It shouldn’t take a bucketload of mental energy to read a screenplay. All movements that take place on a script’s pages should be as clear as INT. – DAY.
WriterDuet ensures this smooth sailing. Formatting guidelines are built into all our templates and the software allows you to move from Scene to Action to Dialogue with a single button on your keyboard. This means you can focus more on your ideas with less headache about their execution.
But enough about us. Let’s get into the nitty-gritty, shall we?
A screenplay is a technical document that exists at the intersection of art and functionality. It unifies a production team: with it, actors can learn their lines, sound engineers can source background noises, animal wranglers can determine how many dogs are needed for that one scene that takes place at a puppy playground – and so much more. It’s amazing, really, how efficient a well-written script makes the production process.
A lot of this efficiency comes from good writing practices. It’s important to get into the habit of including only what’s necessary to tell your story and only sparingly using elements that stray from what’s considered “the writer’s role” in the production process.
Font & Margins
Screenplays have very specific formatting. They’re written in 12-point Courier font and consist of a variety of line types within designated margins. Action lines and scene headings, for example, start 1.5 inches for the left with a top, bottom and side margin of one inch. Consistency is essential for readability.
Scene Heading - A.K.A. Slugline
This is a single-line description of the location and time a scene takes place.
Sluglines almost always start with EXT. (exterior) or INT. (interior) to identify whether the scene is outdoors or indoors. DAY and NIGHT tell the production team whether the scene takes place at day time or night time.
While you may see some screenplays that mark the time of day as DUSK, DAWN, TWILIGHT or even 7:16 AM, this isn’t necessary – or even recommended. DAY or NIGHT is sufficient to ensure lighting technicians can do their thing. Good scripting software even lets you organise scenes by location and time to make everyone’s life easier.
If a scene takes place in a car, the scene heading usually starts with EXT./INT. This is because car scenes generally intercut between the inside and outside of the car. If the car’s driving indoors, though…
Action
These lines are the present-tense descriptions of the action taking place in your story. They include everything that a viewer would be able to see on-screen.
When writing these lines, it’s important to understand that a screenplay isn’t a novel; it’s a good idea to avoid superfluous descriptions and internal character thoughts. Keep the story moving! Say as much as you can in as few words as possible and stick with tangible emotions that can be easily interpreted and expressed.
Let set designers and actors take the weight of additional details off your shoulders.
Character Line
Character lines identify who is about to speak – e.g. HEATHER or DR. WHO. If a character is off-screen or the dialogue is a voiceover, include (O.S.) or (V.O.) next to the name.
Dialogue
Dialogue is the lines of speech delivered by characters.
The aim here is to have your characters express themselves in realistic and efficient ways. There’s a fine line between realism and exposition: how do you get your characters to say things that move your story forward within the confines of what real people would say? There’s unfortunately no cut and dry answer here. It takes practice and, sometimes, a second pair of eyes.
Parenthetical Line
Thse appear in parentheses just below the Character Cue and define how a line of dialogue should be delivered. They’re really only necessary if a character says something tonally ambiguous. They differ from action lines in that they don’t denote movement.
These should be used sparingly. No one – including actors – wants to be told how to do their job.
Transition Line
These are instructions that indicate the way the scene cuts away. There’s CUT TO, DISSOLVE TO, FADE TO BLACK, SLAM CUT, JUMP CUT, and so, so many more. They’re generally not necessary, as people who work in film and TV should know that when they see a new scene heading, the scene is being cut to. If they don’t, that’s a them problem!
Transitions creep away from writer territory and into director territory. You should only really use them for emphasis – like if you cut to the next scene in the middle of someone talking for dramatic or comedic effect.
Camera Directions
Camera directions are used to guide the camera. But unless you’re planning on writing, directing, filming and editing your own project, you don’t need to worry about them. While it can be tempting to write down exactly what you envision, having a lot of them in your script will make it look messy and controlling.
There are ways to direct a camera without overstepping your role as a writer. For example, if you want to denote a close-up, you might instead consider isolating an object within its own action line. For example, “A bead of sweat rolls down a forehead”, “A finger taps impatiently on a table.”
Length
The length of your script more or less determines the length of the film. The general interpretation is that one page of writing is approximately one minute of screen time. This ratio will never be an exact measure, but it is helpful. If you’re writing a breezy romantic comedy and your first draft comes out to 155 pages, for example, you might need to kill some darlings.
Final Thoughts
With WriterDuet, correctly formatting a script actually takes away a lot of the pressures that come with writing.
No matter how much or how little you choose to abide by these guidelines, remember that filmmaking is a collaborative art form. In this sense, screenwriting is about relinquishing some control. While you’re writing, consider all the hands you want your document to pass through – and take a load off!
Make screenwriting effortless
WriterDuet is built for collaboration and gives you professional tools without the learning curve.
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