Style
A film in your hands – the six episodes comprising this book are presented in the style of a film script, akin to what an actor may receive from their agent, or what the film crew may work to on set. As such this book will be of interest to aspiring film makers, actors or anyone with a passion for the cinematic arts in general.
The Nelson Boys affords the reader an insight to the creative aspects of storytelling, through the medium of film or screenplay narrative. More specifically, an opportunity to appreciate the style, structure, plotline, characters, dialogue and action from the artistic perspective of the directors, crew members and the artists themselves. A glossary of film related terms is included to familiarise the reader with screenplay jargon which lead the aforementioned technicians through the film making process.
Purpose
Although this script (screenplay) has been created to tell a story, it is also a working technical document, which guides the film making process. General technical terms and definitions guide the script and aid the plotline; however, there are limits for how much guidance should be offered. Occasionally scriptwriters offer more than just the dialogue by including camera shots and angles to direct the action.
Generally, the more technical elements of the film making process should be left to the director, and only used within the written script when absolutely necessary. Scriptwriters should try to limit the artistic input and use the basic directions, such as locations, scene headings and dialogue. At the start of each scene, the writer will establish the setting using what is more commonly known as a ‘slug line’ or ‘master scene header’ (placed in bold in our text). This tells the reader where the scene is taking place. Slug lines will usually offer three main pieces of information, location, time of day and if the scene is indoors or outside. Slug lines are written in capital letters and also numbered in chronological order to guide the reader through the script. Firstly, the slug line will establish if the scene is an interior (INT) or exterior (EXT), then where the specific action is taking place and the time of day. Characters’ names appear in upper case each time they are seen in the script indicating their entrances and exits during scene and/or screenplay. Upper case is also used to highlight important objects within the story line.
Considering the above, this script as we present it, has been dramatised to offer the reader a rich descriptive narrative and an insight to the directive elements that a working script might have during the filmmaking process. Character direction (placed in brackets, italicised text, under the character name or during their dialogue) has been introduced to make the script easier to follow in terms of the intended emotions, actions and movements to be played by the actors. Again, as a general rule for a scriptwriter, this is not common practice. A glossary of film related terms is included to equip the reader with some technical screenplay jargon, and in so doing, provide some deeper appreciation of the intended emotions, movements and atmosphere which actors will be trying to portray, to tell the story of the Nelson Boys. It will also give some procedural understanding within the film making process.