The Ultimate Screenwriting Guide: What is a script?

 What Exactly Is a Script? 

A script is a document that outlines every aural, visual, behavioral, and lingual element required to tell a story. Why "outlines"? Because film is a highly collaborative medium and the director, cast, editor, and production crew will, based on your "outline", interpret your story their way when it is filmed. They may consult you, or they may not. Other writers may be brought in or you may be asked to re-write the entire thing. That's life, in the world of screenwriting. But because so many people are involved in the making of a film, a script must conform to standards that all involved parties understand and thus has a specific format or layout, margins, notation, and other conventions. This document is intended to overview the typical elements used screenplay writing. 

It is crucial to remember that film is a visual medium. You don't tell your audience your story, you show them. You must learn to write a screenplay visually. Write what they will see and what they will hear. You might love your characters and know what they are thinking, but the discipline of screenplay writing is how to show it on a screen. When it happens, it may be just done with a look, often improvised on the movie set. So just write the pictures, sounds, and speeches, and leave the rest for the filmmakers. 

What Makes Good Story? 
Let's hazard a guess. The movies you loved most featured characters that swept you up, who captivated your emotions, got you involved. The audience viewing a movie not only wants to be interested in and care about the people they see on the screen, they want to be passionate about them, whether they like them or not. Great heroes and heroines inspire us; great villains make us want to jump into the screen! 

There is always something at stake in a good movie. Not just something someone wants, something that must be acquired, no matter what the risk, as in 'Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark'. Or something highly desired by as many main characters as possible, like the small black statue in 'The Maltese Falcon'. Some times it can be an intangible thing, like the freedom of a people in 'Lawrence of Arabia' or 'Gandhi'. All these things drive the character's quest, even gives the hero superhuman strength. It can be something personal (romance) or for the good of all (saving the world from aliens) but it must be powerful and grow more desperate as the story unfolds. 

There are always obstacles, which provide that catchword that actors love so much - conflict. This is the heart of drama. Someone wants something and people and things keep getting in the way of them achieving the goal. At times, the obstacles can be common to both the hero and villain, and the ultimate goal a laudable one for both parties, as in 'Jingle All The Way.' In that film, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad battle to achieve the same goal - the acquisition of the last popular action figure for sale that Christmas season. Both of them have promised their son, and they must not fail. Conflict and obstacles can be physical or emotional. But they have to be in your story or you don't really have a story. In most good stories, the protagonist will also have an inner obstacle, some mental or even spiritual problem, that will be resolved by the time s/he reaches the outward, physical goal of the story. Some people call this inner demon a "ghost," while others call in a "wound." 

You need a hook. That's a songwriting term that describes that thing that catches the public's attention. A popular Hollywood term is a "high concept." A better idea might be a simple "What if?" In 'Galaxy Quest', for example, the concept is "What if the washed-up actors from the crew of a cancelled but still popular sci-fi TV show are pressed into a real war in space by aliens who think the TV show broadcasts they received were documentaries?" A good enough "what if?" will set your script apart from the pack. It is why people will leave the comfort of their homes and plunk down their hard-earned cash at the local cinema. 

Hollywood buys genres. Agents, managers, and producers are drawn to and specialise in specific genres so approaching them with something they can recognise is a good idea. Successful stories have a fresh face but are identifiable. You know what makes your idea unique, but can you describe it quickly to others? Is it a fast-paced thriller, romantic comedy, action adventure? 

Scripts have to look a certain way. I can't stress this point enough. You must present your work like an insider. The sheer volume of submissions makes it so that if anything about your script looks strange it's headed for the circular file. If you don't know the game they won't play. The scriptwriter has to adhere to conventions covering everything from how many pages to what font (Courier, 12 pt), and that's just the beginning. I recommend you follow those rules, unless you're independently wealthy and plan to finance, produce, and direct your movie. Even then, however, the people you'll need to work with will be accustomed to standard formats.

Styles, Submission
and Shootin

Script Styles 
Below is a listing of the most common script formats in use today. This document will be dealing with Feature Film/Television Movie of the Week which are very similar but the others are distinctly different. Their attributes complement the needs of production distinct to the medium, the working style of the actors, and production personnel: 

In this document: 
Screenplay / Feature Film 
Television Movie of the Week 

Not addressed: 
Stage Plays and Musicals 
Sitcoms (3-camera, 1-camera, tape and film) 
Soap Operas/Daytime Television 
Audio/Visual Scripts/Dual Column 
Multimedia 

Scriptwriters for any of the above formats will present their work in either of the two variants below depending on whether they are trying to sell their work or have sold it and are working in the production part of the process. 

Submission Scripts 
AKA a Spec Script. This is a script written without being commissioned or bought, on the speculative hope that it will be sold. This overview will favor the philosophies of spec script writing which is to say, 'stay out of the way of the collaborative process'! The do's and don'ts you'll see here will reflect this philosophy. 

Shooting Scripts 
Once a script is purchased, it often goes through a series of rewrites before it is put into production. Once that happens, the script becomes a 'Shooting Script' or Production Script. All the scenes and shots of a shooting script are numbered and each scene and shot are broken down into all the component pieces required to film it. The production assistants and director can then arrange the order in which the scenes will be shot for the most efficient use of stage, cast, and location resources. 

Since feature screenplay format is the most popular form of script today, we will begin by exploring that layout. Later, we'll discuss the other formats, building on what we've discovered here. 

A general comment about script formatting: Although a certain format has become more and more standardized in recent years, there isn't one way, one set of margins, one style. There is a range of correctness. All the software program formats and measurements fall within this range.

Spec Screenplay Page Properties The Rules: Screenplays are traditionally written on 8 1/2" x 11" white 3-hole punched paper. A page number appears in the upper right hand corner (in the header). No page number is printed on the first page. The type style used is the Courier 12 font. The top and bottom margins are between .5" and 1". The left margin is between 1.2" and 1.6". The right margin is between .5" and 1". 

The extra inch of white space on the left of a script page allows for binding with brads, yet still imparts a feeling of vertical balance of the text on the page. 

The Courier 12 font is used for timing purposes. One script page in Courier 12 roughly averages 1 minute of onscreen film time. Experienced readers can detect a long script by merely weighing the stack of paper in their hand.

  Script Length 

The average feature screenplay, traditionally, is between 95 and 125 pages long. In Hollywood these days scripts generally don't run longer than 114 pages. Comedy scripts are typically shorter, dramas longer. There are, naturally, variations. You could be writing an action-packed film where your description takes only 10 seconds to read, but will take 45 seconds of film time. 

Here's an example:

Cpl. Owens sheds his pack and picks up the machine gun. He runs from doorway to doorway, dodging enemy fire while shooting back, until he reaches the church bell tower.

 Writing Tip: 

If you had a script full of scenes like this, you could come up with a short script in total pages... but that doesn't mean when it is filmed it would be short. By the same token, another writer could write the same scene and have it take up half a page. It just depends on the writing style of the individual writer.  

125 page scripts are considered on the long side for a screenplay. Length is a very important component of the script. When you turn in a script to a producer, the very first thing s/he will do is fan through the pages and look at the last page to see how long it is. It doesn't matter if you've written the most incredible screenplay ever, if it's too long they may refuse to read it. 

The Industry's aversion to long scripts is due to economic considerations. Films under two hours mean more showings per day in a theater, which means more revenue for the exhibitor, distributor, filmmaker, and possibly even you, the screenwriter. 

When you realise your script is long and have to start cutting your work, keep in mind that if a scene can be removed and the story continues to work, that scene wasn't necessary. Every scene should not only move the story along to its conclusion; it should be an integral part of the path to the climax.