formatting action & dialogue characters

1. INT. LECTURE HALL – DAY
Iain stands at the front of the
room, talking, while his class
sits around enraptured.
At the back of the class Russ
WRITING
SCREENPLAYS
A quick introduction to:
• Script formatting
• Understanding scenes
• Action, Dialogue & character

2. TODAY YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT
CREATIVE PLANNING FOR FILM
PRODUCTIONS.
Creative planning is perhaps the most important part of any
film production.
Without a good idea it doesn’t matter how successfully the rest
of the planning, filming and editing goes; a poorly thought out,
weak, unoriginal or derivative idea will make for a weak film.

3. CREATIVE PLANNING IS
IMPORTANT…
BUT WHAT IS IT?
Creative planning is all the planning and development we do to
flesh out our ideas, and turn them into a filmable plan. This
includes:
1. Script (or screenplay)
2. Proposal (or treatment)
3. Storyboards

4. TODAY
You will be learning about script-writing (or screen-writing).

5. BY THE END OF TODAY, YOU
• MUST understand the basic structure of a film script
• SHOULD understand the different components of a scene
• COULD understand how to develop your characters into more
believable people.

6. A QUICK REMINDER
What are the three things that make up any films concept?
1. A person
2. In a place
3. Trying to do something
If you don’t know about film concepts check out Syd Fields rule of
story concepting before you go any further. It’s the first step to a
good film script.

7. WHAT IS A SCRIPT?
Your film script is the written
version of your films story.
A script (also known as a screenplay) is a piece of creative writing which
sets out what happens in your film; where it takes place, who’s in it, what
they say.
Like any story it is written with a beginning, a middle and an end. Unlike a
novel it is written in a set format.

8. A TYPICAL SCRIPT STRUCTURE
The films narrative (or story) is broken down into 3 acts:
1. Act 1: beginning, where the characters & story are setup,
and the heroes goal is revealed.
2. Act 2: middle, where the conflict happens & people try to
stop the hero from achieving their goal.
3. Act 3: the end, where problems are resolved and the
character either succeeds or fails to achieve their goal.
In a typical single (or feature film) each act lasts roughly 30 minutes, apart from act 2 which can last up
to an hour.

9. A TYPICAL SCRIPT STRUCTURE
But how do you stop a film feeling boring
or predictable?
Well, you need plot twists of course!
At the end of each act there’s normally a
twist which moves the story forward in a
new way, throwing unexpected
challenges at our hero.

10. PLOT TWISTS? LIKE WHAT?
HOW ABOUT…
• Luke Skywalkers parents are killed by the empire!
• Obi-Wan Kenobi gets killed by Darth Vader!
• Ra’s Al Ghul is alive & burns down Wayne Manor!
• The Joker escapes custody!
• Iron Man escapes captivity and returns to America!

11. SO THE BASIC STRUCTURE
OF A FILM STORY IS…
• Beginning
• ACT 1: setup
• Plot twist
• ACT 2: conflict
• Plot twist
• ACT 3: resolution
• ending

12. SO HOW DO WE ACTUALLY
WRITE EACH ACT?
Each act is made up of lots of connected scenes (which we call a sequence).
A scene is a part of the story that is set in a specific place, at a specific time,
where something specific happens.
• Eg. INT. WAYNE MANOR BALLROOM – NIGHT
If the story moves to another place, even if its just another room in the
same building, it is technically a new scene.

13. ACTS & SCENES
Its easy to tell where new scenes begin because we
write a new slugline every time we start a new scene.
INT. WAYNE MANOR BALLROOM – NIGHT
A slugline is broken down into 3 parts
1. Whether we are inside or outside the location, either INT.
(interior, inside) or EXT. (exterior, outside)
2. The actual location 3. The time of day, either - DAY or -
NIGHT

14. LETS HAVE A LOOK AT A SCENE

15. WHAT HAVE WE GOT AT THE
START OF THE SCENE?

16. AT THE START OF THE SCENE WE
HAVE OUR SLUGLINE, THIS TELLS
US WHEN & WHERE WE ARE

17. WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THIS PART
OF THE SCRIPT?

18. WE CALL THIS THE ACTION. IT
DESCRIBES WHAT THE
CHARACTERS ARE DOING.

19. SOME PEOPLE GET ACTION
CONFUSED WITH ACTION! (CUE
PYROTECHNICS)
In script terms action doesn’t necessarily mean exciting things
like explosions, shoot outs, chase scenes etc…

20. SOME PEOPLE GET ACTION
CONFUSED WITH ACTION! (CUE
PYROTECHNICS)
In script terms action is just a phrase we use to describe people
doing things.
Those things could be mundane, everyday things like walking,
sitting, drinking a cup of tea, waiting for a bus, logging onto a
computer
or they could also be more exciting things like torpedoing a death
star, blowing off the safe doors etc…

21. ACTION IS ALWAYS INDENTED TO
THE
LEFT OF THE PAGE

22. ALL OF THE ACTION IS WRITTEN
IN PRESENT TENSE.
I.E. ITS HAPPENING IN THE HERE AND
NOW.

23. GOOD ACTION DRIVES THE
STORY FORWARD!
Film (and TV) is a visual medium, we want to see the story
happening rather than hearing characters talk about what’s
happening.
Like lightning, Bane has the CIA Man is his
handcuffed arms, legs wrapped around a seat back,
The entire cabin upends. Tumbling chaos - Soldiers
falling - Bane cracks CIA Man's neck and drops him
onto the Sergeant - they tumble down the plane,
smashing into the cockpit door with a terminal thud.
Dr. Pavel, strapped in, pushes against the seat in
front of him - the plane vibrates, trying to tear
itself apart.

24. WHAT DO WE CALL IT WHEN
CHARACTERS ARE SPEAKING?

25. WHAT CHARACTERS SAY IS
CALLED DIALOGUE

26. DIALOGUE IS MADE UP OF 2
THINGS:
1. who is speaking (character)

27. DIALOGUE IS MADE UP OF 2
THINGS:
1. who is speaking (character)
2. what they’re saying (their lines)

28. DIALOGUE IS ALWAYS INDENTED
TO THE
CENTER OF THE PAGE

29. DIALOGUE IS ONE OF THE
HARDEST THINGS TO WRITE.
You need to find each characters individual voice, you need to think about:
1. what their motivations are (their goals)
2. how their mood is affecting what they say,
3. how their dialogue serves your scene (do you need the scene to end in
a certain way? Does the character need to find anything specific out?
Etc…)
(important: every scene needs to have a purpose, dialogue should help serve
that purpose)

30. HOW DO I WRITE BETTER
DIALOGUE?
Well, it takes a lot of practice, but the first step is to know your
character.
• What are their beliefs?
• How have their past experiences (their backstory) helped to form
those beliefs?
• How do those beliefs shape the way they act?
• What do they think of other characters & why?
• All of these are their character traits.

31. THINK ABOUT HOW DIFFERENT
EVERYONE AROUND YOU IS, AND
WHY THAT MIGHT BE.
The characters in your screenplay should be as diverse and
unique as them too.

32. HOW DO YOU UNDERSTAND
YOUR CHARACTERS BETTER?
You need to get into their
mind and understand what
makes them tick.
Try talking to them; ask
them questions to help you
understand their
motivations.
If their answers don’t add

33. WRITING SCRIPTS IS A CRAFT
(AN ART REQUIRING SPECIAL
SKILL)Like any craft it takes:
• Patience
• Practice
• Study
• Self criticism
• Improvement
• A good vocabulary
• Practice
• Practice
• Practice

34. WHAT SHOULD I DO NEXT?
Step 1: read more screenplays
http://www.imsdb.com
Step 2: try to build up your vocabulary (especially action verbs &
synonyms)
http://www.dictionary.com/
Step 3: try to think of some simple story concepts and grow your ideas from
there (rather than thinking of “cool scenes” and reverse engineering how
your script gets there)