Screenplay Formatting: The Complete Guide
Formatting is the part of screenwriting that is not art and not opinion. A reader decides whether to keep reading within a page, and the fastest way to lose them is a script that does not look like a script. Everything below is the convention working writers actually follow, not a house style.
Start with the element you are stuck on. Each page explains the rule, shows it on the page, and names the mistakes that mark a draft as amateur.
What Is a Scene Heading? Format, Rules & Examples
A scene heading — also called a slugline — is the single line of ALL CAPS text that opens every scene in a screenplay. It tells the reader three things and nothing else: whether …
Guide 2 of 12What Is a Slugline? Screenplay Slugline Explained
A slugline is the one line of ALL CAPS text that opens every scene in a screenplay: INT. or EXT., a location, and a time of day. It is the same element as a …
Guide 3 of 12INT. vs EXT. in a Screenplay: When to Use Each
INT. means the scene plays inside an enclosure and EXT. means it plays outside. The letters are not decoration: they are the first thing a first assistant director reads when breaking a script into …
Guide 4 of 12What Does O.S. Mean in a Screenplay?
O.S. stands for off-screen. It goes in the character cue, in capitals and parentheses after the name — MARA (O.S.) — and it means the character is present in the scene but not visible …
Guide 5 of 12What Does V.O. Mean in a Screenplay?
V.O. stands for voice over. It is the tag appended to a character cue, as in MARA (V.O.), when the voice we hear is not physically inside the scene: a narrator, a remembered voice, …
Guide 6 of 12How to Format Dialogue in a Screenplay
Screenplay dialogue is a block of three parts: an ALL CAPS character cue at 3.7 inches from the page edge, an optional parenthetical at 3.1 inches, and the speech itself at 2.5 inches, about …
Guide 7 of 12How to Format a Phone Call in a Screenplay
A phone call has three standard treatments: intercut, where you slugline both locations and cut between them; split screen, where both parties share one frame; and one-sided, where you stay with one character and …
Guide 8 of 12How to Format a Montage in a Screenplay
A montage is a sequence, not a scene, which is why it does not get a normal slugline. Two conventions carry the label — a MONTAGE header with short beats under it, or a …
Guide 9 of 12How to Format a Flashback in a Screenplay
Three conventions are in use for flashbacks: marking the slugline (INT. KITCHEN - DAY (FLASHBACK) or INT. KITCHEN - DAY - 1987), wrapping a run of scenes in BEGIN FLASHBACK / END FLASHBACK, or …
Guide 10 of 12Screenplay Margins and Font: The Industry Standard
A screenplay is set in 12pt Courier, single-spaced, with a 1.5 inch left margin, a 1 inch right margin, and 1 inch top and bottom margins on US Letter paper. Those numbers are not …
Guide 11 of 12How Many Pages Should a Screenplay Be?
A feature screenplay should be 90 to 120 pages, and 110 pages is the number most working writers aim at. The range comes from standard format, where roughly one page runs one minute of …
Guide 12 of 12Screenplay Formatting Examples: Every Element on One Page
Screenplay format is a fixed set of layouts, not a style choice: scene headings, action, character cues, parentheticals, dialogue, and transitions each have one correct position on the page. This is a complete reference, …