Screenplay Formatting Rules
Screenplay formatting follows extremely strict international standards inherited from the film industry. Historically calibrated so that one script page equals exactly one minute of screen time, these rules rest on precise typography (Courier or Courier New, 12 pt) and on a specific layout for <strong>7 fundamental text elements</strong>.
The 7 Elements of Standard Formatting
Each type of text serves a precise purpose and follows its own alignment and capitalization rules.
Scene Heading
Tells the reader and the crew where and when the scene takes place.
Structure: PREFIX. LOCATION - TIME
Action
Describes the visual movement, the setting and the events on screen — everything written must be observable by the camera. Written in present tense, with a character's name in ALL CAPS the first time they appear.
Character
Identifies who is about to speak. A technical note can be added in parentheses: O.S. (off-screen) or V.O. (voice-over).
Dialogue
Contains the lines spoken by the character named directly above.
Parenthetical
Gives a brief note on tone, attitude or delivery for the actor, placed right under the character's name and before the line.
Transition
Indicates a cut or an editing effect between two scenes.
Shot
Specifies a framing choice, a camera move or a particular point of focus.
Example: Anatomy of a Formatted Scene
Here's how these 7 elements come together on a real script page:
INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
The living room sits in darkness. Only the pale streetlight filters through the blinds.
MARK (30s, drawn face) creeps in, hand reaching for the light switch.
CLOSE ON THE DOORKNOB TURNING
Mark freezes. The handle slowly lowers with a metallic creak.
MARK (O.S.)
(whispering, voice shaking)
Is somebody there? Answer me, I know you're there.
The door creaks open. A looming shadow fills the hallway doorway.
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET - SAME TIME
A muffled gunshot rings out from the second-floor window. Then, silence.
Stop Wasting Time on Layout — Let Weetit Handle It
Applying these rules by hand in a regular word processor is a constant source of distraction and alignment mistakes: counting margins, forcing capitals, re-centering a character name that's drifted a pixel off... time stolen from the writing itself, line after line.
On Weetit, there's nothing to memorize. Pressing Enter ⏎ confirms your line and naturally moves on to the next text type; Tab ⇥ lets you switch elements on the fly (action, character, dialogue...) without ever leaving the keyboard. Everything else — font, margins, capitalization, alignment — is calculated and applied automatically, to the letter of industry standard: you focus on the story, Weetit handles the layout.
Real-Time Formatting
Every text type is recognized and formatted as you type, across all 7 formatting elements.
Hands on the Keyboard
No more interruptions to fix a margin or re-center a character name.
Industry-Standard Output
A script that matches industry standards, ready to share or export.
