Professional Presentation

Professional Presentation

When presenting your finished script it is vitally important that it is presented in a professional and correct way. If a script isn't written according to the conventions of a usual script, then often it will be immediately rejected. This is because the person reading your script want to see that you know about how a script is written properly, and wont bother to read it if it is set out in a scruffy and wrong way. To explain how a script is properly laid out, take a look at this picture. 

SCAN IN SCRIPT LAYOUT PAGE

From this sheet you can see how a script should be properly presented, and the conventional layout of a script. Often, using the usual word processing programs make it very hard to layout a script in the correct way. To make it easier for screenwriters special word processors such as Celtx have been made. Celtx is a free piece of software (also available to use online) which has been made specifically for scripts this means things such as scene headings and dialogue very easy to write. Programs such as Celtx make it much easier to avoid the simple mistakes that may get you script discarded. 

A simple mistake that will get your script tossed straight in the bin is the use of silly fonts and layouts. Writing in comic sands with no margins is a sure-fire way in getting you script screwed up and tossed. All scripts should be written in courier font (the font i'm using now) in 12 point size. Margins should also be 1" and all in black.

All descriptions should be kept to a minimum, if a script reader sees an elaborate paragraph for the opening setting, instantly chucked. Descriptions should be 2 sentences at most for characters, and 3 at most for setting. 

Scripts should be no shorter than 90 pages and no longer than 118. This is often the first thing that a reader will look at, so is extremely important. 118 is guideline for the soul reason that it sounds alot less than 120.

Don't try to direct from the script. Leave out things such as camera angles and leave them for the director to decide. People don't like it when you try and do their job.

When i come to produce my script i am going to make sure that i follow all these simple guidelines, because it increases the chances that my script will actually get read. To make sure that i don't make any silly mistakes i am going to use Celtx when writing my script, this is because it has all the correct margin sizes, fonts and basic layouts built in, which saves me the hassle of setting them all myself, and reduces the risk of inconsistencies which could get my script discarded. 

This is the opening page of the script for 'Alien 3'. I have annotated parts of the script to show what they do. Note this page has camera angles, use these very sparingly!

This is another example of a professional script, this one is 'Die Hard'.