A Brief Introduction to Writing
Screenplays in Three Parts
•Production
•The Screenplay
•Terminology and Conventions
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Writing for Film: Roles in Production and Screenplay Terminology, Summaries of Performing Arts
An introduction to writing screenplays in three parts: production, the screenplay, and terminology. It covers various occupations in film production, such as producer, director, editor, cinematographer, writer, script supervisor, and Foley artist. It also explains the importance of the Writer's Guild of America and discusses the roles and responsibilities of each position. Additionally, it introduces the concept of a screenplay, its format, and common terms used in filmmaking.
Typology: Summaries
2020/2021
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A Brief Introduction to Writing
Screenplays in Three Parts
- (^) Production
- (^) The Screenplay
- (^) Terminology and Conventions
Production
Occupations
• Producer
- (^) The chief of a movie production in all matters save the creative efforts of the director. A producer is responsible for raising funding, hiring key personnel, and arranging for distributors.
• Actor
- (^) A person who plays the role of a character. Historically, the term “Actor'' referred exclusively to males, but in modern times the term is used for both genders.
- (^) Director
- (^) The principal creative artist on a movie set. A director is usually (but not always) the driving artistic source behind the filming process and communicates to actors the way that he/she would like a particular scene played. A director's duties might also include casting, script editing, shot selection, shot composition, and editing. Typically, a director has complete artistic control over all aspects of the movie, but it is not uncommon for the director to be bound by agreements with either a producer or a studio. In some large productions, a director will delegate less important scenes to a second unit.
- (^) Editor
- (^) A person who performs editing, reconstructing the sequence of events in a movie, usually in consultation with the director on a movie. This term usually refers to someone who does visual editing.
- (^) Cinematographer
- (^) A person with expertise in the art of capturing images either electronically or on film stock through the application of visual recording devices and the selection and arrangement of lighting. The chief cinematographer for a movie is called the director of photography.
- (^) Key Grip
- (^) The chief of a group of grips, often doubling for a construction coordinator and a backup for the camera crew. Key grips work closely with the gaffer.
- (^) Gaffer, or Chief Lighting Technician
- (^) The head of the electrical department. In Early Modern English, this term meant "old man."
- (^) Script Supervisor
- (^) A person who tracks which parts have been filmed, how the filmed scenes deviated from the script; they also make continuity notes, creating a lined script.
- (^) Foley
- (^) The art of recreating incidental sound effects (such as footsteps) in synchronization with the visual component of a movie. Named after an early practitioner. Foley artists sometimes use bizarre objects and methods to achieve sound effects, e.g. snapping celery to mimic bones being broken. The sounds are often exaggerated for extra effect--fight sequences are almost always accompanied by loud foley-added thuds and slaps.
- (^) Extra
- (^) A person who appears in a movie where a non-specific, non-speaking character is required, usually as part of a crowd or in the background of a scene. Extras are often recruited from wherever they are available.
- (^) Dailies or Rushes
- (^) The first positive prints made from the negatives photographed on the previous day. During filming, the director and some actors may view these dailies as an indication of how the filming and the actors' performances are progressing.
- (^) Lock it down
- (^) A direction given by the assistant director for everyone on the set to be quiet. It is called just prior to “speed.”
- (^) Safe Area
- (^) A camera's viewfinder actually shows (and records on film stock) a greater area of the scene than will appear in the final product. Markings are etched in the viewfinder to indicate to the camera operator the extents of the "viewable" film (called the live area). An area beyond that (called the safe area) is also marked; it is in this area that the production sound mixer might direct the boom operator to place the boom microphone.
- (^) Scene
- (^) A continuous block of storytelling either set in a single location or following a particular character. The end of a scene is typically marked by a change in location, style, or time.
- (^) Take
- (^) A single continuous recorded performance of a scene. A director typically orders takes to continue until he or she is satisfied that all of his or her requirements for the scene have been made, be they technical or artistic. A continuity report stores the status of each take. Of the ones that don't contain obvious errors, the director will order some to be printed.
- (^) Wrap or Windup, Wind
- (^) To finish shooting, either for the day or the entire production.
The Screenplay
- (^) Script
- (^) A general term for a written work detailing story, setting, and dialogue. A script may take the form of a screenplay, shooting script, lined script, continuity script, or a spec script. A script is often sold for a particular price, which is increased to a second price if the script is produced as a movie. For example, a sale may be described as "$100,000 against $250,000". In this case, the writer is paid $100,000 up front, and another $150,000 when the movie is produced.
- (^) Continuity Script, or Continuity Report
- (^) A detailed list of the events that occurred during the filming of a scene. Typically recorded are production and crew identification, camera settings, environmental conditions, the status of each take, and exact details of the action that occurs. By recording all possible sources of variation, the report helps cut down continuity error between shots or even during reshooting.
- (^) Spec Script
- (^) A script written before any agreement has been entered into ("on spec" or speculation), in hopes of selling the script to the highest bidder once it has been completed.
- (^) Treatment
- (^) An abridged script, it is longer than a synopsis. It consists of a summary of each major scene of a proposed movie and descriptions of the significant characters and may even include snippets of dialogue. While a complete script is around 100 pages, a treatment is closer to 10.
- (^) Synopsis
- (^) A summary of the major plot points and characters of a script, generally in a page or two.
Formatting a Screenplay, continued
- (^) Screenwriters do not, in general, have to worry about camera angles when writing. The directors will read the script or screenplay and then decide how to film it.
- (^) Screenwriters need only introduce the scenes by stating whether the scene takes place inside (INT.) or outside (EXT.), where specifically it take place, and when (usually either DAY or NIGHT). These scenic cues start at the left margin.
Formatting a Screenplay, continued
- (^) After introducing the scene’s location, double-space and then give a description of characters or places can follow. This should not be more than a few lines long. This begins at the left margin, as well.
- (^) Characters’ names are capitalized in the description as they are introduced.
- (^) Once characters speak, their names, all capitalized, followed by their dialogue, is centered on the page.