I've gotten into the subject of capitlization here and here, but once more into the breech!Hi Scott,
My question: What rules do you follow with regard to capitalizing sounds in spec scripts?
Most screenplay formatting books will advise you to capitalize all sounds and the objects that created the sounds. The exception being onscreen sounds made by human actors.
John August breaks a few rules in this tutorial: http://johnaugust.com/
archives/2009/writing-better- . For example he only capitalizes the sound itself ("Windows BLOW OUT") and has an onscreen actor sound in uppercase ("PEDESTRIANS SCREAM"). He also relaxes the rules of capitalization if it's not a new sound.action Adding to the confusion, many professional script readers will tell you not to capitalize sounds in a spec script, saying that they are distracting. However I've also read that it's important to utilize correct sound capitalization in spec scripts in order to demonstrate your command of solid screen craft (for potential Open Writing Assignments).
What's your take?
Confession: I used to use a lot of caps, a stylistic choice to make scene description 'pop' to a reader. For example, here is an excerpt from Trojan War:
BRAD'S CARAt one time, I thought that made for a good read, thinking that if a busy exec only had time to skim scene description, by picking up the capped words -- SHREDDED, BURNING SMOKE, GRINDING, SWERVING, HYDROPLANES, SMASHES, LAMPPOST, BRAD'S CAR, TOPPLES, CRUNCHES, CAR'S ROOF -- they could get a pretty good sense of the action.
Tires SHREDDED in a firestorm of BURNING SMOKE! Brakes
GRINDING! Front end SWERVING! The car HYDROPLANES in
circles... SMASHES into a LAMPPOST whacking the front end of
BRAD'S CAR! The lamppost slowly TOPPLES over and CRUNCHES
the CAR'S ROOF.
But now some 15 years later, I don't like how that looks. Too many caps. So I'll stand by my previous advice on GITS which is to use caps:
* Whenever you introduce a new character (but do not cap their name in scene description throughout the script as that reduces the impact of more important capped words)
* Whenever you have a sound that you want to make sure the reader 'hears'
* Whenever you have an object you want to make sure the reader 'sees'
Now I will grant you that from a script reader's standpoint, an established professional screenwriter will be granted more leeway re stylistic choices than an aspiring screenwriter. And it's wise for a pre-pro writer to know the guidelines before deciding to bend them. But the bottom line - in my view - is that these are, indeed, guidelines, not rules. A writer's style is an individual thing and you should feel free to experiment to find what works for you. Hell, years ago, I read a script by then unknown screenwriter Justin Zackham which he wrote in the 2nd person ala:
INT. BEDROOM - NIGHTThat script generated a lot of buzz for Justin who later went on to sell The Bucket List. 2nd person, an interesting stylistic choice. But the buzz wouldn't have been there in the first place if it weren't for the fact that the story was a good one.
You open your eyes. You slap your feet on the ground. You peer
through the darkness. And with your first waking moment, you
know you are screwed.
So a really long-winded way of recommending that you cap sounds that you think are important for a reader to 'hear' - but on the bigger front, it raises a more important issue about screenwriting style, something that evolves over a writer's life (especially early on).
Script readers, how about you? What's your view on style as rules vs. guidelines? Are there any stylistic choices you see made by writers which drive you crazy? Do you care how / when writers use caps in scene description?
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4 comments:
I like capitalization -- what I really like are capitals used to indicate a new shot, and used to push the reader through a sentence -- capitalize the subject and verb of an action sentence. For me capitals actually make for a much FASTER read.
They're also a great tool for emphasis, obviously, and since we're not allowed to use underlines, bolds or italics, it seems a shame to remove this tool from the writer's arsenal as well.
j
Trevor, I say it depends on the pace of the narrative.
I don't think anyone would mind the occasional capitalization throughout the action lines. If you gotta show what needs to be seen amidst what's happening, then capitalization is probably the way to go, to highlight the visually imperative elements of the scene. But if it's overdone then it will be adverse to your intented "direction".
I think the example that Scott gave from one of his scripts is a good indication of something that could be viewed as overkill. When in doubt, one should adhere to some self-imposed guidelines for capitalization - stick to a modest rule of thumb, like objects but not verbs, or sounds but not adverbs, etc.
With Scott's example for instance, I thought that the exclamation point (!) was more imposing than the 12-out-of-28-words capitalization. Yet that's what he chose to do when he did it. He may have doubted himself thirty times and still decided "It must be there(!)" It made sense to him then, but not now.
We change, opinions change, and so do rules. People were against anything but paint on a canvas, until some whack swapped a brush for a blowtorch. Goodbye paint... Goodbye canvas. And voila` GENIUS.
So... Look, when it comes to craft - being EFFICIENT is better than being deficient. Being DEFIANT better than being defined. Write how you wanna write and tell it the way only you can tell it. Don't get all by-the-book-writer geeky on yourself. I bet you write scripts because you saw a movie once and said, "I can do better than that."
CAPITALIZE on that(!)
Scott, thanks so much for covering this topic again. The Justin Zackham example you provided really illuminates the fact that it's really about "whatever works." The story's the thing.
I still don't get why the formatting books are so zealous about capitalizing both the sound AND the object making the sound.
@James - I see what you and Scott mean about CAPS potentially making things read faster or pop. It's all very Shane Black. But I like Scott's current less-is-more view of things.
@stefano - Thank you for your thorough response. I will definitely CAPITALIZE on the current trends, and what feels right, rather than strict adherence to potentially outmoded formatting rules. :)
Time to read some more Black List scripts...
Thanks for the feedback guys!
Trevor
'Time to read some more Black List scripts...'
No.No. NO. Time to write one!
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