NARRATIVE - SCREENWRITING
In this session, we looked into screenwriting techniques and how to properly format one.
Before that, we started with a pop quiz about Jekyll and Hyde, in which my team scored the best out of the whole class! That's not necessarily relevant to the Screenwriting lecture, I just wanted to point it out.
Now, onto the main focus. We started by having a look at the beat sheet; a list of key events that move the story along. Anything that does move the story along is called a beat.
The next stage up from a beat sheet is the outline. The outline helps to visualise the story, written similarly to a short story. It's written in the 3rd person in present tense, and fleshes out the beats from the beat sheet in more detail and with finer description. It only ever focuses on what's onscreen, and doesn't include dialogue. It can include a slug line as well (more on that later).
The screenplay we're writing is 1000 words (with a margin of 10% either way), but 800 is the ABSOLUTE minimum to be considered substantial (the same applies to the critical essay). If we go above 1100, we will get penalised.
The running time is roughly 1 minute per page (when correctly formatted to 12pt Courier font), assuming there's 150-200 words per page. Our screenplay is to be about 5-6 minutes, so around 5-6 pages too. There's specialist software to correctly format scripts, such as Writer Duet and Celtx; however, Microsoft Word has a free screenplay formatting tool built in, so that one was advised as a good option on a budget.
We then moved on to the actual formatting of a screenplay, and how to write certain pieces of text.
Before that, we started with a pop quiz about Jekyll and Hyde, in which my team scored the best out of the whole class! That's not necessarily relevant to the Screenwriting lecture, I just wanted to point it out.
Now, onto the main focus. We started by having a look at the beat sheet; a list of key events that move the story along. Anything that does move the story along is called a beat.
The next stage up from a beat sheet is the outline. The outline helps to visualise the story, written similarly to a short story. It's written in the 3rd person in present tense, and fleshes out the beats from the beat sheet in more detail and with finer description. It only ever focuses on what's onscreen, and doesn't include dialogue. It can include a slug line as well (more on that later).
The screenplay we're writing is 1000 words (with a margin of 10% either way), but 800 is the ABSOLUTE minimum to be considered substantial (the same applies to the critical essay). If we go above 1100, we will get penalised.
The running time is roughly 1 minute per page (when correctly formatted to 12pt Courier font), assuming there's 150-200 words per page. Our screenplay is to be about 5-6 minutes, so around 5-6 pages too. There's specialist software to correctly format scripts, such as Writer Duet and Celtx; however, Microsoft Word has a free screenplay formatting tool built in, so that one was advised as a good option on a budget.
We then moved on to the actual formatting of a screenplay, and how to write certain pieces of text.
- THE SCENE HEADING (aka SLUG LINE) - Establishes where and when we are exactly. It starts with establishing if we're inside (INT.) or outside (EXT.), followed by the location itself, and what time of day it is. In some cases, it's also appropriate to establish the time period or country.
e.g. EXT. The Garden, Sunset - SCENE ACTION / DESCRIPTION - Can be used to briefly introduce characters and locations at the start. New characters being introduced are in all caps. Action lines are meant to lead the eye, and say exactly what's happening onscreen; no thoughts or feelings from the character that isn't expressed physically. Action lines can be split up if there's a cut or change of shot. It is written in the 3rd person, in present tense.
e.g. THANOS walks through his crops. He picks up a fruit.
Scripts start with "FADE IN.", and ends with "FADE OUT.", followed by "THE END". - DIALOGUE LAYOUT - Used for when a character speaks. It's headed by the character's name in all capitals, followed by the dialogue itself. It's central aligned, with a slight indentation to differentiate it from action lines. Dialogue can be broken up by action lines.
e.g.THANOS
The universe required correction... - PARENTHETICALS - Used to show how a line is delivered; mainly used for little bits of action.
- SOUND - Sound effects in action lines can be done in ALL CAPS, but it's important to not overdo it. There are also specific shorthands for different audio techniques; more important are O.S. (offscreen) and V.O. (voiceover).
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