Scripting
·
Starting
point (edit): Is the introduction, such as ‘fade in/dissolve in’ It’s
always on the left hand side of the page.
·
Scene
heading: Is a one line description of the location and time of the
day of the scene. It’s always in block capitals, it’s occasionally called a s ‘slug
line’. Here is an example; EXT. New York
City skyline – Night. This shows that it’s outside (Ext being an abbreviation
for exterior) and that it nigh time.
·
Action:
The narrative description of the events in a scene, it’s written in the present
tense. Here is an example ‘Cold, rainy
night in New York City, a commercial airline flies low over the skyline’
·
Character:
When a character is introduced, usually with a brief example of the character.
Here is an example of how a character is introduced, a character’s name should
always be in capitals: ‘Looking over at
the skyline JAMES, a 40 odd year old balding businessman going through a midlife
crisis takes the last puff of his cigarette before throwing it down aggressively’
Minor characters may not be named, depending on the importance of the
character.
·
Dialogue: Lines
of speech for each character, the dialogue format is basically used when any
character is heard speaking. This applies for off-screen roles and voice overs.
Here is an example for you, notice how everything is centred:
JAMES
(Heavy smokers cough)
‘Im going to do it, I have too’
·
Transition:
Transitions are basically film editing instructions. They usually only
appear in shooting scripts. They are always on the left hand side. Here are a
few examples of different transitions. ‘Fade
in, Dissolve in and fade to’.
·
Shot: A
shot tells the reader of the script the focal point when a scene changes.
