Have you ever wanted to act out a story but you just can’t seem to get them to understand the idea behind it? Fear not, you have a tool at your disposal in these situations, the art of screenwriting. Screenwriting is a tool that allows you to convey your ideas and put them on paper in a format that can provide major details in regards to the production of a film or video, such as camera angles or an actor’s expression whilst speaking a line. It can easily get an idea across to everyone effectively.
What is Screenwriting?
Screenwriting is the art of turning stories into screenplays, also known as movie scripts. A screenplay is a document that consists of acting and scene directions that are the blueprints for a movie. Before diving into the specificity of a screenplay, let’s take a look at the basics of screenplay writing.
What is standard screenplay formatting?
Here are some of the basics that should be incorporated into your screenplays:
12-point Courier font size
1.5 inch margin on the left of the page
1 inch margin on the right, top, and bottom of the page
Each page should have approximately 55 lines
The dialogue block starts 2.5 inches from the left side of the page
Character names must have uppercase letters and be positioned starting 3.7 inches from the left side of the page
Page numbers are positioned in the top right corner with a 0.5 inch margin from the top of the page. The first page shall not be numbered, and each number is followed by a period.
Now let’s dive deeper into the structure of a screenplay. Many screenplays begin with a transition, one of the most popular ways to start a screenplay is with a transition word like FADE IN.
Scene Headings and Subheadings
The scene heading is there to help break up the space the scene takes place in and give the reader and production team an idea of the story’s geography in relation to a scene. You will use the abbreviation INT. for interior spaces and EXT. for exterior spaces. Then add a little description of the setting, and then the time of day to complete the heading.
Here is an example:
INT. OF Crystal’S DORM ROOM - UofC CAMPUS - DAY
Notice how the heading is mostly all capitalized except for the name of the university. This is so that the reader can distinguish that it was meant as University Of Cameroon rather than UOFC. Also make note of the hyphens used to separate the individual pieces of information, such as where it separates the specific setting from the general location and the time of the place. Should a scene involve the setting being moved from inside to outside or vice versa, you can use INT/EXT. or EXT/INT. But more generally, a subheading will be used to indicate that the setting had changed within the scene.
Here is an example of the use of a subheading. The example shown is a snippet of a script:
FADE IN:
2 INT. OF HIGH SCHOOL - MORNING 2
WE OPEN at a high school in a city. The front gates of the school are filled with students entering the school. We glide into the school through the front gates and stop in front of guy. JAKE (17), A cheerful and humorous soul. He’s a normal high school student with a little above average grades. Dressed with a blue tee and chino pants with a black leather belt. He wears a Black Nike backpack.
HALLWAY
He walks through the hallway towards his next class, Calculus, when he bumps into Virginia, one of his best friends.
Take note on how the alignment on the heading and subheading is the same. Also, the number next to the heading is typically used to show how many characters are in a scene.
Transitions
The bottom right of the page is used for transitions. The use of transitions have been used less in modern screenplays, typically only seeing them at the beginning and end of a script. The most popular transition words are CUT TO: and FADE OUT.
Here is an example of how transitions are used:
FADE IN:
2 INT. OF HIGH SCHOOL - MORNING 2
Jake begins to COPY the answers down onto his own paper. Shortly after, a loud DING sounded at the beginning of the class period. Jake then RETURNS the paper to its rightful owner.
VIRGINIA
If you need my help again, don’t
Be afraid to ask me. I am smarter
than you after all.
JAKE
True.
FADE OUT.
This also showcases how one could begin and end a screenplay with using FADE IN: and FADE OUT.
Character Introductions
When you introduce a character in a screenplay, you want to use all capital letters for the name of the character, then their age in parenthesis, and finally some information about their personality traits.
An example would be:
JAKE (17), A cheerful and humorous soul. He’s a normal high school student with above average grades. Dressed with a blue tee and chino pants with a black leather belt. He wears a Black Nike backpack.
Actions And Dialogue
Action lines are where you describe the visual and audible actions that take place on screen. You want to write in the third person in the present tense. You can make your script a better read by eliminating redundant pronouns and conjunctions. Big noises and important objects can be written out in all caps to emphasize their effect on the story.
Here is an example of an action line being used:
Virginia took off her BOOKBAG and placed it on the ground. She then unzipped the biggest pocket and proceeded to take out a sheet of paper. She then holds it out in front of Jake.
Here is an example of a big noise being used:
Jake begins to COPY the answers down onto his own paper. Shortly after, a loud DING sounded at the beginning of the class period. Jake then RETURNS the paper to its rightful owner.
Dialogues follow special formatting to make it stand out in a script. This is so that voice actors and actresses can see their lines more easily.
Here is an example of a dialogue.
VIRGINIA
If you need my help again, don’t
Be afraid to ask me. I am smarter
than you after all.
JAKE
True.
Extensions and Parentheticals
Extensions happen when a character says something off-screen (O.S.), or if dialogue is a voice-over (V.O.). You will see extensions when a character ends a block of dialogue, performs an action, and speaks more. An example of extension placement is right next to a character’s name in a dialogue block. Parentheticals follow the same formatting and are also inside the dialogue. Parentheticals show small actions, or even a change in mood without having to jump out to an action line.
An example would go like this:
VIRGINIA (V.O)
WE should hang out afterschool!
We can netflix and chill at my
place.
Screenwriting Samples
Now that you’ve gotten a lot of the fundamentals of writing screenplays. Here is a Sample Script for you to reference and see how each element is utilized in a script.
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