Traditional movie screenplays have a very specific format that has been designed and refined to convey much more than just dialogue and scene descriptions. Screenplay format makes it easy to quickly judge budget and scheduling concerns in a script. No matter what type of project you’re working on, writing screenplays in this format will make your production job much easier.
Screenplay Format
One of the biggest advantages of screenplay format is that it makes it easier to determine the length and pacing of your script. If you follow standard screenplay margins and layouts, your script will average one minute of screen time per page. In reality, there is a lot of variation, of course. A onepage description of an epic sea battle might actually take five minutes of screen time, while a pageof witty banter might fly by in 20 seconds. On average, the one-page-per-minute rule is a good guideline to follow because over the entire length of the screenplay, it will be about right. If you follow traditional screenplay format, your script will be divided into scenes delineated by sluglines. A slug tells whether the following scene is INTerior or EXTerior, the location of the scene, and whether the scene takes place during the day or night. For example: INT. MAD SCIENTIST’S PANTRY — NIGHT Sluglines make it easy to count and reorder your scenes, and make it simple for a producer to quickly arrive at an approximation of cost. If your script has a lot of EXT scenes at NIGHT, then it’s going to be more expensive (lights, location shots, and overtime add up quickly). Similarly, if your slugs all run along the lines of: EXT. UPPER ATMOSPHERE OF MARS — NIGHT then it’s pretty obvious that your script is effects-heavy and, therefore, expensive.
Standard screenplay format has a number of other conventions as well. For example, if a scene continues from one page to the next, then “CONTINUED” is placed at the bottom of the first page. Similarly, if a character’s dialogue jumps to another page, then “MORE” is placed below the flowing dialogue. Through the years, screenplay conventions have been refined and standardized as a way of making script breakdown, budgeting, and scheduling much simpler. It’s safe to say that if your screenplay is not formatted according to standard conventions, no one in the film industry will read it. A poorly formatted screenplay is an instant indication of a very “green” screenwriter.
Multi-Column Formats If you’re writing a script for a news, industrial, educational, corporate presentation, or advertising production, then you’ll most likely want to use a multi-column, A/V script format. (A/Vis short for audio/video). Much simpler than screenplay format, A/V formats are ideal for planning and scripting live broadcasts, short subjects, and other multi-camera, multi-source.
A whole range of writing software exists that not only makes it easy to render your scripts in standard screenplay format, but also provides some valuable tools for editing and restructuring your script. Programs such as Final Draft, Celtz, and Final Draft A/V format your scripts as you write (Figure 2.3). Anyone who has tried to add all the MOREs and CONTINUEDs manually will find this one feature worth the investment. In addition to formatting, Final Draft provides a lot of automation. Character names can be entered by simply typing the first few letters of a name, and the program does a very good job of anticipating what the next character’s name will be, making it simple to type back-and-forth dialogue. Final Draft provides other utilities, including a Scene Navigator that lets you see your scenes as a series of index cards that can be easily rearranged . Celtz is free and includes storyboarding and other movie project management tools. It is also possible to create your own template in Microsoft Word.
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