An analysis of the scriptwriting formats.

1. Chaz Zalesinski
Scriptwriting Format Conventions
During the pre-production stage of different mediums, a script is a crucial piece required for
the success of the product, whether it be to sell the initial idea or to assist during
production. In this essay I will take a look at four different types of scripts and analyse their
differences and similarities in an effort to showcase the reasons for their distinctive
features.
Master Scene Script (Spec Script)
A master scene script is a writer’s initial way of selling a story to a given investor, meaning
that this type of script focuses less on the technical side of things (like editing techniques or
camera angles) and takes a bigger interest in the story itself, which is what is being sold at
this stage of the process. A master scene script is limited to a slugline (circled in green) a
narrative description (circled in red), and text blocks (circled in yellow). Looking at an
example of this in an actual master scene script, I have decided to use the script for
‘Deadpool’ as an example, as seen below:
Looking at the example above, we can see a basic layout of a master scene script, limited in
technical details but describing the story just as effectively. Looking at its components, we
see firstly the slugline. The slugline sets the scene in a very basic fashion, summarising
whether the scene is in an interior or exterior, specifying the place that the scene is set in,
and then specifying the time of day (not precisely but rather by ‘dusk’ or in this case
‘morning’).
Next is the narrative description which, as seen above, isn’t detailed in its description either,
but is descriptive enough to convey the main idea to the reader and sell the scene, setting it
up on their mind and continuing the narrative.
Finally, within the core set of components are the text blocks, which convey any spoken
word produced by the characters in the story. These are written in sentence case and may
sometimes feature certain additions to convey extra ideas, like ‘Wrylies’ which are
occasionally (though quite rarely) used to show that a character says something in a
particular fashion, i.e. “aggressively” or “shyly.” Another kind of extra specification that
could be added to a text block is the specification of whether the character is on-screen or
not. If they are speaking off screen, this will be specified with an (O.S.) and if the given

2. Chaz Zalesinski
speech is a voice-over, this will be specified with a (V.O.), both of which would be placed
next to the name of the character that is speaking.
With regards to the overall formatting of a master scene script, it is always written in size 12
‘Courier’ font, and sluglines and character names are always written in capitals while text is
written in sentence case. Another important detail regarding the formatting of a master
scene script is the headers and footers of each page. More specifically, whenever a scene
continues onto the next page, (CONTINUED) will be written in the bottom right corner of the
first page, and (CONT.) will be written in the top left corner on the following page. These
formatting choices allow for the reader to run through the script more smoothly, without an
extensive technical knowledge on film production.
The overall presentation of a master scene script, regarding its formatting and its specific
features, causes the script to be effective in what it is trying to do. The purpose of a master
scene script is not to be used during the filming stage, but rather to sell the writer’s story to
an investor, hence there is no need for an excessive amount of technical terms (like editing
techniques or camera angle information) to be used within this type of script, which we can
see in effect within its text as it retains focus on its story and does not flood the reader with
technical terms, which would definitely not be appealing to them at this stage of the
commissioning process. This causes the script to be more effective in its overall purpose, in
the end deeming it adequately formatted and appropriately presented.
Shooting Script
After taking a more in-depth look at a spec script in the previous section of this essay, taking
a look at a shooting script shows that there are not many major differences with regards to
the script’s formatting.
Much like the spec script, the shooting script is written in size 12 Courier font and features
sluglines, narrative descriptions and text blocks, however it may feature some additional
information on top of what has already been provided within the spec script. The main
difference between the spec and shooting scripts is the fact that a spec script is used for
selling the story to an investor after its initial conceptualisation, whereas a shooting script is
used within the actual production stage of a project and may feature any additional details
that are requested by the director to help with the production of a film. These details may
include things like camera angles, specification of mise-en-scene and editing techniques but
are definitely not limited to the three.
The purpose of a shooting script is to appropriately convey the way a story needs to be
presented regarding technical aspects of the production. This script can also go through
several revisions if necessary, and any changes made are always printed on coloured paper
in order to help the cast and crew differentiate between the original idea and the revised
copy of a certain section of the shooting script.
Regarding the overall effectiveness of the shooting script in what it is trying to do, looking at
the way it is presented in order to do so, I would conclude overall that the shooting script
looks and feels perfect for what it is designed to do. The script features all of the
information that it is supposed to feature considering everyone that will be using it, mainly
the director and the other cast and crew as apposed to only the investors when reading a
spec script of a production, and is formatted in a way that makes it both look professional
and makes it easy to read, therefore allowing for easy use and improving its overall
effectiveness.

3. Chaz Zalesinski
Radio Script
After looking at two scripts that are more focused on the visual medium, it is also wise to
take into consideration scripts that would be used within a medium that is more focused on
sound, in this case, radio scripts.
Again, radio scripts feature much of the same formatting that can be seen in the majority of
scripts within any medium, regarding its font and its size, as well as including some of the
previously discussed features of a script, however in this case the focus is mostly on the
speech that the given characters are delivering, with more specific notice taken towards
how each line should be delivered.
These specifications include: (D) when a character is required to speak through a source
distorting their speech i.e. a telephone, (OFF) when a character is required to speak away
from the microphone (the radio equivalent of ‘of-screen’ as seen on the previously analysed
scripts), (LOW) when a character is required to speak quietly and almost in a whisper,
(CLOSE) whenever a character is required to speak close to the microphone (a good example
of this can be found within the ever-growing ASMR community online, which is famous for
individuals speaking close to a microphone to produce an intimate feeling within their
speech) and (V.O.) to indicate that a character is performing a voice-over, often over other
dialogue, music or sounds.
The prevalent purpose of a radio script is to convey the way a line must be spoken in a given
scene to the actors, in order to ensure the most authentic experience for the listener. In
doing so, the focus of a radio script should be primarily focused on the text blocks present
within the script, and this is exactly the case, which helps to ensure that the script is
effective at achieving its purpose, deeming it effective overall in the long run and with
effects that can be seen in the final product.
Video Game Scripts
The previous examples that I have considered within this essay all had one thing in common:
they were all limited to their one set narrative. However, this is often not the case when it
comes to gaming scripts, which often feature branching narratives and interactive worlds,
allowing for players to have some control over the story that they create, which means that
video game scripts receive a slightly different treatment.
A video game script is separated into two parts: the flowchart and the script itself. Firstly,
we will consider the flowchart. The flowchart contains every decision and the results that it
yields within the game’s narrative, using boxes and arrows with options like ‘yes’ and ‘no’,
or ‘left’ and ‘right’ to determine what the player’s choice is, and which direction this takes
them in narrative-wise. This flowchart helps the writers to map out everything that can
possibly happen within the game and the choices that it offers, which then allows for easier
narrative writing in the next stage as well as improving the production rate. Once the
flowchart is complete, the second part of the script is produced.
As all of the choices that are within the game have been planned out, the writers can then
move on to writing the script for the different outcomes that may come about as a result of
the player’s choices. This part of the video game script is structured more similarly to the
previously discussed scripts, with text blocks outlining character interactions and other such
elements performing their parts. This part of the video game script varies in length and time

4. Chaz Zalesinski
needed to finish depending on the number of different outcomes that are created due to
the different branching narratives, meaning that extreme precision and a great deal of
planning is required for this part of the script.
Overall, it can be said that a video game script possibly requires the most attention and time
to fully and properly develop, as writers are no longer dealing with just one narrative but
with multiple narratives with multiple options leading to more different narratives.
However, looking at the way that it is formatted I can conclude that in the end, a video
game script will likely be effective at handling all of these different narratives as its
formatting will allow for easy organisation, which will then lead on to an easier production
process later down the line.
Conclusion
After taking a look at four different types of scripts, I believe it can be said that I have
proved that the formatting and specific components of each script allow it to be as effective
in it purpose as possible. The spec script is only designed for the investors to read to sell the
writer’s narrative, meaning that it features minimal technical terms and so conveys the
narrative more precisely. The shooting script is designed to help during the production stage
and so may feature the director’s nots and other technical specifications such as editing
techniques to help the rest of the cast and crew during the production. A radio script is
focused mainly on the audio, meaning it will feature more technical considerations
regarding the text blocks within the script. Finally, a video game script is designed to handle
multiple narratives, and so is split into two parts, one responsible for mapping out the
narrative options, and the other for expanding upon the story itself using the options as a
course for the player as the consequences of their choices. The specific features of each
script make it unique for what it does, and allow it to be effective with regards to its
individual purpose.