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Questions on this page (2 of 2):
1: I have some questions about form.
I understand the other elements that make a good screenplay, but is there
a good source, kind of like a "Bedford handbook for writers" that deals
with just form?
2: What advice on re-visioning her craft would
you give a playwright as she makes the transition to screenwriting?
In other words, what do you see as the most pivotal conceptual differences
between the two?
3: What is the WGA minimum payment for a feature
length screenplay? Is it tied to the budget?
4: Must the screenwriter always put in time
of day in the slugline even when it's the same day and hour during 3 or
4 scenes?
5: When a time lapse exists between scenes,
can the slugline just say: INT. STORE - DAY (LATER), or is it preferred
to be noted in the action line?
6: How do you indicate foreign language interpretation
dialogue within a scene?
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| I have some questions about form. I understand
the other elements that make a good screenplay, but is there a good source,
kind of like a "Bedford handbook for writers," that deals with just form?
I mean the standardized format, regarding the mechanics of the script --
including nitty gritty details like margins, etc.
Script format can be one of the banes of screenwriting; mystifying to the newcomer, it can become an extra barrier to hurdle as you struggle to write the "perfect" script. I often suggest that beginning writers concentrate on first writing the story of their premiere script THEN, once they feel they have that down, go back and focus on formatting it correctly. That way the formatting process does not impede the writing flow. Correct format is important, as incorrect format can quickly brand you a neophyte writer at best and a lazy, untalented one at worst. Luckily, there are MANY formatting resources availble, especially to the online writer. Out in the non-virtual "real world," the bible of formatting is the book THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO STANDARD SCRIPT FORMATS; PART 1: THE SCREENPLAY, written by Hillis R. Cole, Jr. and Judith H. Haag and published by CMC Publishing, ISBN 0-929583-00-0. However, take careful notice that this book is intended for several audiences: 1) Feature Film script writers 2) TV writers and 3) Industry Typists typing up shooting scripts. It really should be three books, or at least laid out in three separate and distinct sections, but it's not. What you have to do is be sure to follow only the information concerning Feature Film Script Format and it will be an invaluable addition to your writing resource library. Online there are a host of sites that deal with formatting; rather than detail each one, I will give the addresses of them and you can go and check them out yourself. My Formatting Page:
Charles Deemer's Screenwriting Home Page
SCRNWRiT
And, of course, to answer the ever-present "brad" question: Official Brad Web Page
What advice on re-visioning her craft would you give a playwright as she makes the transition to screenwriting? In other words, what do you see as the most pivotal conceptual differences between the two? The "most pivotal conceptual differences between the two?" How much time do you have? But seriously, for me the pivotal difference comes down to this: the "coin of the realm" of plawrighting is dialogue; for screenwriting, it's visuals. The old cliche, "A picture is worth a thousand words," is a cliche because it is so true. A play moves and advances because of dialogue; yes, action is very
important, because we all know that all talk and no action is boring. Hamlet
can agonize all he wants in wonderful monologues about life and what to
do about revenging his father's death, but if he hadn't taken action --
killing Polonious in his mother's bedroom and finally partaking in the
deadly, poisoned sword fight in the end -- it would have been beautiful
poetry but not drama. So yes, action is important in plays too, but
it is fueled and supported by the words the characters must say.
When people think of screenwriting, commonly they first think of writing
dialogue -- this is understandable; after all, someone had to write those
words down for the actors to say. But the truth is, dialogue is the
MOST expendable commodity in a movie. It will be the FIRST thing
cut and changed in the script, over and over again, right up through the
last day of shooting, and then the LAST thing changed in post-production
when they re-record new dialogue to fill in holes or cover for new editing
Dialogue is not the most important thing in screenwriting; story, character and structure are. These are nearly invisible to the layperson, so they don't focus on them when thinking about screenwriting, but without them, you have a bunch of talky pictures going nowhere. Now these concepts are important in playwrighting, no doubt about it, especially character, but I believe they are magnified when put under the eye of the movie camera's lens. Another difference, although advancing technology is making the stage
less "location-challenged," is that a play is still locked into whatever
it can physically present within the actual limits of the theatrical space.
Film, however, truly only has the limitations of the writer's imagination.
However, whenever a play is being adapted to the screen, there is always
much talk about "opening it up," which means making it feel less confined
to its original stage-bound roots. To throw in a bunch of different
locations simply to satisfy this desire to "open up" the work is wrong,
I believe. If you do this merely to have a bunch of different locations
in which the characters do and say the same exact things as they did on
the stage, it will show through. Adapting a play to the screen requires
a basic rethinking of the entire piece. It's like adapting a novel
for movies; you have to be respectful of the original, but you also have
to be more truthful to its spirit and intent than to its actual content,
for in the end, the play and the movie are two different interpertations
of the same source material.
What is the WGAw minimum payment for a feature length screenplay? Is it tied to the budget? Films budgeted under 2.5 million: $28,537.00, U.S. Films budgeted over 2.5 million: $58, 411, U.S. Most of the time, these are just the starting prices for negotiations, but if the writer is just starting out and the movie is tightly budgeted, that could be what the writer would received. And that's only for feature films; there are completely different numbers for cable movies, network movies, straight-to-video, etc. For a complete Rate Sheet, contact the Writer's Guild of America, either East or West and they will give you the information on how to get one. The cost, at least from the WGA East is $4.03. Their number is 212/767-7800. Obviously these figures don't reflect the wild amounts that get reported
in the media, where what the market will bear for a given project determines
the selling price, but the Guild minimums are used to enforce a "floor"
price that attempts to make sure the writer gets a "fair" price for their
work. Of course, these minimums only work if the buying entity is
a signatory to the Guild, meaning they have signed an agreement to abide
to the Guild's minimums and other standards. If a script buyer is
not a signatory to the Guild, then the selling price is whatever the buyer
and seller agree to. In other words, seller beware.
Must the screenwriter always put in time of day in the slugline even when it's the same day and hour during 3 or 4 scenes? No. If the time has not changed any, I note it by doing the following:
INT - WILLIAM'S APARTMENT - MID-MORNING William's fingers whack away at his computer keyboard as he swears in
an unintelligible foreign language.
EXT - OUTSIDE WILLIAM'S NYC APARTMENT - SAME TIME NYC'S finest--the Sanitation Department--GRIND down the street slowly
in their VERY LOUD garbage truck. They stop right outside William's
window and begin throwing piles of garabage bags into the dumpster.
The massive machine annoyingly WHINES away as its hydraulics compact the
refuse, exhaust fumes billowing into the air.
INT - WILLIAM'S APARTMENT - MID-MORNING William now whacks his head against keyboard, continuing to swear in
an unintelligible foreign language.
When a time lapse exists between scenes, can the slugline just say: INT. STORE - DAY (LATER), or is it preferred to be noted in the action line? The slugline INT. STORE - DAY (LATER) is good, although something in
the action should indicate that time has passed in some way.
How do you indicate foreign language interpretation dialogue within a scene? For example, can you specify in the opening action line that everything one actor says is being interpreted and translated for the other actor? Or do you have to show it line for line? This is always an interesting question; here is how I have done it:
WILLIAM
Now, I would also type the dialogue to be spoken in French in Italics so that it stood out from regular dialogue. This is a simple visual clue to help the reader remember that they are reading something that will be spoken in another language. Also important is to indicate whether there will be subtitles translating
it for the audience to read. If so, do this:
William speaks in French, the English translation SUBTITLED on the screen.
WILLIAM
If the language is NOT to be subtitled, then you have to ask yourself, is it important that the reader know what the character is saying? I had a script once where I had a small foreign language conversation that I did NOT want the audience to understand--I wanted them to be confused for a moment until the end of the conversation made its intent and purpose clear. I debated if I should write the conversation in that language so that the reader experienced the same confusion, but after talking to several people in the industry to get their input, I decided it was more important that the reader not be confused than recreating the exact film experience for them. A viewer is forced to wait a minute through the conversation; a reader may decide to skip it out of frustration. So I wrote the scene as in the first example above, in English while noting the language being spoken and typing the dialogue in Italics. |
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