Film Script Draft Due!

Your film script draft is due today by the end of class. Groups: help your writers accomplish this task. The director, actors, editor and producer can assist by suggesting lines of dialogue or suggesting camera shots, and details for the setting.

NOTE: writers! Consider limiting the # of actors you might need. A large cast is difficult to manage, schedule, and organize. You are not making a million dollar blockbuster here--this is just a school project.

Your script draft should be around 4-7 pages (with scripts no longer than 10 pages in length). Your film script drafts should have a definite beginning, middle, and end and tell a simple story. You do not have the length or time in this project to make your story too long or epic. Be reasonable.

I do expect your script to be written and turned in using proper script format. Apart from the handouts you should have analyzed, copious videos you should have watched, and the script sample I asked you to read for homework, and the link to the side of this blog (see film script format to your right), the following advice may be helpful:

Headings are CAPITALIZED in UPPERCASE and left justified:

1. Master scene headings include:
a) Camera location - EXT. (exterior or outside) or INT. (interior or inside)
b) Scene location (LOCAL RACE TRACK)
c) Time (DAY or NIGHT). NOTE: the day/night information is for the director of photography to decide which lens to use, and for the lighting designer to determine how much light is necessary for the scene. Some night shots in film are actually shot during the day (and vice versa)!
2. Secondary scene heading
3. “Special headings” for things such as montages, dream sequences, flashbacks, flash forwards, etc. are indicated in the heading.
4. Camera shots (camera shots MAY be noted in the heading, but are not required. In shooting scripts this becomes more important. The # of the shot and scene are also indicated in the heading line in shooting scripts. You are not writing a shooting script.

Narrative Description is left justified but not uppercase. It includes description of:

1. Action
2. Character and settings (what we see visually)
3. Sounds (including specific music or sound effect cues--diagetic and nondiagetic)
4. PROPS and CHARACTER names are CAPITALIZED within the narrative description. This helps actors and technicians find important information.

Dialogue:

1. The name of the character speaking appears at 2.5", in CAPS. (That's 5 tabs in!)
2. The actors' direction is separated by parenthesis and indented on its own line at 2". Try to avoid these as much as possible. Both the director and actor appreciate the writer letting them do their job. Keep adverbs short and succinct, if you must use them.
3. The speech. Is generally 1" in (2 tabs) or 1.5" (3 tabs) and blocked together (all aligned)

Camera Shot Abbreviations:

• CU (close up)
• LS (long shot)
• XCU (extreme close up), XLS (extreme long shot)
• FS (Full shot)
• Medium shots are default, so don't bother specifying them.
• MCU (medium close up; shot shoulder-to-head)
• WS (Wide shot)
• Establishing shot (sets up setting)
• Master shot (a shot indicating that the scene is shot over again from different camera positions so that there are various shots for editors to use)
• 2-S, 3-S (2 shot or 3 shot)
• OS (over-the-shoulder shot)

Film Editing Terms:

• Cut to (used as a clean transition from one scene to another)
• Dissolve (one scene image dissolves into another to indicate juxtaposition or comparison)
• Fade In/Fade Out (a slower transition than cut to:)
• Fade to (fade to black is default, often used to indicate the end of the film or a major act/scene; fade to white indicates transcendence or death)

Special Terms:

• POV (point of view)
• EXT (exterior)
• INT (interior)
• VO (voice over)
• SFX (special effects)

HOMEWORK: If you did not complete your draft today and turn it in on time, please complete the draft as homework and turn in late. Points will be deducted, of course.