Research Dossier

When creating a screen play you must place the Characters names in CAPITALS to signify that the action in the dialog will affect the characters mentioned. When the screen writer shows the character is going to speak he will put the characters name in CAPS in the middle and the speech will be placed underneath.  To show that something is happening whilst the character is speaking the writer will cut the text mid sentence and place a '-'.

When the setting changes the screenplay writer will type at the top the location, whether it is interior or exterior and the time of day. This is to tell the reader where the characters are and what to visualise as the scene unfolds.

Actions are mentioned on their own telling the reader what is happening or changing it the scene, this is often followed up by dialogue of a character or a scene change. If a scene is not finished and cannot fit onto one page the writer will state 'continued' at the top to show it is following on from the previous page, if the scene is not done but the end of the current page it will be placed again at the bottom telling the reader to turn the page to carry on. Page numbers are placed at the top of the page so the reader can skip to a certain page without hassle.