may be a character driving a car all night until the next day:

INT. CAR - NIGHT/DAY

SCENE TRANSITION DESCRIPTIONS: CUT TO, FADE OUT, FADE IN. These are written in caps, right-justified, at the end of scene. CUT TO is generally superfluous - how else do you generally go to a new scene? The only time it is used is to indicate a sequence of scenes has ended and a new one is beginning. If you don't know what a sequence is, find out, and until you do, don't use CUT TO. Use FADE OUT and FADE IN with equal restraint - they are generally not going to add to the story and may very well be ignored, as they are directions which are generally only relevant to convey the passage of time between scenes.

In summary, the scene header should simply provide what is necessary to quickly place the reader in the right location. This involves being consistent to the formatting above, and being general in description unless you have specific reasons not to be. The power of a general description is that it leaves more to the reader's imagination. It will also be highly appreciated by the director and art director when they come to design the settings. A good scene header is absorbed in the blink of an eye. The reader then moves to the Big Print.

Action Description, aka the Big Print

This is the most important area of a script, as it takes up the majority of the page. As the name implies, it is a description of the actions going onscreen - this should always be remembered when writing big print. Film is above all a visual medium, and it will be in the action descriptions that the film either lives or dies.

Writing big print is where people who are used to prose and other creative styles often begin to feel stymied by the quite strict regulations and protocol guiding the scriptwriter's language. This is generally because they misunderstand the point of a script - it is not simply to be consumed for the joy of the text and the ideas within it (as a novel) - rather, the script forms the template, a blueprint, from which a collaboration arises that hopefully results in a end product, the film.

So what are the rules of the big print ?

#1: Keep it simple.
Film scripts are not poetry. Films can be poetic, but film scripts should not in their language, be poetic. Perhaps some clarification is needed - by poetic, I mean lyrical, wallowing in the pleasure of the text itself. Rather than poetry, it is the drama which is described that makes a script (and resulting film) 'poetic'. So, write sentences containing good, clear, simple structure. Subject, verb, object.

The sun sets.

NOT

The golden orb of the setting sun burns a halo into the twilight sky with a spectacular explosion of flame-red and orange vapours.

#2: Use perfect present tense.
In scripts, everything happens now. To write in past or future tense reduces impact. Perfect present tense means you write: 'John laughs' rather than 'John is laughing.' Perfect present tense ensures everything happens in distinct, filmable units. For example, playing a game of pool takes some time - so you don't say 'John and his girlfriend are playing a game of pool' - instead, you find the appropriate momentary action to dramatise the playing of a game, such as 'John misses the black ball and sinks the white. He has lost the game.' Occasionally, present continuous tense can be effective in scene-setting, but generally, stick with perfect present tense.

Jacob downs the last of the Guinness and slams the pint glass onto the table in triumph.

NOT

Jacob is having a few beers with his old school friends, and is now competing in a race to see who can finish their pint of Guinness fastest.

#3: Eliminate adverbs and adjectives.
Don't resort to adverbs or adjectives unless you are absolutely convinced there is not a verb or noun that will do the job. Think of all the variations on house, car, manner of walking, facial expressions, and if necessary use a thesaurus to find the right one. A scriptwriter and a thesaurus is a powerful combination! Find verbs and nouns that are evocative, emotive and above all, visual.

The right verb can tell you so much about both the physical action being performed and the psychological state behind it. A good verb beats a description of inner thoughts every time. If you want to write about internal monologues and states of mind, you'd be better off writing a novel.

John staggers up the laneway. He stops, sways, leans with his hand against the wall and vomits.

NOT

John's had a big night. Now he is drunkenly walking very slowly up Smiths Lane, the cobblestones glistening from the light shower earlier in the evening. As bile rises in his throat, he realises the inevitable. He proceeds to spew forth his last three days worth of meals.

#4: Every clause is a shot.
This is a crucial concept to understand. It is is how writers 'direct' the film for the reader, and how the full visual feeling of a story is conveyed suggestively yet powerfully by a good script. In every sentence, stop and think about the verb/s, because these will be the crux of the action, and it is the action that is filmed. That doesn't mean every scene must include relentless movement - a man sitting perfectly still can be very powerful - but it means you should be aware of how the story is unfolding through your descriptions. What you absolutely should NOT do is include shot directions ('close up', 'long shot' etc) - these are unnecessary, amateurish and will in any case be ignored by the eventual director, if such a script ever gets that far.

Sophie picks up the teaspoon and looks at it. She stirs the coffee gently but still spills some.

NOT

Extreme close up on the teaspoon as Sophie raises it to her eye level. As she stirs the coffee, close up on the foam at the edge of the cup spills over, and slowly, like a waterfall, washes in slow motion down the side of the cup.

#5: Show, don't tell.
This is the mantra of the dramatic writer. Telling, which means descriptions and information, is undramatic and boring. Given that any story requires a certain amount of information be delivered to an audience, this will always be a challenge. The classic error in scripts is describing emotions and thoughts of characters to the reader. There are two very good reasons why you should never do this. Firstly, you literally cannot film a thought or emotion independent of action. You can only film actions, including facial expressions. And secondly, in many cases characters, as in real life, will seek to hide their true feelings and so their outward appearance may contradict their emotions or at least be conflicted if (the character) is a bad actor. So, don't bother with 'John is sad' or 'John stares out the window, wondering how he will win back the love of his life and what to buy his daughter for her birthday' (and you'd be amazed how often, even in professional scripts, I've read descriptions like these!) Instead write 'John's mouth turns down', or 'John cries', or some other action he may take to actually convince people he is not sad. The true levels of feeling and emotion in a good script are conveyed through such simple actions, in combination with a compelling storyline driving these emotions of the characters both consciously and unconsciously.

#6: Eliminate unecessary details.
We (the reader) generally don't care what the colour of a characters T-shirt is, the pattern of the wallpaper, the brand of everything. It is likely that by providing detail you will simply 'stop' the action in the reader's head whilst they absorb this information. Given that the effect of reading a script should be to evoke the same feeling as watching the film, this is therefore counter-productive. One possible self-discipline to is only describe something if it moves! As a rule, only provide detail that is 100% crucial to the storyline - that would fundamentally change the story if removed.

#7: Capitalise characters and important noises or props.
Again, this is simply for the practical purpose of allowing a producer, when scanning, to focus on necessary items such as actors, props, or effects. By convention you are allowed and expected to provide a concise, evocative character description the first time they are mentioned in the script. The description is annotated with parenthetical '- -'.

LANCE - - an ex-marine, 35, with a head like a brick - - puffs a Cuban. His feet are on his desk. A GUNSHOT startles him and smashes the window above him.

NOT

Lance is smoking a Cuban with his sun-tanned feet propped on his desk. He is enjoying it too, considering his 10 years in active service for the marines, because he reckons he's earned a bit of relaxation. His Hawaiian shirt contrasts with his buzz-cut hairdo. Suddenly and without warning, a bullet smashes the window above him and sprays a shower of glass on him that instantly reminds him of 'Nam.

#8: Avoid 'starts to' and 'we see'.
If it's the first time in a scene an action is performed, then by default it 'starts to' happen, but it doesn't have to be described that way and is a repetitive film writing cliché. It often happens when a writer slips into non-perfect tense as a way of re-focussing the action when description has become too time-general.

Joel stands and runs away.

NOT

Joel stands and starts to run away.

Everything in a film is seen by the audience. So 'we see' is redundant, and is often a poorly disguised attempt to write a shot description, when good clear language will achieve the same more effectively, and also step less on a directors toes.

Elizabeth aims the pistol towards the thief.

NOT

We see Elizabeth holding the pistol, aiming it towards the thief.

Dialogue

Talking. What character's say. That's all dialogue is. For many, dialogue is one of the most difficult aspects of screenwriting. The fundamental challenge of dialogue is keeping it realistic, but still dramatic, whilst also driving the story.

Individual filmakers have interesting approaches to dialogue. Alfred Hitchcock once said: "Once the screenplay has been written and the dialogue added, we're ready to shoot". The crucial point here is that the dialogue is added later. Mike Leigh, the UK auteur, creates a very general outline and then completely workshops his dialogue, although that is a luxury most writers don't have. In Europe, France in particular, it is interesting to note that there is often a separation between the roles of story-writer and dialogue-writer. This was also a common practice in the Hollywood studio era. Even today in the US some script editors specialise in dialogue. So, here is how it actually looks:

BOB
I love you too.

OR

BOB
(whispering)
That's not funny.

FORMAT: It's simply the characters name, in CAPS, and tabbed. People often make the mistake of centering rather than tabbing. Then on a next line comes the dialogue, also tabbed but less indented than the characters name. If necessary, and only when necessary, you can add 'parenthicals', which is a line of action description, tabbed to half-way between the character's name and dialogue. Dialogue is not formatted as 'justified', it is 'jagged' on the right side of the page.

The first rule of dialogue is: don't use it if you can get away with it. Silent films were still very effective at telling stories, and films remain a visual medium. If there is any way to transfer a piece of dialogue into action, go for the action every time. Actions are interesting. Talking becomes boring very quickly.

If you're conveying information through dialogue, you're forgetting about 'show, don't tell'.

The secret of really good dialogue is sub-text. People do not generally say what they really feel or mean, particularly in dramatic situations: 'Only Californians and madmen say what they mean.' Oprah-style 'open your heart' interviews or confessions may make mildly entertaining TV, but it does not create powerful, dramatic characterisations.

It's not necessarily a 'bad' aspect of human nature that we don't always say what we feel - its part of our social role that we don't - and indeed people who transgress this too severely are considered insane! It's simply that we all wear masks of personality to function in society, not to mention that often we don't even understand the underlying feelings/emotions in ourselves, so how can we avoid deceiving others. Remember these truths when writing dialogue.

If you want a simple rule about good dialogue, never have characters say what they feel. The audience should feel what they feel and see it on their faces and by their actions, without the characters having to say "I am sad." If they do, they are simply narrating their own story. This is unrealistic and not engaging to an audience, because characters don't know they're in a story, so they shouldn't be telling it, they should be doing it and feeling it. For the same reasons, never have a character express an opinion about another character unless it's a lie, they're lying to themselves, they have an agenda, or they're wrong. And again, to maintain momentum, never have characters refer to what they've just done or about to do.

So if you want to write a romance scene, for God's sake don't have the characters talk about how much they love each other and describe each other's virtues. Have them changing a tire, stuck in a lift, in a business meeting, perform an argument onstage (a play within the film), and then use the actions to illustrate the fact that, despite their dialogue, they are flirting. In life, a romantic dinner is just as likely a bad sign as a good one - when characters are happily and romantically involved they are more likely to eat dinner in bed together watching TV.

The main pitfalls of dialogue are:

Not appropriate to character - the audience is thinking 'they wouldn't/couldn't say that!'
Too preachy - the writer simply giving a lecture through their character
Too long - real speech is clipped, interupted. As a rule - use no more than 3 sentences
Obvious exposition (ie just giving undramatic information) - find a better way to give info, usually visually
Redundant - commenting on actions, 'do, don't say'
Boring - because the accompanying drama is locked into 'talking heads'

All of the above faults can be avoided by good research, care not to use long speeches and to incorporate dialogue into other action rather than static scenes and too avoid stating the obvoious.

Always remember: dialogue is not exactly like conversation, in the same way that characters are not exactly real people. Conversation is loose, changes direction, sentences remain unfininshed. Conversation is about 'we're friends and we're shooting the breeze', the actual content is not as important. Film dialogue, when it is truly special, is important to the scene and the characters, but is also often impossibly witty for a real person to think of. That a luxury you have as a writer - the time to come up with those zip-zappy lines and audience will remember, and that we watch movies to enjoy. Don't squander this chance, but at the same time, don't go to far because it also has to be believable.

Although dialogue must appear natural, and hence can have as much slang/contractions/profanity as necessary - it must actually be very precise in direction.

Dialogue must be sufficiently clear to be grasped immediately - it's annoying to be constantly thinking 'what did h/she say?' and can ultimately turn audiences off. Economy is vital - a 15 sec shot becomes simply boring and won't be remembered. And using cutaways from a long speech won't necessarily work either because then the speaker is disembodied and we loose the effect of how they're talking, which is crucial. Good dialogue avoids long speeches and emphasises reactions - quick and subtle changes in the flow as two or more people interact onto each other.

In order to make dialogue dramatically interesting, constantly play with the tension between the underlying thoughts/motivations/feelings of characters as displayed to the audience through actions/choices made in other parts of the story, and what the character is saying at a given moment.

Remember the power of body-language, especially given that you are dealing with a visual medium. Many psychological studies have shown that a relatively small part of everyday communication is about the actual content of speech, as opposed to the way it is conveyed. Therefore body-language is crucial in creating realistic characters, in the way they relate to each other onscreen and in how these interactions are interpreted by an audience. In a script sense, the point here is to be very aware of the relationship between the big print and the dialogue and how each affects the other.

Finally, as well as economy, good dialogue is intrinsically suspenseful. Suspenseful dialogue contains important information all the way to the very last phrase or word. Badly written dialogue leaves dead space at the end of sentences.

In conclusion, the best advice about writing dialogue is: don't! Whenever at all possible, supplant dialogue with visuals or action that indicate the meaning. But when dialogue is used, it should positively spark, crackle and explode with wit, subtext and life. Dialogue is your chance to have characters say those things we are never witty enough to come with instantly in real life. Don't miss that chance!