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Screenwriting Need Help

J

jehz19

i would like to ask the Basics in Making a Script..

Just like This:

INT. Grandma's House, Morning

John gets a cup of coffie


I dont know what to put next coz i dont know all the INT. or EXT. or whatever.. I just want to know all the Basic Informations so that i could write Scripts.

Can someone help me with this??
 
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You're pretty close.

Always use Courier 12-point font.

Left Margin is 1.5 inches (appx.15 spaces)

From Left Margin justified left tabs:
Character name is appx. 25 spaces
Parenthetical is appx. 21 spaces
Dialogue is appx. 15 spaces

Dialogue should not run longer than 3.5 inches.

Use an unjustified 1.0 right margin.

1.0 inch top and bottom

There are five main elements of a properly formatted script

Scene Heading/Slugline
Action
Character Name
Dialogue
Parenthetical


Sluglines or Scene Heading
Written in capitals and containing three pieces of information: (1) Where;
(2) Exactly where, and (3) when. (2) and (3) are separated by a space or
a dash, followed by another space.

(1) can be INT. (interior) or EXT. (exterior); (2) is a short identification of
the place; and (3) can be either DAY or NIGHT.

For example:

INT. GRANDMA'S HOUSE - DAY

You can use more than one subject.

For example:

EXT. GRANDMA'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY
EXT. GRANDMA'S HOUSE/KITCHEN - DAY

You need a new slugline each time you change the place, and/or change
the time.

Action, or Description
The screenplay’s visual elements, where you show what is taking place on
the screen. Character descriptions, what they are doing, the places, and
everything the audience will need to assimilate visually. Don’t use capitals
for sounds, props, visuals or emphasis. But you will capitalize the name of
each character the first time you introduce them.

Character Name
In a properly formatted script the Character name is placed above the dialogue,
in caps appx. 25 spaces from the left margin; not centered

Dialogue
This is where you place everything the character says.

Parenthetical
Do not use parantheticals under the character name to show action. And don’t
use them to tell the actor how to read the line. Let the emotion come from
your script and dialogue. Try to avoid using them at all.
 
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I'll make this quick: http://www.screenwriting.info/

There's pretty much all the info you need. A great program to save time is Celtx, which does pretty much 99% of the formatting for you. It's free and I love it.

Just remember: you're telling a STORY. Every element as a story (characters, plot, theme, etc. etc.) applies to screenwriting just like it applies to a novel, a comic, etc.

Read a lot of scripts, but also read a lot of books, novels and watch a lot of movies. Try to expand your mind to learn to create a story.

Good luck!
 
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jehz19 said:
i would like to ask the Basics in Making a Script..

Just like This:

INT. Grandma's House, Morning

John gets a cup of coffie


I dont know what to put next coz i dont know all the INT. or EXT. or whatever.. I just want to know all the Basic Informations so that i could write Scripts.

Can someone help me with this??
Click to expand...

Definitely check out Rik's post. The information he gave you and lots of other info regarding format and rules and be found free, here and elsewhere on the web. Web-based stuff was all I used for awhile, and for the most part it's adequate.

If you ever want to get a book on format, get the Screenwriter's Bible. It's weak on story and some other things, but definitely the best book I've seen on the technical side of writing and 20 bucks or less if I remember right.
 
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Directorik


Can you pleaseguide me little more about
Parenthetical. What are these?

Secondly after the dilouge can i write any sentence regarding the charachters face ? i mean suppose


Jim

Hi ! you are looking beautiful.

after this, can i say JIM whistled. Or can i write he smiled? or should we avoide these type of comments while writing ?

Regards




_____________________________
www.indie-filmmaking.blogspot.com
 
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Basics

Hi Jehz19-
I'm a student in a graduate program for screenwriting at UCLA. Just wanted to throw my two cents in. If you pick up a program called Final Draft, or MovieMagic, you don't have to worry much about formatting, because the program does it for you; however, you do need to know the rules of what you can and can't write in a script in terms of content.
The most basic rule of all is: In a script, you can only write what the camera can SEE. In other words, you can't write what a character thinks or feels (because you can't see that on screen) or how something smells or tastes.
Everything should be in present tense, active voice.
That's the most basic of the basic.
It also helps a lot to read a few scripts to see how it is done. I get mine from the script library on campus but there are a lot of scripts posted online. Just try to stay away from the transcripts.
 
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For future reference, I have found the examples you can download on this page: http://www.oscars.org/nicholl/format.html to be the best way to learn screenwriting I have ever seen. The next thing is to buy or obtain screenplays (some are online for download) from movies you like and see how it was written. Note, you are looking for original screenplays, not adapted from the screen (post-written).

Structure structure structure. Proper formatting. Well developed. Don't make the common mistakes (also found on the link above). That is the key to a flowing screenplay.

Writer2008 - Say hi to Mr. Castro from Trevor next time you see him. :)
 
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WideShot said:
For future reference, I have found the examples you can download on this page: http://www.oscars.org/nicholl/format.html to be the best way to learn screenwriting I have ever seen. The next thing is to buy or obtain screenplays (some are online for download) from movies you like and see how it was written. Note, you are looking for original screenplays, not adapted from the screen (post-written).

Structure structure structure. Proper formatting. Well developed. Don't make the common mistakes (also found on the link above). That is the key to a flowing screenplay.

Writer2008 - Say hi to Mr. Castro from Trevor next time you see him. :)
Click to expand...

The only problem with this is that basically any screenplay you find, that I've seen anyways, are shooting scripts and not spec. So people who use them as guidelines are invariably going to wind up writing a shooting script. That's why so many beginners number their scenes, add camera angles, etc.

Jehz, you can certainly look at the shooting scripts of your favorite movies to see how they describe characters, scenes, tell the story, etc. But make sure you look into SPEC scripts and format yours accordingly.
 
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You're absolutely right, and I did the same thing, I wrote shooting scripts that I directed. And to clarify, there is no problem with doing that so long as you are the director. But in general even if you are its better to write it as a spec script for producers and crew to read, and then go and write it as a shooting script, or you can always do that AFTER you write the shooting script. Personally, I am visualizing my shots as I am writing it, so for me it makes sense to write those shots in.
 
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WideShot said:
You're absolutely right, and I did the same thing, I wrote shooting scripts that I directed. And to clarify, there is no problem with doing that so long as you are the director. But in general even if you are its better to write it as a spec script for producers and crew to read, and then go and write it as a shooting script, or you can always do that AFTER you write the shooting script. Personally, I am visualizing my shots as I am writing it, so for me it makes sense to write those shots in.
Click to expand...

This is what I did with my short film that is in the gestation phase. I wrote it in spec format because the talent I'm using has never read a screenplay before. Now I'm rewriting it in shooting script format for my use. It's a good excercise.

My project is back on hold again because the first on-camera attempt with my 7 year old talent did not go well. We were outdoors taking still photos (my wife with the camera) and I was using a 3-1 reflector. She took horrible photos because she could not stand the reflected light. If she has this hard of a time outdoors, indoors with steady lights will be a real challenge.
 
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not only is formatting important, but also structure. If you're a begining writer, you should follow the three act paradigm. It may sound elemtary, but many stories will lose focus if you straye away. I recommend that you buy Syd Field's book, it goes into greater detail.
 
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