When writing a spec script, especially one for a contest, do you type in the ACTS or leave them out?
Screenwriting : Three Acts by Cherie Grant
Three Acts
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If you mean writing in something like "ACT II" at the beginning of Act II, then you leave it out. I haven't seen those kinds of designations in any scripts, let alone a spec. It's one of things that any experienced reader should easily be able to figure out for themselves.
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yeah thanks. I kinda forgot cause i've been writing tv scripts for a while and now getting back into features.
Please someone explain to me the difference between a spec script , a script and a screenplay? I seem to get confused with the terminology.
Marilyn, I can't speak to the difference between a script and a screenplay (maybe you mean a shooting script and a screenplay?) as I'm not sure there is one. A spec is different in that it's basically an amateur screenplay. No one has paid for it, there's no real professional backing behind it at all.
Marilyn, a spec script is written on "speculation" -- not on contract, but in the hopes that someone will buy it. I use script and screenplay interchangeably.
You don't label the acts in film scripts. On television it's different. Each show has its own quirks. I do brainstorm in acts though. I label my notes with act designations and organize scenes accordingly.