TIPS FOR SCREENPLAYS
Please note (points 1-4 are specifically for GCSE students):
1) The slug line tells us whether the location is inside (INT) or outside (EXT), DAY or NIGHT.
2) Screen directions are in the present tense without camera directions!
3) Scene directions are in bold capital letters for GCSE, but lower case for 'A' level. The font is courier 12 point.
4) Character names are capitalised.
5) Use wide margins and a single column format.
6) Number pages in top right of header.
7) In bottom right, 'mf' indicates that 'more follows'.
8) On final page, centre 'Ends' instead of 'mf'.
9) Centre your title on first page in capitals.
10) Always start with 'FADE IN:' on the left of the first page, below the title.
11) Write the scene number (unless submitting to USA) at start of slug line and repeat the number on far right of page.
12) If a scene continues over a page, then in bottom right type (CONT:). On the next page, write CONT.
13) Only use a maximum of a couple of lines to describe what can be seen about character, whose name should only be capitalised initially.
14) Essential camera directions should appear in capital letters in the scene descriptor/
15) Edit instructions should appear on the right of the page in capital letters, followed by a colon (e.g. DISSOLVE TO:)
EXEMPLARS
SCREENPLAY FOR BACCHUS DJ (GCSE FORMAT)
SCENE 1
FADE IN:
INT. CAR - DAY
TWO TWENTY-SOMETHING MEN ARE IN THE FRONT SEATS OF A CAR. THE ONE IN THE PASSENGER SEAT HAS A CAT ON HIS LAP.
JULES
We left it too long. Look at him now!
(LUMPS OF FUR FLOAT IN THE AIR AS CAR DRIVES UP A STEEP SLOPE. THEY PASS A HAZARD ROAD SIGN WITH AN EXCLAMATION MARK.)
JULES
I'm choking on his fur.
I can't hold him. Step on it!
I can't hold him. Step on it!
(SOUND OF REVVING ACCELERATOR MAKES THE CAT HURTLE TO THE BACK OF THE CAR. JULES TIGHTLY GRIPS PASSENGER SEAT AND COUGHS.)
JULES
I've got a mouthful of cat's hair.
FRANK
You said I should put my foot on it.
JULES
If you'd hurried up…
(FRANK SUDDENLY APPLIES THE BRAKES AND BOTH PASSENGERS LUNGE FORWARDS, BUT SAFETY BELTS STOP THEM HITTING THE WINDSCREEN. THE CAT SLIDES FORWARD, FALLING DOWN ONTO THE BACK SEATS.)
(FRANK SUDDENLY APPLIES THE BRAKES AND BOTH PASSENGERS LUNGE FORWARDS, BUT SAFETY BELTS STOP THEM HITTING THE WINDSCREEN. THE CAT SLIDES FORWARD, FALLING DOWN ONTO THE BACK SEATS.)
SCREENPLAY FOR BACCHUS DJ ('A' LEVEL FORMAT)
2. EXT. STREET. DAY. 2.
The car heads towards a large house. A sign on the front door reads 'Bacchus Mafia House'. JULES opens the passenger door and staggers out of the car. He examines the walls.
The car heads towards a large house. A sign on the front door reads 'Bacchus Mafia House'. JULES opens the passenger door and staggers out of the car. He examines the walls.
JULES
(whispering)
Look, if we use this ledge, I can hurl the cat into the wookie's room.
(whispering)
Look, if we use this ledge, I can hurl the cat into the wookie's room.
3. INT. BEDROOM. DAY 3.
CHEWY lays in bed next to DORIS. The two long-haired blondes have the duvet pulled over their faces. 'The Lady In Red' by Chris DeBurgh plays on a 1980s-style radio. A coat hanger with a kilt and sporran hangs on the bedroom door.
DISSOLVE TO:
4. EXT. STREET. DAY. 4.
Jules looks up at a window. The curtains flutter in the window. Muted strains of the 'The Lady In Red' can be heard.
JULES
(whispering)
(whispering)
Wait a minute. (to Frank) You get on the ledge. I hand you the cat. And you throw it in.
5. INT/EXT. CAR WINDOW. DAY.
Frank picks cat hairs off his suede jacket. The cat looks alarmed.
(CONT:)
