The second element is the action portion of the script. This is written in present tense and should only include what can be seen or heard. In other words, you cannot writer about characters thoughts - it needs to be written as a film not a novel. Sound effects that are key to the story but heard off screen need to be written in all caps as well as a characters name the first time he or she is introduced.
The next element is the character name. This goes on its own line in all caps, if the character is off screen or delivering a voice over you can designate it so with an O.S or a V.O.
Underneeth the character name are Parenthetical that shade the meaning of the dialogue delivery. Remember the key to a master scene script is readability, so only include Parenthetical's that are absolute necessary to the key story.
Then there are the dialogue blocks which are written in their section off set from everything else.
The final element is the scene transaction. This is a holdover from the continuity script days. These go on the far right of the script and explain the transition between scenes. Again, the purpose of this format is Readability so only include transitional elements when they are absolutely important to the story you’re trying to tell.
Timing, it is a customary assumption in the movie industry that 1 page of screenplays equals 1 minute of screen time. This makes planning easier, since the average feature is one hundred and twenty minutes. The average script should be about one hundred and twenty pages long.
Because of this convention, description passages should cover as many pages as the scene is expected to run in real time. For example, if you sense that an action scene will take a minute of screen time, it should be written to cover one page, rather than one line.
Dialogue blocks, also called 'speeches' are composed of three parts: character names, wrylies and dialogue as illustrated below.
Character names are written in upper case wrylies are written in lower case inside parenthesis, and dialogue is written in normal sentence format.
A Wryly indicates how a line should be said, it was named after all the novice screen writers who's characters say things in a 'wry' way. Wrylies should only be used if the subject of the dialogue is unclear. They should be kept to a bare minimum. I.e.:
Rose
(in fear)
The figure moved closer
Some of the conventions of master scene scripts are as follows: the font size is always twelve along with the format being courier, slug lines and character names are written in capital letters. Voice overs and off screen are written as V.O and V.S, footers at the bottom right of the page say continued, this is only applicable if a scene carries over from one page to another, in not cont is written at the bottom left.
Some things to avoid when writing a master scene script are obvious where as some are more eluding, such as using page numbers, this is not needed, camera angles do not need to be recorded, page footers are not always required (however only in specific scripts), sound effects written in capital letters do not need to be recorded, characters names do not always need to be written in capital letters in narrative description, except when they first appear and finally the use of 'we', such as when a character is being tracked in their person.
Shooting scripts
Shooting scripts are scripts that are used during production of the film. They are written with much more detail than spec scripts and may include amount other things, scene numbers, editing transitions and camera angles.
Since shooting scripts are used in production, they are formatted to include any useful information that the director may require. They are not used for selling purposes. This is due to the scripts being difficult to read and having the possibility of turning off potential investors.
This approach is used when the script is going directly into proportion.
In broader terms, the main noticeable difference between the screenplay and the shooting script is that the screenplay is a selling tool, where as the shooting script is a production tool.
Scene numbers are added, these remain present throughout any revision(which are printed on colored paper). Techniques are included to help the crew shoot on set, these can include camera composition, movement and editing.
Radio scripts
Radio scripts differ largely from that of film, this is due to the fact that story cannot be told visually. This then means that they rely much more on dialogue.
'OFF' is the audio equivalent of off screen in film scripts, the presenter should speak away from the microphone.
'VO', voice over indicates a character who is narrating over sound, music or dialogue.
'D', distort indicates a character who is speaking via a mechanical device such as a radio or telephone.
'LOW', this technique has a charter speaking low, at almost the level of a whisper.
'CLOSE', this technique indicates that the actor should be in close proximity to their individual microphone, this gives an intimate feel to the dialogue.
Videogame Scripts
Videogame scripts are nothing alike to either radio or film scripts, this is due to the fact that they often exist in world that are multiple choice and are interactive to the player.
These scripts are often branching - which means that option can be optional, and may or may not have impact later in the story, depend on prior decisions or cause total script split into two or more entirely different realities.
These scripts come in two parts, The flowchart:
This documents every major decision the player faces, and the results of the decisions he makes. It should consist of text boxes with arrows to indicate what happens when an action is performed. If there are multiple decisions the player faces, "yes" and "no," "left" and "right," etc. can be used to indicate where the chart branches.
The script:
Once all choices have been defined writers must compose scripts to take into account that variables their world have created.
This can be incredibly detailed and time consuming depending on the depth and complexity of the interactive world.
These scripts often follow a similar format to film scripts, however the variety in gameplay means there is no onset as there is within the movie industry.
Games may simply and often employ simple dialogue sheets that instruct a voice actor of exact phrases to say, and how they should be projected.
