Please excuse the length of this post...
I am currently writing a supernatural comedy with a partner.
We have come to a point where we don’t exactly know how to handle the formatting of some dialogue, because it’s a little strange. We were hoping you could let us know the proper way to format this, as the books we’ve reviewed do not answer this particular problem.
In this goofy little script of ours, two of the main characters are ghosts. They have the ability to possess the bodies of the living. Once possession has occurred, the voices alternate between ghost’s voice and the living person’s voice. Originally we wrote it this way….
Alex
(Karter’s voice)
Blah blah blah blah
(Alex’s voice)
Blah blah blah blah.
But we realized that it would not be prudent to have our two main characters hidden behind the faces of secondary characters for what is ultimately the last act of the movie. So we added a directorial note stating that the director would decide when we see the possesser versus the possessee, based on who is currently speaking. Using the above example it would read more traditionally, just like any two characters speaking:
Alex
Blah blah blah blah
Karter
Blah blah blah blah
However, there is some concern that this may be too confusing for the reader and we are now in the middle of a debate on how to handle it. Can you advise us on the proper way to handle something like this?
Any and all input is appreciated. Also, if somebody can point us in the way of a reference book that may have the answer to this, I would also appreciate it. We checked The Screenwriter's Bible (Trotter) as well as Standard Script Formats (Cole/Haag) with no success.
I am currently writing a supernatural comedy with a partner.
We have come to a point where we don’t exactly know how to handle the formatting of some dialogue, because it’s a little strange. We were hoping you could let us know the proper way to format this, as the books we’ve reviewed do not answer this particular problem.
In this goofy little script of ours, two of the main characters are ghosts. They have the ability to possess the bodies of the living. Once possession has occurred, the voices alternate between ghost’s voice and the living person’s voice. Originally we wrote it this way….
Alex
(Karter’s voice)
Blah blah blah blah
(Alex’s voice)
Blah blah blah blah.
But we realized that it would not be prudent to have our two main characters hidden behind the faces of secondary characters for what is ultimately the last act of the movie. So we added a directorial note stating that the director would decide when we see the possesser versus the possessee, based on who is currently speaking. Using the above example it would read more traditionally, just like any two characters speaking:
Alex
Blah blah blah blah
Karter
Blah blah blah blah
However, there is some concern that this may be too confusing for the reader and we are now in the middle of a debate on how to handle it. Can you advise us on the proper way to handle something like this?
Any and all input is appreciated. Also, if somebody can point us in the way of a reference book that may have the answer to this, I would also appreciate it. We checked The Screenwriter's Bible (Trotter) as well as Standard Script Formats (Cole/Haag) with no success.
