internet research

http://www.writersstore.com/how-to-write-a-screenplay-a-guide-to-scriptwriting/  this website provides an example of how a script should look and gives notes on how to write a script that will look like the example it gives. This wil halp me when writing my script as i can check if it is looking how it should as i write it.

Format

Here is a basic list of how your script should be formatted.

• Typeface Always use Courier 12-point font!
• Margins Because of the 3-hole punched paper, the Left margin should be 1.5 inches and the Right is .5 inches.
  Top and Bottom should be 1 inch each.
  Dialogue -2.5 inches from the left- will be about 3 to 3.5 inches wide and shouldn't extend more than 6 inches from the left.
  Character's Name at 3.7 inches and above the dialogue.
• Page Numbers should be located in the upper right hand corner and then double space and continue writing.
• First Page A screenplay begins with FADE IN:
• Last Page At the end of your script you should type The End and center it, or double space, to the far right of the page, and type FADE OUT

http://www.angelfire.com/movies/coolscreenwriter/structure.html

This website provides information on how a script should be structured, including things like whats font should be used and how big the margins should be this will help me with making sure i format my script in the correct way

Scene transitions in a screenplay indicate changes from one setting to a new setting, or from one time frame to a different time frame.

Transitional instructions should always be used to indicate these changes.

"CUT TO:" is the simplest form of transition. The words "CUT TO:" are typed in capital letters at the right of the page. CUT TO: (punctuated with a colon) is inserted after an abrupt change from one setting to another.

Example:

CLOSE ON the framed photograph of Harriet sitting on a sailboat next to a tall, handsome young man who has his arm around her. They are smiling, happy, in love.

CUT TO:

EXT. NEW YORK HARBOR - SAME DAY

We see CHARLES, the handsome young man from the photograph, among a crowd of people boarding a cruise ship docked in New York harbor.

Double spacing is used before and after "CUT TO:" or other transitional instructions.

Several scenes linked together that move from interior to exterior do not require instructions such as "CUT TO" because the changing scene headings explain the scene change.

In a dynamic screenplay, the action moves inside (INT.) and outside (EXT.). If all the action were to take place in one setting, it would be visually dull. That's why a well-structured screenplay moves from place to place. http://www.scriptologist.com/Magazine/Formatting/Scene/scene.html  this website gives notes on how to put scene changes into your script as i have more than one scene change during my script it will help me with making sure i set those out right.

3rd draft

Script 3rd draft

Scene 1 –

(All sat round in college common room)

Lauren:

Has anyone noticed Em has been acting a bit…

Ben:

 Weird?

Lauren:

 Er yeah I suppose I dunno she’s definitely not been acting herself recently

Luke:

Yeah I've noticed that. I was saying the same thing to Chloe the other

Day wasn't I?

(Girl looks up from her phone)

Chloe:

Sorry did you say something?

Luke:

 (sighs) yeah we were talking about em? Hasn't been acting herself recently?

Chloe:

Oh... yeah definitely something up with her

(Looks back down to her phone once she’s finished talking)

Lauren:

Maybe we should talk to her about it?

Ben:

What if it’s something really serious though?

Luke:

yeah I can’t cope with your girl problems. Nope, no way let’s just leave it and see if she comes to us.

Lauren:

Okay I’m worried about her though

Chloe:
(looking back up from her phone) yeah to be fair i'm quite worried too

Luke:
Chloe when do you ever worry about anything?

Chloe:
when it comes to my friends i do

Ben:

Shh she’s coming talk about something else

(girl enters the room walks over to the group and sits down next to Chloe)

Emily:

 Hi

Chloe:
hi how are you?

Emily:
er not bad

Chloe:
oh okay good

(Awkward silenced in the group , all sat looking round at each other while Emily just looks at the floor)

Lauren:
are you  sure you're alright em you've been... well it's like...erm...Chloe?

Chloe:
you've been acting really weird recently we're all worried about you come on you can talk to us

(Everyone sits in silence while Emily looks up at each one of them)

Emily:
what?

Luke:
I knew we shouldn't of asked her I told you didn't I? Ben what did I say?

Ben
shut-up Luke

Luke:
no seriously though we should of just left it

Emily: nice to see you've all been discussing me then

Ben: 
no you've got it wrong its not like that you can't blame us for being worried

(Lauren gets up and walks over to sit next to Emily)

Lauren:
 look you really haven't been yourself recently are you sure you don't want to talk or something?

Emily:
i don't know what you're talking about I'm fine I’ve just been busy with like coursework and stuff I’ve been tired

Ben:
are you sure? You can tell us you know we are you're friends we've been here for you before remember

Chloe:
yeah come on Em its okay

Emily:
you wouldn't understand okay I said I’m fine can you not just leave it?

(others look round at each other in shock, other people in the room start looking over at them)

Chloe:
calm down em we were only asking we're your friends we're allowed to be worried about you

Emily:
look I’ve gotta go I’ll see you all later

Luke:
Emily wait

Ben:
just let her go she's obviously not going to talk to us you're all just going to cause an argument

Emily:
 yeah talk to you later okay bye

(walks quickly away from the others and bumps into a boy who's on his way into the room)

Adam:
whoa be careful em! Where you running off to anyway?

Emily:
ask them they seem to have a lot to say about me

(Emily turns and walks away without saying anything else)

Adam:

 (as he walks over to the group) did I miss something? What’s up with her?

Ben:
wish we knew man just tried to find out and she flipped

Luke:
what happened to waiting till she came to us anyway?

Ben:

Luke i told you to shut-up about that

Lauren:
i had to know i hate seeing her sad I’m going to try and talk to her again later

Adam:
don't really think that's the best idea ever. She obviously doesn't want us to know

Chloe:

But we’re her friends? We have a right to know if something is upsetting her we could help her if she told us?

Adam:

Whatever do what you want but you’re going to make things worse. Is anyone coming outside I need a fag

Luke:

Yeah I will

Ben:

Yeah me too

Lauren:

Nah I'm going to stay here I’ve got loads of work I need to do. Are you staying clo?

Chloe:

Er no I'm going to go with these, text me or something later let us know how you get on with Emily yeah?

Lauren:

Yeah I will do see you later

(All get up and gather their stuff, wave to Lauren as they leave the room)

(Scene changes to those 4 outside the college building smoking, other people walking around in the background)

Chloe:

Has anyone else been invited to jack’s party on Friday?

Ben:

Yeah all of us have I think, he usually invites like half the college

Adam:

Last time about five hundred people showed up, his house was trashed

Chloe:

Why does he keep on doing it then? This he’d learn from his mistakes and all that wouldn’t you

Luke:

He just doesn’t really care though does he like as long as he has an excuse to get drunk.

Adam:

Do you reckon Emily will be there? She hasn’t come out with us for ages

Chloe:

Lauren will hopefully sort out whatever her problem is coming out with us might even cheer her up a bit  

(Silence for a few seconds as Luke lights another cigarette, see older woman approaching the group without them noticing)

Luke:

I think I'm supposed to be in English now you know; Mrs Smith has already gone mad at me for not going all last week

Mrs Smith:

Yes and I'm about to ‘go mad’ again if you don’t get to that lesson NOW!

(Rest of the group start to laugh at him)

Mrs Smith:

And I don’t know what you’re all finding so funny? Chloe I know Mr Clough has been looking for you and he doesn’t seem too happy, and you two

(Turns to look at Adam and Ben)

 Mrs Smith:

If you’ve no lesson to be in now get to the common room and do some revision, not long till exams now you know?

Luke:

See you guys at dinner yeah

Chloe:

Yeah see you

(All go off in different directions to each other, except Adam and Ben who go in the same direction)

(Scene changes to Ben and Adam walking down the corridor)

focus group findings

1.) For the first question all of the people i asked said that in some cases it wasn't clear what type of personality some of the characters were suppose to have so it would be  a good idea to try and include more dialogue to give the characters more room for development 

2.) Everyone that i asked said that the story line seemed to be straight forward and was easy enough for them to follow and understand it without becoming confused or loosing track of what was going on

3.) Everyone asked said that the script was believable and passed as a script for a teenage based drama however some people did say that teenagers would be more talkative and that more speech could be included to show this better

4.) All people asked said that the main thing that would make them want to watch the programme would be to find out more about Emily and the background story on her and also to find out where the story line about her was leading

5.) improvements that were suggested as an answer to the last question where: more locations could of been used e.g characters could of been shown in other rooms in the college instead of just one and that it would be more interesting if the characters had more lines to say.

focus group questions

1. do you think all the characters come across as they're intended to? if no then how do you think they could be improved?

2. do you think the story line is interesting and easy to follow?

3. do you think there are any parts of the script that are unrealistic and could be improved?

4. which parts of the script, if any, make you want to watch the programme?

5. can you suggest any improvements that you think could be made to the script?

two tv dramas

New girl -

• 2 main story lines shown during the episode 
•  4 main characters, other smaller characters included in the episode  but no development of their characters.
• Locations used were mainly different rooms in the apartment where the main characters live, movement around the room + walking into different rooms during dialogue, development of one story line leads to them using the park as a location.
• music used in between scenes but never during the scene, used mostly to show the mood of the scene that had just taken place.
• 
  

Skins- 

• One main story line that is he focus of the episode, some smaller story lines shown  using the main story line as a base to start from and go back to.
• story line focuses on one of the main characters making them the main focus although some of the other ones are also shown throughout the episode
• the main locations used were the college that the characters attend, the homes of some of the main characters, they are shown outside briefly e.g whilst walking down the street and they are shown at a party at the house of an unidentified character.

script 2nd draft

Script 2^nd draft

Scene 1 –

(All sat round in college common room)

Lauren:

Has anyone noticed Em has been acting a bit…

Ben:

 Weird?

Lauren:

 Er yeah I suppose I dunno she’s definitely not been acting herself recently

Luke:

Yeah I've noticed that. I was saying the same thing to Chloe the other

Day wasn't I?

(Girl looks up from her phone)

Chloe:

Sorry did you say something?

Luke:

 (sighs) yeah we were talking about em? Hasn't been acting herself recently?

Chloe:

Oh... yeah definitely something up with her

(Looks back down to her phone once she’s finished talking)

Lauren:

Maybe we should talk to her about it?

Ben:

What if it’s something really serious though?

Luke:

yeah I can’t cope with your girl problems. Nope, no way let’s just leave it and see if she comes to us.

Lauren:

Okay I’m worried about her though

Ben:

Shh she’s coming talk about something else

(girl enters the room walks over to the group and sits down next to Chloe)

Emily:

 Hi

Chloe:
hi how are you?

Emily:
er not bad

Chloe:
oh okay good

(Awkward silenced in the group , all sat looking round at each other while Emily just looks at the floor)

Lauren:
are you  sure you're alright em you've been... well it's like...erm...Chloe?

Chloe:
you've been acting really weird recently we're all worried about you come on you can talk to us

(Everyone sits in silence while Emily looks up at each one of them)

Emily:
what?

Luke:
I knew we shouldn't of asked her I told you didn't I? Ben what did I say?

Ben
shut-up Luke

(Lauren gets up and walks over to sit next to Emily)

Lauren:
you really haven't been yourself recently are you sure you don't want to talk or something?

Emily:
i don't know what you're talking about I'm fine I’ve just been busy with like coursework and stuff I’ve been tired

Ben:
are you sure? You can tell us you know we are you're friends we've been here for you before remember

Emily:
you wouldn't understand okay I said I’m fine can you not just leave it?

(others look round at each other in shock, other people in the room start looking over at them)

Chloe:
calm down em we were only asking we're your friends we're allowed to be worried about you

Emily:
look I’ve gotta go I’ll see you all later

Luke:
Emily wait

Emily:
talk to you later okay bye

(walks quickly away from the others and bumps into a boy who's on his way into the room)

Adam:
whoa be careful em! Where you running off to anyway?

(Emily turns and walks away without saying anything)

Adam:

 (as he walks over to the group) did I miss something? What’s up with her?

Ben:
wish we knew man just tried to find out and she flipped

Luke:
what happened to waiting till she came to us anyway?

Lauren:
i had to know i hate seeing her sad I’m going to try and talk to her again later

Adam:
don't really think that's the best idea ever. She obviously doesn't want us to know

Chloe:

But we’re her friends? We have a right to know if something is upsetting her we could help her if she told us?

Adam:

Whatever do what you want but you’re going to make things worse. Is anyone coming outside I need a fag

Luke:

Yeah I will

Ben:

Yeah me too

Lauren:

Nah I'm going to stay here I’ve got loads of work I need to do. Are you staying clo?

Chloe:

Er no I'm going to go with these, text me or something later let us know how you get on with Emily yeah?

Lauren:

Yeah I will do see you later

(All get up and gather their stuff, wave to Lauren as they leave the room)

(Scene changes to those 4 outside the college building smoking, other people walking around in the background)

Chloe:

Has anyone else been invited to jack’s party on Friday?

Ben:

Yeah all of us have I think, he usually invites like half the college

Adam:

Last time about five hundred people showed up, his house was trashed

Chloe:

Why does he keep on doing it then? This he’d learn from his mistakes and all that wouldn’t you

Luke:

He just doesn’t really care though does he like as long as he has an excuse to get drunk.

Adam:

Do you reckon Emily will be there? She hasn’t come out with us for ages

Chloe:

Lauren will hopefully sort out whatever her problem is coming out with us might even cheer her up a bit  

(Silence for a few seconds as Luke lights another cigarette, see older woman approaching the group without them noticing)

Luke:

I think I'm supposed to be in English now you know; Mrs Smith has already gone mad at me for not going all last week

Mrs Smith:

Yes and I'm about to ‘go mad’ again if you don’t get to that lesson NOW!

(Rest of the group start to laugh at him)

Mrs Smith:

And I don’t know what you’re all finding so funny? Chloe I know Mr Clough has been looking for you and he doesn’t seem too happy, and you two

(Turns to look at Adam and Ben)

 Mrs Smith:

If you’ve no lesson to be in now get to the common room and do some revision, not long till exams now you know?

Luke:

See you guys at dinner yeah

Chloe:

Yeah see you

(All go off in different directions to each other, except Adam and Ben who go in the same direction)

(Scene changes to Ben and Adam walking down the corridor)

questionair research

1.how many hours a day do you spend watching tv?

from this i can see that most people spend longer than two hours a day watchinh television and the most populr length of time to watch television for is 5-6 hours but not many people spend more than 6 hours watching.

2.what genre of programme do you usually tend to watch?

from this i can see that comedy and drama are two genres of programme that people like to watch however there are a few people that like to watch horror, news and documentry style programmes.







3.would you be interested in watching a new teen drama that is a little bit like skins?

this shows that the majority of people would be interested in watching the programme however there are a few people who dont think the programme would be something they7 were interested in watching.







4.do you think there would be a place on the market for a similar style of programme?

this shows that most people think there there is a place for the programme i am thinking of on the market.








5.what channel do you think would be best to air this programme on?

this shows that people dont think the programme should be on channel five or bbc 1 but a lot of people think that the programme would do well if it was on E4 or BBC3.

6.which issues would you like to see being dealt with on the programme?

this shoes thta most people would want to see typical teen issues like drink aqnd drugs being dealt with and there are some people who would like to see darker issues being dealt with such as selg harm.

7.where do you think would be the best setting for the programme?

this shows that the best setting for my programme would be in the college environment no one thinks it should be set in a high school which gives me an idea of how old the people in the programme should be.

8.what age group do you think such a programme should be aimed at?

this shows me that the best age group to aim my programme at would be teenagers aged 16+ this also gives me an idea of the ages of the teenager characters i should have in my programme.

9.what genre do you think the programme should be (how should the issues be dealt with)?

this shows that people think i should deal with the issues in my programme in a serious dramatic way and that i should stay away from trying to make fun of the issues.

10.when do you think would be an appropriate tinme to air the programme?

this shows that 7-8 o'clock is probable too early to be showing those kinds of things on tv and that 10 o'clock is probably too late to have it on so the ideal time to put the programme on would be between 9 and 10