Writing a Script
A Beginner’s Guide to
Starting a Film
Created by Mr. Whitfield
Service High School English
Step One: Title Page
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Courier Font Size 12
Title centered horizontally and vertically in bold font
Two lines down, write “Written by” centered
Two lines down, write your name centered
Lower right hand corner: contact info (name, address,
telephone number, email address)
• Lower left hand corner: Copyright info
Typical Title Page
I Hate My Life
Written by
Daniel Whitfield
Copyright ©2006
Service Productions
5577 Abbott Road
Anchorage, AK 99507
(907)555-5432
2cool4you@hotmail.com
Scene Headings or “Sluglines”
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Every change of location needs a new scene heading
Always in capitals
Part 1: INT. or EXT.
Part 2: Location
Part 3: Time of Day
Example: INT. SERVICE HIGH CLASSROM - DAY
ACTION
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Description of actions that do not include dialogue
Mixed letter cases
Start flush left
New characters are capitalized
Example with Slugline:
INT. SERVICE HIGH CLASSROOM – DAY
The bell rings continuously as students walk
in. MR. WHITFIELD enters the room and slams a
book on the desk.
CHARACTER NAMES
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When speaking, character names always precede dialogue
Characters are always in capital letters
Name is centered
Example:
INT. SERVICE HIGH CLASSROOM – DAY
The bell rings continuously as students walk
in. MR. WHITFIELD enters the room and slams a
book on the desk.
MR. WHITFIELD
Dialogue
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No quotes needed
Indent 2.5’’ (3-4 tabs)
Only write 30-35 characters per line
Example:
INT. SERVICE HIGH CLASSROOM- DAY
The bell rings continuously as students walk in. MR.
WHITFIELD enters the room and slams a book on the
desk.
MR. WHITFIELD
Sit down and shut up! I’m
not in a good mood.
Transition
• All caps
• Indent 6.5’’ (10-11 indents)
• Describes Scene change
– CUT TO:
– DISSOLVE TO:
Example:
INT. SERVICE HIGH CLASSROOM- DAY
The bell rings continuously as students walk in. MR. WHITFIELD
enters the room and slams a book on the desk.
MR. WHITFIELD
Sit down and shut up! I’m not in a good mood.
CUT TO:
Remember:
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Follow the rules
No graphics whatsoever
Always Courier Font Size 12
Always write in present tense
Don’t forget your cover page
Now it’s your turn!
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Parameters:
15 minutes
Must write a title page and one scene
Don’t worry about font for today
– we will be in the computer lab for the next 2
days and you will type it correctly then.