Screenwriting : Help needed. Best way to write this piece!? by Charles V Abela

Does it become important later on what three papers they are reading? If not you could just mention them as papers cable news shows. It sounds like what they say is important to your story so definitely include that info in the script.

IMHO

He's going through three different papers each carrying news af a recent merger between company A and company B. On the television a news anchor it starting a bulletin.

ANCHOR

And the the financial markets today are taking a close look at the announcement of a merger between...

For the first part, you don’t need to mention every newspaper or news channel by name unless it’s super important to the story imo . You could just describe them briefly, and if it’s something production needs to fill in later, they can. But if a specific source matters for the scene or the character’s role, definitely mention it!

As for the details of the newspaper copy, you only really need to include the headline or key points that push the story forward. No need to dive deep into the first paragraph unless it’s crucial for the plot. Keep it simple and let the visuals do the rest!" (:

Bill Albert They are integral to how the first scene develops from the point of view of content and locality in NYC. So it''s financial. The news is off the TV is more community based. And the latter ties to his childhood days.

Mike Childress "Ultimately the producer"... Yes, just wonder on the interpretation, how close and what a pain i.t.a. I could be to be very specific.

But he will also be reading some letters which are even more integral to the plot, in this case the inciting incident. So, the 'Insert Function' could be effective. I only used it once before.

But with the insert function, one can use one's graphic for a letterhead? or is it just text? From memory it's the former, however, it becomes a bit tedious. I can do it but there are at least three such documents/letterheads. Any quick way out? I think I can overlap the graphic just to give it a taste of 'three different letters, with no need for the details of the bottom two letters.

Ultimately, my thinking is to see some scenes/clips of him holding the letterheads in his hands and glancing or reading if not the content the basic intro. line.

Chase Cysco Agree with your thoughts. A question of balance. But to appear closer to the truth and show a headline in a newspaper with some copy, in reality, how much would the producer fill while the writer avoids taking a couple of pages of waffle, thus endangering the script as amateurish. Or maybe If you were to win the lottery and they like the script, and they go ahead, would it be at that point that the producer would ask the writer to supply detail of what he had in mind. The latter would make sense.

Mike Childress Must be a permanent winter for me. On a more serious note, I use Script Studio. But I did check a reference to your INSERT suggestion / function in my quick-ref book by Christopher Riley. The Hollywood Standard. Been doing a bit more thinking focusing a bit more intelligently on the dialogue and cutting just a tad on the pics/references, whatever.

Mike Childress Most certainly, it's more of an acerbic challenge than describing it in the shot, even without it being on the nose. But my mental capacity is limited for such endeavors. I notice you were attended educ. with lofty thinkers (I say this, as a compliment) at Kings College London - very renowned.