by Charles Deemer
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In my teaching
experience, the first thing students find
confusing about screenwriting is format. No
wonder. There is no "Chicago Manual of Style" that
brings the rules between one pair of covers, no
ultimate reference source for what is right and
wrong in format. Instead there are a variety of
formatting fashions all existing at the same time
-- and few models available for what a good, clean
spec script should look like in today's highly
competitive marketplace.
Let me put
screenplay format in two contexts: first,
historical context; and next in practical context.
Then I will summarize what I believe are the
essential principles of good spec screenplay
format today.
THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Screenplay format has evolved over recent
decades but its evolution has moved in two
consistent directions: first, to remove special
visual directing power from the hands of the
writer; and next to encourage a quick easy reading
in the increasingly crowded marketplace. Both
changes make absolute sense once you understand
their context. Therefore, it is silly and
self-defeating to fight them.
The first
change, removing visual power from the writer, was
accomplished by getting rid of all references to
the camera. CUT TO:, ANGLE ON, CLOSE ON, THE
CAMERA MOVES, and such similar jargon no longer
belong in a spec script. Little is lost and much
is gained by this change. The writer still can
write visually, as indeed s/he should, by giving
important images their own paragraphs. If you
direct the movie in your head as you're writing,
instead of mentioning the camera, just start a new
paragraph every time you see a new shot. This will
open up your script, isolating the important
visual information. Without the jargon, scripts
also are much easier to read.
The second
change leads to the recent practical context in
which scripts must be written today.
THE
PRACTICAL CONTEXT
Format must make the
script easier to read, not more difficult. Format
defines how the script looks to the eye: it must
look text-light and easy to read. Short crisp
simple sluglines. Short paragraphs separated by
lots of white space. An invitation to a vertical
read, not a text-heavy horizontal one. A blueprint
for a movie, not a literary document.
Format contributes to the reader's first
impression. When I was a reader and saw a
text-heavy script, I groaned inside and the
screenwriter began with two strikes against him.
There are principles to follow in order to
avoid making this impression.
THE
PRINCIPLES OF GOOD SPEC SCRIPT FORMAT AND STYLE
1. Make sluglines self-sufficient,
without reference to prior sluglines for
understanding them. If a reader puts a bookmark in
a script and returns to read C0NTINUOUS, s/he must
read up the script to remember what this means.
Don't do this. Put all relevant information in
every slugline.
2. Make sluglines
consistent and as simple as possible. Don't
use DAY, MORNING, AFTERNOON, NOON, EARLY
AFTERNOON, etc., when DAY works. Think not when
the action is happening but when it will be
shot. How often in a movie do you actually
know what time it is? Not very often. Only add the
details if they are essential to the story and
then put them in action when describing the scene.
In other words, use DAY and NIGHT almost
exclusively. It shows you know how sluglines are
used in production. Along the same lines, avoid
putting descriptions in sluglines. Don't write
EXT. HOUSE IN A CUL DE SAC, write EXT. HOUSE and
describe its location, if important, in the action
element. Generally speaking, if you use a
preposition in a slugline, it's not written simply
enough.
3. Write action in very short
paragraphs. This is how the writer can direct
the reading, if not the movie. When you imagine a
new shot, start a new paragraph. No paragraph
should be longer than five lines across the page,
perferably less. This also gives the script
verticality and makes it easier to read.
4. Avoid parentheticals. They
seldom add anything essential. Often they smack of
directing, which is not your job.
5.
Avoid using "we see" and "we hear." Duh.
This is a movie, dummy. Using "we" is pure fat and
smacks of directing. Also avoid all reference to
the camera.
6. Minimize
capitalization. You don't have to capitalize
sounds any more. Don't. In general, only use
capitalization to introduce a new character and
for extreme and infrequent emphasis. Scripts look
cleaner and are easier to read without them.
7. Write with simple sentences and
fragments but also with style. Avoid complex
sentence construction and long modifying phrases.
Write very simply. You are not here to dazzle
anyone with your prose style. Wrong place for
that. Tell the story directly, simply. Don't be
afraid to use incomplete sentences, especially in
fast action sequences. Don't be afraid to add
sizzle and style to your writing with an
occasional short expletive when appropriate, i.e.
No way! or Ka-bang! or Snoring zzzzzzzzzz. Make
the script fun to read.
Many experienced
readers can tell at a glance, without reading a
single word, whether or not a screenplay invites a
quick read or not. Make sure yours does.
Finally, don't let your writing get in the
way of your story. What a thing to say about any
kind of writing! But in screenwriting, it's so
true. Write so that your story comes forward.
Don't hide it behind over-writing and other
rhetorical devices. You are trying to sell your
story, first and foremost, and the best writing
style to accomplish this is a simple style with
touches of economical individuality. Dazzle us
with your story, not your writing style.
Charles Deemer teaches graduate and
undergraduate screenwriting at Portland State
University. He is the author of the electronic
screenwriting tutorial, Screenwright:
the craft of screenwriting. His book Seven
Plays was a finalist for the Oregon Book
Award. His new book, Practical
Screenwriting, is due in 2005. Deemer
maintains two websites:
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