Not to spoil the script with notes, would it be correct to place notes on the title page? Since no hard copies are made today. (Maybe quite a few at the studio though!) Everything is shipped through the computer nowadays, so I have one special note to place. I guess, I could place some notes here and there to eliminate confusion, but I don't want to stop the reading flow with a paragraph or whatever it might take to set the story straight. What do you do?
Screenwriting : NOTES - Special notes by Claude Gagne
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Claude Gagne I put notes in scripts (sparingly), but I've only put them in the scripts. Not on the title pages.
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When I had to write Double Threat on assignment with a character who had a split personality, I wrote one personality in bold and the other as normal.
The instruction on how to read this I included as front matter, as you would a quote, and I kept it very brief.
I wouldn't include anything potentially critical like that on the title page as people tend to assume what's on those and breeze by them. It needs its own page.
You can see the script, and what I'm talking about, here.
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That's a great idea, CJ Walley (bold and normal for the different personalities).
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I've changed my mind. No notes. I think a reader should realize after a bit what's going on. Thanks for your help CJ and about using bold and normal for the personality. I guess it would probably work for identical twins too. Have a great weekend. You too Mr. Vaughan.
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Ok, cool, Claude Gagne. Even though I put notes in my scripts sometimes, I try to figure out ways to add the notes in action lines without them looking like notes. Have a great weekend.
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i'm okay with notes on the first page but only in super rare occasions to clarify something that is completely out of the ordinary that will affect the physical production of the script. like language notes mainly.
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Claude Gagne You're making the right decision! No notes to the reader and especially not on the title page. In fact, it's good to keep in mind that there is no such person as a "reader." We are all viewers. You shouldn't write anything into your script that your audience wouldn't see or hear. Your script should stand on its own without any special notes.
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Anna Marton Henry When you come to think of it; you're right, we are all viewers. It's a hard process to take my vision of what I see, to set it up in words for you to visualize the movie in your mind. I'm just about done with my second draft, and have my own notes in things to change and add. Thanks for being there. Pat Alexander I think we are all in accordance with no notes, if at all possible. Have a great weekend.
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It depends on how you're using them, but it is better to avoid this. The script is a good way for the reader to experience events in the same way an audience will as they're watching the movie.
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A bit hard to weigh in on this with specifics not knowing what the one special note is. However, I agree with folks here that I would eschew notes on the title page and as much as possible throughout. If it's something creative, you can always include it in description - e.g. if it's something about your hero, maybe you can have that as part of their intro, although be careful to only add it if it's something we can see/detect on screen. If it's important and we don't get it audibly or visually from what will be the final movie, then you have to think through how to convey that within the script so that it does translate somehow in that capacity. If there's some other context you feel imperative to convey to a reader in advance about the script, it's certainly easy to just tell them or put it in an email when sending.
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The special note was why most of the interior scenes are NIGHT as a time of day. Santa is inside the house and it still is NIGHT outside when he gets back to the sleigh. Even the North pole is in darkness even if it is DAY. I figure whoever reads the script will get the gist of it after awhile. Thanks.
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Sometimes, even in old scripts, I'll see notes about the characters at the beginning of the screenplay. I see notes on TV pilots a lot.
For movies, I'll see things like: "NOTE: ALL DIALOG in this sequence will have a “RADIO FILTER” effect unless otherwise noted." - from AD ASTRA Written by James Gray & Ethan Gross
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Matthew Kelcourse It doesn't really matter. A writer might have a section where the language spoken is to specified: "Note: All text in brackets to be in Japanese. Subtitles to be used only where indicated." Or suggestion on how text messages appear: "Note: All cellphone text messages to appear on screen as typing."
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Matthew Kelcourse I can't think of any examples of notes from spec scripts. But, what I have seen lately are pictures being added. I know people tried this years ago and the industry said no to it. Now I'm seeing them pop up again. I don't see them as helpful, but since writers are now being asked to do pitch decks, adding an image to the cover probably won't hurt.