Question about sounds in action

I don't generally have very many noises in a script but when I do I cap them. But I don't do things like "FIRED" as fired is not a sound.

I will do things like:

John draws his gun and fires a single bullet into Emmett's head. BAM. Emmett's body slumps to the ground.

As to whether or not it's right, can't really say. I've only had people complain when an important sound isn't capped.

The problem is that "fired" is an action, not a sound. You need to list the action, followed by the sound, and cap the sound. In other words:

Shots are fired towards the group. BLAM. BLAM. BLAM.
or
The judge bangs his gavel. BAM. BAM. BAM. Everyone sits.

Like that!
FR

With gunshots, I would write it as something like.

A group of people stands in the courtyard. A GUNSHOT is heard.

I've seen it done the way Cyia did it, and I use that method.

I would think that capping 'fired' would look odd to seasoned readers.

I know that some screenwriters do the 'BAM' bit, but I don't like it. Personal choice, I'm sure. I thought QT used them, if I recall correctly, so I don't think it's wrong to use them, I just don't.

For instance the example above where shots are FIRED towards the group. Those shots break the mood of the scene making the action go from a standoff to a battle.

Click to expand...

Perhaps:

GUNSHOTS shatter the calm, sending the characters diving for cover as SIRENS wail in the distance.

I only cap actions when I intend for it to come out of nowhere and expect it to be a total shocker

example

John glides up behind Tom. A bullet EXPLODES out of Tom's chest.

FinbarReilly said:

The problem is that "fired" is an action, not a sound. You need to list the action, followed by the sound, and cap the sound. In other words:

Shots are fired towards the group. BLAM. BLAM. BLAM.
or
The judge bangs his gavel. BAM. BAM. BAM. Everyone sits.

Like that!
FR

Click to expand...

good example

raiboy said:

Hey thanks all for your replies. I think i'm hearing that most still CAP sounds. That's good to hear because I've heard different and I still and will continue to CAP in spec scripts. As far as the BAMS and the BLAMS thanks again for your suggestions. I took a good look at some of my CAPS in my latest project. This is just my opinon, but I keep coming up with the same thought and thats the BAMS and BLAMS will take away from the flow or my message. Again, just the way I do things.
Thank you all for your input
Rai

Click to expand...

At one point, sounds were capitalized in scripts for a strictly technical reason -- because the guy who was going to be doing the sound effects, back in the studio days, would page through a screenplay looking for the sound effects -- and frankly didn't want have to be bothered actually reading the script. He didn't care about the script. He cared about the sound effects.

This all made sense when studios made a couple hundred movies a year, and you had sound effect departments that had to provide sound effects for that many hundreds of movies a year. What did they care about character and motivation and all the rest. They wanted to know what sounds they had to pull down off the reels on their shelves.

Obviously, it's not done that way any more and certainly isn't relevant to the world of spec scripts. That's not why we're capitalizing sound effects, even if we do.

We are doing it for purposes of dramatic emphasis -- to make the experience of reading the script more exciting and vivid. And so the distinction between capitalizing a literal sound vs. an action, as far as I'm concerned, is moot.

I will capitalize any word, over the course of writing a script, that will help to emphasize a moment. A sound, an action, a noun. I really don't care what it is -- if I feel that I need to draw specific attention to it, or that a reader might be in danger of skipping over it, I'll capitalize it.

Sometimes I can emphasize it by putting something on its own line. Sometimes that doesn't work. There are various things I'll do. The point is to make the reader pay attention to things you want him to pay attention to.

On the other hand, if a particular sound has no special significance, but is just a sound, I definitely wouldn't capitalize it, because as far as I'm concerned that would be the equivalent of putting an exclamation point on the end of a sentence where it didn't really belong.

NMS

Thanks Raiboy for the question and thank you nmstevens for your comments. This just saved me from rewriting a very nice and beautifully brief description. And thank you all for your comments as well. It was all so very helpful.

In your example I think I'd put
Suddenly SHOTS are fired towards the group.
(Although I wouldn't word it that way myself. Not very action-orientated)

I put sounds in caps, but it tends to be only a fine sprinkling. I think some screenwriters go overboard.