Reading Literature On Screenwriting

All Information has been adapted from the BBC writers room website.

I have read 2 screenplays; they mainly tell you the same information as everything has to be lined up when producing a script, bold capital letters must be used when stating characters either by first name or last but 1 of them may remain and used throughout, also it must be underlined with a colon at the end. The dialogue what the character says is placed under the name and with a single line space. Parenthetical instructions appear in capitals and are enclosed with brackets that are rounded e.g. (PAUSE).

 Scene headings are to be put in bold stating whether it is ext or int and if it is day or night. The scene action must be in capitals and enclosed with brackets that are square and with double spacing used between each paragraph.  Sometimes you can include the time of day but it isn’t essential. The scene actions should only state what it happening on the screen and should certainly not drift into unnecessary novelistic text associated to characters. Scenes can continue across the page so you don’t have to skip to another line and type another heading and scene.

Drama scripts are typed with wide left margins for the camera and sound cues to be inserted when the script is sent into the studio to be recorded. In a script as well you must avoid technical information. It is traditional to indicate a transition at the end of each scene.

If you start a new scene it must start on a new page even if it is really short and that scene headings are always to be followed with a scene action. If there is a scene where it is always moving then it must state ext/ int or the other way around depending on where the scene starts of. If there is a scene with a small amount of dialogue then it is best to split the scene actions in two paragraphs as it makes it easier for readers to read because lots of text on a page is off putting.

If (O.O.V) is stated next to a character then it means that the character is not actually present in the scene but can be heard from other rooms. If (V.O) is stated next to a character’s name then it means that voiceover is used when a character isn’t in a scene, but they can be heard through a mechanical device like a telephone, this can also be used when a character narrates a story. If (INTO PHONE) is stated under the characters name then this is the character we see on the phone but if you want to show both people on the phone then use (INTO PHONE) and state that both characters are on the phone. However if you want to show one person on the phone but only hear the other person then use voice over (V.O). But you don’t need to do that for every single speech, but it is essential to show when the people hang up (HANGS UP).

If cutting back and forth to scenes then the scene heading should look like this as it states the inter cut, and what time of day it is for example. (LOCATION #1 / LOCATION #2 - NIGHT 1 (INTERCUT).  

If flashbacks were included in the film then you should state (FLASHBACK) and once ending it state (ENDFLASHBACK). Also include the number of each page and staple the pages together so they don’t get separated.

The last thing you have to do with a script is to sign it off properly.

Finally i have learnt that there are many things you must do when are writing a screenplay and that there are also lots of rules to follow but if you never no how to write a screenplay or are stuck there are many websites that help on the internet. I have also learnt how to write a screenplay properly as i have read through the screenplay formats.