FORMATTING YOUR SPEC SCRIPT WHILE SOCIAL DISTANCING: A PRIMER, PART 6
Happy sixth week at home! We hope these blog posts have been helping in lieu of actually being able to come in and read scripts in the library!
Here’s the deal: While fellowship season corresponds with quarantine season, we’re breaking down formatting of library scripts to help you get the info you need for writing your spec. If we haven’t covered the show you’re spec-ing, or if you have additional, more targeted questions, please send us an e-mail at library@wgfoundation.org.
We can’t send you scripts in their entirety. We aren’t the copyright holders and we don’t have the right to distribute them beyond the physical library. We can, however, pore through the scripts and try to find you the information you need.
BARRY (HBO)
Average page count: 28
Average scene count: 37
Broken into acts? No
Other things to consider:
Scripts are formatted in a very standard way… like little screenplays in 30 pages or less.
Sometimes significant shots or images or action lines are written in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.
In the show, there are daydreams, action sequences and flash forwards. They’re written in a mostly straightforward way.
THE GOOD FIGHT (CBS All-Access)
Average page count: 60
Average scene count: 54-56
Broken into acts? Yes, 4.
Other things to consider:
Act breaks are formatted in the standard ACT ONE centered, bolded and underlined. Note that the writers do not specify when an act ends, they just jump right into the next act. The average act length seems to be about 11-13 pages (but this can vary).
Scene headings are in bold.
Each script contains a Schoolhouse Rock-esque number or musical interlude. With these numbers, it’s almost like the writers are leaving space or an annotation in bold for someone to fill-in more completely later, describing what the number should be about and feel like, but not writing it out in full.
ONE DAY AT A TIME (PopTV)
Average page count: 35
Average scene count: 8-13 (But some have as few as 4 or as many as 17)
Broken into acts? Yes, 3 (Plus a cold open and a tag)
Other things to consider:
Scenes are numbered with letters like "SCENE A" or "SCENE F” always centered, bolded and underlined. New scenes always start on a new page. Scenes end with a transition on the right side of the page like "CUT TO:" underlined.
Just like with traditional multi-cam sitcoms: All of the dialogue is double-spaced, all of the description is in CAPITAL LETTERS and every time you change a location just make sure all the characters in the scene are listed (in parentheses).
While the show was on Netflix, the scripts did not have act breaks, but now airing on PopTV and featuring commercial breaks, the scripts are broken into 3 acts. When starting a new act, put ACT ONE above the new scene. When the act is over, FADE OUT. underlined on the right side of the page, then END OF ACT ONE, centered, bolded and underlined. At the end of act 3 (or the end of the show) it’s END OF EPISODE.
Scripts begin with a cold open. COLD OPEN centered, bolded and underlined, then when the cold open is over — CUT TO: OPENING CREDITS on the right side of the page, underlined.
Per showrunner, Mike Royce, sometimes act 3 features a tag; sometimes it doesn’t.
SUPERGIRL (The CW)
Average page count: 50-ish
Average scene count: 54-55 (range: 43-68)
Broken into acts? Yes, 4 (Plus a teaser) **Note that in the library we have scripts from season 1, which premiered on CBS. When the show moved to The CW, it became a 6 act show, so apply these formatting rules to six acts rather than four.
Other things to consider:
Act breaks are formatted in the standard way: ACT ONE centered, underlined and bolded at the beginning; END OF ACT ONE also centered, underlined and bolded at the end of the act. Act Four ends with with END OF EPISODE instead.
Note: The teaser is lengthy; it's basically the length of an act.
Flashbacks and significant words in action sequences are italicized. It also seems like the alien language (Interlac? Kryptonian?) when spoken is written in English, but italicized.
Occasionally significant exchanges or moments will be underlined in the script for emphasis.
Act outs are really big in Supergirl. An act will often end with a big reveal or realization.
THIS IS US (NBC)
Average page count: 48-51
Average scene count: roughly 40
Broken into acts: Yes, 6
Other things to consider:
Act breaks are formatted “ACT ONE" or "ACT THREE" etc in bold/centered and end with "END ACT ONE" or "END ACT FIVE" etc in bold/centered.
This Is Us is known for its flashbacks and flash forwards and jumps in time. When telling the story in the present, add (PRESENT DAY) in parentheses to your scene heading. For any continuous scenes and action after that, you don’t need to add (PRESENT DAY).
When writing a flashback (or flash forward) scene, add the year that the scene takes place, such as (1992), to the scene heading. For all continuous scenes that take place in the flashback, continue to add the year.
Occasionally, act one will feature a title card, formatted like: TITLE CARD: THIS IS US in bold on the left hand side of the page, but not always.
The writing is very straightforward. Lots of white space on the page.