Script
A 'script.' is a document in a particular format, notation, and length which demand a collaborative process. A script is a document that outlines every aural, visual, behavioral, and lingual element required to tell a story.
A film is a VISUAL medium. By script tell our audience our story, and what we SHOW them and write what they will SEE and what they will HEAR. It has provide a specific format or layout, margins, notation, and other conventions.
Learning how to write a screenplay involves many facets. There are number of screenwriting software provide in the market also in online. Advances in screenwriting software save the hours we would previously have spent learning how to write a screenplay in professional Hollywood format can now be allocated to polishing our plot, sharpening our dialogue, or learning screenplay structure.
Final Draft screenwriting software, Movie Magic Screenwriter, Dramatica Pro, Outline 4D and along with a bunch of other really useful software, DVDs and books.
Good Story line
The movies we loved most featured characters that sweep us up, who captivated our emotions, and got we involved. The audience viewing a movie not only wants to be interested in they want to be PASSIONATE about them, whether they like them or not. It create a hook. Successful stories have a fresh face but are identifiable. It makes an idea unique, also it can be describe to others quickly by a fast-paced thriller, romantic comedy, action adventure.
Script Styles
Below is a listing of the most common script formats in use today. Feature Film/Television Movie of the Week which are very similar but the others are distinctly different.
The others:
· Stage Plays and Musicals
· Sitcoms
· Soap Operas
· Multimedia
Kinds of Script
1. Spec Script
It is a sample script, usually not intended for production, but to showcase the screen writing skills of the author, in hopes of attracting the attention of an agent or producer. Often a spec script which fails to sell goes on to be a sample script.
- for easier reading, often avoiding camera angles, editing directions, and technical intrusions
- by writers who hope to have a script optioned and eventually purchased by producers or studios;
- by writer/directors who want to direct a film themselves
- by amateur writers hoping to convince a literary agent to represent them or a producer to hire them.
Once a script is purchased, it often goes through a series of rewrites before it is put into production. Once that happens, the script becomes a 'Shooting Script' or Production Script. All the scenes and shots of a shooting script are numbered and each scene and shot are broken down into all the component pieces required to film it. The production assistants and director can then arrange the order in which the scenes will be shot for the most efficient use of stage, cast, and location resources.
A shooting script is the version of a screenplay used during the production of a motion picture. Shooting scripts are distinct from spec scripts in that they make use of scene numbers (along with certain other formatting conventions), and they follow a well defined set of procedures specifying how script revisions should be implemented and circulated
Spec Screenplay Page Properties
The Rules:Screenplays are traditionally written on 8 1/2" x 11" white 3-hole punched paper. A page number appears in the upper right hand corner in the header. No page number is printed on the first page. The type style used is the Courier 12 font. The top and bottom margins are between .5" and 1". The left margin is between 1.2" and 1.6". The right margin is between .5" and 1".The extra inch of white space on the left of a script page allows for binding with brads, yet still imparts a feeling of vertical balance of the text on the page.The Courier 12 font is used for timing purposes. One script page in Courier 12 roughly averages 1 minute of onscreen film time.
Writing Tip: Script writing software is pre-programmed with all these rules right out of the box.
Script Length: The average feature screenplay, traditionally, is between 95 and 125 pages long. In Hollywood these days scripts generally don't run longer than 114 pages. Comedy scripts are typically shorter, dramas longer. There are, naturally, variations. we could be writing an action-packed film where our description takes only 10 seconds to read, but will take 45 seconds of film time. Here's an example:
Script Elements
These are the unique margin, case, and position attributes that give feature film script text the format and consistency expected by all participants. Once we are accustomed to them we'll be able to tell our story the way an industry reader is accustomed to seeing it. The elements for a script are:Scene Heading, Action, Character Name, Dialogue, Parenthetical, Extensions, Transition, Shot.
Scene Heading
Scene Heading are aligned flush left (which we learned is about 1.5" from the edge of the paper) and are rarely long enough to reach the page margin.The Scene Heading is written in ALL CAPS. Use a period after the INT. or EXT., a hyphen between the other elements of the Slugline.
The Scene Heading, sometimes called Slugline, tells the reader of the script where the scene takes place. Are we indoors (INT) or outdoors (EXT)
Next name the location: BEDROOM, LIVING ROOM, at the BASEBALL FIELD, inside a CAR? And lastly it might include the time of day - NIGHT, DAY, DUSK, DAWN... information to "set the scene" in the reader's mind.
The Slugline can also include production information like CONTINUOUS ACTION, or ESTABLISHING SHOT or STOCK SHOT. Here are examples of Scene Headings:
INT. LIVING ROOM - MORNING
EXT. LAS VEGAS STRIP - SUNSET
INT. OFFICE - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS ACTION
EXT. KEY WEST MARINA - DAWN - ESTABLISHING
EXT. PASADENA - ROSE PARADE - STOCK FOOTAGE
Software Tip: Script writing software will automatically file each new Scene Heading we use. This avoid the need to retype the same text again and again, and it also helps us keep our script consistent.There is nothing more distracting to the reader than to see one Scene Heading read:
EXT. - OUTER SPACE RAIN FOREST - NIGHT
and two pages later:EXT. - OUTER SPACE JUNGLE - NIGHT
Keeping Scene Headings consistent allows our reader to recognize locations and places and not have to figure out if this is a new set (location). Here is a sample in Scene Heading sample in script form:FADE IN:
EXT. KEY WEST MARINA - DAWN - ESTABLISHING
We have 'established' that we're in a marina at dawn.
Dialogue
The Rules: DIALOGUE margin is indented 2.5" from the left margin. A line of dialogue can be from 30 spaces to 35 spaces long, so the right margin is a bit more flexible, usually 2.0" to 2.5".
DIALOGUE rules apply when anyone on screen speaks and also during a conversation between characters. When a character talks out loud to himself... even be when a character is off-screen and only a voice is heard.Writing Tip: Great dialogue is a window into the soul of our character. It sounds real and to be conversational. The audience feels like a hearing natural interplay between characters. Great dialogue may use common language but express great passion, and even become a catch phrase in popular culture.
It's a good idea to read our dialogue aloud to see how it really sounds. If we have seen a difficult time reading a line, it may not be good dialogue.
Software Tip: Script writing software now has the capacity to read our dialogue back to us via our computer's sound system. We assign a gender to our character name, even different inflections, and we can have a staged reading of our script right there in our living room.
Parenthetical
Parentheticals are left indented at 3.0" and the right margin is 3.5" although that is a bit flexible. As seen in our examples, a Parenthetical remark is NOT centered under the character name.
A Parenthetical remark can be an attitude, verbal direction or action direction for the actor who is speaking the part. Parentheticals should be short, to the point, descriptive, and only used when absolutely necessary.These days, Parentheticals are generally disfavored, because they give direction to an actor that may not be appropriate once on the set. The slang term for them is "wrylies" as in:
FRANKIE
(wryly)
Good mornin', Bluebird.
JULIE
(sleepily)
What? What time is it?
FRANKIE
(getting out of bed)
After six. You're gonna be late
again and I don't want to hear
it.
Frankie pulls all the covers off of Julie. She sits up in bed, pulls on a long
T-shirt, and shuffles to the bathroom.
FRANKIE
(continuing)
You're welcome.
Software Tip: Script writing programs may give us the option of placing the (continuing) as a parenthetical remark or on the same line as the Character name, looking much like an Extension.
Most Transitions are already programmed into script writing programs, capitalized and lined up for those rare occasions when we can't resist to use one.
Transition
We must begin with this remark: nowadays, in Spec Scripts, transitions are frowned upon, a waste of a couple of lines we could better use for brilliant dialogue, and are only used when absolutely necessary.
The Rules: When we use a Transition, the left margin is at 6.5" and a right margin of 1.0". Transitions are formatted in all caps and almost always follow an Action and precede Scene Headings.
Transitions may be familiar with are:- CUT TO:
- DISSOLVE TO:
- SMASH CUT:
- QUICK CUT:
- FADE TO:
- FADE OUT (never at the end of the script)
Writing Tip: The only time to use a Transition in a spec script is if it's integral to telling the story. The point is, unless we become quite skilled in screenwriting don't use these things unless absolutely necessary, because the director of the film will probably think of something different.
How to write a Script and needed strategies to succeed
Here are a few easy steps to get we started as a script writer.
1. Get our story straight. Come up with lots of ideas of what is want to happen in the play or movie and create the premise and purpose of that story, What are the circumstances and what are the goals of the stories and main characters involved?
2. Our characters will drive the action on the stage or screen, so we make them interesting and innovative. Find our own method and work with it.
3. Create an outline or treatment. Before we begin actually writing dialogue and script, create a basic roadmap of what will happen in our story.
4. Maintain our own style. Remember, scripts are all about action and dialogue. Make sure our characters speak realistically, and try not to mix styles of speech and vocabulary.
5. Ensure that different characters have their own 'voice' based on their background, which will affect their word choices and dialect. This will stop our characters blending into one another.
6. Set the scene. To include important details such as time of day, setting, and actions of the characters in the scene. These are nearly as important as the dialogue that occurs.
7. Format our writing. Skip lines between one character speaking and a different one speaking, especially if we're handwriting it.
8. Edit our self. Continually revise our writing, and, if possible, show the script to a friend or adviser who has writing experience and can critique and improve the script as needed.
Alternative Method
1. Have a marketable storyline.
2. Pace ourself.
3. Have fun!
4. Edit.
5. Revise.
6. Revise again.
7. Revise and test it on trustworthy people.
8 . Copyright it.
9. Register with the Writer's Guild because if we don't, our work will be considered unsolicited and they won't even bother reading it.
10. Do our homework.
11. Get an agent, a manager, or an entertainment lawyer before you send it.
12. If we'd rather skip the middle men, make sure our work is up to par with industry standards.
13. Never give up.
14. Respect the craft.
15. Tell great stories, and have fun with it and . Play the script
Tips
Write INT when the scene is inside and EXT when it's outside.
Characters names are always written in capital letters. When recognizing the speaker, the name should be either above or on the left side of the lines.
Stage direction/other direction is written in Italics. Note that this is only for stage plays not in screen plays .
Words that should be stressed or said more clearly are written in bold or underlined.
Our script should have a cover page. It should clearly show the title of the play, the author of the play, and the approximate length of the play..
Before pitching our screenplay, we'll want to get electronic proof-of-creation. We can do this online.
We also may want to invest in some sort of script writing program, such as Final Draft.
We may want to attend a scriptwriting class, which will give us helpful hints on the nuances of writing a full script, especially things such as plot development, character development, and dialogue.
When we are ready, we may want to use one of the film industry's online scouting services, to get our story and screenplay reviewed by industry executives in a protected platform of exposure
If we would like to have our script performed on stage or screen, we will need to contact an agent who can help us send it to the necessary people (producers and directors). It is often a long and demanding process to get a script accepted, so be patient.
Try it with a friend so we can get a new perspective on the story. They might have some ideas too.
Make sure and make a plot line before we begin to write your script.
All scripts should contain conflict, progression and status changes, otherwise it will be uninteresting to read or watch.
Make sure the story makes sense and flows with the rest of our film.
Things we’ll Need
- Scriptwriting programs such as Final Draft, or Microsoft word or a similar text editor, or a pencil or pen and paper
- Decent amount of knowledge on the subject you're writing about
- Imagination
- Creativity
National Film Award for Best Screenplay
The National Film Award (Silver Lotus Award) for Best Screenplay winners:
Year
|
Screenwriter
|
Film
|
Language
|
2010
|
P. F. Mathews and Harikrishna (Best Original Screenplay)
Gopal Krishan Pai and Girish Kasaravalli (Best Adapted Screenplay) Pandiraj (Best Dialogue) |
Kutty Srank
Kanasemba Kudureyaneri Pasanga |
Malayalam
Kannada Tamil |
2009
|
Sachin Kundalkar
|
Gandha
|
Marathi
|
2008
|
Feroz Abbas Khan
|
Gandhi, My Father
|
Hindi
|
2007
|
Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra
|
Lage Raho Munna Bhai
|
Hindi
|
2006
|
Prakash Jha, Manoj Tyagi and Shridhar Raghavan
|
Apaharan
|
Hindi
|
2005
|
Manoj Tyagi and Nina Arora
|
Page 3
|
Hindi
|
2004
|
Gautam Ghose
|
Abar Aranye
|
Bengali
|
2003
|
Aparna Sen
|
Mr. and Mrs. Iyer
|
English
|
2002
|
Neelakanta
|
Show
|
Telugu
|
2001
|
Bharathiraja
|
Kadal Pookkal
|
Tamil
|
2000
|
Madampu Kunjukuttan
|
Karunam
|
Malayalam
|
1999
|
Ashok Mishra
|
Samar
|
Hindi
|
1998
|
Rituparno Ghosh
|
Dahan
|
Bengali
|
1997
|
Agathiyan
|
Kadhal Kottai
|
Tamil
|
1996
|
Saeed Akhtar Mirza and Ashok Mishra
|
Naseem
|
Hindi
|
1995
|
M.T. Vasudevan Nair
|
Parinayam
|
Malayalam
|
1994
|
Satyajit Ray
|
Uttoran
|
Bengali
|
1993
|
M.T. Vasudevan Nair
|
Sadayam
|
Malayalam
|
1992
|
M.T. Vasudevan Nair
|
Kadavu
|
Malayalam
|
1991
|
K.S. Sethu Madhavan
|
Marupakkam
|
Tamil
|
1990
|
M.T. Vasudevan Nair
|
Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha
|
Malayalam
|
1989
|
Arundhati Roy
|
In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones
|
English
|
1988
|
Adoor Gopalakrishnan
|
Anantharam
|
Malayalam
|
1987
|
Budhdhadeb Dasgupta
|
Phera
|
Bengali
|
1986
|
Bhabendra Nath Saikia
|
Agni Snaan
|
Assamese
|
1985
|
Adoor Gopalakrishnan
|
Mukhamukham
|
Malayalam
|
1984
|
G V Iyer
|
Adi Shankaracharya
|
Sanskrit
|
1983
|
Mrinal Sen
|
Kharij
|
Bengali
|
1982
|
K. Balachander
|
Thanneer Thanneer
|
Tamil
|
1981
|
Mrinal Sen
|
Akaler Sandhane
|
Bengali
|
1980
|
Sai Paranjpye
|
Sparsh
|
Hindi
|
1979
|
T.S. Ranga and T.S. Nagabharana
|
Grahana
|
Kannada
|
1978
|
Satyadev Dubey, Shyam Benegal and Girish Karnad
|
Bhumika
|
Hindi
|
1977
|
Vijay Tendulkar
|
Manthan
|
Hindi
|
1976
|
No award
|
-
|
-
|
1975
|
Satyajit Ray
|
Sonar Kella
|
Bengali
|
1974
|
Mrinal Sen and Ashish Burman
|
Padatik
|
Bengali
|
1973
|
Gulzar
|
Koshish
|
Hindi
|
1972
|
Tapan Sinha
|
Ekhonee
|
Bengali
|
1971
|
Satyajit Ray
|
Pratidwandi
|
Bengali
|
1970
|
Puttanna Kanagal
|
Gejje Pooje
|
Kannada
|
1969
|
Pandit Anand Kumar
|
Anokhi Raat
|
Hindi
|
1968
|
S. L. Puram Sadanandan
|
Agni Puthri
|
Malayalam
|
1967
|
Satyajit Ray
|
Nayak
|
Bengali
|
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