M1 - Script Conventions

SCRIPT CONVENTIONS

FORMAT/LAYOUT:

My script is wrote as a shooting script in 12 pt Courier font. I wrote a shooting script as this includes more detailed technical instructions and is written as a production tool. As my brief gave me the task of writing a script for a 10-15 minute scene used to promote the show, writing this type of script allows it o be used in production and contain as the necessary details e.g. shot types and camera angles. I used this 12 pt Courier font to fit industry standards of TV show format, and because this font means that 1 page equals 1 minute of screen time. This allows me to track the 10-15 minute time slot I was given by how many pages I included.

'INT. VIOLETS LIVING LOOM/STAIRCASE' = Scene heading/Slugline written in capitals, a convention of scripts

'Violet is stood hidden away on the top of the staircase...' = Action, telling the audience what's visually happening in the scene. This is key to show a lot of what is happening in the scene, and create a lot of the unspoken drama that the audience will see.

'FADE IN' = Very first transition, written in capitals. All transitions are centred to the right of the page.

' Well... like I said, you're always free to give me a call...' = Dialogue to show what the characters are saying, which the audience will hear

'THE POLICE OFFICER' = Character name written in capitals

'(agitated)' = Parenthetical to give more details to direct the character, in how they are saying the line or giving extra information. This allows the actor to capture the correct emotion or behaviour which could be key in how the drama plays out and is conveyed to the audience.

'(CONT' D)' = To indicate the character is till speaking, can also be seen as a '(MORE)'

'2.' = Page number

'(O.S.)' = Extension

These all follow the convention of all aspects of the script being left aligned. The indentation of the writing is different for every section with action blocks and scene heading aligned furthest to the left for editors or camera crew. Dialogue is indented further towards the middle for actors and transitions are further dented to the right hand side for camera crew and editors. By me following these I am able to keep to industry format and conventions.

LANGUAGE:

Technical terms are used to let the editor know the sequence of events and how the scenes are cut with each other to create the best drama, in my script this is seen as 'FADE IN:'. Camera angles are also wrote into the action to keep with the conventions of a shooting script for the camera crew to know what to shoot, and also for the editors to be sure that they are editing in the correct scenes.

'(an agitated tone starting to come out)' = Parenthetical to give more details to direct the character, in how they are saying the line or giving extra information. This allows the actor to capture the correct emotion or behaviour which could be key in how the drama plays out and is conveyed to the audience.

Action blocks are used to give the reader information about what is happening in a scene when there is no dialogue. In a shooting script this is where more details on camera angles can be placed to let the editors or camera crew know what scenes to edit in and in what order the scene happens. This is also used to give the actors more information on the scene. Here my action block is showing the very start of the extract, introducing the main characters and themes before the first parts of dialogue is spoken. This part was important to establish to the audience, who will be seeing this as a promotional clip, who the main character is and roughly what is happening in the show. 

Dialogue is what the characters say. I have used informal language and dialect when the characters speak to give it  a more natural feeling. Especially between the siblings, who will be more comfortable and will use more regular informal language with each other I have tried to include this such as "gotta" and "er" to make it feel more like actual people would be talking. However as this is a quite tense and emotional scene with a lot of serious and heavy topics, I haven't focused on including lots of informal language/slang. Even if it were siblings speaking on a serious topic like this - they would be unlikely to use slang that comes across as potentially jokey, so I have decided to leave this out as I also didn't want to promote this to my audience who is potentially influenceable and will learn from how these people deal with the situation.

TYPE:

This script is fiction, as I was given task of writing a short script for a TV drama. This is using a story I have made up following a girl who gets assaulted by her brothers best friend. This extract follows when she tells her brother about the assault at the end of the show.

GENRE:

The category of this show is a drama. I was given the brief of creating a drama TV show, I decided not to use any sub-genres and keep to just a drama story as it fit my narrative the best.  have tried to use conventions of this genre in my script to convey this best to the audience. I have used the character types e.g Hero, Villain. I have chosen an extract which has lots of emotion in it to create tension and drama between characters.

ANGLE OF THE ARTICLE:

This story is based around the protagonist Violet, with all narrative, drama, and stories based around her and her experiences.

MULTI STRANDED/SINGLE STRANDED:

My TV show follows the single-stranded perspective of the protagonist Violet. It follows her story and what happens to her. In this extract we see it beginning with her watching down on her families conversation to emphasise this. Even though it touches on other aspects like things in Alex's life, the whole show revolves around Violet and her narrative.

In this script the timeline stays linear, with all the scenes and events being in chronological order. I have used a linear script so that my audience won't get confused. As this is the very end of the show, it is more targeted at emotional value for the audience rather than creating confusion or tension which may have come earlier on in the show. It allows my audience to really pay attention to what the characters are saying and feel like the have a solid ending to the show rather than a jumbled one.

THREE ACT STRUCTURE:

Act I = Set up:

In my extract, we see the set up as Violet watching in on the conversation between Alex and their parents after the police leaves. This gives the audience a basis for what happens in the confrontation (the argument). It is a less tense scene and helps to set up key parts of the scene like the location, which characters are in it and the general mood. This is slower pace than other parts of the drama, with less dramatic elements

Act II = Confrontation:

The confrontation of this script takes up the majority of the extract. This is where Violet and Alex have the conversation about what happened to Violet. This argument is a tense section of dialogue where emotions are very high. This is what the set up was leading up to, and if it was seen with the rest of the show, it would be what a lot of the narrative in the show leads up to.

Act III = Resolution:

As this is a promotional extract, I have decided to end this extract on a cliff hanger with no resolution. I felt that this would be best to entice viewers into watching my show. They will want to watch to find out what happens. If I had used a full resolution for this extract (at the end of my show) the ending of the show would be spoiled and people would have no reason to want to watch it.