Scripting a Film (or film trailer) or a Music Video is an incredibly important part of the process, scripts go through many different versions, edits and drafts before they are finalised and created into a fully fledged film.
For your coursework you will need to create several drafts of a Shooting Script for either your film trailer or music video. This script is one of the final stages of scripting a film or music video and contains a vast amount of technical detail for the cinematographers, production designers and editors to follow.
These scripts are formatted in a particular way to make them accessible to the reader and allow certain sections to stand out. An example of this can be seen below in the final shooting script for Baz Lurhman's Romeo and Juliet.
Romeo and Juliet Shooting Script:
What do you notice about the formatting of the script?
Is there any terminology you don't recognise or understand?
How much detail has the script gone into about:
- Set
- Camera Shots
- Sound
- Dialogue
- Editing
How do you think this scene would look after it has been filmed?
Final Scene from Romeo and Juliet Shooting Script:
What differences can you notice between the script and the final scene?
Is the final version similar to the version you imagined when reading the script?
The Format of a Shooting Script:
Your script should be written in a certain font and size, this is the standard for the industry and is used by all professional scriptwriters. This font is
Courier and the font size is 12. The script you produce for your coursework will need to be produced in this font and font size, as well as conform to the conventions listed below.
Scene Header:
At the start of any scene you will always have a scene heading, this heading is composed of 3 parts and allows the reader to ascertain which set is being used.
The 3 parts of a scene header are:
- Interior vs Exterior
- Location
- Time of day
The time of day is usually limited to Night or Day, but can sometimes be extended to include Dawn or Dusk if applicable. Interior scenes and Exterior scenes are denoted by the first three letters, INT. or EXT.
For example:
INT. BATHROOM. NIGHT
The scene header is always written in CAPITALS, and should be written any time any 1 of the 3 elements change. For example if the next scene were to take place in the same location but during the day you would write:
INT. BATHROOM. DAY.
Special Scene Headings:
Your script may contain special scene headings in order to clarify issues of space and time. These may include
:
The month and year in which the scene occurs are listed. This is particularly useful if your trailer or music video covers large spaces of time. The month can also be interchanged with seasons if this is more appropriate.
For example:
SUMMER 2003
INT. BATHROOM. NIGHT.
This can also be formatted like this:
INT. BATHROOM. NIGHT. (SUMMER 2003)
Use this heading when you are returning to a previous scene after a short scene change.
For example:
BACK TO BATHROOM
or
BACK TO SUMMER 2003
This heading denotes a minor time shift in the same location.
For example:
LATER
or
LATER THAT DAY
You can use this to indicate an earlier time.
FLASHBACK:
This indicates a short series of related sequences. This can also be portrayed in the writing and may not need to be labeled as such.
MONTAGE:
Indicates a scene that takes place in more than 1 location, is often used with telephone calls
For example:
INTERCUT:
Each of these Special Headings will occur before the scene header. This provides the reader with clarity and ensures your intentions for the scene can be completely understood.
Narrative Description:
These sections are incredibly important as they allow the reader to see the story as it will unfold on screen. This description will begin directly below the scene heading.
What you write should be short and visual, focusing on action that moves the story forward however it should also contain enough flair to engage the reader.
There are several conventions you must follow when writing the narrative description in your Shooting Script. These are:
- Write only what can be seen and heard
You are not writing a novel, you should not describe your characters feelings. Instead show them through action and sound.
For example, instead of writing:
DAVID is suffering from inner torment about his wife's kidnapping.
Show the reader through action:
DAVID runs his hands through his hair. Picks up a shot of bourbon, tastes it and winces. He throws the glass across the room, hitting the mirror which SHATTERS.
Old formatting conventions dictate that ALL character names and sound effects should be written in uppercase. This makes it easier to break down a Shooting Script once it moves into production. However more modern conventions state that only important sound effect are capitalised, and character names are only capitalised the first time they appear in the narrative description. This flags the appearance of a new character to the reader.
It is an assumption in the movie industry that 1 page of screenplay is equal to 1 minute of time on screen. This helps the planning process and allows directors and cinematographers to further visualise the scene. Because of this conventions your description passages should cover as many pages as you expect the scene to run in real time. For example if you think an action sequence will take a minute of screen time it should be written to cover 1 page, rather than 1 line.
Dialogue Blocks:
These sections can also be called "speeches" and are also composed of 3 parts.
- Character Name
- Direction
- Dialogue
These are always displayed in the following way and are always offset from the rest of the text.
Character names are always written in uppercase and are always centre aligned.
Directions are always in lower case written inside parenthesis and is offset slightly left of the Character Name. Direction indicators should only be used if subtext is not clear or a piece of dialogue needs to be said in a specific way. These should only be used if they are absolutely essential to the understanding of the narrative.
Dialogue is written in normal sentance case and is set to the right of the Narrative Description. You can see several examples of where this text should sit in the Romeo and Juliet example script above.
If a character speaks as a narration it is indicated like this:
ROMEO (Voice Over)
Or
ROMEO (V.O)
If a character speaks off screen then this is used instead:
ROMEO (Off Screen)
Or
ROMEO (O.S)
Footers:
There are 2 types of footers that can be used in a Shooting Script, both indicate an unintended break in the page. Their use depends on the type of text that is being broken. These footers are incredibly useful as they prevent parts of your script being left behind when it comes to the production process, they can also help you organise your shooting schedule as you know on what page certain scenes begin and end.
Should a Narrative Description continue over onto the next page, the footer (CONTINUED)is used. This is placed in the lower right hand corner of the page, like so:
With a gasp Romeo rises. A moment. His breathing calms. Then smoothing water into his hair he gazes into the bathroom mirror.
(CONTINUED)
This indicates the action continues onto the next page and prevents this section being separated from the scene in shooting.
If a page break occurs in the middle of a dialogue sequence, the footer (MORE) is used to indicate there is more dialogue on the next page. It is centred directly under the last line of text on the page, like so:
This indicates that more dialogue appears on the next page and prevents this section being lost when the script is split into sections for shooting.
These are the basics of formatting a shooting script. You will now need to put these conventions into practice and complete the task in the Creating Your Own Shooting Script post.
