A more literary approach to screenplay style
In response to my Trimming Tricks of the Trade post yesterday, I received this email from Erik:
Scott:
I’d be interested in reading an elaboration on something you posted recently:
“…the shift the last two decades has been away from using directing / editing lingo in screenplays toward more of what may be called a literary approach to style,…”
Or do you have a previous blog post on this you could point me toward?
Keep up the great work!
In point of fact, Erik, I do. From December 30, 2009, this post:
Bumping around the Writers Store website, I found this: “The New Spec Style”. Written by David Trottier, autheor of “The Screenwriter’s Bible: A Complete Guide to Writing, Formatting, and Selling Your Script,” the article provides a summary of a current spec script style guide including these tips:
Do not write CONTINUED at the top and bottom of each page.
Do not write ‘continuing’ as a parenthetical when a character continues his/her dialogue after a paragraph of narrative description.
Do not number your scenes.
Avoid camera directions: ANGLE ON, CLOSE ON, POV, PAN, DOLLY WITH, TRUCK, ANOTHER ANGLE, ZOOM, PULL BACK TO REVEAL, ZIP PAN, CRANE SHOT, ECU, WE SEE, and so on.
Avoid editing directions: CUT TO, DISSOLVE TO, IRIS, WIPE.
The rest of the piece talks about parentheticals, author’s ‘intrusion,’ page count and so on. In general, Trottier’s observations echo those posted in the past on this site, and summed up nicely here:
Finally, don’t get paranoid about formatting rules; the story is the thing. Readers don’t care if you indent 10 spaces or 12 spaces for dialogue, just so long as it looks ‘about right,’ has a clean appearance, and (most importantly) reads well.
As you begin a new year, it’s a good idea to revisit these basics of screenplay ‘grammar.’
‘Scripty’ lingo is out. A more literary style is in. I will be teaching that as part of the Screenwriting Master Class course “Core II: Character and Style” from January 31-February 27, 2011. More info, go here.