Avoiding a Dozen Deadly Formatting Mistakes
FAQs about Ten Things and Deadly Mistakes
Spec Scripts vs. Production Drafts
The four building blocks of single-camera film format
Margins and fonts for single-camera film format
Standard single-camera film format margins
Are script pages printed on one side of the page or two?
The five parts of a shot heading
How to arrange the information in a shot heading
How to decide what information to include in shot headings
How to decide when to create a new shot heading
What NOT to include in a shot heading
Formatting specialized sequences
Flashbacks and dream sequences
Ending a flashback or dream sequence
Capitalizing McDonald’s and DeVries in shot headings
Breaking a page after a shot heading
Spacing between shots and scenes
A rogues’ gallery of nonstandard shot headings
Breaking a page in the middle of direction
Introducing a speaking character
How to handle the reintroduction of a speaking character who appears at various ages
Describing sound effects and offscreen sounds
The expressions “into frame,” “out of frame,” “into view” and “out of view”
A handful of exceptions to prove the rule
Capitalizing the first letter of direction following a shot heading
What NOT to capitalize: EVERYTHING ELSE
Breaking words with a hyphen in direction
Text messages and instant messages
Changing a character’s name over dialogue
Capitalizing McDonald’s and DeVries over dialogue
V.O. and O.S.: When we don’t see the person talking
Using “voice” instead of V.O. and O.S.
Grammar, accents and colloquial speech
Initials and acronyms in dialogue
Breaking words with a hyphen in dialogue
Parenthetical character direction
Five rules of parenthetical character direction
Foreign language dialogue and subtitles
Breaking a page in the middle of dialogue
Adding (cont’d), (CONT’D) or (continuing) when a speech is broken by direction
Double, triple and quadruple dialogue
Margins for simultaneous dialogue
Breaking a page at a transition
Punctuation and capitalization in direct address
The Evolution of a Script from First Draft to Production Draft
CONTINUEDs at the tops and bottoms of pages
Deleting material from revised pages
Managing page numbers when a script is revised
Title pages distributed with revisions
Name(s) and credit of the writer(s)
When a script is based on other material or on a true story
Standard multi-camera film format margins
Underscoring character entrances and exits
Using (CONT’D) when dialogue continues after an interruption
Parenthetical character direction
First pages of subsequent acts
Breaking before a scene transition
Unleashing the Power of Script Typing Software
Flash forward to the wireless future
Do-it-yourself software solutions
Don’t let the autopilot fly you into the ground
When to change the file version number
Search and Destroy: The Scourge of Typos and the Power of Proofreading
Appendix A: Single-camera film format sample script pages
Appendix B: Multi-camera film format sample script pages