What are the differences between a script and a screenplay?
There is usually a lot of confusion when it comes to these two terms. Some sources say that there is no (practical) difference between the two while other sources talk of various kinds of differences. However, I have not run into any authentic source that answers my question.
My question is as follows:
In the context to a film/TV show etc., what is the difference between a script and a screenplay? (There ought to be a difference because the credits always have different sections for script and screenplay).
Further, in context to the theatre, is there any difference between the two words (I have not come across anyone using the term "screenplay" in context of the theatre)? Are the two interchangeable? If not, what is the difference in the writing style for both.
a script is a document written for the actors on set. It contains only the dialogues. This allows the characters to lear …
6y ago
It's miss understands. Script is a complete version but screenplay is more importence gave the dialog part of the scene …
10y ago
A screenplay is a preproduction tool, whereas a script is a production/post production tool. From the filmmaking side, …
10y ago
The main difference between the terms script and screen play (or screenplay as one word) is that typically people think …
10y ago
While I am not in the business, I would imagine that the screenplay is the original finished creative work, and the scri …
11y ago
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/10309. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
5 answers
You are accessing this answer with a direct link, so it's being shown above all other answers regardless of its score. You can return to the normal view.
a script is a document written for the actors on set. It contains only the dialogues. This allows the characters to learn when the lines should be spoken and in which order. Screenplays are written to carry every detail of the set, such as the dialogues between characters, how to deliver it, instructions of where and how lighting should be and the surrounding atmosphere of the play.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40736. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
0 comment threads
A screenplay is a preproduction tool, whereas a script is a production/post production tool.
From the filmmaking side, being on set, we refer to the printed copy as a script. The script is a tool that the actor and rest of the crew use while on set at a particular location, and is often only a portion of the entire screenplay.
Directors, actors, continuity directors, script supervisors, and film loaders (clapper/slate operators) often make notations on their own copy of the script.
The screenplay would be the entire thing, in its original form. You might submit a screenplay, but you wouldn't submit a script.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/10607. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
0 comment threads
The main difference between the terms script and screen play (or screenplay as one word) is that typically people think of a script as for theater whereas a screenplay is clearly for the film industry. However, since a script can also be a screen play, it is interchangeable in that way.
Screenplays are also usually subject to a script formatting rules. There are many examples of this and it is easy to find. Industry people who would read your screen play tend to be very particular about proper formatting. Bad formatting is clear evidence of a beginner.
Theater scripts are not nearly so fussy about format. Often unpublished theater scripts look like screenplays in format while published plays look very different. This is because script writing software tends to use the screen play format but publishers of plays use a tighter format to save paper and costs to publish. This can be confusing because a writer will use the publishers tight formatting scheme thinking it is a generally accepted format.
See http://www.playwriting101.com/ for a detailed discussion of formatting.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/10360. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
0 comment threads
While I am not in the business, I would imagine that the screenplay is the original finished creative work, and the script, sometimes called "the shooting script," is what people use on set or on stage to actually film or perform the thing.
So the script is the living, working, occasionally minorly changed piece, which might have additional stage directions or lighting notes for people executing the words.
0 comment threads
It's miss understands. Script is a complete version but screenplay is more importence gave the dialog part of the scene
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/14467. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
0 comment threads
0 comment threads