The short answer.
In a screenplay, the speaking character's name goes in capitals 3.5 inches from the left edge of the page. Their dialogue sits beneath it, starting at 2.5 inches and about 3.5 inches wide. A parenthetical, a short note on how a line is delivered, goes between the two at 3 inches, in lower case and in brackets.
On this page
Character cues
The cue is the speaker’s name, in capitals, 3.5 inches from the left edge of the page. Use the same name every time. If a character is introduced as JUNE, she stays JUNE, not MRS. HALE in one scene and JUNE in the next.
Dialogue
Dialogue starts directly under the cue, 2.5 inches from the edge, in a column about 3.5 inches wide. The narrow column is part of the timing: a page of dialogue reads at about the same pace as a page of action.
JUNE
(quietly)
Your mother called. Twice.
THEO
What did you tell her?
Parentheticals
A parenthetical says how a line is delivered, or what a character does mid-speech, in a few lower-case words: (quietly), (beat), (pushing the cup toward him). It sits 3 inches from the edge, between the cue and the line, and never ends a speech. Use them sparingly: if the line already says how it should be read, the parenthetical only gets in the way.
Extensions: V.O., O.S. and CONT’D
- (V.O.), voice-over: a voice not heard in the scene itself, such as narration, or the far end of a phone call.
- (O.S.), off screen: the character is in the scene but not on camera, like someone calling from the next room. TV scripts sometimes use (O.C.), off camera.
- (CONT’D), continued: the same character speaks again after a line of action, or their speech carries over a page break.
THEO (V.O.)
Every road out of here goes past that diner. I used to think that was the problem.
JUNE (O.S.)
Albuquerque. Nineteen seventy-nine.
Speeches across a page break
When a speech runs off the bottom of a page, it breaks at the end of a sentence. (MORE) goes under the last line on the first page, and the cue is repeated at the top of the next with (CONT’D).
Dual dialogue
When two characters speak at once, their speeches can sit side by side in two narrower columns. Keep it for genuine overlap; most crosstalk reads better as alternating lines.
Questions
- What is a parenthetical in a screenplay?
- A short note in brackets, between a character's name and their line, that says how the line is delivered or what small action goes with it, such as (quietly) or (beat). Use them only when the line would otherwise be misread.
- What do V.O. and O.S. mean in a script?
- V.O. (voice-over) is a voice not heard in the scene itself, such as narration or a voice on the phone. O.S. (off screen) is a character who is in the scene but not on camera, like someone calling from another room.
- When do you use CONT'D in a screenplay?
- When the same character keeps talking after a line of action, their cue can be marked (CONT'D). When a speech breaks across pages, (MORE) goes at the bottom of the first page and the cue is repeated with (CONT'D) on the next.
