The Master Scene Format has six main elements:

•​ Scene Heading
•​ Action
•​ Character Name
•​ Parentheticals
•​ Dialogue
•​ Transitions
The Scene Heading

The first formatting element is the scene heading – also dubbed the slug line.
Screenplays written in the master scene format are broken into scenes not
cuts. The scene headings are written in all caps, as well as INT or EXT for
Interior or exterior. This is followed by the name of the location and a
designation of day or night.

Action

The next element is action. This should describe action that can be seen or
heard. Sounds Effects that are important to the story but are heard off screen
need to be in ALL-CAPS.
Characters

Next we have Character name. This has it's own line in ALL caps. A character
who is off screen or speaking in voiceover should be designated by O.S. or V.O.

Parentheticals

Parentheticals provide context or instruction for the dialogue delivery. These

should be used sparingly so as not to reduce the readability of the script.

Dialogue

Next, dialogue blocks are offset from everything else and centered on the
page. Parallel dialogue (overlapping dialogue) is written in side-by-side blocks.

Transition

The final element is the scene transition. These should be used sparingly as
well. Readability is key!

STEP 1: The story – First, you need to choose your story. It can be a long
chapter book or a shorter picture book you love. It can be a comic strip you
like to read. It can be a story you made up. A good story will have strong
characters and make you feel something for what’s going on. What story are
you going to use?
STEP 2: The concept – Next, describe your story’s "high concept." This is
the term they use in Hollywood to mean what the main idea of your story is.
Put it in a "what if" format. For instance, think about the movie Mary Poppins.
The "what if" statement would be "What if a nanny with magical powers
came to take care of three children and changed their lives forever?" Write
your "what if" statement.
STEP 3: The document – Now let’s make a title page. Open a document.
•​ Find the middle of the page, vertically and horizontally. Type the title in
bold type.
•​ Two lines below the title, type "Written by" centered on the line.
•​ Two lines underneath that, type your name, also centered.
•​ In the lower right-hand corner, put your name, address, phone number
and email address.
(Example at right.)
STEP 4: The document format – Now you’re ready to start your story.
Before you begin, you have to format the page.
This is important to do correctly if you want to be taken seriously. However,
there are many standards out there for the "right" way to format a script,
usually dependent on who the script will be submitted to. For our purposes
here, we’re going to aim high and use the standards used for the Academy
Awards.
Here’s what you do:
•​ Insert a page number in the upper right corner of the header. Make it so
that the page number starts on the second page with "2." You don’t put
a page number on the first page.
•​ Use the font Courier in 12-point.
•​ Set the margins as follows:
•​ Top and bottom: 1"
•​ Left margin: 1.5" (you have to leave extra on the left to allow for
the hole punching)
•​ Right margin: 1"
Lesson 3: Writing a scene​
(steps 5-11)
Step 5: Setting the scene – Now that you’ve got your document formatted,
you’re ready to write. You will write in scenes. Scenes are pieces of the whole
movie. Each scene has to establish who is in the scene, where it is, when it is
and what is happening. What is happening is very important. There needs to
be something happening in each scene. At the end of every scene, you
should be able to answer the question "So what?" with a response showing
why that scene is important to the overall movie.
Step 6: The scene heading – First you need to give the scene heading. This
tells where the action is taking place and what time it is, as well as other
information the director and actors need to know to make it come out the
way you, the writer, envision it.
Type the scene heading left aligned. Left aligned means that the letters start
at the far left of the page, just like in this paragraph. Use all capital letters.
First, you have to say if the scene is to be shot inside (interior, abbreviated
"INT") or outside (exterior, abbreviated "EXT"). Next, put a hyphen in and give
the location. Is the action taking place in a house, at an amusement park, in a
library? Here are some examples:
INT. BASEMENT — MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT​
EXT. BEACH — EARLY DAWN​
EXT. MALL PARKING LOT — LATE AFTERNOON

Step 7: Adding action – You’re ready to write the action now. When we’re
writing a screenplay, we use what is called the literary present tense. That
means that we write as though whatever is happening in the scene is
happening right now. We write in the present tense only and always. The first
time you mention a character’s name, put that name all in CAPITALS. Also
put anything that makes a sound in caps. That lets script readers easily see
who’s there and what’s going on. Here’s an example:

INT. BASEMENT — MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT

Dim light filters through high, narrow windows. Children lie sprawled
asleep on filthy mattresses on the bare floor. KAREN DIAMOND, 25, is
awake, sitting on the lowest step of the wooden staircase with her
face in her hands. FOOTSTEPS are heard from the floor above.
Step 8: Adding characters – Now that you’ve brought your character into
the scene, you probably will want the character to speak. There are some
rules for that. The character has to be introduced. You introduce the
character by indenting his or her name 4.2 inches from the left edge of the
paper.

Here’s what we’ve got so far:

INT. BASEMENT – MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
Dim light filters through high, narrow windows. Children lie sprawled
asleep on filthy mattresses on the bare floor. KAREN DIAMOND, 25, is
awake, sitting on the lowest step of the wooden staircase with her
face in her hands. FOOTSTEPS are heard from the floor above.
KAREN

Step 9: Adding dialogue – Now that she’s been introduced, the character
can talk! Talking in a movie is called dialogue. Dialogue uses different
margins. It should go from 3 inches from the left edge of the paper to 2.5
inches from the right edge. Example:

INT. BASEMENT – MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT

Dim light filters through high, narrow windows. Children lie sprawled
asleep on filthy mattresses on the bare floor. KAREN DIAMOND, 25, is
awake, sitting on the lowest step of the wooden staircase with her
face in her hands. FOOTSTEPS are heard from the floor above.
KAREN
What am I going to do with all these kids? Where are we going to go?
How are we going to get out of here alive?

You as the writer may have an idea of how something should be said or some
action that needs to be taking place at the same time. This is called a
"parenthetical" because you put it in parentheses. Parentheticals have their
own margin rules. (So many margin rules!) They are indented 3.7 inches from
the left and 5.2 inches from the right, for a total width of 1.5 inches. Don’t
center them under the character’s name, even though that looks better.
Example:
INT. BASEMENT — MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
Dim light filters through high, narrow windows. Children lie sprawled
asleep on filthy mattresses on the bare floor. KAREN DIAMOND, 25, is
awake, sitting on the lowest step of the wooden staircase with her
face in her hands. FOOTSTEPS are heard from the floor above.
KAREN​
(sighing)​
What am I going to do with all these kids? Where are we going to go?
How are we going to get out of here alive?

You might want your character to move while he/she is talking. To do that,
you put the action in, and then you have to introduce your character all over
again. You use this (CONT’D) after the name to show that the dialogue
continues through the action. Example:

KAREN​
(sighing)​
What am I going to do with all these kids? Where are we going to go?
How are we going to get out of here alive?
Getting up from the steps, Karen walks over to one of the windows and
stares out of it.
KAREN (CONT'D)​
There’s got to be a way out of here. This alley has to lead somewhere.

This shows that while she is getting up and looking out of the window, she is
still talking.

Step 10: Voiceovers – Sometimes you may want your character to talk in a
different way than straight dialogue. Maybe you want the action to continue
while the character isn’t in the scene, but you can still hear his/her voice. This
is called "voiceover" and is abbreviated "V.O." Maybe you want the character
to be out of range of the camera, but still participating in the scene. This is
called "off-screen" and is abbreviated "O.S."
You show this the same way as you did (CONT’D) by putting an abbreviation
to the right of the character’s name. Examples:
KAREN (CONT'D)​
There’s got to be a way out of here. This alley has to lead somewhere.
The children start to stir and Karen walks around, helping them get
up.
KAREN (V.O.)​
Impossible as it seemed, I knew then that our only hope lay down that
dark alley.

The "V.O." shows the director and actor that the audience will hear her voice,
but on the screen her lips won’t be moving.

Step 11: Keeping the beat – If you want your character to pause between
sentences or phrases, type in the word "beat" like you would a regular
parenthetical. Example:
KAREN (V.O.)​
I knew then that our only hope lay down that dark alley, as impossible
as it seemed.​
(beat)​
And yet I knew deep down that everything to this point had also been
impossible.