All About Nikki- The Fabulous First Season
By Shawn James
Copyright ©2011 Shawn James
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
US Copyright Number PAu 3-560-279
This is a work of fiction. All events, locations, institutions, themes, persons, characters and plot are completely fictional. Any resemblance to places or persons, living or deceased, are purely coincidental.
Screenplay Basics
If you’ve never read a screenplay before, don’t worry. I’m going to walk you through some of the terminology used in a movie script.
FADE IN: – The opening line of every screenplay. It tells the reader what they’re looking at in the opening scene.
INT. – Short for Interior. This heading is used to describe action in scenes going on indoors.
EXT. – Short for Exterior. This heading is used to describe action in scenes going on outdoors.
Both of these headings usually start at the top of a SLUG LINE.
SLUG LINE – The sentence at the beginning of a scene that tells the reader where the scene is and what time it’s happening. Some examples of slug lines are:
INT.DESMOND MANOR – MORNING
This scene is inside Desmond Manor apartment and it’s in the morning. However, if she goes into another room in the apartment like the–
KITCHEN
A shorter slug line can be used since the action is still taking place inside the apartment. And if she decides to step outside later–
EXT. 14th STREET – NIGHT
A new slug line will tell the reader the action is taking place on 14th Street at night.
MAJOR CHARACTER names like NIKKI DESMOND are written in ALL CAPITALS when they are first introduced and in dialogue headings. Basic English grammar applies for all story paragraphs and the descriptions of minor characters like extras. An example of this is:
Sitting quietly between a fat kid are NIKKI DESMOND and CANDICE COLLINS 16.
Nikki and Candice are major characters; the fat kid is a minor character.
INSERT – The camera moves from the main action to a shot of something relevant to the story. Usually inserts are pictures of objects like clocks or action going on a TV screen or computer monitor.
CUT TO: – The camera moves away from the main story to another shot rapidly then back to the main action.
POV – Used to show us what goes on in the eyes of the character. We see what the character is seeing.
BACK TO – Used to transition from an insert or a cut back to the main action.
MOVING – This is usually used to describe action in cars, planes and other vehicles.
BRRRING! The phone RINGS. KA–BOOM! The bomb EXPLODES. CRUNCH! He takes a fist to the jaw! SOUND EFFECTS are always CAPITALIZED.
PARENTHESES (Wrylies) – These are simple stage directions placed under a section of dialogue for the actor. These are used only when absolutely necessary. Actors hate it when there are too many wrylies in a script. It’s not the writer’s job to tell actors how to act!
VOICE OVER (V.O.) – Usually placed under a section of dialogue to describe when someone is speaking off screen. In this screenplay I’ll be using the term (ON PHONE) to describe most of the voice–overs.
MONTAGE – A series of quick scenes that move the story forward. Usually montages are set to music onscreen. They often show time passing or transition from one story sequence to another.
DISSOLVE TO: – Used when one scene fades into another. Dissolves are another way of transitioning between two scenes to move the story forward, but like wrylies dissolves are used when absolutely necessary. It’s the director’s choice where these are placed in the final film, not the writer.
No matter how the story is written, all screenplays end with:
FADE OUT:
THE END
TV Episode Basics
TV scripts, known as Teleplays are similar to feature length screenplays. However, the Teleplay follows a unique set of rules for formatting.
On each cover page of a Teleplay there’s a heading:
ALL ABOUT NIKKKI
Episode 1.01 – “PILOT”
On the second between the word episode and the title is a number. This number breaks down as follows:
The first 1 is the number of the season being produced. An episode starting with the number 1 is in its first season.
The decimal point separates the episode and the season.
01 is the number of the episode in the series being produced. An episode starting with 01 is the first episode of a series of the season.
For example a script with episode 1.01 on the title page would be the first episode of first season. The second episode of that season would be episode 1. 02, the third 1.03, the fourth 1.04 and so on.
The minimum length for 30-minute sitcom scripts is 20-22 pages. One page of 8.5”x11” paper is equal to one minute of film or video for a sitcom.
Standard TV scripts follow a structure of a teaser and two acts, with breaks in between each for commercials. I’m omitting those breaks to make the stories easier to read.
All TV scripts (teleplays) and screenplays are written in 12 point Courier font on 8.5” x 11” paper. However, to make things easier on readers’ eyes for this book I’m using Garamond at 12 points.
All About Nikki is written similar to a first-run syndicated/Cable sitcom shot on videotape. So the storyline of the first season is designed to be completed within the parameters of 13 episodes.
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