WP – How to Write a Screenplay

Screenwriting has no hard and fast rules. Writing for the screen is a subjective craft in which anything might work, but probably nothing will ('The Social Network').  Screenwriter William Goldman said: "Nobody knows anything" Greatest truth in the business.

However, in the absence of rules, we're left with the norm - a set of guidelines that has proved valuable and efficient throughout the years of filmmaking.  The two main concepts are: 3-act structure and character arc. Another is high-concept, but becoming rare.

Elements of Screen Writing
1. 3-Act Structure
2. Main Character (protagonist)
3. Character Arc (where the characters evolve, grow, learn, change)
4. Screenplay Format
    Font: 12 point Courier (1pg = ~ 1 min. of screen time)
    2 line spacing between dialog & action
    Left & Right margins: 1.5"
    Dialoge margin tabs: 2.5"
    Capitalize: camera instructions, sounds, character names, words in the header, speaker's name, above each line of dialogue.
5. Dialogue: 1) moves the story forward, 2) subtle & clever, 3) witty or comic.  See '12 Angry Men'. Excitement is not all dialogue; movie includes actions, gestures, expression   & objects to fill the void that dialogue couldn't.
6. ‘MacGuffin’ - a object of interest around which the plot resolved. From Alfred Hitchcock (crook stories-the necklace; spy stories-thepapers).
7. Theme - the plot is the surface (central line of action that determines structure - get it from the TV guide and reviews).  Under the surface, a movie has theme - layers of complexity to an otherwise simple story.
8. Exposition - used to add backstory and reveal something about the characters' past that would otherwise be impossible.  Writer is pressed for time to keep the story moving; exposition helps keep characters three-dimensional.
9. Foreshadowing-plot device to make the story plausible. Planting & Payoff.  James Bond movie: planting: Q shows Bond the spy 'toys'.  Payoff: Bond uses them to fight the villains.