I spent YEARS educating myself, trying to find the definitive rules and guidelines for formatting feature length, spec. scripts.
BEFORE ever attempting to write a script, if you've haven't taken classes at a university, I STRONGLY advise reading the following two books:
From these two books, and your own learning you will find that there are essentially four main elements which comprise scripts:
- SHOT HEADINGS (Also referred to as SLUG LINES): These technical lines tell where the camera is, inside or outside, where it is, and if needed what special conditions the author sees the shot being taken: black and white, in slow motion, what year, weather conditions (sunny, rainy, snowy, magic hour, sunrise, sunset). Once a master shot heading has been established, then their is the subset of secondary shot headings, which call out for other camera placements
- DESCRIPTION (also called DIRECTION): describe the action and sound affects that supposed to be captured under a given shot heading. I call like the term description better than direction because I feel that's what's happening the screenwriter is describing what he or she thinks need to be captured on film.
- DIALOG: comprises the character names, what they're saying and any special direction the screenwriter wants to convey as to how the dialog should be spoken.
- TRANSITIONS: a technical cue given by the screenwriter as to how he or she sees one scene flowing into the next.
Okay, so do you have SOME familiarity with these four foundational building blocks of screenwriting: shot heading, description, dialog and transitions? If no, then by all means read David Trottier's and Christopher Riley's two books. They are outstanding. To this day I STILL go back and refer to them from time-to-time to re-enforce past knowledge and get guidance. I didn't refer them to you for no reason.
But over the years I have written many screenplays, read others, gotten feedback, and listened to what other people had to say, and found that spec. script screenplay format is not set in stone. Rather this sentiment seams to reign supreme:
Looks like a screenplay. IS a screenplay.
Thus, there is SOME wiggle room for writers to express their vision and "tweak" the rules a bit. Their is room for a difference of syle -- so long as it doesn't go too far out there and is unrecognizable.
Furthermore, I have learned not to bemoan the pros when then make typos or use more of the technical terms for screenwriting then it seams is allowed when writing spec. scripts as undiscovered talent (ie. pre-pro screenwriter).
So what I'm getting at here is that in writing a spec. script, your's is not supposed to look like an established writer's script. Actually, I think, you have to show you're better than them to break in. Sounds like heresy, huh? Well, after submitting to MANY contests, and getting feedback on my scripts. Lemme just say you are expected to be perfect. Your script is supposed to be bullet-proof. It is VERY ROUGH out there, and for the most part the people who review your script aren't nice. But lets not have those obstacles stop us, eh? We're pioneers. Advancing the frontier of screenplay writing.
Are you a pioneer? If not, you should be. I am. And over the years I've "tweaked" the rules a bit and developed my own version of spec. script format and style. And without further ado here's how I write:
SHOT HEADINGS:
Rule: Try to keep them brief with shot headings at three major divisions, ie: EXT. HILLSIDE (BONNEY LAKE, WA) - CLOUDY.
This is a master shot heading calling out for an external shot (where the camera doing the filming is outside exposed to the elements), Bonney Lake, WA in parenthesis calls out that I'm calling out a hillside at specific location -- one from my home town. Cloudy then describes the weather conditions of the shoot, cloudy. So for some reason I the author think this shot should be filmed in cloudy weather.
In the screenwriting books you will find that they give examples of shot headings that go beyond three main divisions, under the basic understanding that the author is going from a general location to a more specific location, and also you can specify what kind of shot you want to be filmed in a shot heading, BUT I don't advice doing this. You wanna keep your shot heading on one line, and bleed over into more than one line. IF there is additional information you think needs to be conveyed do it in the next line of description under that shot heading, just don't spring a key detail like its been raining all along or something like that, cue that in the master shot heading.
DESCRIPTION:
Basic rules/guidelines I E.C. Henry, follow when writing my spec. script paragraphs of description:
- Keep all paragraphs of description under five lines. Spec. scripts are not novels, and for a reader readability it is expected not to have big, unbroken paragraphs to read through.
- Each new paragraph should call out a secondary shot followed by the action which to be filled in that shot. UNLESS you are describing a sound affect.
- Format for description paragraph. Type of shot, to subject of shot, to action to be filled by the subject of that shot.
- It is okay to over-describe a little bit. You don't wanna be so vague that it's all up the imagination of the reader to imagine how your scipt should be. Just remember to keep all paragraphs under 5 lines.
- Capitalize the names of speaking characters the first time they appear, and re-capitalize their name if it change like a reveal character. If the MAN IN AN ALLEY is later revealed to be Mike, and is then referred to as Mike when we speaks lines in the script cue the reader of this change by CAPITALIZING his name in description next to his old name in parenthesis. MIKE (MAN IN ALLEY) shakes the Police officer's hand.
- Capitalize the first letter of all characters who have speaking roles refereed to by position, Police officer, Deputy chief, Fireman #2.
- Capitalize all sound affects not made by a character, whether they appear on screen or off screen. ZIP-ZIP-ZIP. The SILENCER-TIPPED PISTOL FIRES THREE SHOTS. Capitalize the description of the sound, and what made it.
In E.C. Henry's style of screenwriting secondary shots are embedded at the beginning of paragraphs of description. A lot of times I'll cue that the camera is on just one character. Example:
Tyler. Raises the snub-nose pistol in his right hand. Smiles at Paul, as he cocks back the pistol's hammer.
Subject of shot: Tyler. So we go: Tyler, period! That cues the camera that subject of this shot is Tyler. All else is then description of what Tyler is doing when he's being filmed. Give key details and the most detailed explanations up front: describe the gun early in the paragraph not at the end. That's just good, clear writing. Note the action verbs at the beginning of sentences. Why? Because remember the subject of the shot, it's Tyler in this example. Hence all that follows are actions from the subject of the shot, Tyler: raising of the gun, then smiling at the man he's pointing the gun at.
Embedded parentheticals. I do this a lot in my spec. script format. A parenthetical is a cue for what how a line of dialog should be spoken. But if that cue of what the actor is doing happens up front before or at the beginning of them talking I'll embed that in the proceeding paragraph of description followed by a semi-colon.
Paul. Watches and listens as KEEMA'S TWO-STROKE MOTORCYCLE ENGINE DAMPENS as it races away. The silencer-pistol drops, lips sneers:
PAUL
Fine, be that way. More beer for me!
What'd I do? Embedded Paul's action of sneering his lips up into description, rather then formatting it as parenthetical in parenthesis under the speaking character's name.
Point: I think embedded parentheticals add to the readability of a spec. script.
DIALOG:
I really don't have a lot of groundbreaking things to say here here. To me dialog is pretty straightforward, easy to do, and always gives the false satisfaction of writing a lot, as excessive dialog gets you to a quick, high page count. I don't get a lot of satisfaction from writing dialog. Quentin Tarantino and Diablo Cody, I am not.
Sure, I enjoy putting a good zinger in there, but I see dialog as a highly editable thing. Like when actors read your work and through a table read better lines emerge as a group goes over what is to be spoken. So I always have in the back of my mind that my characters written lines WILL change when my work gets done by the pros.
Typically I go over dialog a lot, listening to it use Final Draft's audio playback. Now that's some good advice I can give you; buy Final Draft software and listen to your script using its audio playback feature.
I use the draft process and repeated exposure to the same thing, to discover characters and hone their dialog accordingly as they emerge and come to life.
Mostly I try to keep dialog relatively short, if it bleeds on for a half a page you really should consider cutting it back and annalyzing it to see if you could be more cinematic.
Basic rule: be cool, be brief.
Caveat: wild card character or important speeches. And even then sometimes it's in your best interest to break it up with secondary shot headings calling out different shots. Remember: it called the MOVE...ies. Not the staticsies. Excess dialog exchanges aren't cinematic.
TRANSITIONS:
Use them sparingly. My thought on transitions is that this is basically a post-production consideration implored by the directors and editors of the film. And if you really think about it after ever paragraph of description where you're going to a another shot is a CUT TO:. You don't need to call that out, it's implied. You do however need a transition every time you go from no image to a filmed image, a solid color to a filmed image, or a filmed image to a solid color. That's where: FADE TO:, FADE TO BLACK, WIPE TO:; all come into play. One of my favorite things to uses is to capture the feeling of a character loosing consciousness though their of point of view using a stylistic, WIPE TO BLACK.
Again, transitions should be used sparingly. And a lot of the times they can be embedded at the end of a line of description to cue the tone of the action going from shot to shot. Two dashes at the end of a paragraph of description cues a sudden CUT TO a the next shot. Likewise three periods at the end of a paragraph of description cues a DISSOLVE TO the next shot, cuing that a passage of time occurs between the two shots.
Okay, so there you have it; a nuts and bolts breakdown of how I, E.C. Henry, write at the technical, pen-meets-the-paper stage. BUT I haven't said all I need to say on this subject yet. Maybe I should have started with this, but here are some master guidelines I follow when I write.
Write for directors. Treat all readers as if they were the director of your film.
Reveal your "precious vision" unencumbered in an acceptable format.
Write so as to bring light to your story. Add style and overwrite as needed but never let that mask over your "precious vision". Assume that the reader of your script is smart and DO NOT PANDER TO IDIOTS!! Why do I write this? Because I have heard that you have "dumb down" your script to pander to unqualified readers who are evaluating your work.
But I say, treat EVERYONE who reads your script as if they where the director of the film that would be made from that script. Do not get over technical with camera angles and such, but don't be afraid to call out specific shots if that's what's in your mind's eye to do.
You are the screenwriter, and hopefully someday your work will end up in the hands of a director who know FAR MORE about camera shots than you know. So be willing to change your shot call out -- if asked to do so. But I see the benefit of calling out shots in a script. It's part of the "precious vision" which you are trying to sell to your reader; you want them to see the same thing that you're seeing; "precious vision".
So where did this phrase, "precious vision", come from? It's not an E.C. Henry original. The term "precious vision" first came to E.C. Henry as a result of reading Neil D. Hick's Screenwriting 101: The Essential Craft of Feature Film Writing. Neil's book was one of the fist I remember reading some 10 years ago when I first started writing script, and studying the craft of how how to write scripts. I have since lost that book, but one I thing I never forgot was Neil talking about the "precious vision", and what is that? That's your story. That's the story you're trying to tell as a blueprint for a movie.
So in closing my final advice to you, is to study craft, read a bunch of "how to book." I have suggested a couple of my personal favorites, which I still refer to from time-to-time. BUT at some point you have to venture beyond the textbooks and carve out a unique style. Forge your own path. Learn just enough so that your own style and unique voice can emerge. Mimic no one!
I hope that after writing some 18 + feature length scripts I have developed a unique voice of my own. I do not write like Shane Black. Yes, I admire Shane Black and think he's a great talent, but what Shane Black is known for, I'm do not want to be known for: telling insider jokes to his readers. I like Quentin Tarantino. But I do not want to be the next Quentin Tarantino. I LOVE Nora Ephron, as she writes GREAT romantic comedies. But I do not want to be the next Nora Ephron. Nor do I want to be the next Richard Curtis: a GREAT romantic comedy screenwriter on the male side of the ledger.
Personally, I think one of the worst things you can do is set out to write a script in the same mold as one of your screenwriting idols. Why? Copying others kills your own voice. When you copy others, you're really not being creative, you're being a parrot. A fake. An imitation. Dare to be different, even if you revere the work of others. There's only one you. And I believe God gives us unique story that only we can tell, and He lets us find them for a reason. We just need to apply to proper discipline to tell those stories.
I do not read a lot a screenplays by other people. Even the pros that I admire. Why? Because I want to guard my own voice. Read too much of other people's work, you risk sabotaging your own, unique writing. Rather I study enough just so I know enough to write in my own unique way.
I want to be the first, E.C. Henry. Unique. A voice like none other. And I want to tell the stories God give me, not merely parrot what other people write. Pretentious as all fuck? Yeah, sure, whatever. All I know is that I try to write with clarity, and elevate everyone who reads my scripts to the position of being a director who is seeing a viable movie unfolding before them. Along the way comes my voice, which I refuse to allow to be a distraction to the story.
You learn the conventions of screenwriting so you can tell share the "precious vision" story that God gives you to your fellow man. Be smart. Make others around you feel smart when they read your scripts. Strive to give your readers the satisfaction that they "get it", and can visualize the film you've laid out for them. THAT is what I, E.C. Henry, strive for. And it it at the heart of my modern paradigm for spec. script screenplay format and style.
