Writing your screenplay Focus on dialogue

Following Film… Your plot will revolve around one person secretly following another person. What are some reasons that one person would follow another person?

Not too many scenes! Try and tell your story in just 3 scenes. Keep it simple! Intro Following/chase scene Conclusion This is your chance to focus on the characters and get some interesting dialogue

BASIC FORMAT 12 point Courier font 1.5 space

SLUG LINE First line of every NEW SCENE INT – MIDDLE SCHOOL CLASSROOM – DAY EXT – PARK - DAY INT – GYM – LUNCH TIME

Screenplay Format First your write info about the scene. Where it takes place. This is where you put “stage direction” and things that you are going to show with the camera. All of the “action” CHAR. NAME Dialogue is indented 2 times. And the name is written above in ALL CAPS and indented 3 times CHAR. TWO There is always a space between everything

Flesh out your characters The first time you introduce a character, there should be a few sentences in your script describing what they look like and who they are. The awesome, seven-foot-tall Dark Lord of the Sith makes his way into the blinding light of the main passageway. This is Darth Vader, right hand of the Emperor. His face is obscured by his flowing black robes and grotesque breath mask, which stands out next to the fascist white armored suits of the Imperial stormtroopers. Everyone instinctively backs away from the imposing warrior and a deathly quiet sweeps through the Rebel troops. Several of the Rebel troops break and run in a frenzied panic.

The terror of the blank page!

Pick a genre Action Comedy Police story Romance Melodrama Morality Play Horror

Your setting High school will be a much easier setting

Show! Don’t tell Don’t have one person look at someone and say “wow that person is so cool!” SHOW that person being cool!

NO YES Get a BASIC plot Don’t do something too complicated The interesting thing should be your characters and dialogue, not your ridiculously convoluted plot Conflict between two characters NO YES

What you need in your script SCENE 1 (the set up) Short description of your characters and what you will SHOW your audience first. What are the establishing shots? What will your character be doing when they first see them? Dialogue between characters establishing WHY one person is following the other SCENE 2 (the chase) Following scene needs three GAGS. These can be any kind of interesting events that occur during the chase. Usually they are problems the main character has to overcome. They can be funny, adventurous or serious. In your screenplay describe what you will SHOW in your film. SCENE 3 (the conclusion) How does it end? It should resolve the conflict from the beginning of the story in an interesting or funny way. This scene should also contain some dialogue. Don’t just do it short and cheap. The conclusion is the most important part of your film.