Admit It: You Need a Script Example for Awesome Writing

Meaning of the Word “Script”

A script is a literary, dramatic work (containing a detailed description of the action and the text of the speeches of the characters), on the basis of which a film or play is created. It is the plot scheme, the plan of the theatrical play. It is the list of characters in the play, indicating the order and time of their appearance on the stage.

The script in the cinema, as a rule, resembles a play and describes in detail every scene and dialogue of the characters. Sometimes the script is an adaptation of a separate literary work for the cinema, and sometimes in this case the author of the novel is the author of the script (scriptwriter). A scriptwriter is a person who writes a script for a film. To know how to write your own script successfully, it is important to learn how to use a script writing template for students.

Types of Screenplay Examples

Depending on the script processing of the content material, various levels of script recording are also assumed (script types). Among them we can distinguish:

• The script plan, which is a sketch of the compositional construction of the script with a developed theme and idea, pedagogical tasks, and the characteristics of the audience.
• The libretto, which is more detailed than the script plan; it is the long text of the theatrical, musical, or vocal work.
• The literary script, which is a detailed literary development of ideological and thematic design with full text, description of actors, musical design, and use of technical services.
• The director’s script, which is a detailed plan of a literary script with an exact indication of the stage platform, and the specific use of technical services, including the light and sound score, time, mise-en-scene, performers, literary texts, and organizational moments.

A screenplay is a detailed literary description of the action intended for staging on a stage platform, on the basis of which a theatrical performance, a celebration, a mass spectacle, a play, or some other program is created. It has common features similar to the dramatic works of theater, cinema, radio, and television, and special features inherent in the forms of cultural and recreational programs. The common features include: the action; the chain of events connected with the plot; the presence of actors and conflict as a struggle between actors or the comprehension of any conflict situation, which combines the component parts (episodes and blocks) into a single whole.

The essence of any dramatic work, and therefore its script, is an action, a show of life in motion, hence the very concept of “drama” (from Greek – action, act). In the script template of a cultural and recreational program, in contrast to theatrical drama, you can see that one should not use too many words, but it is necessary to seek for it an effective, spectacular equivalent.

Dramaturgy is a plot-shaped concept (view) of a cultural program (event) or a mass action, where the dramatic action itself is created through the alignment and playback of the plot-shaped solution of the program. The source material is an expressive means based on life itself, the actual factual material, real characters, which are the audience, and a concrete initial real situation.

The director (scriptwriter) goes from life to drama, and the performance is organized according to the laws of the theater, but by its specific means. From the point of view of dramaturgy, the leisure program (event) is the result of a traditional, original production, created on the basis of the director’s intention, enriched by the social and cultural creativity of the participants of the program and the audience. One of the tasks of the scriptwriter of the event is to create an original artistic and educational work by combining various expressive means: poems, music, songs, and fragments from performances and movies into a single logical composition subordinated to the general concept, theme, or idea.

The Role of Play Script Examples in Movies

At different stages in the history of movie making, the concept of the screenplay was embedded in various content – from an abstract of a future film to the literary work intended for performance in a movie. For many years of its existence, the script has gone through the same stages of development as the theatrical play for several centuries.

Cinematography, not having drama created for the screen, borrowed plots from the most primitive types of literature, such as the thriller and the criminal chronicle, but soon it turned to recreating the literary classics on the screen. By adapting works of literature for the screen, the cinema had to find some form of material arrangement that had its own specific features, its laws of location and presentation of the material. This form is called a script and its features should be found in each screenplay template.

Scripts stand near fiction. The screenwriter, using words, expresses his or her idea of the phenomena of life and creates a screen image using words. The essence of the scriptwriter’s work is that his or her words create a concrete and sensuous idea of what should happen on the screen. Directors, actors, operators, composers, and artists find the impulse for creativity.

The script defines the film’s ideological face, but for each particular film this is an equation with many unknowns, and its solution depends on the director. He or she manages all means of turning a script into a film, and is the creator of this complex process, completing the author’s idea. The commonwealth of the scriptwriter and director in the work on the script should grow stronger in creative disputes and search. The director’s work with the screenwriter is just as important an element of the director’s talent as working with an actor or an artist. This work is no less a responsibility for the scriptwriter, whose work ends only when the film is shot and edited.

The film is born in the co-creation of people who carry out the script. The connection of the scriptwriter with the director is often not a creative act, but is solved regardless of whether the director can perform the production of this script. Finding a director that the scriptwriter can easily work with is considered a great success. Only in this case, he or she can see on the screen a film, shot the way he/she imagined it, creating a script.

Problems in Creating a Script

Many scriptwriters spend weeks and months of work in vain, not having a clear idea of where to start work on a script. In this case, their long work usually ends with the sad thought that “this is not history, but complete nonsense.” Here are the most common problems that you may have if you do not know the fundaments of creating a script:

1. You have a good idea, but you can not develop an interesting story on its basis.
2. You arrange a “brainstorm” for many hours, but don’t get any good ideas.
3. You have found a good script example for students, but don’t know how to use it well.
4. You start writing a script, but you understand that you do not have the proper structure or detail.
5. The script is already written, weeks of work are spent, and suddenly you realize that you could do much better and you have to rewrite everything again!

If you are familiar with such problems, then we are here to help you. We will tell you what kind of preparation is needed, including the development of a story and the writing of a post-episode plan, so that later you can write the script quickly and at the same time be 100% satisfied with the created product.

How to Write a Script Using Short Script Writing Examples

Of course, someone can say: “Preparation and development are unnecessary things. You simply sit and write.” But it’s just as stupid as building a house without an architectural blueprint. It will take a lot of time and money, and as a result, the entrance to the basement will be through the attic.

At the same time, if you make a maximum amount of preliminary work before building a house (a detailed plan, purchasing building materials, etc.), then the house will be built in a short time. It is this approach that should be used in the scriptwriter’s work: first preparation and planning, and only then writing the script. Also, it is better to find some script format template to make sure you know how to write it in the proper way.

The technology of preparation and planning of the script consists of two main stages:

1. Development of the story. At this stage, the story itself is created: the main events, characters, and conflicts.
2. Writing a plan separated by episodes. At this stage, all the key details and plot points are carefully studied.

Of course, in the first place you need to:

• Determine exactly what you will write about.
• Write down your script idea in several sentences.

For example, you have had a thought long in your head to write a script of a fantastic thriller called “The World of Insects.” Well, describe this idea. It can be as simple as writing: “The world of the future. Animals on the planet are dying out. An entertainment corporation comes up with a new kind of entertainment called ‘Insect World’.”

Description of entertainment: a.) In a huge, abandoned park, there are countless insects. b.) Entertainment participants are reduced to the size of bead, given a micro-weapon, and released into an adventure in which to them insects are the size of tigers or even dinosaurs. c.) The essence of entertainment lies in the hunt for “giant” insects.

This scene script example should help you: “The protagonist, a biologist by profession, goes in a reduced form to a park with insects, but not for hunting, but for biological research. Suddenly, his sensor is broken, and employees of the corporation lose sight of him. Will he survive alone in a deadly environment?”

When you do this, you can proceed to the next step, which can take you many hours, but if you do it right, your story will potentially be deep and interesting. This step is called “research of the topic.” Here we mean the topic as the general content of something. For example, based on the above-mentioned idea of survival in the insect world, the main thing that we need to investigate is insects, entertainment shows, and survival under difficult conditions (for example, in the jungle).

Explore the chosen topic thoroughly – read books, study directories, surf the internet, watch movies, collect photos and videos, and gather the maximum information you need. At this step, it is important to write down all the movie script ideas that come to your mind. It may happen that the idea that you wrote down “just in case” later leads you to a genius plot twist. So, study the chosen topic, and write down and save everything that you somehow may need in the subsequent work.

This step can be considered completed when you have full confidence that you are oriented in the chosen topic and know firmly, from what material you will create your work. And only now, after carefully following the previous actions, we come to the most interesting part: THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE STORY.

First I want to emphasize three important points that you need to know and use when working on any story:

1. A step to take before the development of the story is defining what you want to show the audience with your script, what you want to convey to them. In our story about the insect world, such a message could be: “Never despair, even if the situation seems completely desperate.”
2. Next, decide what effect on the viewer you want to create. For example: to mock to tears, to cheer up, to inspire, to amaze with the scale of events occurring on the screen, and so on.
3. In the process of writing a story, you need to record everything that comes to your mind (following the steps described below). Do not ignore the ideas, because it’s better to cut out 50% of the written material than to regretfully think, “It’s a pity I did not write that idea, it would have been useful now.”

And now we present to your attention the entire plan for developing the story by steps. After each step, we will give one of our short script examples demonstrating its implementation based on the idea of the “World of Insects.”

Script Outline Example: The Plan of Creation of the Story

Step 1. Describe in several sentences the central conflict concerning the protagonist, of which he or she needs to get out successfully. The central situation is that around which the whole story is built.
Example: The protagonist, a biologist by profession, and his assistant are sent to conduct a dangerous biological study in the “World of Insects” in order to obtain the necessary material for their experiments. Unexpectedly, they find that they have lost touch with the real world and the management of the entertainment corporation – their sensors and walkie-talkies do not work. Now they need to get out of this situation safe and sound.
Step 2. Create the main character. The main thing that you should know at this stage of the work is that the character is built on his or her goals and intentions. You can talk a lot about personal character and hobbies, but now the main thing is to achieve what goal the protagonist will achieve in your story.
Example: Let’s call the main character “Steve.” His main goal in this situation is to stay alive and get out with his assistant from the “World of Insects.”
Step 3. Describe the level of the main character’s “power” or, in other words, how much energy and perseverance the character is willing to invest in the fight against opponents and circumstances.
Example: Steve is ready to do anything for the sake of salvation – that is, “to win or die in attack.”
Step 4. Be sure to note the character’s knowledge, skills, and abilities (everything that relates to the ability to solve problems).
Example: Since Steve is a biologist, he has a deep knowledge of insects, their habits, and their strengths and weaknesses. He is very intelligent and is able to quickly analyze the situation.
Step 5. Think of tools for the character that will help him or her achieve personal goals (it can be a device, equipment, or just any clearly expressed ability).
Example: Going to research, Steve took a detailed guide about insects with him. Also, the management of the entertainment corporation gave him and his assistant weapons for hunting insects and an antidote for curing possible infections (through bites).
Step 6. Next, in the development of the story, think of a “psychic wound” for the protagonist. The character has an internal conflict, what he or she is worrying about and what does not allow the character to live peacefully. This will make the character vivid, deep, and understandable to the audience, otherwise it will remain “flat” and superficial. By the way, if you want to see how such a move deepens the script, you can take your character (if you have a script in development) and come up with a psychic wound (if your protagonist does not have one).
Example: Steve has suspicions that his wife has a lover, and he tries to escape from this cruel reality, having decided to conduct a dangerous study in the world of insects.
Step 7. Give the character a weakness. It’s something that can undermine the protagonist’s entire plan, something that will jeopardize his victory.
Example: Steve is very fond of insects and discovers that even in self-defense, it is difficult for him to kill them.
Step 8. Now create the main antihero, that is, the person (or creature) that will confront the protagonist. Create it in the same way as described in step two.
Example: The antihero is a guy named Michael. He turns out to be the lover of Steve’s wife, and, unfortunately, one of the owners of the entertainment corporation World of Insects. His goal: by any means secretly from his mistress (Steve’s wife), he wants to destroy Steve, and he also adjusts the sudden disconnection of sensors and walkie-talkies.
Step 9. Give the antihero power. He must seem invincible, unpredictable, cunning.
Example: Since Michael is in charge of the corporation, he manages all the most important people influencing the “World of Insects,” which Steve and his assistant got into. Michael knows all the nuances of this world and can have a direct impact on the events there.
Step 10. Describe why the antihero is resisting the protagonist. At this step, the main conflict of the script should clearly manifest itself. This conflict will constantly increase, and at the end of the film a bright, all-devouring fire will flash, putting into question the life and future of the protagonist.
Example: Steve’s wife (let’s call her Mary) got pregnant from Michael, while her husband Steve is not able to have children. Mary hides her pregnancy and relationships from her husband, but her lover Michael already knows about the future child and wants his birth so much. He also wants to marry Mary. To do this, he does everything to sabotage Steve under the guise of him allegedly “disappearing.”
Step 11. Describe all the options of problems, obstacles, and difficulties that an antihero could create for the protagonist.
Example: Michael can sic dangerous insects on Steve and create natural disasters for him. He also directs the search team, who is looking for Steve, on the wrong track. The search group consists of specially trained people also in reduced form. Because of Michael’s influence on the head of the search team, these people sort of “by accident” bypass Steve and his assistant.

A free screenplay template that you can find on our site can help you to develop your own script. All of our guides are categorized by type of paper, and you can find the material you need easily. Everyone can find useful information on our blog. All articles will help in achieving goals in your writing.