Formatting

I have a question with regard to whether or not you should date scripts when sending them out.

Would it put someone off from looking at a script if they saw a date on the cover page that was one or two years old, (or more!) and therefore subconsciously make them think the idea is no longer “current”?

— Danni
Los Angeles

Yes, put the date on the cover. And as much as possible, try to keep it accurate and consistent. That way, when you’re talking with someone about your script, you can be assured you’re both talking about the same draft. More than once, I’ve sat down at a meeting and glanced at their script, only to realize they were looking at an old version.

That said, if you’re giving the script to someone new and important, and it’s been six months since your last revision, change the date. I don’t know about most readers, but I always tend to notice the year on the cover. Given the choice between a 2003 script and a 2005, I’ll always choose the more recent vintage. It’s a psychological thing.

And while we’re on the topic, there’s no need to put “First Draft” or “Second Revision” on the title page. The date is plenty.

Inevitably, a few days after a major revision, I’ll notice a bunch of typos. If it’s really just simple misspellings, fix them and keep the old date. If making the corrections changes page breaks and whatnot, use the new date.

When you have a character talking on the phone who is not in the scene that the audience is watching (e.g. Bill is in a phone booth talking to Jim who we only hear but never see) — do you use (O.S.) or (O.C.) or something else?

— RMT
Los Angeles

I would use O.S., which means “off screen.” I think the distinction is supposed to be that O.C. (“off camera”) applies when the speaker is physically in the same space as the person he’s talking to, but just not on camera, while O.S. is when speaker and listener are in different places.

Your case is definitely the latter. It would look like this:

I don’t think the distinction between the two terms is all that useful. In fact, I never use O.C., even in situations where it would probably apply — I just use O.S., and no one is ever confused.

I can’t say for certain what my aversion to O.C. is. It may be that on a subconscious level, I know that the “C.” stands for “camera,” and I try to never refer to the camera itself. I think it takes the reader out of the story, reminding them that what they’re reading is just a script.

However, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with O.C. — most readers will know what it means. So if it floats your boat, by all means use it in appropriate situations. Which does not include this one.

I’ve just finished my first script and a few people who I’d like to impress have asked me to send it to them over email. My question is, what is the proper format for sending scripts through email? Do I attach it as a Final Draft document? Convert it to a Word document? Something else I don’t know about? Thanks.

–Ryan
Los Angeles

Since you can’t count on your friends having the right version of any given program, your best bet is to convert it to a .pdf document. Both Final Draft and Movie Magic Screenwriter can do this pretty easily.

In Screenwriter, choose “Print…” from the File menu, then choose “PDF (Adobe Acrobat) File” from the “Print To:” pop-up menu. Screenwriter gives you the option to make bookmarks from all the scene headings in the file, which is helpful.

In Final Draft, simply choose “Save as PDF…” from the File menu. One caveat: in some versions of Final Draft, the .pdfs generated this way are huge.

As an alternate for Mac OS X, you can choose “PDF” from the main print dialog box, which bypasses the program and grabs the real information that would be sent to the printer. This system-wide ability of Mac OS X is a godsend; I use it all the time.

Almost everyone I know uses .pdfs these days to turn in scripts. You can pretty much count on them printing out properly, and it saves a lot of hassle dealing with couriers and photocopiers.