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Q&A How to write character's emotional reactions in a screenplay?

E. A scared Bob walks over to the door, hand on the knob. or BOB (scared) Who are you? While I haven't written scripts, I have acted some on stage. Giving the actor the basic reac...

posted 5y ago by Cyn‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-20T00:40:42Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/44101
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T11:32:49Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/44101
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T11:32:49Z (almost 5 years ago)
 **E.**

> A scared Bob walks over to the door, hand on the knob.

or

> BOB
> 
> (scared) Who are you?

While I haven't written scripts, I have acted some on stage. Giving the actor the basic reaction you want her/him to have is important. In your example, the actor can not figure it out from context. Bob might be amused, mad at the ghost, mad at the person who is surely pranking him, worried that he's hallucinating, freaked out that he's dead, etc.

Scared of the ghost is a good possibility but far from the only one. Don't make your actors and director guess. If the emotion is important to the story, state it succinctly.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-03-27T18:51:58Z (over 5 years ago)
Original score: 3