Reading a letter in a script

GideonFerrell

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Hey guys,

I got so much help on my last question that I thought I'd ask another one! :)

First of all, I tried using the search option in the forums to find this out, but got a whole lot of wacky threads instead, so sorry if this questions has been asked before.

In my script I've got a scene where a character is reading a letter, but not aloud. Their would be minimal text with a large font to make it work. So my question is, how do I put that in the script. Do I leave it in the Action of the script and just put " " around it? Or do I put it as dialogue?Only thing I could think of was to put it as dialogue, but to have a parenthetical above it. Ex://

Josh
(re: to himself)
Dear Josh, thanks for not picking
me up today. You're worthless.

So yeah, that's all I could think of, but didn't know the proper way. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Josh
 
clockwork

clockwork

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There's no proper way to do it, as in, no rule or anything. Just make sure it's clear.


INT. KITCHEN - DAY

Josh finds a letter pinned to the fridge. He pulls it free, reads.

The letter: Dear Josh, thanks for not picking me up today. You're worthless.

Josh crumples the letter into a ball.


The italics aren't vital, but that's how I'd do it. It reinforces that it's written. If the character reads it aloud, do it like any other line of dialog. If we're in his head while he's reading it, then I'd use V.O. for voice over.


INT. KITCHEN - DAY

Josh finds a letter pinned to the fridge. He pulls it free, reads.

JOSH (V.O)
Dear Josh, thanks for not picking me up today. you're worthless.

Josh crumples the letter into a ball.
 
WriteKnight

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Right. Another way is to have the AUTHOR'S voice in the VO

INT. KITCHEN - DAY

Josh finds a letter pinned to the fridge. He pulls it free, reads.

SUSAN (V.O)
Dear Josh, thanks for not picking me up today. you're worthless.

Josh crumples the letter into a ball.


Another way is to show the insert.

Josh picks up the letter.

INSERT: Dear Josh thanks thanks for not picking me up today.


An insert would really only be necessary if SEEING the text is important. Why would we need to see it? Perhaps it's a child's note, scrawled in a crayon. Perhaps its a very fancy formal invitation, that reeks of money and excess. Perhaps it's a note pasted together out of letters torn from magazines... whatever. Something about the note's VISUAL impact - is needed on the screen.

You can put the word INSERT: followed by the text - with the description. Or simply put the description in the action box - then the text - the director will understand that an insert is necessary. "Less is more" in this case.

If it's just a note, a bit of exposition - and not visually important - then I would go with a voice over - either from the character reading it - to let us know his interpretation of the note. OR from the author of the note - so that we can 'hear' the author's voice in our mind.
 
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