How to Format a
Screenplay
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You've plotted your
story, developed your characters, and written a scene-by-scene outline of
your story. Now you're ready to write it in professional screenplay format.
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Keep in mind that a
screenplay is visual and your characters' actions move the
story forward from scene to scene. Actions show the
audience what it needs to know. Your characters' dialogue supports the
actions. Seeing a character do something is far more powerful than having
him or her talk about it.
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Think of a scene as
a unit of action. In each scene, define who (character
or characters), what (situation), when (time
of day), where (place of action), and why(purpose
of the action).
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Scene Headings: Each time your characters move to a
different setting, a new scene heading is required.
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Scene headings are
typed on one line with some words abbreviated and all words capitalized.
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Authors Hillis R.
Cole, Jr. and Judith H. Haag say in their book, "The Complete Guide To
Standard Script Formats," that "the various elements of a scene
heading must be arranged in a specific order."
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Specifically, the
location of a scene is listed before the time of day when the scene takes
place.
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Example: A scene set inside a hospital emergency
room at night would have the following heading:
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INT. HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM - NIGHT
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Interior is always
abbreviated INT. and exterior is abbreviated EXT. A small dash (hyphen on
your keyboard) separates the location of the scene from the time of
day. Leave a two-line space following the scene heading before
writing your scene description.
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Scene descriptions
are typed across the page from left margin to right margin.
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Names of characters
are displayed in all capital letters the first time they are used in a
description, and these names always use all capital letters in a dialogue
heading.
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Example:
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CATHY sits at the end of the first row of plastic chairs. Her
head is bent over, and she stares intently at the floor.
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The names of
characters who have no dialogue are not capitalized when mentioned in scene
descriptions.
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Example:
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A man moans softly as he presses a bloody gauze pad against
his forehead. A woman cradles a listless infant in her arms.
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Sounds the audience
will hear are capitalized (eg, ROAR or WHISTLE). In "The Complete
Guide To Standard Script Formats," authors Cole and Haag state:
"Sounds made by characters are not considered sound cues and do not
require capitalization."
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Dialogue is centered
on the page under the character's name, which is always in all capital
letters when used as a dialogue heading.
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Example:
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DOCTOR
I'm sorry…
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If you describe the
way a character looks or speaks before the dialogue begins or as it begins,
this is typed below the character's name in parentheses.
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Example:
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DOCTOR
(apologetically)
We did everything possible.
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Here is an example of
a complete scene in the screenplay format:
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INT. HOSPITAL EMERGENCY ROOM - NIGHT
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A crowded hospital emergency waiting room. Clean but
cheerless.
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Sick and injured people sit in plastic chairs lined up in
rows. A TV mounted near the ceiling BLARES a sitcom. No
one is watching.
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A man moans softly as he presses a bloody gauze pad against
his forehead. A woman cradles a listless infant in her arms.
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CATHY sits at the end of the first row of plastic chairs. Her
head is bent over, and she stares intently at the floor.
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She raises her head slowly, brushes her long, silky hair away
from her face.
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We see fear in her eyes as they focus on a clock that hangs
above the front desk. She twists a tissue between her fingers and is
unaware that bits of it are falling on the floor.
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The door to the emergency treatment room opens, and a
middle-aged DOCTOR dressed in hospital green walks
through the door toward Cathy, who bolts out of the chair and hurries
toward him.
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DOCTOR
(apologetically)
We did everything possible.
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CATHY
(gasps)
What are you saying?
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DOCTOR
I'm sorry…
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CATHY
(screaming)
No!
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All eyes in the waiting room are riveted on Cathy and the
Doctor.Cathy lunges at the Doctor,
beating her fists against his chest.
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CATHY (CONT'D)
(shouting)
You killed him!
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Our scene ends here
with Cathy's last words, but it could continue with more dialogue and
action. Note that (CONT'D), the abbreviation for continued, is added in
parentheses next to Cathy's name above. CONT'D is added here because Cathy
has just spoken and is continuing to speak. Her dialogue was interrupted by
a description of other actions, not by another character's dialogue.
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To make sure you use
the correct tab settings, it's advisable to use one of the excellent
screenplay formatting programs available for your home PC. Such programs
include Movie Magic Screenwriter 2000 and Final Draft, both of which make
the job of formatting your screenplay much easier.
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Even if you use screenwriting
software, it's important to have a working knowledge of screenplay
formatting so that your presentation copy looks thoroughly professional.
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We recommend that
you read professional screenplays and familiarize yourself with formatting.
However, many published screenplays are shooting scripts and contain camera
directions.
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As a screenwriter,
you are not required to indicate camera shots. In fact, it's not advisable
to do this because it's the job of the film director, not the screenwriter.
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Formatting Exercise: Format the situation described below into a screenplay
scene. Use correct scene heading, action descriptions, dialogue, and
parenthetical descriptions for characters' dialogue.
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Situation: Bob and Marianne walk into a dark movie theater. The
movie has already started, and nearly every seat is occupied. Bob, a tall,
stocky young man, carries a super-sized
box of popcorn and a super-sized drink. Marianne, dressed in a revealing
tight sweater and jeans, carries a bag of potato chips and a large drink.
She moves down the aisle quickly, scouting for seats while Bob struggles to
see her in the dark. He stumbles over his own big sneakers, and popcorn
spills from the container onto several patrons seated near the aisle. Bob
apologizes, and other patrons tell him to "shut up." Marianne
waves to Bob from the front of the theater. She's found two seats up front.
She calls out to Bob and waves frantically. A variety of comments are heard
from other patrons. Bob catches up to Marianne, and they move across
the row to their seats. Bob steps on a woman's toes, and she shrieks. He
apologizes. Bob and Marianne finally settle into their seats. He munches
his popcorn happily and slurps his big drink. A woman seated behind
Marianne squirms to see the screen above Marianne's big hair. Marianne
turns toward Bob and kisses him noisily on his cheek. He smiles and
squeezes her thigh. A man seated behind Bob says something unkind. Bob
turns around, smiles, and tells the man he must be jealous. It's quiet for
a few moments.
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Marianne begins
opening her bag of potato chips. A man seated in front of her turns around
and looks at her viciously. Marianne offers him a chip, but he
declines. Marianne munches contentedly on her chips and sips from her
big drink as she watches the screen. The audience is no longer watching the
screen. Their angry eyes have settled on Bob and Marianne.
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