John August

QandA

More copyrights and changes

Dead Projects, QandA, Rights and Copyright

How important is it to have your screenplay registered through the US copyright
office? And if you do get it registered, what happens if you add more scenes
later on?

–Ben Goldblatt

Officially, yes, you should copyright your screenplay (with the little "c" symbol,
name and date) on the title page, and then send it in to the U.S. office, a
procedure you can probably find on-line. And if you make major revisions, you
should probably re-register the whole thing.
Unofficially, nobody does this. Sometimes you’ll see the copyright symbol
on a script, but most of the time you won’t. And none of my writer friends
regularly send in their work to be "officially" copyrighted.

Although it’s not really the same thing, most writers I know do register their
scripts with the Writer’s Guild in Los Angeles, a painless procedure
that can occasionally help if your idea is blatantly stolen. But the truth
is that "someone might steal my idea" is more often the fear of an
aspiring writer who’s never put pen to paper than of a working screenwriter.

I’m ragging on it, but sometimes copyright becomes very important. For instance,
when a script is sold, what the studio is really buying is the copyright. (Or
the right to copyright.) I’m currently adapting BARBARELLA, a project to which
four different studios were claiming copyright. It’s taken the legal teams
more than a year to sort out who really owns what, since two of the original
French comic books were already made into a movie.

The process of determining copyright is called "clearing the chain of
title," and it’s often used as the answer to "Why haven’t they paid
me my money yet?"

Script writing software

Formatting, QandA

Would you recommend that a
beginning writer use script writing software? If so, do you prefer a specific
program?

–Mike

I used the style sheet formatting on Microsoft Word for my first few scripts,
partly because screenwriting software was still in its infancy, and partly
because I was too broke to buy any other program. If you already have a capable
word processor, you can certainly get by with that, particularly if money is
tight.

I now use Final Draft, which does a remarkably good job with a lot of the
script formatting drudgery. It’s worth downloading the free trial version to
see if you like it enough to spend $199 for it. Given that 80% of my day is
spent using that one program, it’s definitely worthwhile for me.

Secondary scene headings

Formatting, QandA

questionmarkI have a very simple question that has to do with secondary scene headings. I know this differs writer to writer, but let’s say you have a character who walks into a closet — how do you label it in the script? Is it:

INT. CLOSET – MOMENTS LATER

INT. HOUSE – CLOSET – MOMENTS LATER

THE CLOSET

What is the best way to go? Thanks in advance.

–Dustin Tash
The Oreogod

Of course, there’s no one best answer that’s appropriate for every situation. In most cases, I would opt for the first format, without the "moments later," which I generally save for a minor time cut. So it would look like:

INT. CLOSET – DAY

This is assuming the character is in the closet long enough for there to really be a scene. That is, a few lines, or at least some dialogue. Anything less, and I might not break out the closet at all, and just let the scene description handle the location:

After searching the room from top to bottom, Jamie steps into the dark closet and begins pulling boxes off the shelves.

When in doubt, use the simplest form that works for the moment.

Where to find scripts

Education, QandA

How can I get my hands on the screenplays to movies I like (that aren’t mega-blockbusters)?

–Andrea

There are a few good sources online, such as Script-O-Rama,
which can point you to other places to check out. Most of these sites have
scripts you can download for free –
which is technically a violation of copyright, but is largely overlooked. These
sites do lean more towards blockbuster or science-fiction movies, however,
so if you’re looking for OUT OF AFRICA, you may be Out of Luck.

If you happen to be visiting Los Angeles, you can visit the Margaret Herrick
Library on La Cienega. It’s run by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
(the Oscar people), and has an amazing screenplay collection. You’ll have to
read the scripts on-premises, however, and the whole place has disquieting
feel to it, like an occult bookstore run by the Swiss.

For award-winning or indie-favorite movies, it’s worth trying Amazon or one
of the other on-line bookstores to see if the script has been published. Often,
you’ll find that even if the book version hasn’t come out in the U.S., it has
in the U.K.

Finally, if you’re considering working in Hollywood, you should know that
all the agencies and most producers have pretty extensive script libraries,
so an added bonus of an internship is the chance to read a bunch of great material.
USC’s film school has a great script library, but you have to be a student
there.

Incidentally, whatever script you do get your hands on, make sure you know
exactly what kind of script you’re reading. Generally, you’ll find three types:
the original spec script, which is what the writer wrote before it was produced;
the final continuity script, which reflects all the changes made during production;
and a transcript, which is simply a write-up of the movie, often made by an
overzealous fan.

Of the three types, the spec script is generally the most useful for a writer
to read, because it best reflects the intention and craft of the original screenwriter.
The final continuity script – which you can recognize because it has scene
numbers in the margins and odd breaks halfway down the page – is often something
of a Frankenstein monster, with hastily written descriptions by the script
supervisor of what the actors actually did in a scene, or lines they improvised.
And a transcript is more or less useless except as a quick reference, or a
typing exercise.