Screenplay format, with a worked scene example

Formatting lets a reader distinguish where a scene happens, what they can see and who is speaking. Start with those jobs, then study how they work together in a scene.

One scene, several kinds of information

This short original example shows the elements together. Read it once without the labels. What can you see, what can you hear, and what question does the last action leave open?

An original teaching example, not a passage from a film screenplay.

INT. RAILWAY STATION - NIGHT

Mina slides a ticket under the grille. The clerk turns it over.

        CLERK
    Last train left ten minutes ago.

        MINA
      (to the child behind her)
    We have time.

Mina takes back the ticket. She folds it into her coat pocket.

Scene heading: INT. RAILWAY STATION - NIGHT establishes an interior, a place and a time of day.
Action: The ticket and Mina’s movements give the reader visible behavior.
Character cue and dialogue: The names identify the speakers; the lines underneath give their words.
Parenthetical: The brief direction tells us whom Mina addresses.

Scene headings: INT., EXT., place and time

A scene heading, also called a slugline, identifies an interior (INT.) or exterior (EXT.), the location and the time. It is usually written in capitals. A new heading marks a new scene.

A location name does not explain the event. In Tenet, the opening opera siege and a later Oslo rooftop briefing are different moments. Read the action alongside the heading when choosing the scene you want.

Action: put behavior on the page

Action describes what the audience can see or hear, generally in the present tense. It sits apart from dialogue so the reader can follow the scene’s physical events.

In the example, folding the ticket is observable. “Mina loses hope” would supply an interpretation. Try a second action that lets the reader infer her response, then ask whether it changes the scene.

Character cues, dialogue and parentheticals

A character’s name appears above their dialogue. A short parenthetical beneath the cue can clarify a delivery or addressee when the words and action leave it unclear. Use it sparingly.

Now remove Mina’s parenthetical. Would the reader still know who hears “We have time”? If not, try clarifying the addressee through a visible action. Choose the version that reads clearly.

Study the opening conversation in The Social Network

V.O., O.S. and transitions

V.O. marks voice-over. O.S. marks an off-screen speaker within the scene. These extensions follow the character cue. A transition, such as FADE OUT, specifies an edit when that instruction is useful.

Imagine the clerk speaks from an adjoining room. What action would establish that space? Keep the reader’s understanding of the sound source clear before choosing a cue extension.

Check the format by reading a scene

Produced screenplay drafts vary in style. Use the elements to understand what the page communicates, rather than copying every typographic choice as a rule. This browser example teaches the elements; it is not a paginated submission template.

Choose a scene from the collection. Identify one heading, one action and one exchange. Explain what each contributes, then write a small scene of your own using the same elements with different people and circumstances.