Ex.What's the difference between V.O., O.C., & O.S.? I'll try to give you a brief run down.
V.O. is Voice Over. It's narration. Use sparingly. Don't fill with too much exposition. A really good example of great V.O. use is "Stand By Me." (Love that movie!) I don't think that the movie would have been the same without it. But if you want more movies (because I can't think of all of them right now...) here's a Google search. It's always been a "sign of an inexperienced writer" to use a voiceover. I have found that's not really the case. It has to fit the show/feature. If you find yourself doing too much exposition in V.O. you may want to rethink your script. (Deadpool has the occasional V.O. but he also breaks the 4th wall (more rule breaking but it works and we'll talk about rule breaking in another topic) and it works.) Here's an unformatted example of V.O. from an original 1/2 hr comedy pilot I'm working on: INT. RAE’S ROOM - NIGHT It’s pitch black. NARRATOR (V.O.) No one starts a marriage with the intention of getting divorced. SFX - small arms fire NARRATOR (V.O.) But things happen. A beat. Life happens. SFX- a baby crying NARRATOR (V.O.) Then, one day, you wake up. MS RAE IN BED, EYES OPEN The only light is the light of the street lamp outside as it peers in through the blinds that cover the window. SFX- tone out O.C. is Off Camera. This isn't used as much in features. It may be used in TV. It all depends on the studio preference. Like it implies, the character speaking is not seen on camera. Great for phone conversations if you want to hear the other half. Example: Howard's mother in TBBT would have been O.C. as she was never seen. O.S. is Off Screen. This is typically used in features (or so I'm told, I have been working more on TV pilots & specs). Again, implication is character is speaking off screen. Example: conversation through a door and you want to hear one half but not see that person. Like maybe rom-com bride/groom scene. The person has the potential to come back on screen. It can also be used for phone calls. However, it also depends on the studio formatting. They may want all O.C.s to be used or all O.S.s to be used no matter the location of the character. V.O. = narration, never phone calls! O.C. & O.S. can be used interchangeably. Remember, if you're writing a spec TV episode as a writing sample, check the format that the studio is using. There are a lot of scripts out there (unless you're looking for DC, then don't bother. There's nada!). Formatting is important! If you still have questions, you can pop on over to Dr. Format's site and see if he has an answer to your question already. Or you can ask me. (I'm traveling today 21 July 2018, but I will get back with you as soon as I can!) A side note... I have used (at the direction of a producer) used V.O. for phone conversations, which breaks the rules I was taught. 🤨 Take that for what it's worth. I hope this helps you in your screenwriting endeavors!
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Do you know when to use Same or Continuous in your scene headings (aka slug lines)? No? Well here's a quick example.
INT. DIANA'S ROOM, SIERRA & JACK'S HOUSE - DAY DIANA But Dad! He's just a friend. JACK He was in your room at ten at night. DIANA So? JACK Half-naked. You are grounded. Jack turns and exits. Diana follows. INT. HALLWAY/LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS DIANA That is so unfair! Jack does an abrupt about face. His daughter slides to a stop. JACK I don't give a shit about unfair. So, use CONTINUOUS when the next scene takes place immediately following but in a different location. The preceding example was super simple and crafted on the fly. It works for going from INT. to EXT. and vice versa. Be careful not to overuse it or use it in the wrong way. If you have a scene you want to take place at the same time as another like this: INT. DIANA'S ROOM, SIERRA & JACK'S HOUSE - NIGHT The room is dark. A lump is in the bed. Bobby slips in through the window and crawls into the bed. The light CLICKS on. Bobby SCREAMS. He's facing Jack. Jack grabs Bobby and pins him in a headlock. EXT. DIANA'S ROOM, SIERRA & JACK'S HOUSE - SAME Krieger lets go of Bobby's feet. He waits. Light spills out of the window. There's a SCREAM and some SCUFFLING. Krieger slips away. Again, super simple scene. SAME is not CONTINUOUS. Great for stories like procedural cop shows. If you watch them... take a look at the "investigation" part. They split up to question and they are usually at the "same" time in different locations. Take care not to confuse the two! Let's quickly add on exiting and entering a room. It's not always advantageous to show your characters doing that. (Which cuts down on the use of CONTINUOUS.) Take a look at your script. Does the part that's CONTINUOUS move the story along? If not, fix it so you can cut down on the number of CONTINUOUS slug lines you have. I hope you've found this helpful! Fonts. They are amazing and wonderfully creative, however... only one will do when writing screenplays. Courier 12-point font. It is the default if you use Final Draft. (Which, btw, they just released FD 11 and are running a sale!) Why is Courier the chosen default? As Dr. Format (Dave Trottier) explains "It is a non-proportional font or fixed-pitch (fixed-width) font. Each character is the same with. Choose any 10 characters in this font, and they will measure one inch in width." Makes sense right? Try it out. Use a Word document and type 1234567890 in Courier. Measure, then do it in Veranda or Tahoma. Maybe even Times New Roman. What do you get?
On to paper! What? Scripts are still printed and three-hole punched. They are bound with brads. (No. 5 round-head brass fasteners, 1 1/4" in length. Acco is what I use. I have a box of them from Staples but they aren't as sturdy IMO. Why are scripts bound this way? To make it easier to put in revised pages as well as to make photocopies. (Scripts get out on the 'Net some how, right?) Why should you worry about margins, line spacing, tabs, etc.? In the event that you need to use Word or if you haven't got access to the internet or screenwriting software. Left margin 1.5" (This is the side where your holes will be punched.) Right margin 1" Tabs: Left margin at 15 spaces from the left of the page Dialogue at 25 spaces (10 spaces from the left margin. Do not extend beyond 65 spaces from the left edge. -No wider than 4 inches.) Actor's instructions (action) 31 spaces (16 spaces from the left margin.) Character's name at 37 (22 spaces from the left margin) Please note (if you like justifying your margins... Don't! leave it ragged.) Line spacing (since we're already here) A script page should contain about 54 to 55 lines. Not including the page number or the line after the page number. I do hope you found this helpful! So, you want to learn about screenwriting... It's one of the hardest parts of the business to break into. I am not kidding.
April Fitzsimmons, Air Force vet and screenwriter, said it took her 20 years from her first screenplay to break in. She was in the Writer's Guild Foundation's Veteran Writers mentorship program, then earned a spot in the ABC Writing program and got staffed on several shows before landing on the current season of Chicago P.D. (She is really nice and my weekend mentor in the same WGF program.) I got a late start at screenwriting and now I'm "over 40." What does that mean for me? It means I have to work harder and faster. I don't want to see any other talent wait 20 years either and I'm here to help you out, too. What's in it for me? Nothing. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Null. First things first. Let's talk industry standard. I know there are "other" programs out there. Movie Magic Screenwriting is what Paul Haggis (Walker, Texas Ranger) uses, but that is not industry standard. (And we are not the great Paul Haggis!) You have Celtx. I used that when I first started because I couldn't afford the price tag on THE industry standard... Final Draft. (More on that in a minute.) Celtx was free for the desktop but now I think you have to pay a small fee for that as well. Printing from the web version put the webpage address on it, which is not professional. There's also Writer Duet. It was built by screenwriters. It's great and I've used it to collaborate with other screenwriters and to convert PDFs to FDX (the final draft file) but it still has its own set of formatting issues when converting. Fade In is another good one that's a 1/3 of the price of Final Draft. However, Final Draft is industry standard for a reason. formatting is included for a wide range of scripts and you can download new ones periodically. Sometimes software updates are available. But most of all... I have had execs say they know when the software you use is not Final Draft. For the longest time Final Draft was only available for Mac. Now, it's available for PC. It has been for years. My first copy back in 2012 was for PC and it was on CD ROM! I picked up a copy through campus e-store super cheap. I'm still paying for my Mac and my second copy... Now, here's a question. Why do you want to be a screenwriter? I will caution you if you say to make lots of money, run away right now. The current climate of Hollywood is not allowing new (baby) writers to make a seven figure (high six is pushing it) income on a script. That's from listening to producers and other writers talk as well as keeping an eye on the market. But if your answer is "to tell stories," or "to entertain people" then great! Come on along for the ride! Here's another question. Do you want to write TV (steady paycheck) or Features (if you're lucky you get a big enough payday you can live off the proceeds for a couple of years). It matters because TV is written differently from Features as far a structure. (That's for another post.) Speculative (Spec) vs. Shooting scripts - Spec scripts are what you write with the hopes of selling them. Every writer will write these until they get hired to write a project. A shooting script is different from a spec script because it now has camera angles, scene numbers, transitions, and more than likely updates to lines. I won't get into numbers for margins but I will recommend The Screenwriter's Bible by David Trottier (aka Dr. Format). I used the 5th edition in my undergrad work and the 6th in my graduate program. The 6th was updated to include cellphones, email, and TV. I still refer to this book when I have a moment and forget what the heck I'm doing. This book will clear up scene headings and how they should be written. Ex: INT. CASSIE'S ROOM, SMALL APT, WEST SIDE BROOKLYN - NIGHT Go from the smallest to the largest, always end with time of day. There are special circumstances, like if your intent is for the scene to be shot in black and white. Then it would be like this: INT. CASSIE'S ROOM, SMALL APT, WEST SIDE BROOKLYN - NIGHT - B&W I have seen some crazy things in a scene heading. It's really easy to find scripts. Drew's Script-o-Rama, Script City, TV Calling to name a few. Just be aware of Scripts v TRANscript. You can occasionally find real scripts on eBay. I had to return one because it wasn't the whole script and it wasn't even a script that was used in the show. (It was a Flash script. Those darn things are incredibly tough to get!) Take care not to overuse wrylies (aka parentheticals). Overuse could over direct the actor. If I want my character to have a specific accent, that's where I put it the very first time the character speaks, or if I want it in a specific language like Irish Gaelic. Well, let's call that a day for software and formatting! I hope this was helpful! |
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These posts were from the Writers Room in the Legion M Forum. "Screenwriting 101" is written by Nikki Ackerman. Don't know what Legion M is? It's the world's first fan-owned entertainment company. Want to know more? Visit Legion M at legionm.com Archives
January 2021
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