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Rules of Screenplay You Should Know

Writer's picture: Qasim khan Productions Qasim khan Productions

Updated: Aug 18, 2020




Everything has it’s on way to be done in order to be correctly done. While film making, in general, allows one to bend the rules once they have mastered it, the screenplay is different. The screenplay has it’s on a format that needs to be followed many people just tend to think it is limited to character’s name and dialogues, but it is way more than that. There are a lot of small details that need to be kept in mind in order to do it the right way.

Are you wondering why does it even matter?

When you follow the format, you make it easier for potential producers to read and follow your script. It will make it consistent and that means it will make it easier for the reader to follow and visualize your vision. Not only this but it will let the filmmakers know you take your work seriously and are familiar with industry-standard, all in all, it is really for your benefit so read along and know your steps!

Let’s start from the basics,

Slug Line

A slug line is a very short information of where the scene is based. The location to be exact, it doesn’t have to be a country or city it is more like, is it based in café or library, a house or open park? The location is divided into two categories which are indoor and outdoor. In scriptwriting terms, we refer to indoor as “EXT” which is basically exterior and indoor is referred to as “INT” which means Interior.


Once you ate done writing EXT or INT, the next part of slug line is to write the location (Tip: You may add country/ City if it is significant to the storyline). Don’t forget to add the time period the scene will take place in.

Your slug line should look something like this: e.g. INT. Library – Day

If you are moving from one place to another in the same scene you should make use of a subheading.



Action

This part is like the heart of your script, here you are supposed to list what is happening in the scene, a description of things that are taking place. A great description will put clear images in the reader's head, of what is happening in the scene. There are some clear things about writing a description you should keep in mind, always write the action in present tense and When you are introducing a new character make sure you make use of capital letters.

So how do you write a good description?

1) Create an atmosphere, describe not how something looks but how it should make us feel.


2) Convey character, can you sum up their personality/attitude in a few words?


3) Location appearance, What does the space in which your scene takes place to look and feel like?

Now comes the part you’ve been waiting for.



Character!


Yes, you mention the character after the action description. A pro tip is always have something between your slug line and action. In this part, you write the name of the character. The names have to be written in the middle and in capital letter. It is simple! But there are two things to help you with this.

1) Add (O.S) To character speaking off-screen but is physically present (Invisible to audience eye)

2) V.O for Voice over when the character is not physically present in the scene

As easy as this and you’re good to go!

Dialogue


Your action and dialogue are very important, this is what makes the final visual product look good. Just like the character name dialogue will be placed in the middle. If your character has a specific way of speaking, write the dialogue in that way, if the character is doing something while speaking than add details to what the character is doing when speaking the dialogue with the use of parentheticals.




Why parentheticals?


These are things written in parentheses, with left side margin which helps differentiate from the dialogue, it is a very basic description of the action the character is doing.

This is how you do it.

CHARACTER

(Chewing loudly)

Get out of my room!

Our journey ends here, this is a guide for a beginner scriptwriter. All these steps are very important for making your script look professional and more readable to others. Here are some bonus things to keep in mind


  • Use 12-point Courier font size

  • The 1.5-inch margin on the left of the page

  • The 1-inch margin on the right of the page

  • Have around 55 lines on each page

  • The dialogue block starts 2.5 (1.5 from the margin) inches from the left side of the page

  • Lastly, Pages should be numbered in the top right corner


Get started, All the best!

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