Capitalization in Actions

I'm glad you asked, because I was confused about that too. The way I understand it, it has to do with where the writer wants to draw attention, say, for the sound fx crew or something they want a close up on. I'm still not sure though, since I'm just starting out myself, so I'll be interested to see what the more experienced writers say.

Here's an example of a new script I was reading recently. MC's a cop, and we normally encountered him in uniform. There were 3 crucial plot-driven scenes running in sequence. The first he's in uniform, the second he's returned to the same location in civilians, and in the third he once again returned to the location in uniform. The middle scene was action and no dialogue, and the writer had flagged that he was dressed IN CIVILIANS.

Made it easier for the reader to know exactly what was going on, without realms of expo in the narrative.

That's just one example.

ETA: what Grom states below is probably a better example. The script I was referring to wasn't a shooting script, but it was a commission and writer knew that it was going to be made. So different rules applied, hence the detail in a first draft.

Don't worry guys. Those are probably "shooting scripts" you're reading which are a lot more detailed than the scripts you'll be writing.
A shooting script is for the director, cinematographer and crew. They have to pick the shots, pick the clothes, pick the sets so they need the extra info and whatever director gets the script is going to want to do much of that in his own house.

As far as a spec script goes it's my understanding that the only thing capitalized in actions are SOUNDS. such as,

Rory cocks his gun and a loud CLICK can be heard.

That and the first time you introduce a speaking character.

Rory looks down the dark alley and sees JOANNE KLINE staring back.

Hope I'm not talking out of my *** again...

-Gromhard

It's anything you want to draw attention to, whether it's a sound, object, action, whatever. There are no hard and fast rules but sparsity is recommended. My eye immediately jumps to capitalised words so, personally, I find them distracting. Consequently, I don't think I've ever capitalised outside of introducing characters but have read scripts where it seemed appropriate.

clock_work9 said:

It's anything you want to draw attention to, whether it's a sound, object, action, whatever. There are no hard and fast rules but sparsity is recommended. My eye immediately jumps to capitalised words so, personally, I find them distracting. Consequently, I don't think I've ever capitalised outside of introducing characters but have read scripts where it seemed appropriate.

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I was doing a whole bunch of reading on this this very weekend. The oscars and WGA say that anything you want to emphasize or draw attention to needs to be underlined. Caps are for sounds and camera directions, POV, CUT TO, FADE OUT ect.

There are many scripts with non charchter words with CAPS. eg...Pirates of the Caibean - Patriot are just a couple.

I find my self writing in CAPs unconsiously when I see something as a single shot or close up. Eg. His foot crashed down onto on his HAND...not a good example.

I don't use them often and did go through one script and remove them all and found that it actually read better with them in.

I don't think there is a fast rule here.

gromhard said:

I was doing a whole bunch of reading on this this very weekend. The oscars and WGA say that anything you want to emphasize or draw attention to needs to be underlined. Caps are for sounds and camera directions, POV, CUT TO, FADE OUT ect.

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Can open.... worms everywhere....

Personally I think underlining is worse than capitalising. I know for sure that if I turned a page and something were underlined on that page, I would see it and my eye would jump down and I'd read that first. I'd also probably make a judgement about whether or not I'd have done the same for that line etc etc (all this is subconsciously, of course)

Screenwriting books are pretty contradictory on all this stuff. I've read books that say never underline and I've books like the ones you have. ATEOTD, it's whatever you feel is best for your own work. I certainly wouldn't reject or dislike a writer because they underlined when I wouldn't unless it was in excess.

One thing I have noticed on using CAPS is to probably use them sparingly, don't get too carried away with them. I started using them and found that I was putting them in every action scene. Just didn't seem right.

They almost feel like directorial commands to me so I only use them on sounds that I want the reader to hear and now very rarily on anything else.

I would probably avoid them when describing what someone is wearing. That's what the costume dept. is for in movies. Can you imagine also writing a sci-fi/fantasy script CAPPING every clothing description, sound and every other little thing? For long every other word in your action scene would be capped. Might get a little annoying to the reader.

So I say use them sparingly, kind of like Parentheticals, cause most likely it's going to change by shooting draft anyways.

Perhaps I should have clarified it a little better as to why the writer I referred to used CAPS to describe what his character was wearing. It was integral to the plot that this cop was in uniform, and then out of uniform, before popping up again back in uniform, and he made sure that he drew attention to it in what was a very short middle scene in the sequence. It wasn't simply a case of capping how a character was 'dressed', and it was applied as an assist for the reader. If you ever (hopefully) reach the stage of working with a script editor and producer, and there comes a time where the script has been rewritten several times and hashed over relentlessly at meetings, the CAPS should by then be in all the right places before it moves into production.

It goes something like this:
SE: I'm still a little confused as to where the gun came from?
Writer (sucks teeth): We saw Joe slipping it under his pillow. Page 28, scene 33.
SE: I missed that. Cap it in the next draft.

Other than that, I wouldn't worry about. Your story won't stand or fail on the strength of where you did or didn't put the CAPS (as long as you don't go to town), it will be judged on the quality of the writing.

clock_work9 said:

Can open.... worms everywhere....

.

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It is really a matter of style. Clock said earlier that they are used to draw attention. The trick is knowing when attention should be drawn. Overuse is very distracting and should definitely be avoided.

A crappy example off the top of my head.

1] Pete draws his gun and pulls the trigger. BANG. BANG. Two shots ring out.

2] Pete walks into the darkened office. BANG! BANG!
Two shots ring out.

I normally wouldn't use capitals in 1], they are not required. The reader/audience sees exactly what is going on. I probably wouldn't even use Bang.

In 2] I would almost certainly use capitals. I want to show the reader there is an element of surprise/shock/importance here.

By overuse you take away that element of surprise/shock/importance in your descriptions.

[I have used sounds as an example but Caps needn't be restricted to sounds, just restricted in usage]

There are no rules except don't overuse.

CAPS are like seasoning on a dish. Every once and while and for the right reasons is okay. I wouldn't CAP every action or item that needs attention, but I would use it sparingly to add emphasis, to focus the reader.

A BANG, or he FIRES, or she picks up the KNIFE once and a while can focus the readers attention to what you want them to focus and more importantly, remember.

Underlining is not a good idea for reasons mentioned previously. I think it distracts too much.

The important thing to remember (as is with everything in a script), do not overuse and only when really important-- whether it be CAPS, transitions, VO, OS, or parentheticals.

Joe Calabrese said:

There are no rules except don't overuse.

CAPS are like seasoning on a dish. Every once and while and for the right reasons is okay. I wouldn't CAP every action or item that needs attention, but I would use it sparingly to add emphasis, to focus the reader.

A BANG, or he FIRES, or she picks up the KNIFE once and a while can focus the readers attention to what you want them to focus and more importantly, remember.

Underlining is not a good idea for reasons mentioned previously. I think it distracts too much.

The important thing to remember (as is with everything in a script), do not overuse and only when really important-- whether it be CAPS, transitions, VO, OS, or parentheticals.

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I'll throw in a bit here about the origins of using uppercase within a script's narrative, and that is ... it comes from the big studio days of the 30's, 40's, and 50's when MGM or Columbia or Paramount might have a dozen pictures in various stages of production at the same time, an industrial scale operation involving thousands of workers. To make things run a bit more efficiently in this madhouse, writers were required to use uppercase on SOUNDS and on PROPS and perhaps on significant WARDROBE considerations so that ... a sound recordist for example could scan a script and find sound cues much easier than if he had to read the entire narrative looking for them; written in uppercase, they stood out and were easy to spot on the page.

This was an important consideration when said same sound recordist was working on two or three pictures at a time, doing a scene for one on Sound Stage "C", then running to stage "B," then runnning to the back lot for an exterior. Or, better, when handed a new script for a project just going into production that he needed to review so as to determine the extent of unique recording needs he had to prepare for.

Okay, that's where it all started.

Hence the reality is that today in a spec there would be no need at all to use uppercase beyond on a character's NAME when they are introduced.

But of course the habit of using uppercase on SOUNDS and PROPS didn't just disappear from the lexicon when the mass production of movies changed to more of a one-off style. The same writers who wrote shooting scripts were the same one's who wrote the first specs, when the concept of a "spec" came into beiing in the late 50's and early 60's. They did what they had always done, uppercase on SOUNDS and PROPS.

Newer spec writers who came into the scene at that time quite naturally picked up on this and did it themselves, even though it was no longer necessary from a studio production standpoint.

Somewhere in there some writer who didn't have a clue about the background and origins of using uppercase, decided the technique represented a good way to bring attention to something, to emphasize something, or to add a bit of pizzazz to something, so that

The bomb explodes, KA-BLOOIEE!

was a more exciting and colorful treatment than

The bomb explodes.

or even

The bomb EXPLODES.

Fast forward to today and we find discussions such as we're having in this thread, with writers agonizing over when and if to use uppercase in their narratives.

Today, it really has become a matter of voice and style; some writers do it, others don't. I used to do it, now days I'm much less inclined and will only do it to add pizzazz and color and energy to the read when things otherwise will read much less colorfully and convey much less energy and verve.

To my eye a script that's loaded with uppercase presents a less comfortable read that one which reflects a more judicious use.

Harry grabs the GUN and runs along the CATWALK, leaps to the STAGE, and confronts an ANGRY NIGHT WATCHMAN, whereupon he SLUGS him with a CRISP left hook and keeps RUNNING, FIRING his PISTOL as he goes, BANG! BANG!

This voice drives me crazy, as it would any producer reading it.

It assumes that meaning can't be conveyed with normal case, which is of course a fallacy.

Judicious use is the key, moderation, reserving use so that when it is used it has a more pronounced effect simply becuse it's uncommon.

One way to approach the use of uppercase in your narrative is to write using none, and then when rewriting have a look to see where the use of uppercase might enhance the read by providing added color, emphasis, energy, pizzazz, or zeal.

A word about underlining ... We rarely see this in narrative and I for one don't think it belongs. However, there is a place for it in dialogue. In order to establish some kind of consistent method for indicating the level of volumn you want in a speech, the general industry practice is this:

But he said Joe was gonna do it!

But he said Joe as gonna do it!

But he said JOE was gonna do it!

with each rendition indicating a progressively louder sound on the word "Joe." First, normal case = normal voice; second, underlined word = a somewhat louder and more emphatic delivery; third, uppercase = a shout.

We can of course use a wrly to indicate a sound level for an entire speech,

CAPTAIN STINSON
(a shout)
You men! Get over here!

But again, these uses should be moderate in application; one simply cannot characterize every speech with respect to tone or volumn. Explicit indications should be used when it wouldn't otherwise be clear and the volumn or the tone has some significance.

Find your voice.

Cheers!

There are rules. Technically regarding sounds: you're only suppossed to cap SOUNDS and the OBJECT making the sound in action description.

1] Pete draws his gun and pulls the trigger. BANG. BANG. Two shots ring out.

I normally wouldn't use capitals in 1], they are not required.

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This is incorrect, technically. Technically it should read:


Pete draws his GUN and pulls the trigger. BANG. BANG.


If you're going to break the rules, know what they are. [Obviously, this is not a hard and fast rule.]

Also, sometimes crucial props will be in caps (as well as SHOTS).

But underlining? NO! Rarely, if ever, use underlining in a spec script. There are a few exceptions in dialog. Underlining, as every style maven knows, is in the place of italics in dialog.

(in Transitions and SLUGS it's another story.)

I have a rule of thumb involving caps and italics: Your writing has the emotional intensity it needs or it doesn't. Playing with the font won't change that.

That's true and I hear the capping sounds thing isn't really done that much anymore, but it's good to know what the rule is.

>> she says as she tosses a CAT into the bathtub who MEOWS.





[this seems like a cat person board and well, I love dogs.]

whistlelock said:

I have a rule of thumb involving caps and italics: Your writing has the emotional intensity it needs or it doesn't. Playing with the font won't change that.

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This is probably the best "rule" of all regarding the use of uppercase in one's narrative.

But then, there are considerations,

The bomb explodes, KA-BLOOIEE!

The bomb explodes.

The bomb EXPLODES.

Which delivers the greatest degree of emotional intensity?

Every screenwriter chooses.

Yeah I try not to use 'em too often myself because I know that when I read a script chock full o' randomly capitalized words, they scratch my eyeballs something awful.

Character names on intro, e.g. MICKEY, 20s, a nervous sweat stain in a crumpled suit.

Sound effects, e.g. The Colonel draws his big Peacemaker, BLAM! the bullet punches Pecos through the window.

Shots/angles/close ups, e.g. Bill opens the drawer. Inside, a BLOODY KNIFE.

-Derek
My Web Page - shameless vampyre fiction & other shameless writings.
Stop reading this and get some writing done instead.

well not to be pickingnits but technically it's

the BOMB EXPLODES.

BOMB is capped only if we're seeing it for the first time, no? This kind of thing doesn't look right...

Smith opens the door, sees the BOMB. He walks around the BOMB, looking at it from every angle. He runs his hand over the BOMB.

...Also, since explosions occur in milliseconds, technically we don't see the bomb explode -- one millisecond it's there, the next, it isn't.

SMITH
It's a Jerry, all right! Must
have been here since the
Blitz. No worries, I'll have
it safe in a jiff--

A BLINDING EXPLOSION.

-Derek
My Web Page - shameless vampyre fiction & other shameless writings.
Stop reading this and get some writing done instead.

writerly said:

There are rules. Technically regarding sounds: you're only suppossed to cap SOUNDS and the OBJECT making the sound in action description.



This is incorrect, technically. Technically it should read:


Pete draws his GUN and pulls the trigger. BANG. BANG.


)

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Says who? For every guru you say tells you to do this I'll give you anothere who says you don't.

There are NO RULES regarding CAPS in SPEC SCRIPTS.

There is absolutely no need to Cap GUN. And most definitely no rule.

English Dave said:

Says who? For every guru you say tells you to do this I'll give you anothere who says you don't.

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Couldn't agree more. And I'll throw in screenwriters who swear by the fact that you shouldn't even listen to half these gurus, that their advice could hinder rather than help the aspiring screenwriter.

Rules? In a knife fight? No rules!

But, giving the best advice you can plus examples so the poster can use whatever he/she likes best? That's probably a good rule. Of thumb.

-Derek
My Web Page - shameless vampyre fiction & other shameless writings.
Butch and me have been talking it all over. Wherever the hell Bolivia is, that's where we're off to.

Hey cap away.
No rules, just conventions or standards.
What I put forth is one convention.
Perhaps use it only in intese action sequences or moments.
Or when you're
writing
down
the
page.

Do whatever you think is right. Capping a PROP happens all the time. It even happens when they don't make a sound.

writerly said:

Hey cap away.
No rules, just conventions or standards.
What I put forth is one convention.

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No.

What you put forth was

''This is incorrect, technically. Technically it should read:


Pete draws his GUN and pulls the trigger. BANG. BANG.


If you're going to break the rules, know what they are''