Rebuild the Screenplay

The Present · Sides 07

Below are the pieces of a screenplay for the film, out of order. Put them back together across three pages.

Seven pieces do not belong. They are things a screenplay never contains. Send those to the cutting room floor.
Click a piece, then click the space where it goes. Click a placed piece to take it back.
The shape of each space tells you which element belongs there — slug line, action line, dialogue or transition — but not which piece.
30 minutes. One attempt. Watch the film first; keep it open while you work.

The elements

Slug line	Scene heading. Location and time. INT. inside, EXT. outside, INT./EXT. when the camera is in one and the action in the other.
Action line	Anything in the scene that is not dialogue. Present tense. Only what a camera can see.
Character cue	The speaker's name, in uppercase, above their line. Carries (CONT'D), (O.S.) or (V.O.) when needed.
Dialogue line	What is said. Sits 2.5 inches from the left of the page.
Parenthetical	A short direction under the cue, in brackets. Use sparingly.
Transition	FADE IN:, CUT TO:, FADE OUT. Aligned to the right.

In this exercise the character cue, the parenthetical and the dialogue line travel together as one piece.

Name and last initial

Group

Sides 07THE PRESENT

Name—

Group—

Placed0 / 0

Time left30:00

Rebuild the Screenplay

The pieces—

Cutting room floor0

Seven pieces are things that never appear in a screenplay. Put them here.

Pages

Pieces

Click a piece → click a space. Click a placed piece to take it back.