Proper Script Format

From: http://www.oscars.org/nicholl/format.html

There is no absolute "standard" format used by all professional screenwriters working in the American film industry. Slight variations abound in scripts written by professionals. That said, professional scripts will invariably resemble the formatting guide that follows. Nuances may vary -- margins slightly different, a dash here or there, parentheticals used this way or that -- but overall, professional screenplays fit these guidelines.

Realize that "shooting scripts," the form in which scripts are most often available at libraries and elsewhere, are not the form in which most professional writers submit their scripts. Submission scripts, sales scripts, first draft scripts -- all share certain characteristics: no scene numbers, few if any camera shots designated and sequences written in master scenes.

Your script does not have to mimic the following pages exactly, but it should closely resemble them. If you're confused about which nuances are acceptable and which would push your script into an "out-of-format" category, you would do well to follow these guidelines and eliminate those questionable nuances.

Download SAMPLE

READ ON

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Most screenwriters (writing narrative scripts) use FINAL DRAFT
[here's a free demo]

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and don't forget our SPLIT SCREEN SCRIPT FORMAT discussed in class

!!! FREE program Celtx will also do the job!