Thankfully, my calling-card script was considered strong enough that no one cared. This was because the only screenplays I had read were older ones. When I first broke into the business, roughly 10 years ago, my scripts were filled with camera directions and superfluous transitions. Oftentimes, transitions fall under “not essential”. Anything that’s not essential to your storytelling isn’t required. It should just be leaner and easier on the eyes. A script should still have scene headings, character names over the dialogue, and more or less resemble what a screenplay has always looked like. This doesn’t mean you should jettison all traces of proper formatting. In this sense, the screenplay has become a feature-length pitch for a movie rather than the beat-for-beat blueprint it used to be. The priority is to convey a compelling and cinematic story as economically as possible. As a result, the contemporary screenwriter has streamlined the craft and has done away with much of the technical jargon. Today, thanks to screenwriting software, screenwriting has become egalitarian in nature. This was back in the day when screenwriters used typewriters and were usually former playwrights and novelists. Not only is the description more detailed (and, at times, borders on prose), you’ll find camera directions and all sorts of transitions. If you ever read an old screenplay, you’ll notice how densely written they are. They can sometimes be used, but you should do so sparingly. Transitions are appearing less and less in modern screenplays.
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