Assignment_Description_and_Details1) Compose four loglines. (Loglines are one or two sentences that capture the premise of a story, including the main character and the primary conflict.) These should

Assignment_Description_and_Details1) Compose four loglines. (Loglines are one or two sentences that capture the premise of a story, including the main character and the primary conflict.) These should
THE BASICSAlmost 99% of your script will involve just four elements: Sluglines, Action, Character Names, and Dialogue. Learn how to format the Big Four and you’re in the clear. 1) Sluglines, also known as Scene Headings. These appear at the beginning of a new scene and tell us the scene’s setting. They look like this: Sluglines are made up of these three elements: 1) INT. or EXT. Short for Interior and Exterior, this tells the production crew whether or not they’ll be shooting on a sound stage or on location. 2) Location. Where the scene takes place. These should be short: LIBRARY CIRCULATION DESK or TRAILER PARK or AL’S BRAIN. 3) Time. Usually just DAY or NIGHT but can be as specific as 4:59 A.M. (if, say the bomb is set to go off at 5:00.) Sluglines are always in ALL CAPS. There are usually two spaces between INT./EXT. and Location, and then space, hyphen, space between Location and Time. 2) Action. This describes what is happening on the screen, and which characters (if any) are involved. It looks like this: With a few exceptions we’ll talk about later, Action follows standard rules of capitalization. It’s single-spaced and always in present tense. Also, you always need some Action after a Slugline, even it’s only a single line. 3) Character Name. This always appears above Dialogue and tells us which character is speaking. It looks like this: Character names are always in ALL CAPS. And sometimes you’ll have minor characters that you won’t want to name. It’s okay to just call them CLERK or PEDESTRIAN or MONKEY WARRIOR. If there are several of the same type of character, add a number: COP #1 or BODY BUILDER #2. 4) Dialogue. The words the character speaks. It looks like this: Dialogue is single-spaced and follows standard rules of capitalization. Unlike in novels, there are no quotes around Dialogue, unless the character is quoting someone. MORE DETAILS Parentheticals: These are used within dialogue to describe what a character is simultaneously doing, who she’s talking to, or how he is speaking. They look like this: Parentheticals also take up space, slow your pace, and annoy actors, who don’t like being told how to say their lines; try to only use parentheticals where not using them would lead to confusion, as demonstrated in the following: Capitalization within Action: The very first time a character’s name appears in Action, it appears in ALL CAPS.
Assignment_Description_and_Details1) Compose four loglines. (Loglines are one or two sentences that capture the premise of a story, including the main character and the primary conflict.) These should
INT. BOW AND ARROW — CONTINUOUS Chuckie is collecting money from the guys to buy a pitcher, all but Morgan cough up some crumpled dollars. CHUCKIE So, this is a Harvard bar, huh? I thought there’d be equations and shit on the wall. INT. BACK SECTION, BOW AND ARROW — MOMENTS LATER Chuckie returns to a table where Will, Morgan and Billy have made themselves comfortable. He [Chuckie] spots two ATTRACTIVE YOUNG HARVARD WOMEN sitting together at the end of the bar. Chuckie struts his way toward the women and pulls up a chair. He flashes a smile and tries to submerge his thick Boston accent. CHUCKIE Hey, how’s it goin’? LYDIA Fine. SKYLAR Okay. CHUCKIE So, you ladies ah, go to school here? LYDIA Yes. CHUCKIE Yeah, cause I think I had a class with you. At this point, several interested parties materialize. Morgan, Billy, and Will try, as inconspicuously as possible, to situate themselves within listening distance. A rather large student in a HARVARD LACROSSE sweatshirt, CLARK (22) notices Chuckie. He [Clark] walks over to Skylar and Lydia, nobly hovering over them as protector. This gets Will, Morgan, and Billy’s attention. SKYLAR What class? CHUCKIE Ah, history I think. SKYLAR Oh… CHUCKIE Yah, it’s not a bad school… At this point, Clark can’t resist and steps in. CLARK What class did you say that was? CHUCKIE History. CLARK How’d you like that course? CHUCKIE Good, it was all right. CLARK History? Just “history?” It must have been a survey course then. Chuckie nods. Clark notices Chuckie’s clothes. Will and Billy exchange a look and move subtly closer. CLARK Pretty broad. “History of the World?” CHUCKIE Hey, come on pal we’re in classes all day. That’s one thing about Harvard never seizes to amaze me, everybody’s talkin’ about school all the time. CLARK Hey, I’m the last guy to want to talk about school at the bar. But as long as you’re here I want to “seize” the opportunity to ask you a question. Billy shifts his beer into his left hand. Will and Morgan see this. Morgan rolls his eyes as if to say “not again…” CLARK Oh, I’m sure you covered it in your history class. Clark looks to see if the girls are impressed. They are not. When Clark looks back to Chuckie, Skylar turns to Lydia and rolls her [own] eyes. They laugh. Will sees this and smiles. CHUCKIE To tell you the truth, I wasn’t there much. The class was rather elementary. CLARK Elementary? Oh, I don’t doubt that it was. I remember the class, it was just between recess and lunch. Will and Billy come forward, stand behind Chuckie. CHUCKIE All right, are we gonna have a problem? CLARK There’s no problem. I was just hoping you could give me some insight into the evolution of the market economy in the early colonies. My contention is that prior to the Revolutionary War the economic modalities especially of the southern colonies could most aptly be characterized as agrarian precapitalist and… Will, who at this point has migrated to Chuckie’s side and is completely fed-up, includes himself in the conversation. WILL Of course that’s your contention. You’re a first year grad student. You just finished some Marxian historian, Pete Garrison prob’ly, and so naturally that’s what you believe until next month when you get to James Lemon and get convinced that Virginia and Pennsylvania were strongly entrepreneurial and capitalist back in 1740. That’ll last until sometime in your second year, then you’ll be in here regurgitating Gordon Wood about the Pre-revolutionary utopia and the capital-forming effects of military mobilization. CLARK (taken aback) Well, as a matter of fact, I won’t, because Wood drastically underestimates the impact of– WILL “Wood drastically underestimates the impact of social distinctions predicated upon wealth, especially inherited wealth…” You got that from “Work in Essex County,” Page 421, right? Do you have any thoughts of your own on the subject or were you just gonna plagiarize the whole book for me? Clark is stunned. WILL Look, don’t try to pass yourself off as some kind of an intellect at the expense of my friend just to impress these girls. Clark is lost now, searching for a graceful exit, any exit. WILL The sad thing is, in about 50 years you might start doin’ some thinkin’ on your own and by then you’ll realize there are only two certainties in life. CLARK Yeah? What’re those? WILL One, don’t do that. Two — you dropped a hundred and fifty grand on an education you coulda’ picked up for a dollar fifty in late charges at the Public Library. Will catches Skylar’s eye. CLARK But I will have a degree, and you’ll be serving my kids fries at a drive through on our way to a skiing trip. WILL (smiles) Maybe. But at least I won’t be a prick. (beat) And if you got a problem with that, I guess we can step outside and deal with it that way. While Will is substantially smaller than Clark, he [Clark] decides not to take Will up on his [Will’s] offer. WILL If you change your mind, I’ll be over by the bar. He turns and walks away. Chuckie follows, throwing Clark a look. Morgan turns to a nearby girl. MORGAN My boy’s wicked smart. INT. BOW AND ARROW, AT THE BAR — LATER Will sits with Morgan at the bar watching with some amusement as Chuckie and Billy play bar basketball game where the players shoot miniature balls at a small basket. In the background, occasionally we hear Chuckie shouting “Larry!” When he scores. Skylar emerges from the crowd and approaches Will. SKYLAR You suck. WILL What? SKYLAR I’ve been sitting over there for forty-five minutes waiting for you to come talk to me. But I’m just tired now and I have to go home and I wasn’t going to keep sitting there waiting for you. WILL I’m Will. SKYLAR Skylar. And by the way. That guy over there is a real dick and I just wanted you to know he didn’t come with us. WILL I kind of got that impression. SKYLAR Well, look, I have to go. Gotta’ get up early and waste some more money on my overpriced education. WILL I didn’t mean you. Listen, maybe… SKYLAR Here’s my number. Skylar produces a folded piece of paper and offers it to Will. SKYLAR Maybe we could go out for coffee sometime? WILL Great, or maybe we could go somewhere and just eat a bunch of caramels. SKYLAR What? WILL When you think about it, it’s just as arbitrary as drinking coffee. SKYLAR (laughs) Okay, sounds good. She turns. WILL Five minutes. SKYLAR What? WILL I was trying to be smooth. (indicates clock) But at twelve-fifteen I was gonna come over there and talk to you. SKYLAR See, it’s my life story. Five more minutes and I would have got to hear your best pick-up line. WILL The caramel thing is my pick-up line. A beat. SKYLAR Glad I came over. CUT TO: EXT. BOW AND ARROW — LATER Our boys are walking out of the bar teasing one another about their bar-ball exploits. Across the street is another bar with a glass front. Morgan spots Clark sitting by the window with some friends. MORGAN There goes that fuckin’ Barney right now, with his fuckin’ “skiin’ trip.” We should’a kicked that dude’s ass. WILL Hold up. Will crosses the street and approaches the plate glass window and stands across from Clark, separated only by the glass. He POUNDS THE GLASS to get Clark’s attention. WILL Hey! Clark turns toward Will. WILL DO YOU LIKE APPLES? Clark doesn’t get it. WILL DO YOU LIKE APPLES?! CLARK Yeah? Will SLAMS SKYLAR’S PHONE NUMBER against the glass. WILL WELL I GOT HER NUMBER! HOW DO YA LIKE THEM APPLES?!! Will’s boys erupt into laughter. Angle on Clark, deflated.