Correct Screenplay Formatting
Why is it important?
Presenting work that has a professional appearance is crucial. In the rabidly competitive world of film-making, a poorly or sloppily presented script can be rejected out of hand simply on appearance. Readers may assume, with some justification, that if you can’t be bothered to master screenwriting conventions, you’re not worth the investment of time required to give your script proper consideration.
And investment is the key word here. Filmmaking is an expensive business and money people tend to be deeply conservative. If you put on a tie to ask your bank manager for a loan, think how much more of a commitment is needed to finance even the most modest project. Unless you have a proven track record, you ignore convention at your peril.
Most scriptwriting conventions, it’s true, hark back to the days when writers bashed out their work on battered Remingtons and certain rules may strike you as outdated. Why, for example, is it considered necessary to use a monospaced type face like Courier or Prestige Elite when most of us now work on computers?
The answer lies in the fact that these conventions have evolved with the history of the film industry into a shared and established “language” (in the case above: use of the right typeface ensures each page equals a minute of screen-time.) A script in production draws on the considerable experience of professionals who are part of that history. You need to communicate with them in terms they understand.
TYPOGRAPHIC CONVENTIONS
The best way to learn these is to get a copy of a professional film script. Reading a few will quickly show you that the rules aren’t completely rigid; writers will bend them when they need to. Nevertheless, there is an accepted “industry standard” which the novice would be wise to master.
Here is a condensed description of correct Screenplay Format adapted from Michael Hauge’s book “Writing Screenplays That Sell” (Elm Tree Books):
Outer Margins should be indented 1 inch from the Right, and 1 & half inches from the Left Edge of the Paper.
Text begins 1″ from Top of Page, ends 1″ from Bottom.
Page Number is placed a half inch from the Top, 1″ from Right.
Scene Heading : ALL CAPS; starts at Left Margin. Double Spacing between Scene Heading and Action/Description.
Action/Description format goes to the Outer Margins. Single or Double spaced between paragraphs; Double spacing between Action/Description and a Character Name.
Dialogue : indented 3″ from Left, 2″ from Right. Double spacing between Dialogue and the next Character Name.
Character Names : ALL CAPS; indented 4″ from Left. Single space between a Character’s Name and following Dialogue.
Bracketed Acting Directions are centred under the Character’s Name. Single spaced before and after.
If you find this dauntingly complex, you needn’t become depressed or anxious about it. The good news is that, if you own or work on a computer, you can largely automate most of this formatting. You may not even need to think about it at all!
Stylesheets – the (almost) painless solution
The key to automated screenplay formatting is the stylesheet. There is a facility built into most word processing software that allows you to save a particular bit of formatting and then apply the same formatting to another piece of text.
This saved ‘record’ is called a style. A style can include all kinds of instructions: what type to use, what size, whether it is CAPITALS or lower case, how far it is indented, line spacing etc; all the information needed to format your script. You can also set up one style to automatically follow another – for example, a dialogue style after a character name style.
A default Microsoft Word document already includes a number of default styles that are embedded (see graphic) called ‘Heading 1’, ‘Heading 2’, ‘Heading 3’ etcetera. It is easy to add to them.
Simply format some text the way you want it to look, select it and then go to the Format Menu and choose Style as an option. Then give your style a name and save it.
To use your style, select a piece of text and then apply it from the Style Menu. The text should take on the characteristics that you saved. Styles are very versatile. If you make a mistake, it is easy to tweak the style after the event. You can even base one style on another.
Three ways to use stylesheets
Method One – the D.I.Y approach
Open a new document in your favourite word processing program and, referring to the specifications above, create a document with the right margins and page settings.
Next type in a short script specimen, employing examples of each format (Scene Heading, Action/Description, Character Name, Dialogue, Parentheses, Transition). You need only do this once so make sure it is correct.
Save each of these as a style with an identifiable name and then delete the examples and save the whole document as a template. Now each time you want to write a new script, you simply open your template, type something and apply the right style to it. (With some programs, ie. Microsoft Word, you can speed up the process even further by creating custom keyboard shortcuts – read the manual to find out how)
Method Two – borrow somebody else’s
If you don’t want to go to the trouble of creating your own stylesheet, simply steal somebody else’s. You’ll find this easier if you use a well known program like MS Word.
Go to the links page on this site and visit one of the free film script web sites out there. Download a script in Word format, delete the content and save it is a template. Be sure to check beforehand that the formatting is correct.
Alternatively you can download a stylesheet I have created for Microsoft Word here. Right or Control-Click and choose “Save target as”
Method Three – invest in professional software
There are several proprietary software programs out there that are marketed to help scriptwriters. Most of them are glorified stylesheet programs with ‘bells and whistles’ added on. Some of the cheaper ones are just add-ons for well-known word processing programs so be careful to check what you’re paying for.
One industry standard at the moment is an American program called Final Draft which includes templates and stylesheets that cover every requirement. It features many automatic timesaving functions and has many clever facilities built into it — but all this comes at a price. If you can afford it, this is a worthwhile investment (especially if you’re a hardworking and prolific professional) but it’s by no means essential to achieving good results.
© David Clough 1992
David — Thank you so much for this amazing and valuable website. A million thanks. Kind regards. Fatim