The amount of description in a screenplay is heavily dependent on personal writing style and on genre. For example, action movies tend to require more description to communicate what is happening in an action sequence. The question is how to use script real estate most economically; what is needed to get the message across. Remember, Production Designer is it’s […]
What are colored revisions/drafts/pages?
Colored pages are used in film and television to keep track of revisions to a script as it goes into production. Spec screenplays and screenplays in development won’t have colored pages. It’s generally only once the script is locked for scheduling and budgeting that colored pages are used. Revision order is tracked on the script’s […]
Can I use real people in my screenplay?
It is not uncommon to see a screenplay refer to a real person or use a real person as a character, but we recommend you tread lightly, as it could be considered libel. In general, it’s okay to refer to a person in his or her known capacity, ie, “…like when Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook!” […]
What is a two-hander?
A two-hander is a movie where there are two main characters of roughly equal importance to the story, and whose arcs are given roughly equal screen-time. Romantic comedies and buddy cop movies are often two-handers, but almost all genres have their examples. The Sixth Sense is a thriller two-hander, for instance. More from johnaugust.com Two-hander […]
How do I express a character’s mispronunciation of a word?
If you intend for a character to mispronounce a word in dialogue, spell out his mispronunciation phonetically (using English phonetics — not IPA). If you feel your intent isn’t clear, quotation marks may help, but make sure the reader still understands if the character means to mispronounce the word, or if it is done unknowingly. […]
If someone gives me notes, feedback, or ideas during the development of my script, are they entitled to credit?
In short, no, that person is not inherently entitled to any credit, especially if his contribution was just notes or feedback. If that person came up with the idea for the screenplay, he is still not entitled to credit. Much in the way ideas are not copyrightable but screenplays are, it is the execution of […]