Basic formatting rules
* The screenwriter is not responsible for writing in CAMERA ANGLES and detailed shot terminology. It is not the writer's job. Forget about writing scenes describing the intricate moves of a Panavision 70 camera with a 50mm lens on a Chapman crane!
* The playwright must not get too detailed when it comes to costumes, props, sets and technical details. It is the job of the playwright to give the director and actors information about the characters and potent dialogue to work from.
* Most beginners try and religiously follow the examples of published screenplays and stageplays. If you do this, make sure that the screenplay was written after 1990; the screenplay format evolved drastically since then. Also make sure to read one of the drafts, and not the final shooting screenplay.
A* spirant playwrights should read all the classic works, especially plays by Tennessee Williams and Eugene O'Neil.
* The screenwriter's job is to write the screenplay. The screenwriter's job is to tell the director what to shoot, not how to shoot it. If you specify how each scene should be shot, the director will probably throw it away. The director's job is to film the screenplay, to take words on paper and transform them into images on film.
* The screenwriter is the author of the screenplay. The director is the author of the film.
* The playwright writes the play. The director brings the play to life and gives it a unique vision; the actors bring the characters to life.
* Film and theatre are a collaborative medium.
* People work together to create a work of art that will entertain, tell a story, communicate certain information to the audience, and express a certain view of life.