Richard Stephens Ely: Choreographer, screenwriter and theatre director in Madrid, Spain.

I am somewhat confused about the right way to place SUPERIMPOSE.

Should SUPERIMPOSE: "xxxxxxxxxxx" be placed after the scene heading or after the first action description. 

I have researched this online and in the formatting books I have but get conflicting opinions on this. 

In the end, probably not all that important but I would like to get it right.

Thanks.

Hi Robert. Thanks for requesting to be added to my network. It is always nice to be connected with someone from my neck of the woods. I was born in Normal, IL and raised in Decatur. I also lived some of my happiest times in Chicago while I was in the Chicago Opera Ballet. But that was years and years ago. If you look at my bio, you will see that I now live in a small (very small) village in the central part of Spain.

Being retired, I now have time to spend time doing what I want and that is writing scripts. I am past thinking I can break into the industry but I get a lot of satisfaction from writing.

At present I am working on a first draft of a script based on the life story of one of my life-long friends. You can see what it is about if you look at the logline I have uploaded on here. I have four other scripts on the back burner that I hope to finish as spec scripts. One of them is about Robert Allerton of Monticello fame.

In any case, nice to know you and if I can be of any use to you, let me know.

Good to meet new people. Hi from Spain.

I have a montage with VO dialogue under it. Do I put the VO before or after the shots? example: (I know the spacing is wrong but that's what happened with a copy/paste from FD!) MONTAGE- JOHNNY LEAVES HOME AND JOINS THE ARMY Title: 1958 a) Johnny drives past a highway sign: HOUSTON b) Johnny with his girlfriend Nancy. c) Johnny works at a soda fountain. d) Johnny and a friend in front of an Army enlistment office. A poster in the windows promotes the "Buddy Plan". They enter. e) Johnny engaged in a serious conversation with Nancy. She looks shocked and confused. He embarrassed. She cries. They embrace. f) Johnny in his uniform in basic training. JOHNNY(V.O.) (over montage) It was 1958. I graduated high school and left home for Houston and my girlfriend Nancy. Got a room and a job. After two months, I broke up with her. I loved her but men attracted me more than she did. I joined the Army with my buddy John Cokin.

Hi all. I am Richard Stephens and, at present, a wannabe scriptwriter. I say wannabe because I am retired and living in a very small village in the center of Spain faaaaaar away from movie action. So basically I am writing scripts for the challenge and hoping to get a grip on the craft. My background is pretty varied. I started my professional life as a dancer studying classical ballet at the American Ballet School in NYC. I then branched into musical comedy and went on to become a choreographer. In 1964 I relocated to Spain. At age 35, I did an about face and opened a restaurant as the chef/owner in Madrid. I had a really successful run there until I sold out in 2004 to retire. During years I worked as a script translator in Spain before deciding to try it myself. I have one finished comedy short in Spanish. I write mainly in English and have three semi-completed draft scripts on the back burner. At present, I am working on biopic based on the memoirs of a life-long friend. That is turning into a huge challenge for me because of digging out drama and conflict using real facts. It's easier when you can make things up!!! I joined this group for the networking possibilities. Being able to ask working pros for advice is definitely a great deal. I am happy to collaborate with anyone who thinks my experiences could be of help.

Hi all. I am working on a script that involves the deaf parents of the protagonist. The father is totally deaf and dumb. The mother became deaf as a teenager so can speak but cannot hear. Here is what I would like to know (preferably from a reader's point of view) regarding format: Should I include a note to the reader at the start indicating this situation and say that all dialog in italics needs to be with subtitles because of it? Or just put in parenthesis "signing" every time someone communicates in sign language? The first option seems like it could get lost in the shuffle during reading and the second option could get to be repetitive and tiresome. Thanks for any help on this.

I recently joined this site and have a question about it. I posted a query on the screenwriting lounge and got some great feedback. I would now like to review some of them as further reference but can't find a way to locate them. I have looked on the help page but there is nothing relative to my question. I was hoping there was somewhere to see my posts but that doesn't seem to be feature of the site. Does anyone know how to retrieve previous postings? Thanks.

Hi all. I am new to this site but not to screenwriting. I have churned out a few now but something new has cropped up. A close friend of mine has written an autobio based on lifelong correspondence with another person. It is a great read and I am in the process of developing it into a script. I am not really stuck but would like some feedback about translating "letters" into action. I am rewatching "Vincent and Theo" after having read all the Van Gogh letters that I can find. But some friendly input would be helpful. Thanks.

Hi Richard. I'm RB, Founder and CEO of Stage 32. As a screenwriter, producer, actor and filmmaker, I know first-hand the challenges all creatives face finding work, landing representation, launching projects, securing funding and simply making the connections that will make a difference in their careers. That's why I created Stage 32. Since our launch in September of 2011, the community has grown to 1,000,000+ members representing every country on the planet making Stage 32 the social network uniquely populated with the most creative people on Earth.

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RB

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Hello Richard -

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