How to Format a Screenplay: Part II  Recommend to a friend!
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By Elaine Radford |
Scriptologist.com's previous article, How to Format a Screenplay,
discussed the basic rules of screenplay formatting. |
The article provided an example of a properly formatted screenplay scene and gave a
writing exercise containing unformatted descriptions and dialogue. |
Now, in How to Format a Screenplay: Part II, we provide an answer key for the exercise. The answer
key shows you how the descriptions and dialogue can be displayed when using the rules of screenplay formatting. |
Compare your formatting to ours, but keep in mind that your dialogue and descriptions will differ somewhat.
Your scene heading should be the same as ours, except for the time of day, which could be DAY instead of NIGHT. |
Screenplay Formatting Answer Key: |
INT. MOVIE THEATER - NIGHT
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A crowded movie theater. Dark except for neon exit signs over the doors and a large screen showing a feature film.
The audience watches the actors move across the screen, and we HEAR tense background MUSIC.
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MARIANNE and BOB enter the theater through the back door.
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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, looking right and left as she scouts for seats.
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Bob, a tall, stocky young man, carries a super-sized box of popcorn and a super-sized drink.
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He squints in the dim light as he moves his large feet gingerly down the aisle. He takes a few more hesitant steps
and then stumbles over his own big sneakers.
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Popcorn spills from the box he's holding onto several people seated near the aisle and onto the floor. We hear
grumbling as the people brush popcorn off their clothing.
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BOB
(loud)
Sorry! I'm really sorry!
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MAN #1
(to Bob)
You wanna lower your voice!
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BOB
Sorry.
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MAN #2
(to Bob)
Shut up!
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MAN #3
(shouting)
Keep it down, will ya!
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Marianne waves frantically to Bob from the front of the theater.
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MARIANNE
(calling out loud)
Bob! Over here, honey! Two seats
up here!
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MAN #4
(to Marianne; loud)
For Chris sakes, lady!
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MAN #5
(to Marianne)
Are you stupid or something?
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Bob catches up to Marianne, who waits near the middle of the third row, where she has found seats.
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MARIANNE
(to woman in the aisle seat)
Excuse me.
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People seated in the third row stand to let Bob and Marianne pass.
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We hear groans from people seated behind them whose view of the screen is now blocked.
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Bob and Marianne move across the aisle.
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Popcorn spills from Bob's container onto people he passes on his way to the vacant seats. He steps on a woman's toes
accidentally, and she shrieks.
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BOB
(apologetically)
Geez, I'm sorry.
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Bob and Marianne settle into their seats. It's quiet for a few moments as they watch the movie.
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Bob reaches into his popcorn container and stuffs popcorn in his mouth. He munches happily, then slurps soda through
a straw.
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MAN #6
(to Bob; shouting)
Hey, shove that where the
sun don't shine!
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A woman seated behind Marianne squirms from side to side, trying to see the screen over Marianne's big hair.
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Marianne turns to Bob and kisses him noisily on his cheek. Bob smiles at her and squeezes her thigh.
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People seated around them mutter angrily. A MAN seated directly behind Bob and Marianne leans over and
shouts.
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MAN #7
(to Bob and Marianne)
Save it, will ya!
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Bob turns to Man #7 and smiles.
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BOB
(to Man #7)
You're just jealous.
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It's quiet for a few moments. Then we hear the crackling of cellophane as Marianne opens her bag of potato chips.
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People around her squirm and grumble.
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Marianne munches on the chips, making crunching sounds.
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An OLD MAN seated in front of Marianne turns and looks at her viciously. Marianne offers him some chips.
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MARIANNE
(holding out the bag of chips)
Have a chip.
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OLD MAN
(to Marianne)
Are you ever going to shut up?
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Marianne and Bob look offended.
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It's quiet for a few moments. Marianne and Bob are engrossed in watching a car chase on the movie screen.
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Bob munches popcorn and slurps from his drink. Marianne crunches potato chips contentedly and takes noisy sips from
her drink.
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We see the audience. They are no longer watching the screen. Their angry eyes are riveted on Bob and Marianne.
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Points to Remember: |
Various parts of the descriptions and dialogue from the unformatted writing exercise
were changed slightly when being made into a screenplay scene using proper screenplay formatting. These changes were used to accommodate the extremely visual nature of the screenplay format. |
Example: |
Passage From Unformatted Exercise:
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Bob and Marianne walk into a dark movie theater. The movie has already started, and nearly every seat is
occupied. |
Passage From Formatted Version of Exercise:
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INT. MOVIE THEATER - NIGHT
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A crowded movie theater. Dark except for neon exit signs over the doors and a large screen showing a feature film.
The audience watches the actors move across the screen, and we HEAR tense background MUSIC.
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MARIANNE and BOB enter the theater through the back door.
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Bob and Marianne are introduced in the first sentence of the unformatted writing exercise. But, in the
formatted version of the exercise, it's necessary to describe the movie theater--the setting of the scene--before introducing Bob and Marianne. |
The reason is that the rules of screenplay formatting require writers to use a scene heading at the
beginning of each new scene. This heading establishes the location of the scene and the time of day when the scene takes place. |
Therefore, we thought it only natural to describe the location--the movie theater--before introducing Bob
and Marianne, the main characters. |
One or two sentences about the location of a scene can help establish a mood and make it possible to
understand where people and things are situated in that location. |
Similarly, good use of dialogue can affect the pacing and mood of a scene. |
The unformatted version of the writing exercise only hints at the dialogue that could be used, but the
formatted version gives specific lines of dialogue that are part of interactions between Bob and the other movie theater patrons. |
Example: |
Passage From Unformatted Exercise:
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Bob apologizes, and other patrons tell him to "shut up." |
Passage From Formatted Version of Exercise:
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BOB
(loud)
Sorry! I'm really sorry!
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MAN #1
(to Bob)
You wanna lower your voice!
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BOB
Sorry.
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MAN #2
(to Bob)
Shut up!
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MAN #3
(shouting)
Keep it down, will ya!
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A parenthetical description that appears below the name of a character and precedes the character's
dialogue may explain whom that character is speaking to and describe the manner in which he speaks. |
Example: |
MAN #4
(to Marianne; loud)
For Chris sakes, lady!
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SOUNDS the audience HEARS are written in all capital letters. |
Example: |
The audience watches the actors move across the screen, and we HEAR tense background MUSIC.
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Sounds made by the characters themselves should not be capitalized. |
Example: |
Marianne turns to Bob and kisses him noisily on his cheek.
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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 it's only necessary to capitalize "sounds which require some kind of mechanical production." |
Names of characters appear in all capital letters in a scene description when those characters are first
introduced. |
Example: |
MARIANNE and BOB enter the theater through the back door.
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The next time Bob and Marianne are mentioned in a description, their names are no longer written in all
capital letters. |
Example: |
People seated in the third row stand to let Bob and Marianne pass.
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But characters' names are always written in all capital letters for dialogue headings. |
Example: |
BOB
Sorry.
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However, the names of characters who have no dialogue do not appear in all capital letters. |
Example: |
A woman seated behind Marianne squirms from side to side, trying to see the screen over Marianne's big hair.
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The woman who is trying to see over Marianne's hair has no dialogue, so her name isn't capitalized.
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Dialogue is used sparingly in the formatted screenplay scene about Bob and Marianne. The reason is that the
actions of the couple show everything we need to know about them. |
These actions help give us a complete picture of their personalities. |
So, Bob and Marianne don't have to say very much. For example, Marianne could turn to Bob and say, "I
love you." Instead she turns to him and kisses him noisily on his cheek. |
This one action shows us how Marianne feels about Bob and shows
how oblivious Marianne and Bob are to the people around them. |
Every scene in a screenplay is a unit of action and should explain who, what, when
, where, and why. Does your scene answer all of these questions? If so, your writing is moving in the right direction. |
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Coming Next:
How to write scene transitions. |
Further Reading: |
Forte, Brian. Preparing Screenplays For U.S. Readers. BetweenBorders.com, 2003. An online article from BetweenBorders.com that explains what type of paper, cover, and brads to use when preparing your screenplay for submission to Hollywood
readers. http://www.betweenborders.com/usscreenplays/index.html
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Screenplay Planning Software: |
Writer's Blocks: Software that helps writers organize story scenes into electronic note cards that
can be arranged and re-arranged to structure a screenplay. http://www.writersblocks.com/wb3general.htm |
StoryView 2.0
: Software
that helps writers organize the scenes of a screenplay into a timeline that can then be used as a step outline, a scene-by-scene breakdown of a story. |
FrameForge 3D Studio: Storyboarding software that writers can use to pre-visualize scenes when
planning a screenplay.
http://www.frameforge3d.com/ |
Screenwriting Competitions: |
The Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting: An
international screenwriting competition sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences http://www.oscars.org/nicholl/ |
FilmMakers.com Screenwriting Awards: An annual
screenwriting competition sponsored by Filmmakers Magazine and the Radmin Company.
http://www.filmmakers.com/contests/2004/ |
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