format Naming and Formatting Minor Characters

[BA1385]

Hi there,

I’m writing my first screenplay and am struggling to define naming and formatting rules for minor characters. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

1) Should minor characters be referred to with exactly the same name throughout?

e.g.
A minor character is introduced (p.34):

“He notices a GLAMOROUS WOMAN standing in line.”

In a connecting scene that follows straight after (same page):

“He follows the woman”
or
“He follows the Glamorous Woman”

I find that the latter looks awkward and slows things down, especially when the name is repeated over and over again across a scene.


2) Should the names of minor characters, if they appear more than once, and in different places, be capitalized?

e.g.
A minor character is introduced (p.13):

“A SWEATY JOGGER is running around the park”

The same character appears later (p.44):

“He sees the Sweaty Jogger on the pavement”
or
“He sees the sweaty jogger on the pavement”

e.g. II
“He wakes up in the dead woman’s house”
or
“He wakes up in the Dead Woman’s house”

Again, I find that capitalizing in these instances often looks awkward, as Sweaty Jogger (or more generic names like Old Woman, Young Man, Dead Woman, Female Pedestrian etc.) is hardly a name.

However, there is one recurring character who I want to keep in caps, as, while they do not have a full/proper name, the name is more inventive and defines the character spatially (e.g. “The Woman in the Mirror appears”).


3) Is it okay to mix minor characters with numerical designations with characters with physical descriptions, or do you have to make them all numerical, or all descriptive? If you can mix them, does a physically-described character take the place of a # in a list of numerically-designated characters?

e.g.
List of similarly-named characters (who appear throughout the entire screenplay, and as much as 20 pages apart):

MALE JOGGER
SILVER-HAIRED MALE JOGGER
MALE JOGGER #3
MALE JOGGER #4
MALE JOGGER #5

Should the third jogger in the list (MALE JOGGER #3) be #2 or #3?

I find that having all instances of minor characters as #s very repetitive (some of these lists go up to #, though when I tried to ascribe descriptive characteristics to all of them, they seemed very contrived in some places and a simple # designation looks better.

4) Do I have to keep stating that a minor character is present?

e.g.
“Eric is taken by the orderly into the dining room”
Or “Eric is taken into the dining room”

There are so many instances of “the orderly” that it makes things very repetitive, and it should be obvious who keeps taking him to various rooms.

P.S. I should add that I am directing and producing my own screenplay, so my primary concern is putting together the best possible Spec to provide to prospective cast/crew/investors.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

 

[mlesemann]

1. It's generally advisable to stick with Glamorous Woman for clarity. Or, better yet, give her a name. FYI actors would rather play a named character than a generically described one, as it's better on their resume.
2. Lower case.
3. Best to pick either descriptive (e.g. silver haired) or numbers. These will be used when you go into pre-production to sort characters for casting, arrange call sheets, etc. If you just use numbers (assuming you're not going with names), this will make it easier to be sure you've got all of them cast and accounted for.
4. If someone is taking Eric - rather than him going on his own - that person should be mention. Again, it's for planning purposes: whoever is preparing call sheets etc needs to know exactly who is in each scene so the actors know that they need to be there.

Hope that helps.

Good luck!

 

[jax_rox]

‘Rules’ can quite easily be bent or even broken when it comes to screenwriting if the writing itself is good enough.

That said, the 'rules' were developed in the first place for good reason. In a lot of your examples, I personally would say 'it depends' - on how you're writing or have written the scene.

“He notices a GLAMOROUS WOMAN standing in line.”

In a connecting scene that follows straight after (same page):

“He follows the woman”
or
“He follows the Glamorous Woman”

How have you setup the connecting scene? How is everyone placed? Is there more than one woman in the scene? Does 'GLAMOROUS WOMAN' speak before leading our main character out?

GLAMOROUS WOMAN
Alright, this way please​

She leads John out of the room

Makes sense, whilst:

INT. HOUSE - DAY - CONT.
They stand around, waiting. A sound in the distance. John turns and sees a door has appeared, as if by magic. He follows the woman.

Makes less sense. Perhaps it would be better to write:
John turns and a door has appeared, as if by magic. The Glamorous Woman turns immediately and strides through the door. John follows.

Is it okay to mix minor characters with numerical designations with characters with physical descriptions, or do you have to make them all numerical, or all descriptive?

I would go one or the other, except in the instance that their label is important to the story. If you're going to mix and match, I would start with descriptive names, then start with #s at #1:

EXT. RUNNING TRACK - DAY
A group of joggers circle around the track. John sits on a sideline bench, eyeing them. As they get round the corner closest to John, they slow down and stop right in front of him. The leader of the pack, an older silver-haired man, walks over.

SILVER-HAIRED JOGGER
What are you looking at, huh?

JOHN
Nothing, just lost in my thoughts

MALE JOGGER #1
The nerve!

MALE JOGGER #2
Let's get him!

OTHER JOGGERS
KILL! KILL! KILL! KILL!
​

The joggers start chanting as they descend on John.

JOHN
Joggers! Every time!
​

He gets up and starts to run. The joggers pursue.

JOGGER #3
Don't let him get away!​

Do I have to keep stating that a minor character is present?

e.g.
“Eric is taken by the orderly into the dining room”
Or “Eric is taken into the dining room”

There are so many instances of “the orderly” that it makes things very repetitive, and it should be obvious who keeps taking him to various rooms.

In the same scene or across scenes? Are there other characters present or just the two of them? Is there dialogue from the minor character? What's the context of what they are doing? How can you write it in such a way that establishes the orderly is in each scene or room, but doesn't become boring or repetitive?
You're right - 'The orderly takes Eric into the office. The orderly takes Eric into the closet' etc. is pretty boring and repetitive. How do you write that to show what is happening in an interesting way.

 

[BA1385]

1. It's generally advisable to stick with Glamorous Woman for clarity. Or, better yet, give her a name. FYI actors would rather play a named character than a generically described one, as it's better on their resume.
2. Lower case.
3. Best to pick either descriptive (e.g. silver haired) or numbers. These will be used when you go into pre-production to sort characters for casting, arrange call sheets, etc. If you just use numbers (assuming you're not going with names), this will make it easier to be sure you've got all of them cast and accounted for.
4. If someone is taking Eric - rather than him going on his own - that person should be mention. Again, it's for planning purposes: whoever is preparing call sheets etc needs to know exactly who is in each scene so the actors know that they need to be there.

Hope that helps.

Good luck!

Thanks!

 

[BA1385]

How have you setup the connecting scene? How is everyone placed? Is there more than one woman in the scene? Does 'GLAMOROUS WOMAN' speak before leading our main character out?

In the initial scene, there is a "store clerk" (currently of unspecified gender). The protagonist then follows the glamorous woman from the store to her home, so we cut across several locations (store -> road/cars -> house).

In the same scene or across scenes? Are there other characters present or just the two of them? Is there dialogue from the minor character? What's the context of what they are doing? How can you write it in such a way that establishes the orderly is in each scene or room, but doesn't become boring or repetitive?
You're right - 'The orderly takes Eric into the office. The orderly takes Eric into the closet' etc. is pretty boring and repetitive. How do you write that to show what is happening in an interesting way.

The orderly appears in multiple scenes, spread throughout the first act. This role also has no dialogue. The protagonist is in a wheelchair for the first part of the act; every time he is moved from his room, it is due to the help of the orderly.