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Showing posts from January, 2016

Screenplay page format and elements of Screen play

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Sample Screenplay Page There is no hard and fast rule for how to format montages in screenplays. As with all formatting, the goal is to express what’s happening on screen as clearly and simply as possible, without breaking up the flow of the screenplay or taking your reader out of the script. A screenplay is a 90-120 page document written in Courier 12 pt font on 8 1/2" x 11" bright white three-hole punched paper.  Why Courier font is used?  It's a timing issue. One formatted script page in Courier font equals roughly one minute of screen time. That's why the average page count of a screenplay should come in between 90 and 120 pages. Comedies tend to be on the shorter side (90 pages, or 1 ½ hours) while Dramas run longer (120 pages, or 2 hours). A screenplay can be an original piece, or based on a true story or previously written piece, like a novel, stage play or newspaper article. A screenplay is a blueprint for the film.  Professionals on the set inc

Sequence

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The screenplay is comprised of a series of elements that can be compared to a system, a number of individually related parts arranged to form a unity, or whole:  Like the solar system.   A screenplay is really a system of sorts, comprised of specific parts that are related and unified by action, character, and dramatic premise.  The screenplay, as a system, is made up of specific elements:  end­ings, beginnings, scenes, Plot Points, shots, special effects, locations, music, and sequences. The sequence is perhaps the most important element of the screenplay.  A sequence:   A sequence is a series of scenes connected by one single idea with a definite beginning, middle, and end. It is a unit, or block, of dramatic action unified by one single idea. It is the skeleton, or backbone, of your script and, like the nature of structure itself, holds everything together.   like  a chase sequence, wedding sequence, party sequence, fight sequence, love sequence, storm sequence.