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Theatre Arts for Advanced Secondary Schools

Elements of script formatting
There are two major formats of scripts used in the process of scriptwriting for
screen, stage and radio. These are single column script formats used specifically
for writing scripts for films and television which are also known as screenplay.
There are also single column script formats for writing scripts for radio and stage.
FOR ONLINE READING ONLY
The second format is the double column or split paged script format used in
writing scripts for television commercials (TVC), music videos, public service
announcements (PSA) and different types of television programs. In this part,
you will learn the elements of single column scripts formats used for writing
screenplay, stage play and radio play.

Screenplay

A screenplay is a story told with pictures, dialogue and description and placed
within the context of dramatic structure. It is a series of images (shots), scenes and
sequences that are tailored together with dialogue and description. Screenplays
are the blueprint guide or a diagram for the movie. It demands extreme clarity
and creativity in visual descriptions. The term screenplay is used interchangeably
to refer to scripts written to guide production of both film and television drama.
A screenplay is written in a specific format to distinguish between characters,
description of action and dialogue. In that regard there are six basic elements of
format that one should consider when writing screenplays. These are slug line,
description of actions, character, parenthetical, dialogue and transition.

Slugline or scene heading
A slugline or scene heading contains information that is used to identify scenes
and written at the beginning of each new scene. It provides descriptions of where
and what time the scene occurs. When writing a screenplay, the scene heading is
the first thing one should write before anything. Every slugline should offer the
following information:

(i) INT. and EXT.: This is an abbreviation that shows whether the scene
takes place indoors or outdoors. INT stands for interior or indoor such as
inside the house while EXT stands for exterior or outdoor such as under
the tree or at the football ground.
(ii) Location: This is a brief description of the specific area where the scene is
set. It can be general as “house,” “hospital,” or “street,” or more specific
area as Nuna Hospital, Makeo Kiosk, Unga secondary school.

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