Is it alright to write "beats" into your screenplay?

I use "beats". I'm a big fan of giving actors the opportunity to act, so I have a habit of inserting a beat here and there but rather than just saying "beat", I try to make it an opportunity for some visual acting. Like, "Tim ponders this for a moment," or "a brief silence as this sinks in."

I do use "beat" often in my first couple drafts of any given screenplay. But in the early drafts I'm concentrating on getting the story down and don't want to waste time early on thinking of a new way to say "beat", so I just write "beat". Then I go back and make it "prettier" in the rewrites.

I use them sparingly...and only at a crucial time.


Such as..."Luke, I'm your father." Don't waste them on anything else.

My impression is that beats should be the director's option. He may read the script and, if he sticks that closely to what you originally wrote, decide to direct the actors to read it in a way where a beat should go somewhere else or in a way that it might not be needed at all. Then again, the actors may not work it in at all.

I actually think it's a little distracting. For one, it breaks my concentration. There's nothing I love more than to get into somebody else's script and put myself in a scene and imagine the beats occurring naturally. When I'm reading dialogue, then I come across "(Beat.)", it's got to break my focus, let me know there's a pause between sentences, and I've got to regain my focus. That's a lot of trouble to go through and it's unnatural.

The ImagiNation said:

Jill back away from jack, distraught. Their eyes lock. Beat.
Jack turns and runs down the hill.

Click to expand...

It's not illegal or even frowned upon, it's just an indication that you think a dramatic pause would get you something extra.

I'd type "A beat." rather than "Beat." but that's probably just personal preference. And I'd use them sparingly or not at all.

The alternative is to use an action instead, e.g.

Jill backs away from Jack, distraught. Their eyes lock and Jack grins. Jill's eyes widen in realization--

Jack turns and runs down the hill.

...where Jill's realization IS the beat.

-Derek
Derek's Web Page - stories, screenplays, novels, insanity.

A beat

was used very effectively in the Gladiator script.
It is during the scene where Lucillia is talking with her father Marcus.

There is a pause in the dialog.

A BEAT

of just silence as they both walk.

We aren't really given much indication as to their thoughts. It's a natural moment in speech in which both parties have said their peice and are waiting to see if anything else needs to be said.

In the context of the story they are just a father and daughter walking together.
I think the beat is followed by Lucilla saying "This is a pleasant fiction."

scripter1 said:

was used very effectively in the Gladiator script.
It is during the scene where Lucillia is talking with her father Marcus.

Click to expand...

I just read that today! Have you got spyware running on my laptop??

A lot of pauses and beats and pauses and beats.

And a crap ending compared with what actually got made. But that's by the by.

-Derek
Derek's Web Page - stories, screenplays, novels, insanity.

Spyware

Scripter laughs evily.


Which draft are you reading?

I found the first draft and then a second draft by a different writer.
The second one is much closer to what was filmed.

The David Franzoni/John Logan version from http://www.imsdb.com - I nabbed it along with a bunch of others. It's recognizable, but not as satisfying.

-Derek
Derek's Web Page - stories, screenplays, novels, insanity.