Formatting
The first thing I notice when I'm reading a script is the formatting, if a script is poorly formatted it is the worst thing to read as a producer as it looks extremely amateur, and it looks like you don't know what you're doing as a screenwriter, a good tip is to use the software CeltX (Click to take you to the website), I've used it for every episode of the web-series I produce, and it's fantastic, it makes formatting easy, and it can make a script well formatted which is half the battle!
Another useful tool to use is this info-graphic on script formatting, it tells you all you need to know in order to make any script well formatted! And what to include in your script:
Content
Apart from formatting the other obvious category for what makes a good script is the content, there are a few questions you should ask when writing your script:
- Would I watch this?
- Does the dialogue sound natural?
- Have I got enough technical information?
- Does it flow, and have I kept continuity?
If you answered yes to all four of these questions then it's more than likely the content of your script is rather good! You'd be surprised by the number of people who write scripts for a genre they don't like, or a concept they just can't get into, if you do this it's immediately obvious to any director/producer reading it, and the audience will pick up on it straight away and will drop it, if you don't have a passion for your script/wouldn't watch it yourself, then why should the audience even consider investing their time into your production?
If your dialogue sounds robotic, or overly theatrical you'll lose the audience in the first couple of lines, but if your dialogue is logical for a real human and flows well then you can really engross the audience in your text and make your production a success which is what we all aim for as film-makers, not necessarily to be popular, but to engage and engross the audience in our texts!
Technical information is also important in a script as it tells the crew what they need to be doing, and allows actors to plan their delivery of said piece. E.g If you use a long shot during an argument an actor could be very animated physically, whereas if there's a static Medium Close Up (MCU) then the actor can choose to be less animated and put more anger in their voice, it can also be used to give the scenes different tones to make it more sinister, or more comical depending on what you're aiming for. It also helps the crew when you're shooting, though especially if you'reworking on an indie production you may not know your space until the day of the shoot, in which case put down a variety of camera shots you could use for a scene, don't be afraid to write a few things, from a technical stance I've always used scripts as guidelines more than something to mindlessly follow, sometimes and idea will only come to you on the day of the shoot, but embrace the technical directions in your script, they save your crew a lot fo stress on shooting days and show the cast you've got a plan!
Continuity is key! I remember reading a script where someone was punched in the rib cage and in the action below that they clutched their stomach in reaction to the previous punch, the script was pretty poor anyway, but continuity errors like that are beyond excuses, as a writer it's your job to make sure that your script has good content which flows well, the hallmark of a bad screenwriter is the inability to keep basic continuity, if someone is punched in the ribs they don't clutch their stomach, they react to where they were hit, if someone gets into a car and the car engine starts, then don't show them turning the key in the next scene. (Unless you're doing parallel editing between character, if so then do it!) Keep the script flowing well from scene to scene and remember - Continuity Is Key!
Get A Partner
The best thing to do when writing a script is to have a partner working on them with you, during this stage of Holmes myself and the lead writer Liam devised a system where he would produce the draft of the script, he'd then share the script with myself, I'd annotate the script with any notes I felt were relevant, then I'd hand it back to him and he'd produce the next version, it's a system we used for all six scripts and it was incredibly useful, Liam is the most talented writer I know, but screenplays are collaborative projects, especially when you're working on a series with a team, the script for Episode one went through around 16-18 drafts before we were both happy with a "Final" version (Which has had minor edits to it since), but by the time Liam finished the script for Episode Six we only had 2 drafts, as we got to a point where we both knew the tone of the show and Liam could write a near perfect script by his first submission.
The most important element of the "script editor" system is that the writer and the editor both constantly communicate and know all the characters and have a fairly uniform view of the concept, so that the script can be improved, both parts also need to put their egos aside for the sake of getting the best script, not every idea you have will be gold, but it's up to you as a creative team to put the best ideas together in a flowing narrative, and if you can do that you'll have a fantastic script!
That's all from Practical Film School today, keep working on them scripts and make them great!
Thanks for reading!
-Geraint
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