Role of the screenplay

In todays lesson we learnt all about screenplays; what they are, how they are different from a script, and why they are used.

Firstly we got given a copy of a screenplay from the beginning of the film Jaws:

We learnt that one page of a screenplay is equivalent to one minute of screen time, and we also learnt how to structure a screenplay. This will give us an idea of how to structure and write our own screenplays for our thriller opening.

The role of the screenplay is so the actors/actresses and the director know exactly what happens, when, where and at what shot angle. 

A screenplay is different from a script because it provides more detail of the location of the shots and the mise-en-scene of the location, and the type of shot used. Whereas a script is just the dialog of what the characters say.