Chapter 2

Writing for Screen

What is a script?
Blueprint, view-scape or an intermediate document to be converted into reality and realized as a film.
Elements of Drama
There are six elements of Drama.
1. Theme
2. Plot
3. Characters
4. Diction
5. Music
6. Spectacle
Theme: The Route Idea
Lage Raho Munna Bhai - Gandhigiri
Plot: How the Story unfolds?
Multiple choices
Interest is held by a plot
Premise, character, conflict, beginning, middle, end
Characters: Human or Non Human
Physiological Features
Psychological Traits
Sociological Characters
Diction:
Language
Exchange of verbal or non verbal language
Characters and dialogues
Music:
Rhythm
Spectacle:
Location, Time, Context, Action etc
Where
When
What
Who
Why
How
SCENE AND SUMMARY
Writing involves two types of narrative: scene and summary
In summary, the author recounts the action from a distance
In a scene, however, the writer puts the reader in the action as it happens
SUMMARY - Recounting action from a distance
The doctor tells Lilly that her son, Pinto, has an internal hemorrhage. Lilly looks so young, the doctor can't
believe Pinto is Lilly's son, but Lilly is more concerned about Pinto. She asks the doctor if he knows who
she works for. When he says he does, Lilly tells the doctor she'll have him killed if he doesn't make her son
better. The doctor watches in shock as Lilly leaves in the ambulance with her son.
SCENE Being present in the sight of action

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
MADERO APARTMENTS SPRING - 11:10 AM/DAY - FULL SHOT - APARTMENT EXTERIOR

Pinto, unconscious, is wheeled on a chair towards an ambulance, accompanied by Lilly and the
DOCTOR, a nervous heavyset man in his fifties trying to maintain a false heartiness.
DOCTOR
I just can't believe this strapping young man can be your son.
LILLY
Never mind that. Just take care of him.
DOCTOR
Your son has had an internal hemorrhage; he's bleeding to death inside.
LILLY
Close up on Lilys face
Well, make it stop!
 DOCTOR
Return to full shot
His blood pressure is under a hundred. I don't think he'll live to get to the hospital..
LILLY
(Icy, stern)
You know who I work for.
DOCTOR
A silent reaction shot
(Uncomfortable, gets stiff)
Yes yes, but that's. . .
LILLY
My son will be all right. If he isn't, I'll have you killed.

Lilly follows Pinto into the ambulance. The door closes. The ambulance drives off, leaving the doctor, in
shock, staring after it.
CUT TO:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A screenplay is in the here and now
The action is immediate, vivid and alive
The characters always speak for themselves rather than through the omniscient voice of the author
A scene is in the moment; it's happening now, even if it's a flashback or a dream
--
A script is made of scenes. Each scene has five major types of information that relay the story:
1. Scene headings
2. Shot Characteristic / Camera angle
3. Stage direction
4. Dialogue
5. Personal direction
SCENE HEADING:
Very specific, basic information about a scene.
To be written in the very beginning and must be in capitals.
Information to be organized according to three basic components
- Where? INT / EXT and short description of the location
- When? Season, DAY / NIGHT or Specific Time
- What? Shot Characteristic & Subject of the camera (specific object, space or person)

EXT. MADERO APARTMENTS - SPRING - 11:10 AM / DAY - FULL SHOT - APARTMENT EXTERIOR
SCENE HEADING:

Shot Characteristic/Camera Angle: Key frame to be included between the time of the day and the
subject of the camera

EXT. MADERO APARTMENTS - SPRING - 11:10 AM / DAY - FULL SHOT - APARTMENT EXTERIOR

The camera angles are marked in the script to help editors cut the footage into scenes that flow
smoothly.
 STAGE DIRECTION: normally includes information about the movements of the characters and their
mental states. A paragraph that appears after the Scene Heading is the Stage Direction.

EXT. MADERO APARTMENTS - SPRING - 11:10 AM / DAY - FULL SHOT - APARTMENT EXTERIOR
Pinto, unconscious, is wheeled on a chair towards an ambulance, accompanied by Lilly and the DOCTOR, a
nervous heavyset man in his fifties trying to maintain a false heartiness.
 DIALOGUE:
The rules for dialogue are simple.
Dialogue must fall in the middle of a page.
If you fold the page in half lengthwise, the crease should fall on the first letter of the characters name
(known as a character clue).

EXT. MADERO APARTMENTS - SPRING - 11:10 AM / DAY - FULL SHOT - APARTMENT EXTERIOR
Pinto, unconscious, is wheeled on a chair towards an ambulance, accompanied by Lilly and the DOCTOR, a
nervous heavyset man in his fifties trying to maintain a false heartiness.

DOCTOR
I just can't believe this strapping young man can be your son.
LILLY
Never mind that. Just take care of him.
Rules for dialogue are designed to help the actor.
Never break a sentence from one page to the next.
Stopping a sentence at the end of a page provides the actor with a natural break.
If a speech breaks between two pages, you must let the actor know that there's more dialogue on the
next page by including the word (MORE) at the bottom of the last line of dialogue.
If the scene we've been using falls on two pages then break the page like this:

DOCTOR
His blood pressure is under a hundred.
(MORE)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The actor thus knows that his speech is continued from the first page to the next page.
Repeat the character cue on the second page with the abbreviation CONT'D in parenthesis to let the
actor know that his speech started on a previous page. This way, an actor knows for sure his speech
is complete.
DOCTOR
His blood pressure is under a hundred.
(MORE)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOCTOR (CONT'D)
I don't think he'll live to get to the hospital.
Avoid long speeches
If it has to go on at length, break up the dialogue with
- Stage direction
- Interjection from other characters
- Exclamation from other characters
- Interruption from other characters

Voices in the Void - Dialogue is such a dominant part of a screenplay that writers at times are lost in
the voices.

Literally meaning a lot of dialogue but very little sense of the physical world around the characters.
What is meant by the sense of the physical world?
- What are they doing while they're talking?
- What are the important physical details that add a sense of place and mood?

A screenplay must not be dialogue heavy nor be stage direction heavy.

Find a balance between the two that allows you to keep a strong sense of the physical and emotional
world that your characters are in.
PERSONAL DIRECTION :
indicates to the actor how the writer thinks that a certain line or speech should be read. Personal
Direction always appears in parenthesis below the character cue

DOCTOR
His blood pressure is under a hundred. I don't think he'll live to get to the hospital..

LILLY
(Icy, stern)
You know who I work for.
Some other rules:
- Spell out all one and two digit numbers (one, ten, twenty, fifty) but use numbers for 100 and over.
- Spell out all personal titles except for Mr., Mrs. and Ms i.e. Inspector.
- Spell out all indications of time: ten-thirty, not 10:30.
- Spell out "okay," not OK or o.k.
When in doubt, spell it out.

These rules help maintaining the timing of a page

There is a loose rule in screenplays that one A4 page of script equals one minute of screen time.
While its not constant through every page, but it does tend to even out over the course of the script.
Some wise man discovered that spelling out words helped maintain this pacing.
Some 'creative' production styles are pain to watch: e.g. a rapid moving unrelated shots; or fast inter-cutting,
to create an illusion of 'excitement' and 'pace' for a rather dull subject. Such techniques only succeed in
annoying or boring the audience.
Exercise
Transform the summery into scenes

Mrinalini Bose stared out the window of the caf. She could not stop thinking about her
dad. She lives with him, attending college full time. Last night her dad was complaining of
chest pain. It really scared her. She had never thought about losing him. Mrinalini was four
when her mom passed away. Her dad had always been there for her. Now she could not
stop worrying. He was only 49. She needed him. Mrinalini watched people go in and out of
the shoe store across the street. It reminded her of when she was a little girl. Mrinalini
started working when she was 10 yrs. old. Every Saturday, she walked to work with her
dad. He owned a shoe shop in China Street, Kolkata. Mrinalini liked hanging out with her
dad. She also enjoyed helping the customers pick out shoes. Her dad paid Rs.20.00 for
every pair of shoes she sold. The most money she ever made in one day was Rs.180.00.
Mrinalinis dad taught her how to budget her money carefully. Every week, she wrote down
how many pairs of shoes she sold. She counted all her money. Then Mrinalini put 75% in a
savings account that her dad opened for her. She kept 25% to spend. The waiter gets the
bill to the table for the coffee she ordered in the caf.