Glossary

The Ultimate Screenplay Format Reference

Action Lines and Narrative

There is a lot to be said about narrative and action that does not fall into the realm of formatting and thus isn’t mentioned here. Screenwriting is visual storytelling. Thus, one recurrent theme is to write only what can be seen and filmed. Look for example at the related articles on the site Mystery Man on Film to get an idea how that translates into movie scripts.

Character Introductions

This issue is handled on the pages about characters. Here a short summary: A character introduction consists of a few words up to a few lines of description that suggests something about the character. The character’s name appears for the first time as part of the character description. In that one case the name is capitalized. Following the introduction, the character’s name is not capitalized in the narrative but always in character cues. A character name can also we used as a secondary slug. Also in this case it’s capitalized.

Sounds

Sounds can be capitalized in the narrative, but don’t have to. Some writers only put important sounds in caps.

MOS

MOS stands for ‘Mit Out Sound’ and it means ‘without sound’. It allegedly traces back to German director Eric von Stroheim, who used to say things like “Ve’ll shoot dis mid out sound.”

Here an example from the Screenwriter’s Bible:
 

The two lovers flirt MOS in the balcony.
 

On the other hand, you could just write it into the narrative:
 

The two lover flirt in the balcony. Their words cannot be
heard.
 

Special Effects

The Screenwriter’s Bible advises against announcing special effects in a spec script. The movie may require them but there is no point advertising them, as they are expensive to implement.

It’s up to a production crew to comb through the script and find what actions require special effects.

That said - should you read FX, SPFX or SFX in a script this is what they mean:

FX and SPFX both mean the same - special effects.

SFX means sound effects.

Camera directions
(POV, CLOSE UP, PULL BACK etc.)

Don’t use them. Period.

Okay, the Screenwriter’s Bible says that sometimes the POV is used for story reasons, but it doesn’t give a example where the POV or another camera direction is indispensable for the script.

As they disturb the flow of reading, it’s better not to use them. It’s a creative challenge to make clear what’s going on without using POVs, CLOSE UPs and all the good things that directly control the camera.

Every single word of narrative should be ‘filmable’ and will end up on screen once the movie is made. So, in a way, visually written narrative ‘directs’ the director. The article ‘Write the shots’ describes nicely that can be done in a spec script.

Another acceptablel way to suggest a point of view are secondary slugs.