In the United Kingdom, double-hole-punched A4 paper is normally used, which is slightly taller and narrower than US letter size. The middle hole is left empty as it would otherwise make it harder to quickly read the script. They are then held together with two brass brads in the top and bottom hole. Physical format US Īmerican screenplays are printed single-sided on three-hole-punched paper using the standard American letter size (8.5 x 11 inch). In a " shooting script" the slug lines are numbered consecutively for ease of reference. interior or exterior), the specific location, and the time of day. A slug line, also called a master scene heading, occurs at the start of each scene and typically contains 3 pieces of information: whether the scene is set inside or outside (INT. Unique to the screenplay (as opposed to a stage play) is the use of slug lines. The dialogue is the words the characters speak, and is written in a center column. The action is written in the present tense and is limited to what can be heard or seen by the audience, for example descriptions of settings, character movements, or sound effects. The major components are action (sometimes called "screen direction") and dialogue.
Wide margins of at least one inch are employed (usually larger for the left to accommodate hole punches). The standard font is 12 point, 10 pitch Courier typeface. The format is structured so that (as a ballpark estimate) one page equates to roughly one minute of screen time, though this often bears little resemblance to the runtime of the final production. Page from a screenplay, showing dialogue and action descriptions, as well as scene cuts