lnf.cymru stimulus sheet · Digital Media and Film · Year 10

Y Goleudy (The Lighthouse): screenplay conventions and a first draft

The film, its characters and the town of Porth Eithin are invented for this lesson. The screenplay conventions are the standard ones used in the film and television industry.

1. Screenplay conventions card

Element	Rule	Example
Opening	A screenplay starts with FADE IN: in capitals, with a colon.	FADE IN:
Scene heading	All capitals. INT. (inside) or EXT. (outside), with a full stop, then the place, then a spaced hyphen, then DAY, NIGHT or CONTINUOUS.	INT. KITCHEN - DAY
Action	Present tense, full sentences, normal punctuation. A character’s name is in CAPITALS the first time they appear, with their age in brackets.	DEWI (70) sits alone.
Character cue	The speaker’s name in capitals, above their dialogue.	DEWI
Extension	After the cue, in brackets, capitals, with a full stop after each letter. (V.O.) voice-over: a voice heard but not speaking in the scene, such as a voice on the phone. (O.S.) off screen: the character is in the place but out of shot.	DEWI (V.O.)
Parenthetical	A short note on how a line is said. In brackets, in lower case, on its own line under the cue.	(quietly)
Dialogue	No speech marks. Normal punctuation: a comma before or after the name of the person spoken to, a question mark for a question, apostrophes. An ellipsis (…) shows a line trailing off.	Nia, is that you…
Transition	In capitals, on the right, ending with a colon.	CUT TO:

2. Punctuation reminders

Semicolon (;) joins two complete sentences that are closely linked. A comma cannot do this job on its own.
Colon (:) introduces a list or an explanation, after a complete sentence.
Apostrophe shows a missing letter (it’s = it is) or that something belongs to someone (Dad’s notebook).
Brackets hold extra information: an age, an extension, a parenthetical.

3. Jac’s first draft

Jac, a Year 10 pupil, wrote this opening for a short mystery film. It is set out in the right order, but it has 12 punctuation and layout errors.

Line	Script
1	FADE IN:
2	ext. porth eithin harbour, night
3	Rain lashes the harbour wall. A lighthouse stands at the end of the pier, its lamp is dark.
4	cerys 16, soaked, hood up, runs along the pier. She stops at the lighthouse door and pulls the handle. Nothing.
5	CERYS
6	“Its locked.”
7	She takes out her phone. One bar of signal.
8	MALI (V.O)
9	ON THE PHONE
10	Cerys where are you. Your mums been ringing everyone.
11	CERYS
12	At the lighthouse. Mali, the light’s out. It’s never out.
13	MALI (V.O.)
14	So come home…
15	A scraping sound from inside. Cerys freezes.
16	CERYS
17	(whispering)
18	Who’s there?
19	CUT TO
20	INT. LIGHTHOUSE - CONTINUOUS
21	Darkness. A torch clicks on. It lights three things a wet footprint, a coil of rope and Dad’s old notebook.