Screenplay Formatting
A screenplay is written in a specific industry-standard format that exists for a practical reason: one properly formatted screenplay page equals approximately one minute of screen time, allowing producers to estimate budgets and shooting schedules before a single frame is shot. The formatting is enforced by convention and by screenwriting software like Final Draft, Highland 2, or the free WriterDuet. The four core elements: Scene headings (sluglines) use all-caps and establish location and time: INT. COFFEE SHOP - DAY or EXT. ROOFTOP - NIGHT. INT and EXT specify interior or exterior. Action lines describe what the camera sees and what characters physically do — written in present tense, active voice: 'Maya enters, scanning the room. Her expression tightens.' Action lines should not describe internal thoughts (the camera cannot film them), off-screen events, or any information the audience cannot experience. Character names appear in all-caps centered above their dialogue. Dialogue is indented and centered beneath the character name. Parentheticals (small stage directions beneath the character name, before dialogue) should be used sparingly — only when the reading of the line is genuinely not clear from context. The professional rule: trust your actors. Transitions (CUT TO:, FADE IN:, SMASH CUT TO:) appear flush right between scenes — used deliberately for rhythmic or tonal effect, not reflexively between every scene.