Is and Are in screenplay formatting
July 11th, 2006
Screenplay Format
Is and Are
Brace yourself for this one, folks: IS and ARE are bad words.
Ridiculous, you say? I say thee nay. Here’s the scoop: IS and ARE are generally inactive, where as simply using the direct verb alone results in a punchier read.
BAD: Wilbur is putting on his shoes.
GOOD: Wilbur PUTS on his shoes.
BAD: Margaret is filling her overnight bag with opiates.
GOOD: Margaret FILLS her overnight bag with opiates.
BAD: The team is stopping at the pizza joint.
GOOD: The team STOPS at the pizza joint.
Train yourself to look for unnecessary ISes and AREs in your script, and get rid of ‘em! Believe it or not, this is an industry metric, and you will be judged on this!
Starts To and Begins To
Similar to IS and Are, don’t use these. Just use the verb that your character is starting to or beginning to do. Starts to and Begins to are generally throwaway words that clutter up the works.
BAD: Fuaz begins to set the timer on the explosives.
GOOD: Fuaz sets the timer on the explosives.
BAD: Anita is beginning to set the table with glasses and napkins when Billy enters.
GOOD: Anita sets the table. Billy enters.
Inserts, Enclosures and Diagrams
Nothing says unprofessional faster than a piece of artwork on your script cover or if you send a CD of “mood music” along with your script.
Okay, maybe there are some exceptions. If you are an outrageously good artist, sometimes bringing along a mock-up of a movie one-sheet (poster) can really help sell execs at a pitch meeting. Screenwriter and artist John Fasano does just that, to great effect. But first of all, he’s already in the door, working in the business, and getting meetings. Secondly, he is a superb artist.
There was one and only one script we read once in which this worked. It had one diagram, only one, and it came around page 25. It was an occult symbol which the cops in the story then had to investigate. The writer did a good job of inserting the image into the script in a natural-feeling way, and the diagram did a far better job of showing us the icon than describing it would have.
But in general, just send your script unencumbered by add-ons. The industry as a whole really doesn’t care about the CD of jazz greats you’ve burned to accompany. Or about the lyrics to original music you’re written and enclosed, or newspaper articles providing backstory to the script. All of them, rightly or wrongly, tell the industry reader “amateur.”
The script should stand on its own.
http://www.creativescreenwriting.com/spf/ScreenplayFormat37.cfm
Is and Are
Brace yourself for this one, folks: IS and ARE are bad words.
Ridiculous, you say? I say thee nay. Here’s the scoop: IS and ARE are generally inactive, where as simply using the direct verb alone results in a punchier read.
BAD: Wilbur is putting on his shoes.
GOOD: Wilbur PUTS on his shoes.
BAD: Margaret is filling her overnight bag with opiates.
GOOD: Margaret FILLS her overnight bag with opiates.
BAD: The team is stopping at the pizza joint.
GOOD: The team STOPS at the pizza joint.
Train yourself to look for unnecessary ISes and AREs in your script, and get rid of ‘em! Believe it or not, this is an industry metric, and you will be judged on this!
Starts To and Begins To
Similar to IS and Are, don’t use these. Just use the verb that your character is starting to or beginning to do. Starts to and Begins to are generally throwaway words that clutter up the works.
BAD: Fuaz begins to set the timer on the explosives.
GOOD: Fuaz sets the timer on the explosives.
BAD: Anita is beginning to set the table with glasses and napkins when Billy enters.
GOOD: Anita sets the table. Billy enters.
Inserts, Enclosures and Diagrams
Nothing says unprofessional faster than a piece of artwork on your script cover or if you send a CD of “mood music” along with your script.
Okay, maybe there are some exceptions. If you are an outrageously good artist, sometimes bringing along a mock-up of a movie one-sheet (poster) can really help sell execs at a pitch meeting. Screenwriter and artist John Fasano does just that, to great effect. But first of all, he’s already in the door, working in the business, and getting meetings. Secondly, he is a superb artist.
There was one and only one script we read once in which this worked. It had one diagram, only one, and it came around page 25. It was an occult symbol which the cops in the story then had to investigate. The writer did a good job of inserting the image into the script in a natural-feeling way, and the diagram did a far better job of showing us the icon than describing it would have.
But in general, just send your script unencumbered by add-ons. The industry as a whole really doesn’t care about the CD of jazz greats you’ve burned to accompany. Or about the lyrics to original music you’re written and enclosed, or newspaper articles providing backstory to the script. All of them, rightly or wrongly, tell the industry reader “amateur.”
The script should stand on its own.
http://www.creativescreenwriting.com/spf/ScreenplayFormat37.cfm
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