5. Formatting Scripts

Before I began to write my script I conducted some research on how a professional script should be formatted. I felt this was necessary as I do not have much experience in formatting scripts as I have only previously written two (for my GCSE coursework and AS Preliminary Task). By using the website Script Frenzy I was able to find out that the four main things that are involved in script formatting are sluglines, dialogue, character names and action. I then done some further research into the specific ways in which these four elements are formatted.

Sluglines

These are pieces of text that are written at the start of a new scene to say where the scene is set and whether it is interior or exterior.

Sluglines are made of of these three elements:

• INT/EXT
• Location
• Time

Sluglines are always written in all capitals, there is a specific way in which the slugline should be set out. There has to be two spaces between INT/EXT and the location, then also there should be two spaces, hyphen and then another space between the location and time. 

Action

The action comes below the slugline and describes the action that happens in the scene.

Character Name

The characters name always appears central above their dialogue. The character name should always been in capital letters.

Dialogue

The dialouge of each character must appear under that characters name and follow the standard rules of capitalization. The dialogue does not appear in speech marks.