A screenplay or script is a written plan, authored by a screenwriter, for a film or television program. Screenwriters or scenarists are Scriptwriters who write the Screenplays from which Films and Television programs are made A television program (US television programme (UK or television show (U Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing works such as novels. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story
The major components of a screenplay are action and dialogue, with the "action" being "what we see happening" and "dialogue" being "what we hear" (i. e. , what the characters utter). The characters, when first introduced in the screenplay, may also be described visually. Screenplays differ from traditional literature conventions in ways described below; however, screenplays may not involve emotion-related descriptions and other aspects of the story that are, in fact, visual within the end-product.
Screenplays in print are highly formal, conforming to font and margin specifications designed to cause one page of screenplay to correspond to approximately one minute of action on screen; thus screen directions and descriptions of location are designed to occupy less vertical space than dialogue, and various technical directions, such as settings and camera indication are set apart from the text with capital letters and/or indentation. Professional screenplays are always printed in 12-point Courier, or another fixed-width font that appears like typewriter type. Courier is a monospaced Slab serif typeface designed to resemble the output from a strike-on typewriter A typewriter is a mechanical or Electromechanical device with a set of "keys" that when pressed cause characters to be printed on a medium
In the United States, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has final control on whom may be awarded screenwriting credit for a screenplay in a union production. The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions The Writers Guild of America East (WGAE representing In the United States, Screenwriting credit for motion pictures and television programs under its jurisdiction is determined by either the Writers Guild of A trade union or labour union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages hours and working conditions forming The WGA is one of several organizations in the U. S. and worldwide which recognize screenplays with awards.
A script for television is sometimes called a teleplay. A teleplay is a drama which is Telecast using many of the same constraints as a theater piece (limited Scenery, cast Special effects)
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Writing on spec or assignment
Screenplays can be written either on "spec" (speculative) or as assignment ("Commissioned"). The Variety language dictionary defines "spec script" as "a script shopped or sold on the open market, as opposed to one commissioned by a studio or production company. "
Writing on assignment
Assignments are commissioned by production companies or studios on the basis of pitches from producers or writers, or literary properties they already own. Most established writers do most of their work on assignment and will only "spec" scripts which they think no-one will pay them to write, or if they cannot find assignment work.
There are exceptions: some very famous writers only write on spec because they know that they can get a better price for their work this way. Other writers spec scripts that they care deeply about so that they do not have to bend to the whims of executives and producers.
An assignment may be for an original screenplay, or for an adapted screenplay based on another work such as a novel, film, short story, comic book, magazine article or, increasingly, video game. It may also, however, be for a rewrite of an existing script, and in fact this is how a large proportion of writers in the modern studio system make their living. Rewriting scripts is an art in itself and an extremely lucrative one at that: it is not unknown for trusted writers in the higher echelons of the industry to receive $200,000 a week (2004 numbers) for their efforts. $50,000 per week is not uncommon.
Rewriting is difficult because executives often have very clear ideas about what is wrong with a script; however, they are usually unable to provide detailed prescriptions for ways it can be fixed. This is not surprising, because screenwriting is not the expertise of the executive, but of the screenwriter. The writer is therefore usually expected to come up with a detailed prescription for how the script can be improved, and then execute this in a timely fashion. During the process of choosing a writer to rewrite a script the executives may ask several writers for their 'take' and choose the one who appears to have the greatest likelihood of moving the script forward to the point where it may be greenlit for production.
Before 'going to script' a writer may be asked to write a treatment, an outline, or a step outline describing the script in various granularities of detail. A film treatment (or treatment for short is a piece of prose typically the step between scene cards ( Index cards and the first draft of a Screenplay for An outline is a hierarchical way to display related items of text to graphically depict their relationships A step outline is a detailed telling of a story intended to be turned into a Screenplay for a Motion picture. Some writers resist this process and will do anything to avoid it and get down the writing the script itself; others embrace the process and even deliver fairly elaborate treatments, the so-called scriptments. A scriptment is a treatment of a film or a TV show that is more elaborate than a standard draft treatment. It is fair to say that producers tend to be wary of the former and pleasantly surprised by the latter.
Spec scripts
Many Spec scripts (short for speculative) are written independently by screenwriters in hopes of optioning and eventually outright selling them to producers or studios. A spec script is a "speculative" Screenplay, one that the Variety Slanguage Dictionary defines as being "shopped or Other spec scripts are written by writer-directors who plan to direct the film themselves. Many so-called "art films" fall into this latter category, whereas the former category tends to be filled with "high concept" scripts - mostly action or comedy, to which a star or A-list director can be attached. An Art film (also called an “art cinema” “art movie” or in the U High concept, in Film or art in general is a term used to refer to a succinctly stated premise describing the overall idea of production in just a few sentences or less However, most of the hundreds of thousands of specialty scripts penned each year are written by unknowns who are trying to attract attention and find it difficult to generate the kind of “buzz” that more established scribes count on to sell their scripts.
The development process
Once a studio has purchased or commissioned a script, it goes through the process of revisions and rewriting until all stakeholders are satisfied and ready to proceed. It is not uncommon for a script to go through many, many drafts on its journey to production. Very few scripts improve steadily with each draft, and when a certain avenue has been exhausted the writer will often be replaced and another brought in to do a rewrite.
Occasionally it becomes impossible to satisfy all such parties, and the project enters development hell. "Development hell" is media-industry Jargon for a Film, Television Screenplay, Computer program, Concept, or
If a studio decides it does not wish to proceed to production with the script, the project enters 'turnaround'. Another studio may purchase the script from its original owner, but the script is encumbered with the development costs the studio has already incurred. At a certain point, it may simply be uneconomic for anyone to purchase the script, even if it is a very good one. This goes part of the way to explaining why some of the best scripts in Hollywood remain unproduced.
The shooting script
Once a script has been approved for production, camera directions and notes may be inserted by the Director, and each scene is assigned a number to provide a convenient way for the various production departments to reference individual scenes. Shooting Script is a First person narrative Novel by English author Gavin Lyall, first published in 1966. When a scene is omitted, its number is retained labeled with "OMITTED", so that it won't be assigned to any newly added scenes.
When the shooting script is distributed, its pages are locked, meaning that any subsequent revisions will apply to the first set of revision pages. When revisions are distributed, the pages are swapped into the outstanding drafts, and the script is once again locked. The process is repeated for each new round of revisions.
Each round of revisions is distributed on different colored paper. The progression of colors varies from one production to the next. Since rewrites often continue throughout principal photography, most shooting scripts evolve into a rainbow of pages.
Transcripts
A screenplay is different from a transcript. A transcript is simply a copy of what dialogue finally appeared onscreen, without regard to the original script, the stage directions or action. A full post-production transcript may also include descriptions of the action on-screen, but since it is generally not written by a professional writer but either a production assistant or a fan, it may not be particularly entertaining to read.
Many published screenplays available at booksellers or downloaded from the internet are in fact glorified post-production transcripts rather than shooting scripts. Transcripts and screenplays often differ radically because scenes are frequently re-ordered or dropped entirely during the editing process. Moreover, actors may change lines or simply improvise dialog, and many directors will make their own changes to the script on the fly during rehearsal or shooting.
It can be extremely revealing to compare a shooting script with the film as finally distributed.
Screenwriting software
Detailed computer programs are designed specifically for screenplays, and many have templates for teleplays and stageplays. Screenwriting Software applications are Word processors specialized to the task of writing Screenplays. These programs have been designed to create industry standard screenplays and are used by professional screenwriters. What should be remembered is that all such software is an aid in the formatting of a screenplay and not the actual creation of it. A number of these programs offer access to online screenwriter communities where feedback from fellow screenwriters is available. Some examples of screenwriting software are: Celtx, DreamaScript, Final Draft & Montage. Celtx is free Screenwriting software for writing and formatting a Screenplay to meet the screenplay submission standards set by the theater and film industries Montage is Screenwriting software developed for Mac OS X. Montage allows the creation editing and management of screenplays on Macintosh computers Screenwriting software is also becoming available as web applications, accessible from any computer, and on mobile devices, for writing anywhere. In Software engineering, a web application or webapp is an application that is accessed via Web browser over a network such as the Internet A mobile device (also known as cellphone device, handheld device, handheld computer, "Palmtop" or simply handheld) is a pocket-sized
See also
- Screenwriter's salary
- Screenwriting
- Storyboard
- List of motion picture-related topics
- Guide to Literary Agents
- Writer's Digest
- Act structure (Film)
- Dreams on Spec
- closet screenplay
References
- David Trottier (1998). A typical writer's deal usually comprises Option: Monies paid in exchange for the right (the "option" to produce -- and therefore to purchase outright -- a See also Pre-production Screenplay Screenwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for Film, Television or Video games See also Pre-production Storyboards are graphic organizers such as a series of Illustrations or Images displayed in sequence for the purpose of This is a list of Film -related topics National cinemas | glossary | Lists Guide to Literary Agents ( GLA) is a book that compiles hundreds of listings for Literary agents and writers' conferences Writer's Digest is an American magazine devoted to both beginning and established Writers offering Interviews market listings calls for Manuscripts Dreams on Spec is an American Documentary film that profiles the struggles and triumphs of emerging Hollywood Screenwriters. A closet drama is a play that is not intended to be performed onstage but read by a solitary reader or sometimes out loud in a small group perhaps in a small room called The Screenwriter's Bible: A Complete Guide to Writing, Formatting, and Selling Your Script. Silman-James Press. ISBN 1-879505-44-4. - Paperback
- Yves Lavandier (2005). Yves Lavandier (Born April 2, 1959) is a French filmmaker Biography Yves Lavandier was born on April 2 1959 Writing Drama, A Comprehensive Guide for Playwrights and Scritpwriters. Writing Drama (French La dramaturgie is a treatise by French writer and filmmaker Yves Lavandier, originally published in 1994 revised in 1997 2004 and 2008 Le Clown & l'Enfant. ISBN 2-910606-04-X. - Paperback
- Judith H. Haag, Hillis R. Cole (1980). The Complete Guide to Standard Script Formats: The Screenplay. CMC Publishing. ISBN 0-929583-00-0. - Paperback
- Jami Bernard (1995). Quentin Tarantino: The Man and His Movies. Quentin Jerome Tarantino (born March 27, 1963) is an Academy Award - BAFTA Award - and Palme d'Or -winning Emmy - and HarperCollins publishers. ISBN 0-002556-44-8. - Paperback
External links
- Screenplays at the Open Directory Project
- AMPAS screenplay formatting
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