An original screenplay example with each element explained: scene headings, action, character cues, parentheticals, dialogue and transitions, each shown in place.
Direct answer
A screenplay page is built from six elements: scene headings that say where and when, action that says what we see and hear, character cues, dialogue, the occasional parenthetical, and an optional transition. The example below is an original opening page that uses each one. On paper it is set in 12-point Courier at standard margins, the layout that lets a reader estimate running time from the page count.
On the page
EXT. HARBOR WALL - DAWN
Fog sits on the water. A row of fishing boats knocks against the wall, ropes creaking.
NELL HARGREAVES (60s), oilskin coat, reading glasses on a cord, checks a battered tide table against her watch.
Footsteps. TOMAS (17), her nephew, hood up, carries two coffees he has clearly spilled.
TOMAS
They were full when I left.
NELL
(not looking up)
The tide turns at six-ten. You were meant to be here at six.
TOMAS
It's six-oh-four.
Nell holds out her hand. He gives her a coffee. She sips it and winces.
NELL
Cold.
Out in the fog, an ENGINE coughs and dies. They both turn toward the sound.
CUT TO:
INT. NELL'S BOAT - WHEELHOUSE - MOMENTS LATER
Cramped. Charts pinned to every surface. Nell turns the key. Nothing.
TOMAS (O.S.)
Is that us or them?
NELL
Get the radio.
Evidence weight
On the example, the scene heading names interior or exterior, the place and the time of day. Action introduces each character in capitals with an age the first time we meet them and capitalizes the one sound the scene turns on. A parenthetical appears only where the words alone would be misread, a character heard from another room gets O.S. after the name, and the cut sits flush right.
Transitions are where writers disagree most. Some readers like an occasional CUT TO: as rhythm; others see it as clutter, since every new scene heading already implies a cut. Camera directions such as CLOSE ON or WE SEE split readers too. In a spec, use either sparingly and only when the shot carries the meaning.
Not one rigid template
What the example shows: no scene numbers, no camera directions, and only the transitions that change how a moment reads. This is the page a reader, a contest or a representative sees.
Once a script goes into production it gains scene numbers in both margins, CONTINUED and MORE markers at page breaks, and revision marks on colored pages. The words stay; the page now carries scheduling information.
A pilot adds a teaser or cold open and act breaks, and some shows, multi-camera comedies especially, use a different house layout. Follow the show's own format when you have it.
Reader and handoff friction
Choose for the recipient
For a spec submission, keep the page clean: no scene numbers, no revision marks, standard Courier and margins, and a title page with your contact details. Check the opportunity's own rules on page count and file format before you send.
When a script goes into production, lock scene numbers, issue changes as colored revision pages, and keep the spec as its own draft so the clean page stays available for submissions.
Plot formats each element as you write, so scene headings, character cues and dialogue land on the right margins without manual tabs. The free screenplay templates hold complete example scripts for a feature, a short and a TV pilot; open one, write over it and export a PDF.
Asked next
A screenplay is set in 12-point Courier with wide margins. Scene headings in capitals start at the left margin, action runs the full width, character names sit in capitals toward the center, and dialogue is a narrower column beneath them. The example on this page shows each element in place.
The Academy Nicholl Fellowships publish past winning scripts as free PDFs on their screenwriting resources page, alongside formatting tips. Read them for how a page moves, not only for the format.
A feature spec usually runs about 90 to 120 pages. One page per minute is a planning convention rather than a measurement: dialogue-heavy pages play faster and action-heavy pages slower.
Yes. The scenes are original and free to write over. For a whole script to start from, open one of the free screenplay templates, which include a feature, a short and a TV pilot written out in full.
Screenplay
The written form of a film or television episode: scenes told through scene headings, action and dialogue, laid out in a standard format in which one page runs about a minute on screen. A feature screenplay is usually 90 to 120 pages.
Scene heading (slugline)
The line that opens a scene: interior or exterior, location, and time of day — for example, INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT. It orients the reader and anchors production breakdowns.
Action
The descriptive prose of a screenplay — what the audience sees and hears, written in present tense. Also called description.
Character cue
The speaker’s name above a dialogue block, conventionally in uppercase — the label that tells the reader who is talking.
Parenthetical
A short note in parentheses inside a dialogue block — how a line is delivered or a small action during it, e.g. (whispering). Use sparingly.
Browse the screenplay formatting reference
Rendered examples and accepted variations for common screenplay situations
Title pages & anonymity
Keep a normal master title page with authorship and contact information, but create a separate anonymous PDF whenever the current submission rules require it.
Sound effects & capitals
Capitalize a sound, prop, or action only when it has to jump off the page, and a speaking character's name at first appearance, so capitals still mean something.
Scene numbers & production
When to add scene numbers, how locked pages and A/B scenes work, and why spec scripts usually omit them. Includes screenplay examples and revision guidance.
