This is the fun part. I'm going to let you know what to expect or what not to expect, in terms of style, how the writing will appear. Scripts today are unlike screenplays of days gone by. In fact, they appear pretty bare when compared to even guru 'how-to-write-a-screenplay' books such as one might find in the filmmaking 101 section of the bookstore or college.

 

Today's world in large U.S. or Hollywood studios is that generally there is only one style or format accepted now and anything else which doesn’t adhere to it will not get to the Studio reader's desk in the first place. Ironically, what this means is even if you presented Gone With The Wind in the original script style, it would get the boot. By the 1980's such directing tidbits written into the action like 'pan left', 'pan right,' or even 'seen from above (or bird’s eye view)' were gone from scripts. Style even became studio-specific. A Warner Bros. script is a different style to a Cole & Haag. By the mid-to late nineties and most especially today even the traditional 'CUT TO:', FADE IN: are gone.

 

With larger European studios it's pretty much the same in terms of expectation but they are far more forgiving in that your work won't be instantly rejected if it doesn’t fit to the standard format. The only things which remain are scene headings, action (without direction) and of course, dialogue.

 

Action has also been stripped. It's more like a stage play and even something which used to appear as 'JIM walks into the office, turns toward the table and places his cup down hard' could be simply 'JIM walks into the office' full stop. Not that you are not allowed to write what Jim does with his cup, but if does not add to what comes next it is considered superfluous. Studios will tell you to go write a novel instead. The reason is if the film is going to be a writer/director work then the director knows what s/he's going to do with the scene and if the writer is not the director then action, well, will be left to the director.

 

The downside is this leaves little for the actors to go by as far as what's expected in the scene reading on their own but most are used to the skeleton style by now.

 

For work which appears in the journal, I’m going to play both sides of the fence. For the reader to understand what's going on I'm not going to include direction but will include far more action. It’s not going to get into a prose situation but will be filled out enough to make a picture.

 

Let the fun begin.