A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a teleplay), or video game by screenwriters (cf. stage play). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. A screenplay is a form of narration in which the movements, actions, expressions and dialogue of the characters are described in a certain format. Visual or cinematographic cues may be given, as well as scene descriptions and scene changes.
History In the early silent era, before the turn of the 20th century, "scripts" for films in the United States were usually a synopsis of a film of around one paragraph and sometimes as short as one sentence. Shortly thereafter, as films grew in length and complexity, film scenarios (also called "treatments" or "synopses") were written to provide narrative coherence that had previously been improvised. Films such as A Trip to the Moon (1902) and The Great Train Robbery (1903) had scenarios consisting respectively of a list of scene headings or scene headings with a detailed explication of the action in each scene. At this time, scripts had yet to include individual shots or dialogue. These scenario scripts evolved into continuity scripts, which listed a number of shots within each scene, thus providing continuity to streamline the filmmaking process. While some productions, notably D. W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation (1915), were made without a script, preapproved "continuities" allowed the increasingly powerful studio executives to more accurately budget for film productions. Movie industry revolutionary Thomas H. Ince, a screenwriter himself, invented movie production by introducing an "assembly line" system of filmmaking that utilized far more detailed written materials, clearly dedicated to "separating conception from execution". Film researcher Andrew Kenneth Gay posits that, "The process of scripting for the screen did not so much emerge naturally from other literary forms such as the play script, the novel, or poetry nor to meet the artistic needs of filmmakers but developed primarily to address the manufacturing needs of industrial production." With the advent of sound film, dialogue quickly dominated scripts, with what had been specific instructions for the filmmaker initially regressed to a list of master shots. However, screenwriters soon began to add the shot-by-shot details that characterized continuities of the films of the later silent era. Casablanca (1942), is written in this style, with detailed technical instructions interwoven with dialogue. The first use of the term "screenplay" dates to this era; the term "screen play" (two words) was used as early as 1916 in the silent era to refer to the film itself, i.e. a play shown on a screen. With the end of the studio system in the 1950s and 1960s, these continuities were gradually split into a master-scene script, which includes all dialogue but only rudimentary scene descriptions and a shooting script devised by the director after a film is approved for production. While studio era productions required the explicit visual continuity and strict adherence to a budget that continuity scripts afforded, the master-scene script was more readable, which is of importance to an independent producer seeking financing for a project. By the production of Chinatown (1974), this change was complete. Andrew Kenneth Gay argues that this shift has raised the status of directors as auteurs and lowered the profile of screenwriters. However, he also notes that since the screenplay is no longer a technical document, screenwriting is more of a literary endeavour.
Format and style
The format is structured so that (as a ballpark estimate) one page equates to roughly one minute of screen time, though this often bears little resemblance to the runtime of the final production. The standard font is 12 point, 10 pitch Courier typeface. Wide margins of at least one inch are employed (usually larger for the left to accommodate hole punches). These formatting details, resulting in white space on the page, sometimes have the unintended consequence of reducing cultural specificity, which may require more detailed descriptions and thus text. The major components are action (sometimes called "screen direction") and dialogue. The action is written in the present tense and is limited to what can be heard or seen by the audience, for example descriptions of settings, character movements, or sound effects. The dialogue is the words the characters speak, and is written in a center column. Unique to the screenplay (as opposed to a stage play) is the use of slug lines. A slug line, also called a master scene heading, occurs at the start of each scene and typically contains three pieces of information: whether the scene is set inside or outside (INT. or EXT.; interior or exterior), the specific location, and the time of day. Each slug line begins a new scene. In a "shooting script" the slug lines are numbered consecutively for ease of reference.
Physical format
US American screenplays are printed single-sided on three-hole-punched paper using the standard American letter size (8.5 in × 11 in; 220 mm × 280 mm). They are then held together with two brass brads in the top and bottom hole. The middle hole is left empty as it would otherwise make it harder to quickly read the script.
UK In the United Kingdom, double-hole-punched A4 paper is normally used, which is slightly taller and narrower (210 mm × 297 mm; 8.3 in × 11.7 in) than US letter size. Some UK writers format the scripts for use in the US letter size, especially when their scripts are to be read by American producers since the pages would otherwise be cropped when printed on US paper. Because each country's standard paper size is difficult to obtain in the other country, British writers often send an electronic copy to American producers, or crop the A4 size to US letter. A British script may be bound by a single brad at the top left-hand side of the page, making flicking through the paper easier during script meetings. Screenplays are usually bound with a light card stock cover and back page, often showing the logo of the production company or agency submitting the script, covers are there to protect the script during handling which can reduce the strength of the paper. This is especially important if the script is likely to pass through the hands of several people or through the post.
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