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Is the (interrupting) under the character name necessary? Or is it just assumed that Jasmine interrupted?

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INT. KITCHEN - MORNING

Bill is screaming down Jasmine's throat.

BILL I can't believe this. First the car! Then the house! And now the --

JASMINE (interrupting) Go ahead. Say it. The vibrator.

BILL Where did you hide it, woman?

(Use ... at the point where Bill is interrupted, like below, then when Jasmine talks, she's automatically interrupting and you save a superfluous line spacing incident.)

BILL - I can't believe this. First the car, then the house and now the ...

JASMINE - Go ahead, say it. The vibrator.

GOTTA DYNAMIC HUM!!!D.G.

Actually, you don't use "...". The correct way is "--", for instance.

BILL Get your ass in here before I--

JANE Don't you dare tell me what to do!

Years ago "..." was accepted, but now it's changed. "..." is now used if a character is stuttering or stumbling, or if their words/thoughts trail off.

DICK Wait...I don't get it...what?

At least that's what I've seen in recent produced scripts I've read.

Yep. I agree. One - for an interruption.

...if the persons trails off.

No (interruption).

I'm with Bryan and Marc. And frankly, nobody's going to care if you use one - or two.

Miriam

INT. COMPUTER - MOVIEBYTES - NIGHT

some is typing and talking.

BILL

blah blah blah blah

JANCE

(Interrupting)

a-hole

******* I do it occasionally when I write my scripts ***************** no probs doing that, my screenwriting program has a setup for something like that.

You don't use paraenthetics when interupting, it's indicated by the use of an em dash. Technically this is called an Aposiopesis, for which I am sure to get flack for using the proper term.

Aposiopesis: A form of ellipse by which a speaker comes to an abrupt halt.

...........JACK

I was thinking --

...........JILL

-- No more hills.

Brachylogy is form of ellipse used when the speaker supresses a word or phrase.

............JACK

Don't you love me?

.............JILL

I... You know how I feel.

HTH

Jay

Points received, pondered and digested.

There ARE no hard fast rules but it is agreed that parentheticals to point out an interruption are OUT, because it only tends to interrupt the reader's eyes; expertly weaving their way down the page!

GET THE FLOW OUT!!!D.G.

I have to disagree. Keep the brackets.

When the script is being memorized by an actor they will pick this up as they do when the over look the word CON'T.

marcel

And I have to disagree with you Marcel. The brackets are unnecessary. Any professional actor who's read a script before will be able to figure out the dynamics of a scene by himself.

If you want to put the brackets, fine, but your work will come off as amateurish, which is one strike against you. Remember you only get so many.

I will still have to go with I've put down.

How do your screening writing programs handle this situation?

Keep in mind this is not a shooting script. For a spec script you want a simple, streamlined read for the producers/agents/readers to scan through, with as little interruption (so to speak) as possible. I'd go with Bryan on this one.

Miriam

Never trust your screenwriting software to do your thinking for you. Most by default insert CONTINUED and (CONTINUING) when a scene is split across a page break and (more) with (continuing) when dialogue is split by a page break and action. These elements are traditioanlly found in shooting scripts but are just clutter that slows down the read of a spec.

Jay

I am sticking to my guns on this one. I looked over my screenwriting book and see the brackets used in many different scripts. This includes Leathal Weapon. Of course the brackets are used sparingly through the whole script.

I think on my last script I might of used them around 8 times.

(put me on a stretch rack and you still won't break me)

Marcel

SPEC vs SHOOTING???

Is it that hard to wrap your noodle around such concepts?

I must admit though, your syntax has increased in accuracy quite a bit.

KEEP GOING, LEARNING, DOING!!!D.G.

(interrupts)

Marcel - () have gone by the wayside. If there's a specific reason you need to push it, like, she SLAMS a cupboard door while she's in the process of interrupting. Then it's a new action. Like this.

She SLAMS the cupboard door.

.........JASMINE

Go ahead. Say it. Vibrator.

Otherwise you really don't need to use up the precious extra line.

Have a good one

Orlanda

pgs. 9 and 10, from 'how not to write a screenplay,' by Denny Martin Flinn. He mentions them and uses them, therefore; I shall follow his guidance on this one...ommmmm, ommmmm.

mf

My mentor was someone who used to work at CBS and MGM and she says to put the continueds in even the specs and here's why:

If they like your script, option or buy it and they are trying to determine budget, they will often look at things such as how long certain scenes run, etc.

As far as capping sound, she says, "no." Only cap characters the first time you see them and that's it.

I guess there's a lot of different schools of thought on formatting.

MK

The other thing to keep in mind is that trends change over time. It's good to talk with people in the biz when you can to see if you're still doing something that is passe. That's harder to know for those of us outside, but it's worth asking producers and agents who read your script.

The important thing to remember is that even if you have one or two format quirks that aren't perfect, as long as they don't distract from your story you're okay. The main point is to aim for a clean, easy read.

Miriam

Too right Miriam.

Didn't mean to seem pushy Marcel. I've been told wrylies are rarely used. Who knows, maybe they've had a comeback.

Have a good one.

Orlanda