The Screenplay (Script)  You have delivered your Pitch  Written a short Outline  Delivered a detailed Treatment  And so finally onto….  Your Screenplay!

The Screenplay (Script)  Well done!  For making it  this far

The Screenplay (Script)  If your Treatment works well then writing the script should come naturally and easily and all your energy can be focussed on the task ahead.  This is what you have been striving towards and hussling and impressing and having endless meetings and negotiations about so now enjoy the scriptwriting process.  However….(why is there always a catch?)

The Screenplay (Script)  Actually this time there is really no catch, but there are specific rules when writing and delivering your screenplay.  Firstly: Screenplay FORMAT  Courier 12pt laid out correctly…..nothing else is acceptable.

The Screenplay (Script)  Remember when I told you that script readers/editors look for reasons not to complete a script?  The correct layout / format is the first one.  (…TV often uses a different layout but for spec scripts and commissioned scripts use the correct layout if they want a different layout you will be asked to provide it…)

The Screenplay (Script)  Importantly:  1 page of script is equal to 1 minute of screentime…….it just is.  Your 300 page Sci-Fi epic is not 90 minutes long and never will be….  If your script is not laid out correctly it will not be taken seriously and probable not even read.

The Screenplay (Script)  Look at and read scripts to familiarise yourself with layout and styles.  The basics to understand:  INT = Interior  EXT = Exterior  INT.LECTURE THEATREDAY

The Screenplay (Script)  INT = Interior  EXT = Exterior  INT.LECTURE THEATREDAY  Character names in CAPS the first time you refer to them in a scene.  CONT = Continued

The Screenplay (Script)  1. The basic elements of a script are:  Action, Dialogue, Character names.  (Other elements may also appear, such as scene headers, but not always.)  2. All three of these are typed and laid out distinctively — so it’s easy to tell them apart.  3. Actions are written in the present tense (‘Alice goes to Bill’, not ‘Alice went to Bill’).

The Screenplay (Script)  The great thing is that there is screenplay writing software available to undertake all the layout and typing chores for you.  The most successful and popular ones are:  Final Draft  Movie Magic Screenwriter  These are the default ones most used

Final Draft:

Movie Magic Screenwriter

The Screenplay (Script)  Alas both are quite expensive to buy:  £ approx each

The Screenplay (Script)  Help is at hand:   Celtx is FREE!!!  And very good

The Screenplay (Script)  Celtx  is free!

The Screenplay (Script)  Celtx is pretty sophisticated

The Screenplay (Script)  Screenplay software will undertake all the technical aspects for you, but it is a good thing to understand the layout being used and the terminology as you will be expected to know the language.

The Screenplay (Script)  Read the pdf  on the 162mc Blog:  I have listed the  basic terminology  for you to  understand

The Screenplay (Script)  A brief note about dialogue:  Read it out loud, it is meant to be heard, not read like a book.  Book dialogues is not often very good or convincing when read out loud…

 Basically remember that you are working in a visual media so….. Show….Don’t….Tell  I usually write as much dialogue as I like then go through the script and try to lose about 1/3 immediately

Moth  Very little dialogue  and relies on the  images to tell the  story.

The Screenplay (Script)

The Screenplay  After you have been through each of the previous stages the screenplay will and should be an enjoyable experience, after all it is the reason that you started in the first place.  There will be frustrations and aspects you want to change and adapt but the basic story will be working and you can finally get down the story/script you want to write.

The Screenplay  The time contracted to write a first draft will vary from:  A week for some TV eg; Doctors on the BBC for a half hour drama  To 12 weeks for the first draft of a Feature commissioned by a production company.

The Screenplay  It is worth remembering that a half hour episode for TV differs in length between the BBC and ITV  BBC : 26 – 28 pages (Doctors used a word count)  ITV: 24 – 26 page (Add breaks)

The Screenplay  However you are not expected to work or write ‘blind’ all the information that you need will be given to you and you will work with assigned script editors or producers.  They want and need the writers talents so will work closely and develop ideas and scripts accordingly…  Good luck!