You get hired as a writer or a director.
Your job as a writer is to write outlines upon outlines and write dialogue after dialogue on how the project will turn out.
You go through this thing called the SCRIPT
And you see how the formatting is.
Character dialogue is on the center while the actions or what the scene is about is to the left while camera cuts are to the right.
Why this format?
Because my hunch is that it's easiest to understand for many a writer and director if the 3 basic elements which are
SCENE DESCRIPTION,
DIALOGUE,
&
CAMERA CUTS
Are given their own separation in accordance to how things are plotted out.
I first dipped my feet into this back when I attended this Film Program in the Summer of 2012 called SUMMER VISIONS where I decided to type a screenplay just to get a feel for it.
I had to learn the basics on how a screenplay turns out and it came back to me as somehow confusing but the more I looked at it, the more I suddenly understood how the writing system works for screenplays.
Keep in mind that I live in NORTH AMERICA so I use the USA format for screenplays which are typed and printed in the standard 8.5' x 11" which are typically held by two brass brads in the top and bottom punched holes.
I've also noticed in my research that when it comes to writing a screenplay, the way each screenplay corresponds to each production can vary from production to production.
For example,
A Feature Film Screenplay is that it's ANYTHING GOES due to how long a film usually runs for.
A television Screenplay, while roughly the same as a feature film's screenplay, has what is referred to as ACT BREAKS which I guess are due to things like WIDE-ANGLE Camera Cuts & AD breaks whenever a show airs on TV.
Another thing that sets aside the TV Screenplay is the use of Multiple Cameras
from which the same scene can be shot with more than one camera without having to resort to filming the scene multiple times just with the same camera in a different angle.
But how to translate that into screenplay before the actual production?
Let this image I found on GOOGLE IMAGES do the talking:
One of the things that I find fascinating about the Screenplay format is that it's easiest to understand if you know the 3 BASIC ELEMENTS:
SCENE DESCRIPTION,
CHARACTER DIALOGUE,
& CAMERA CUTS.
I know I'm sounding like a broken record but what I'm gonna explain is a much more thorough explanation of these basic elements:
SCENE DESCRIPTION:
This is to describe what the setting of the scene is susposed to look like:
Scene Description in a Screenplay is different.
It's more like an establishing shot or a camera cut to a new setting.
Ever scene something like this as highlighted in this example?
That's to tell the director and the artists what the scene is susposed to look like as well as the time of day that it's taking place in.
In this case with this screenplay, the scene is taking place inside some kid's room and it's in the DUSK HOURS before a big party commences.
Next of course, we have dialogue
"ACK!!! THAT'S A LOAD OF BULL!!!"
That's right.....
The line of dialogue you see and hear our characters speak are actually written on the screenplay and it's there that the dialogue is what the actors will be saying......(to an extent which I'll explain later.)
Let this screenshot example do all the talking:
In this case,
Character's Names are listed with a number to indicate the order they're speaking during the scene.
And the dialogue is put underneath the character's name for ease of reading.
I don't care what JOHN K. said in 2007 when it comes to formatting in Screenplay but..... writers hav
all of us writers have championed the system where DIALOGUE is always at the center to ease the directors and junior writers.
Also, any dialogue segments of each scene are always going to be formatted in the center of the documents due to it be easier to read for many people in the writing field.
Sometimes however, there are parts of the screenplay that are dramatically different from the written script vs the final FULL MOTION PRODUCT.
For example: THE 1999 DISNEY'S DOUG episode DOUG PLAYS CUPID has elements of the screenplay which are dramatically different compared to how the actual episode plays out.
I happen to have PRINT SCREEN captures of the screenplay I found on ARCHIVE.ORG which I can compare to my AVERMEDIA Capture of the episode as seen on DISNEY+ because I demand screenshots without those infernal NETWORK BUGS on the corner regardless if it's from Disney or Paramount+Skydance.
For example, let's use the scene where after DOUG Cross-dresses to help ROGER score a date with BEEBE, DOUG gets a nasty Surprise:
I've noticed how different this scene is on the screenplay.
And one character has a much different name compared to the final product.
Now let's use my screenshots to compare that scene, since I don't want to truncate my AVERMEDIA Captures for COPYRIGHT purposes.
""Uh Oh!
"It's Mary-Anne Pinefresh. She doesn't have a date for the hoedown yet!"
"What if she invites me!
I gotta stay free for Patti!!!!"
"Not to be insulting FUNNIE, but I don't think you have much to worry ab....."
"BOOOOUUuuuuuttttttt!!!!"
And this was not the first time I noticed differences in screenplay vs. Final Output.
I first found out in 2010 when I was browsing some SIMPSONS Season 1 DVD bonus and it's where I discovered that some episodes screenplay differed compared to how the dialogue is in the final episode.
But I also discovered that when it comes to Voice acting, the screenplay really isn't given to the actors unless it's through a table read.
When they actually perform their dialogue on the microphone, they actually get a different sheet of paper that's dedicated to only their own character's dialogue.
It all depends if the actor reads these lines on the right of this document in verbatim or they just read and memorize it.
Or at times, they ADLIB dialogue that wasn't in the script but the director likes it so much that they keep it in anyway.
Homer's Iconic I AM SO SMRT line is an
actual ADLIB from DAN CASTELLANETA
Oh and I almost forgot before I get too ahead of myself:
SCENE ANGLES.
This is to determine how a scene will look in different angles when shot.....
While in Live Action, certain scenes can be in any angle until the editor chooses one angle for each scene when he/she is working on AVID MEDIA COMPOSER.
There are some scenes however that only one scene can be used for certain shots and some scenes are no exception.
For example,
a shot of someone's computer like NEWTON CROSBY's MACINTOSH PLUS as seen here from this screenshot from SHORT CIRCUIT(1986)
That can only be one angle as we need to see what's on the screen and multiple angles aren't gonna cut it. Just either left or right but in order to utilize that, you need to understand proper screen direction.
In this case, the scene that follows the one above is this example below:
Maintaining screen direction isn't mentioned in the screenplay but it's something you need to be reminded about when you shoot one scene and you cut to a different scene.
In today's era of digital, it's just a matter of cycling through your completed scenes stored on the SD CARD or external Hard Drive just to remind yourself of how it looks but I have a hunch that in the days of film which it takes a long time to develop the negatives for the dailies, another camera that is shot on videotape was used to assist the filmmaker or someone instead takes notes of how the camera angle is on one shot.
Most of what I mentioned about cycling back to your old footage is mostly to help assist those who are doing pickups for certain scenes when filmmakers have to go back and shoot additional footage.
Oh and one last thing that I forgot to mention that's also mentioned in the script:
That's right. Sound Effects.
It's up to the foley artists, sound technicians, etc. to determine the sounds but some scenes like this have to be specific about what sounds should be used, especially if it's pivotal for the scene at large.
This has to be my most SERIOUS blogpost I've done but then again, If I type something about topics like screenplays, then it has to be a seriously professional topic.
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