Screenwriting, like every profession, has its own specialized collection of terminology, slang, industry terms, and jargon. Dialogue-heavy movies with fast-talking characters might say more than a page a minute, but in general, time and pages line up. “Ninety minutes is 90 pages.” There are occasional exceptions. “Each page in script format is about one minute,” says filmmaker Whitney Ingram. The page-by-page action of a script should correspond with the minute-by-minute action of a movie. Most movie scripts, at least in the English-speaking world, follow a three-act structure. Here are the basic elements of screenplays, according to Hollywood pros.

They should also be able to easily find a synopsis of the story, the main character, and genre.

A member of a production company should be able to pick up a screenplay and immediately know where to find basic things like the title page, name of the screenwriter, and their Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) membership number. Professional screenwriters are expected to adhere to formatting conventions and industry standards.

Script writing is an industry as much as an art or craft. All movies, from blockbuster feature films to film school short films, begin with a screenplay, and it’s the single most important document you’ll produce in the entire filmmaking process.” “A movie script is the framework of the building,” says screenwriter Steven Bernstein. If a movie is like a building, then the screenwriter is the architect. And just like any other big project, it has to start with an idea.

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