Writing a Screenplay that we can READ

K here.

We received a packet of short scripts, for which we need to review and make notes. Tuesday, we're going to go over them in class, but I need to get a few frustrations off of my chest.

1. If students turn in another script in anything other than 12-point Courier, I will not read it. I used to laugh when people said it was hard to read a script in anything other than the normal, but really--not only is it hard--it's annoying. It's not hard, if you do your script in MS Word, to scroll up to the fonts and click on "Courier New", and set the size at "12". I read a script where it was obvious that the guy had fiddled with the font size. I never thought it would be easy to see--but it's glaringly obvious. I'm not trying to be a jerk--but in other classes, when you turn in a paper, it has to be Times New Roman, 12. I would never turn in a paper in Comic Sans MS font 20. That's insulting.

2. Parenthetical should never be used--I really don't care who you are. And if you need to use a parenthetical, please keep it to one or two. One script I read had parenthetical as a replacement for action. I mean, it literally read like:

DAVE
(picking up paper)
What's this?

SUSAN
(leaning over to Dave)
Oh, that's just my report.

DAVE
(turning back to Susan)
You always do so well.



No!

3. Talking Heads. Enough said.

4. The scene never ended: I'm glad I've gotten to see what unended scenes look like, because I really never understood the concept before. We were supposed to write 5 pages (some people wrote less, others wrote more) of a scene or series of scenes...and some people just didn't get that just because you make a new slugline, your previous scene is ended. It's kind of frustrating, because you know exactly what they were trying to do...

5. Lack of voice. I have no idea how to explain this, but you could tell who did and who didn't have a voice--and a "voice" is necessary for the story we're all trying to tell.

I know I'm just venting now, but it almost feels like they just don't care because most of them are going to end up working on other people's films, or in editing, or they thought it would just be "a fun class". Eugh!