Back to the 12 Principles of animation
A script has many components but we'll go over the basics to get you started with writing your first award winning screenplay. That said we are not teaching you how to construct your ideas for said 'award winning screenplay' but rather basic script terminology and formatting. let's begin:
What font should I use for my script?
Well, it is important that the font you use has consitent spacing and the industry standard font has just that. Courier is the font of choice and used at a point size of 12.
Why is Courier font the standard?
'If yuh nuh noe wha a typewrita be' then you don't need to know, but seeing that you are here to learn; Courier is actually styled after the print that comes from a typewriter and yes a typewriter is what we old folk 'did use fi type story bak inna di day' so that's the reason.
What is the correct margin spacing for my script?
If you want to stick with boring industry standard specifications that will more than likely help you to keep your job, then here's a bit of mathematics:
- Top and Bottom margins should be 1 inch
- Left margin should be 1 1/2 inches
- Right margin should be 1 inch
Why is the left margin .5 inches more than the rest?
Firstly, you don't need to know everything, 'yuh 2 fass'. Secondly 'you haffi lef space fi the hole punch fi bore di hole if yuh plan fi print di skrip'
Fortunately, most modern script writing software does the formating for you, the above info. is if you feel adventurous and want to prove to the world that notepad should be the script writing software of choice.
Now that that's out of the way, how do I structure my script?
In general the format is as follows:
- Scene Heading
- Action
- Character/s
- Dialogue
- Parentheticals
of course you can tweak it, don't feel as if we're telling you what to do and how to do it, afterall it's your script...
Lets break it down so that we can digest it all properly.
SCENE HEADING
The scene heading is also called a slugline. It lets us the audience know where the scene is taking place and the time of day the scene is set in. Example:
INT. HALF WAY TREE TRANSPORT CENTRE - MORNING
This let's the audience know that the scene is taking place inside; represented by 'INT' which is short for interior, at the Half Way Tree Transport Center and it's morning time. Please also note that the scene heading is written in ALL CAPS. Scene headings should always be CAPITALIZED.
Here's another example:
EXT. JAMPRO HEADQUARTERS- EVENING
This is telling us that the scene is taking place at the JAMPRO HEADQUARTERS in the evening. 'EXT' short for exterior tells us that we are outside and not inside the headquarters.
But what if you wanted to be an overachiever and show how much you know about geography?
Well... 'mek we show off wi direkshanal skills'
EXT. JAMPRO HEADQUARTERS - ROOM 21 - EVENING
I really don't know how JAMPRRO offices are set up or even if they have a room 21 but 'wi ago werk wid it'
So you would write your headings this way if you have a lot of scenes in the same location and you want to differentiate between each location within the same place.
Now that you undersatand how to write your scene headings, let's move on.
ACTION
This is the scene description. This is used to describe what a character is doing in a scene and pretty much anything else the audience can see on the screen. Here's something very important to remember, action lines are ALWAYS written in the PRESENT TENSE. 'Hunnu hear dat?' alright, good.
Here's an example:
Emancipation park is crowded or The Prime Minister sits in his chair. See, present tense. It really helps if you were paying attention English class... I know I wasn't...
We know that Jamaicans like to go above and beyond and show how talented they are, so, when writing your action lines for your script you can underline, capitalize or even italicize certain words or phrase to add some emphasis. Here's an example;
The audience APPLAUDS the dj
I think you have a good grasp of how to format your action lines so we are going to move on.
CHARACTER
This refers to the actors in the scene. Characters are introduced in the 'ACTION'. Whenever a new character is introduced, their name must be written in ALL CAPS. This includes minor or ancillary characters even if they have no line of dialogue. 'Memba mi seh when dem get introduced, not after'. The only exeption to this is when the actors are part of the action. Example, you write a scene where a horse jumps over a whole bunch of people on the street. In this case the people are not characters but a part of the action so there's no need for capitalization. Here's an example;
JOHN is 18 years of age with dark brown eyes and blue hair. John is also a ladies man.
Let's move on to the next thing on our list.
DIALOGUE
Dialogue refers to whenever the character speaks and this also applies to voiceovers. Dialogue should sit at the center of the page and if you were paying attention in class earlier when we spoke about margin spacing, then you already know this means it's also one inch from the left margin. Whenever a character is speaking their name should be in ALL CAPS, a line above the dialogue. Let's backtrack a bit; remember when I said this line 'Memba mi seh when dem get introduced, not after'. You were paying attention so I know you do, well this is referring to when the character is just introduced in the ACTION so if their name pops up in the ACTION therafter it would not be capitalized. When writing their DIALOGUE however and identifying who is speaking, that's when we go ALL CAPS. Here's an example;
JOHN
I feel like running, skipping and praising the Lord
If John wasn't speaking with us seeing him in the scene but instead doing a voice over, then it would be written as:
JOHN (V.O.)
I feel like running, skipping and praising the Lord
If the dialogue is moving from one page to the next then you can add 'CONT'D) short for 'continued' next to the characters name, example;
JOHN (CONT'D)
For what He has done for me
'All right, so wi gudd wid dat' Let's move on to:-
PARENTHETICALS
This one is simple. Parentheticals are used to add a break or pause between two lines, providing an adjective that suggests tone. We are just full of examples today, so here's one:
BEVERLEY
(mischievously)
Hey look, a carrot is using it's wings to fly through the sky
We've come to the end and I hope you found this informative. Please do not forget to thank us when you are collecting your Academy Award for best original screenplay. Just kidding! You don't have to :) Seriously don't forget... We know where you live :)
