An open forum question from Daveed:

“What’s the current rule on the use of CAPITALIZATION in scene descriptions? I hear that it should be avoided, but even recent scripts of successful films still use it.”

Re the “rules” of screenplay format and style, let’s be clear: It’s not like there’s a Ms. Manners type figure who lives in a bungalow at the Chateau Marmont, holding court at script tribunals every Monday between 10-6PM (“So let it be written!”). Yes, there are some basics of ‘screenplay grammar’ — margins for sluglines, character name, dialogue, parentheticals, and so on — but there are plenty of variables and it’s up to you, as a writer, to figure out what works for you as you develop your own style as a writer.

Re capitalization, I am comfortable in saying this much: There one occasion when you must use capital letters: Whenever you introduce a NEW CHARACTER. While this has been standard operational procedure for screenplays for decades, the real reason you do it is to alert the script reader — “Hey, bub! New character here!”

Another traditional use of capitalization has been to highlight SOUND EFFECTS (SFX). For example, compare these two lines of scene description. Which reads better:

This?

The limo screeches around the corner… engine grinding… then smashes into a fire hydrant… which explodes into a torrent of water rocketing toward the night sky.

Or this?

The limo SCREECHES around the corner… engine GRINDING… then SMASHES into a fire hydrant… which EXPLODES into a torrent of water ROCKETING toward the night sky.

The last line may be a bit much — five capitalizations in one line — but you have to admit, even if a reader just scans the capped words — SCREECHES, GRINDING, SMASHES, EXPLODES, ROCKETING — they can pretty much get the sense of the action.

Beyond these two instances — one required, one pretty standard — there are other times when you may choose to cap scene description, primarily when you want to highlight a specific visual. Here are some examples from actual scripts:

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL

               The sea is no longer empty. WRECKAGE from a ship litters the             water... along with the bodies of its crew. What is left of             the ship's hull BURNS, a ragged British flag hanging limply             from the stern

MINORITY REPORT

                FADE IN: A SERIES OF IMAGES

 Some coming at us fast and furious, some slowed down, and some still as photographs, none making sense to us yet:

 A HAND picks up a PAIR OF SCISSORS... THE FACE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN.  The SCISSORS POKE THROUGH THE EYE.  A NEWSPAPER BOY rides by on a recumbent bike.  A NEWS PAPER HITS THE GROUND. SNIP go the scissors and now we see...

 A MAN'S face watching us -- muscular, handsome -- with a KID'S FACE beside his own.  The same man's face with the kid's face on the other side of him, now facing backwards. SNIP go the scissors and we now see...

 A WOMAN admires herself in a mirror.  WATER runs into a BATHTUB.  A HAND REACHES FOR A DOORKNOB.  WE MOVE THROUGH IT, leaving the DOOR OPEN BEHIND US.  A FLIGHT OF STAIRS.  SNIP go the scissors and we now see...

DIE HARD

281 MCCLANE         281

as GLASS FLIES EVERYWHERE, McClane sees one option, takes it.BLASTING a burst to keep their heads down, he WHIRLS, JUMPSon top of a long counter and RUNS ACROSS THE ROOM.  TheirBULLETS follow him, six inches behind his moving form!  BigCRAY UNITS GROAN with electronic SQUEALS and SPARKS as amillion Gigabytes goes to RAM heaven.  McClane reaches the endof the counter, DIVES and rolls to the floor:

Bottom line: Think about the script reader when you write. Think about how you can best translate the movie in your head into the script reader’s head. And the fact is a CAPPED WORD is much more likely to STAND OUT to the human eye than a non-capped word.

So use CAPS, but use them judiciously.

* Always when you introduce a NEW CHARACTER

* Generally when you have a SOUND EFFECT

* Whenever you want to ‘punch’ an IMPORTANT VISUAL.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to a certain bungalow at the Chateau Marmont…

UPDATE: From comments, Joe King made this point:

Hey, Scott: I’m keeping in mind that you’re the successful screenwriter (with the best blog around, to boot) and I’m just the wannabe. But I thought the classic explanation for what to capitalize was straightforward and old-school: “The screenplay is the blueprint for the movie.” Anything that someone needs to *supply* to produce the movie from the script is called out in caps: a sound effect (like a screech), a prop (like wreckage), a special effect (like a burning hull, or glass flying), the setup for a particular shot (close-up on newspaper hitting the ground, or scope of an action shot). They’re the parts list that gets lined up in pre-production.

Joe, I’m glad you brought this up as I should have made the distinction between a selling script and a shooting script. What you’re describing is a shooting script, that is the script that is used to actually produce the movie. A selling script is what a screenwriter writes either on spec – to sell to a studio – or on assignment – to sell the movie to talent, get it greenlit, etc.

Back in the day, there wasn’t this distinction because nobody wrote scripts on spec, they were all on assignment which is why if you read scripts from the 40s, 50s, and 60s there is tons of camera direction in them — generally all the character names are capped (for the actors’ benefit), SFX are all capped, props, and so on as you describe.

Over time, screenwriters have stripped out most of the production / directing lingo from selling scripts. Indeed, they have evolved into a ‘literary’ form of their own.

Why? Because the function of a selling script and a shooting script is different. Whereas a shooting script is, as you say, the blueprint for producing a movie, a writer creates a selling script to immerse the reader in their story universe — engage the reader, get them absorbed in the story, and keep them there. Directing / production lingo tends to jolt a reader out of that experience, reminding them this is about making a movie.

Just check out the shooting script for “North by Northwest” and the selling script “Little Miss Sunshine”. Even if you skim through the first 30 pages or so, you’ll see the difference in style and form right away.

So thanks again, Joe, for raising your point. The distinction between a selling and shooting script is an important one.