Screenwriting : Story Sense Screenwriting Format Guide by Linda Hullinger

Thanks!

Some weeks ago I made a question about this. Thanks for sharing it.

Well this is pretty cool. Thanks for sharing it Linda.

That’s a nice, concise summary of the basic script format and if you’re new to screenwriting, I suggest you print out a copy. There are a few good books on format out there – my personal favorite is Dave Trottier’s The Screenwriter’s Bible – he updates it every now and again so it’s always pretty current.

Jim, Roberto, and Richard, you're welcome. Glad you find it helpful. :-) Doug, I, too, like The Screenwriter's Bible and have a hardcopy, but, my oldest son (who is also a writer) was using my office at the time, so I just googled 'how to write a phone conversation in a screenplay' and found that listing. I've actually been writing screenplays for quite some time, but had never included a phone conversation before so I located a script that had one and saw INTERCUTS and wanted to see how that worked. :-)

Thank you for sharing this!

You can avoid placing (in to phone) on every character dialogue by typing... INTERCUT PHONE CONVERSATION JACK/JILL That way everyone knows the are both on the phone. Also for one sided phone conversations... JACK Hello?... Yes, I know what I said... I did't mean... Okay, okay! Avoid using parentheticals as they increase your page count.

You're welcome, Anne. :-)

And thank you, Marvin. I was unclear about the (in to phone) part. Thanks so much!

Very welcome. You're all free to DM me with any formatting questions you might have. ;-)

I'd also disagree with the suggested page limits (100-120). Many great scripts are in the 90-page range. Still Alice and The End of the Tour are even in the high 80's. On the flipside, Mike Leigh's Another Year is 155 pages, and is probably 90% dialogue. Talk about breaking zee rulezzz.

Bill – I think you’re drifting a little off topic here. The question is a “how to” format a particular scene – not “how long” should your script be. But since you brought it up: The producer needs to be assured that the film is cost effective to produce and is magnetic enough to hold an audience for the duration. Contemporary marketing statistics indicate that the current audience can be sustained for about 90 minutes; kids movies a little less. There are an awful lot of variables that impact production costs (FX, exotic locations, exotic props, stunts…) but generally I know what it costs to produce a single page of script so by knowing the page count, I have a very rough approximation of the costs (they will be fined tuned as various departments have their say.) Basically, I can’t sell a 60 minute FL film nor can I sell a 2+ hour film but I can sell a 90 minute film (depending on the production costs.) There are exceptions and if you have the bankroll, you can do whatever you want.

Doug - Seems like Hollywood has thrown "Contemporary Marketing Stats" out the window with Marvel/DC etc.

Doug - the page range I cited was in the StorySense "How To" PDF on page 2. I don't think a "100-page minimum" is a very good guideline.

Marvin – Au contraire, the movie making business is very much bound by contemporary market statistics which is why you see what you see on those dinky suburban multiplex screens. Sad eh? Bill – That 100 page mark as a target; not a minimum or a maximum. Remember that there are no rules but there are guidelines that the wise writer pays attention to. (My advice; don’t start arguments at your first pitch meeting.)

Doug - I was being sarcastic...

Very true Dan. One thing I constantly harp on to new writers is “write tight!” A script is not your high school English essay. Try to hold action blocks to 3 lines or less. Replace every “and” with a comma. Use no adverbs – find a stronger verb. Stay in present tense. I practice what I teach (and it seems to work pretty good). I’ll bet I can cut what I just posted in half.