6.1: Drama
- Page ID
- 132188
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chapter 6: drama
A tidbit of history about drama:\(^{71}\)
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action," which is derived from "to do." The two masks associated with drama represent the traditional generic division between comedy and tragedy.
We will view drama and the composition of plays the way others use a traditional approach to theatre which is rooted in character and narrative structure, with emphasis on a play's arc through its beginning, turning point, and ending. There is overlap, then, between composing fiction and creating a play.
In a three-act play\(^{72}\), each act usually has a different tone to it. The most commonly used, but not always, is the first act having a lot of introductory elements, the second act can usually be the darkest with the antagonists having a greater encompass, while the third act is the resolution and the protagonists prevailing. There is an age-old saying that "the second act is the best" because it was in between a starting and ending act and thus being able to delve deeper into more of the meat of the story since it does not need to have as prominent introductory or resolutive portions. Of course, this is not always so, since a third act or even a first act can have the common second act characteristics, but that type of structure is the most used.
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Act 1: Introduction to conflict and characters. Act 2: The obstacle or complication arises! Act 3: The resolution. |
*The number of scenes varies.
typical screenplay format:\(^{73}\)
Although some writers utilize their own modifications on the standard screenplay format, there is a basis upon which all feature film screenplays are formatted.
The standard screenplay format is devised for simplicity of reading by many different departments in addition to roughly timing out to one minute of screen time for one page of script.
Screenplays should be written in twelve-point Courier font. Twelve-point Courier is an important component of the standard format for two reasons. One is nostalgic (Courier font resembles the look of a page written on a mechanical typewriter), but the other reason is highly practical: Courier is a monospaced font meaning every glyph is the same width (as opposed to variable-width fonts, where the "w" and "m" are wider than most letters, and the "i" is narrower). With a monospaced font only a certain number of letters will fit on each row and each page, assuring uniformity of the format and achieving the one page per minute of screen time formula.
Margins are generally set as such (spaces are assuming 12-point font at 72 spaces per line):
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Scene Number (if used) is 1.25 inches from the left edge or 13 "spaces" in
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Scene Heading 1.75 inches from the left edge or 19 spaces in
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Action 1.75 inches from the left edge or 19 spaces in (cut off at 55 characters (including spaces) per line)
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Dialogue 2.75 inches from the left edge or 29 spaces in (cut off at 35 characters (including spaces) per line)
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Character name is centered on the page (about 43 spaces in)
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Parenthetical direction is 3.5 inches from the left or 36 spaces in (cut off at 16 characters (including spaces) per line)
Elements of the Screenplay
Screenplays traditionally start with FADE IN in the upper left-hand corner of the first page, immediately followed by the scene heading for the first location.
SCENE HEADING (SLUG)
A scene heading always starts with a distinction whether the location of the scene is indoors or outdoors. INT. signifies an interior location whereas EXT. signifies an exterior location. These are always abbreviated and followed by a period and one blank space and then the name of the location where that scene takes place. Scene headings, also called slugs, are placed for each and every location in the screenplay, including all the various elements of a location. For example: INT. OLD HOUSE LIVING ROOM might be followed by INT. OLD HOUSE KITCHEN if the characters or action moves to the kitchen. It is not correct to have INT. OLD HOUSE and move characters from one room to the next within the same scene. Each room is treated as a separate location in the script because when the film is actually shot these sequences will most likely be shot out of order (all scenes in the kitchen will be shot together and all scenes in the living room will be shot together, possibly on different days) and, possibly, in completely different physical locations (the kitchen may be a practical location in an Old House, the living room might be built on a soundstage). Some writers like to put a hyphen between the main location and the sub location, IE: INT. OLD HOUSE - LIVING ROOM and INT. OLD HOUSE - KITCHEN, but this is not required. Following the location name is one or two hyphens (depending on writer's taste) and the time of day the scene takes place; DAY, NIGHT, DAWN, DUSK, EVENING or MOMENTS LATER, CONTINUOUS (if the scene is immediately after the following as in the characters walking from the living room to the kitchen in one conversation). After the Scene heading, there are two carriage returns (one blank space) and the ACTION begins. Scene headings are always in all capital letters.
ACTION
Action is the description of what is happening in the scene, IE: Mark walks into the living room from the kitchen and picks up his books. Action is always written in present tense (Mark walks, not Mark walked). Action is in non-indented paragraph/prose form and is the longest element on the page (spanning from the far left to the far-right hand margins of the page). It is generally accepted that action should not be longer than 10 lines without a break. Action also describes the locations, as much as necessary. Action is always in traditional English upper/lowercase. There are two-line breaks between the end of action and the name of a character speaking (one blank line between action and character name) or the beginning of a new scene (one blank line between the end of action and the scene heading for the next scene).
CHARACTER NAME
When dialogue is spoken, it is preceded by the name of the character speaking the dialogue. The Character Name is placed on its own line and centered on the page. It is always in capital letters. There are some modifiers that can be placed after the character name in parenthesis (separated by a single space). Voice Over (V.O.) IE: JOHN (V.O.) is dialogue that is presented on the film's audio track but is not spoken by the character on screen. Voice Over can be a voice on a telephone or the sound of the character's own thoughts. Off Screen (O.S.) IE: JOHN (O.S.) is dialogue that is spoken by a character in or immediately near the physical location of the scene, but who is not visible on the screen in that shot or scene. This could be a character speaking from another room. There is only one-line break after the character name before dialogue (no blank space).
DIALOGUE
Dialogue is the actual spoken words by the character. It is placed immediately under the centered character's name and indented considerably from the left-hand side and slightly from the right to stand out on the page. Dialogue is presented in standard upper/lowercase text (ALL CAPS can signify extreme emphasis or SHOUTING). Underline and italics can be used for emphasis but should be used sparingly.
PARENTHETICAL DIRECTION
This is very brief (usually one or two words) of direction or clarification that is placed within a character's spoken dialogue. It is placed, indented from the dialogue, on a separate line and enclosed in parenthesis. Parenthetical direction is only specific to the speaking character (not to other characters in the scene) and should be extremely brief. It can indicate a change in direction of conversation to a different character in the scene, a notation on a specific emotion or intent in the following dialogue. Parentheticals are always in the middle of dialogue - dialogue never ends with a parenthetical direction. Parenthetical direction is usually written in all lowercase letters IE: (beat). After the dialogue ends, there are two-line breaks (one blank space) between the next character name or action or a new scene heading.
Some standard format notes:
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The first time a character is introduced in action, their name is presented in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS to point out their introduction.
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Sound effects such as a phone RINGS or an alarm BEEPS are placed in all capital letters to point them out.
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Scene transitions such as DISSOLVE TO:, CUT TO:, FADE TO BLACK: are placed flush right, on their own line. They are placed at the end of a scene with one blank space before a new scene heading. Generally speaking, they should be used sparingly.
possible template:
FADE IN:
INT. BASIC HOTEL SEMINAR ROOM - DAY
JOE and ANN burst through the doors into a clean, well-lit seminar room.
JOE
Are we in time?
ANN
How could they start without us?
We're the presenters!
Joe catches his breath as he leans against the table at the front of the room.
JOE
(looking about the room)
We are?
ANN
Don't be an idiot. You know we've been invited to discuss love and life.
JOE
So why is the room empty?
Ann and Joe both look out across the room -- rows of empty chairs and not a person in sight.
ANN
Hey, hey, hey, don't worry!
She takes a deep breath. Then she looks at the clock on the wall and smiles.
ANN
(continuing)
We're an hour early. We should practice.
JOE
Okay, you start.
JOE
Okay, you start.
a student example of an unformatted screenplay:
The Breaking News Newscast\(^{74}\)
Anchor: We now interrupt this broadcast of 2-hour elevator music with breaking news, we have just discovered that our towns top potato fryer has gotten his head stuck in a barrel of gasoline, and well hand it off to Mike on the scene. Tell us what’s happening Mike.
Mike: Well, it seems that according to the witnesses, Howard here was at the 24-hour McDonalds fryin up his best Idahos when all disaster broke lose when he had just remembered he had forgotten to tie his shoelaces and slipped into the fryer which thankfully had been turned off just earlier that day.
Anchor: Well, if the fryer was turned off how did fry them potatoes?
Mike: Well, that’s simple Anchor, he didn’t. Right after he floated to safety an angry FBI agent drove right through the wall causing Howard fly in the air and land right back into the fryer.
Anchor: That still doesn’t explain how he got his head stuck in that gasoline barrel.
Mike: Well, after the agent wrung the oil out of Howard he realized he had compromised the classified oil barrels in his van and then they broke lose of the van and started rolling everywhere. One of them caught up to Howard and he fell face first into the barrel. Thankfully all the other barrels left the 24-hour McDonalds.
Anchor: Thankyou Mike, we are now receiving word of classified oil barrel attacks all over our quiet town of Iowa as the law enforcement are warning everyone to stay inside. We still have yet to know of how we can kill the beasts or if we have any chance of defeating them at all. In other news the fire department is hosting a big match and lighter festival complete with a picnic and booze.
Screen cuts to black
Anchor: Breaking News as the town of Iowa is in chaos after the classified oil barrels invaded the Lighter and Matches festival lighting them and anything else in their way on fire. Officials and the Fire department are baffled to how this could have happened. We turn to Mike who is on the scene.
Mike: Everyone is running and screaming as the classified gasoline barrels are charging at anything they see.
Anchor: I wasn’t aware that the barrels could see Mike.
Mike: Well, they can Anchor, we have that all the barrels are wearing multiple goggles that gives them the ability to see, I’m uh not sure how we didn’t notice that before.
Anchor: Yeah, that’s a pretty big oversight buddy.
Mike: Yeah….
Anchor: Well in other news a new flight school has opened up in Iowa and people are pretty excited about it.
The screen fades to black.
Anchor: Breaking News as there is no where to hide now the classified oil barrels have learned how to fly. The officials place the blame on the flying school that taught these barrels how to fly we now go to the scene to the instructor himself. Sir why would you ever teach these monsters after they have caused so much destruction?
Instructor: Well at first I wanted to teach them because they held me up at gun point but…
Anchor: Wait your saying that the oil barrels held you up at gunpoint?
Instructor: Yeah, so?
Anchor: You’re saying that BARRELS held you up at gunpoint?
Instructor: Yes..
Anchor: Alright..
Long paused silence
Instructor: Anyway, after that happened I thought who am I to discriminate against learning, just because they’re barrels doesn’t mean they can’t learn how to fly. So, I started at the basics and we trained for a whole 24-hours until they were ready. And when they took off I realized (starts to tear up) I had never seen anything more majestic and off they went into the sunset… (breaks down into sobbing)
Anchor: That was beautiful…. (breaks down into sobbing with the Instructor)
The scene fades to black.
Anchor: Breaking news as we have now gotten word on the whereabouts of the FBI agent that started this whole mess. We now go to the scene to Mike, who we have now found out is the FBI agent. Mike why did you do this.
Mike: Well Anchor I was fed up with life that day and well when I got those unfried fried potatoes I just lost it. I didn’t know what I was doing and before I knew it I was wringing the oil out of Howard. The poor man didn’t know what he had done but it was too late.
Anchor: That’s a little lesson for you kids out there to always tie your shoelaces or else you’ll destroy your town with classified gasoline barrels and teach them how to fly.
Mike: That sure is a valuable lesson Anchor.
Anchor: It sure is…
Awkward silence
Anchor: But seriously Mike, why create classified oil barrels in the first place.
Mike: You mean classified gasoline barrels.
Anchor: That’s what I said.
Mike: Oh (pause) well that’s classified Anchor.
Anchor: Come on Mike, we’ve all been wondering where these things came from.
Mike: Sorry Anchor it’s classified.
Anchor: Come on Mike!
Mike: No!
Anchor: Please!
Mike: No, Anchor!
Anchor: I’ll be forced to blackmail you!
Mike: I’ll be forced to silence you!
Anchor: Come on!
Mike: No
Anchor: Come on!
Mike: No
Anchor: Come on!
Mike: No Anchor!
Anchor: Come on please!
Mike: ……
The screen fades to black.
Sports with Bob: Breaking news as the disappearance of Anchor Smith has swept the newsroom with panic as I am now the Anchor. In other news, Howard has finally been freed from the classified oil barrel and the law has been passed in town hall that no one can discriminate against anyone who wants to learn how to fly. The flight instructor has now been appointed mayor since I guess we didn’t have one before. This is Sports with Bob, now onto Sports…
Scene fades to black.
This is the end of the show.
questions / activities.
<Students might be assigned – as part of the final project? – to create questions and activities for chapters that do not contain those pieces quite yet.>
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HERE IS THE PRACTICE PROJECT = Compose an original mini-play of about 1000 words. Possible topics could include college life, relationships, humorous encounters, or you could just create a very silly news broadcast! Practice the typical format/template of a screenplay while incorporating insightful dialogue, descriptive scenes, and ACTION! Bonus\(^{75}\) if you break down the screenplay into Acts 1, 2, and 3! |
\(^{70}\)FYI, from an online dictionary, denouement means: “the final part of a play, movie, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together, and matters are explained or resolved.” This may have been obvious from context, but hey, why not share the definition?!
\(^{71}\)Wikipedia contributors. "Drama." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 24 Dec. 2016. Web. 24 Dec. 2016. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
\(^{72}\)Wikipedia contributors. "Act (drama)." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 21 Sep. 2016. Web. 21 Sep. 2016. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.
\(^{73}\)"Movie Making Manual/Writing/Screenplay Format." Wikibooks, The Free Textbook Project. 1 Dec 2017, 04:35 UTC. 22 Jun 2019, 13:18 <https://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=Movie_Making_Manual/Writing/Screenplay_Format&oldid=3336745>.
\(^{74}\)This piece of drama by Phoenix Black is licensed CC-BY-NC-SA; it was created for NDSCS English 211 in the Spring of 2021.
\(^{75}\)This may or may not be worth actual “bonus points.”