5 ms·

I just want to know why they're all written in the most horrible typewriter-style font. They're written on computers now, right? So why not use a font that's ea

I just want to know why they're all written in the most horrible typewriter-style font. They're written on computers now, right? So why not use a font that's easier on the eyes?

raydiatian 4y ago
It’s a thing. Screenplays started in old Hollywood, pre-Depression era, when typewriters had mono space courier font. It stuck.
codazoda 4y ago
I believe they use a font that works well for time. So each page covers approximately the same amount of screen time. Probably a bit of tradition there too.
troymc 4y ago
If you look at the software designed specifically for script/screenwriting, it almost always produces scripts that look like that, even the very latest modern software. Examples are celtx and Final Draft. Why? Maybe convention, maybe superstition, maybe readability. Coders also like monospace fonts in their IDEs. In fact, the font I'm using to write this comment (on HN) uses a monospace font haha!
- ilaksh 4y ago
  Coders use monosoace fonts so things align.
crazygringo 4y ago
Because the line spacing and margins and font pitch are specifically chosen so that 1 page = 1 minute. This is critical. It's also why dialog is written in a much narrower column than description. But also, the typewriter font is "without personality". It gives a neutral almost engineering feel so you can focus on the content without being swayed by the style of a typeface. I think it also conveys a sense of technical precision. Every comma, every dash matters. Screenwriting is incredibly precise. In comedy, the exact punctuation is as critical as the words. (BTW, multicam comedies like Friends are double-spaced and follow a different formatting and speed-per-page. The double-spacing is to allow for handwritten changes and notes.)
- thakoppno 4y ago
  > Because the line spacing and margins and font pitch are specifically chosen so that 1 page = 1 minute. This is critical. That is quite interesting. Presumably one could check runtime of films in this dataset and see how precise this is.
  - crazygringo 4y ago
    Films are often edited to be quite different from the shooting script, so it's not necessarily about the end product, it's more about intentions. The minute-per-page rule is really for two purposes: first to judge the general intended length of the movie (90 min? 160 min?) and therefore budget when shopping it around, and second in order to plan out a shooting schedule -- e.g. if you plan on being able to shoot 3 pages per day to produce 3 minutes of final footage per day. Screenwriters often actually adjust the length of their descriptions in order to make it one minute per page, since you can't change dialog, but you can add or tighten descriptive language. They'll literally sit with a stopwatch and visualize the shots and say the lines out loud, and then adjust if it's wrong. But once it goes into editing, then everything flies out the window -- the director and editor figure out what works best with what they shot regardless of what was on the page. Whole scenes frequently get dropped, especially in TV.
    - thakoppno 4y ago
      > They'll literally sit with a stopwatch and visualize the shots and say the lines out loud, and then adjust if it's wrong. Thank you for these insights. This behavior strikes me as strange since the final product diverges from input. However like many things, the customs and conventions take on a life of their own in industry. For clarity, 1 page = 1 minute, does that mean how long to read the page or how long that page is on film? I get a little confused by the part about adding descriptions, not dialog. For instance, could they not just leave trailing white space?
      - crazygringo 4y ago
        1 minute on film. So it's how long it should take for the actors to read dialog, plus pauses and action shots and establishing shots and everything. Trailing white space would achieve the same goal but I guess they're trying to be elegant about it. :) But also, if the content takes a minute but doesn't fill a page, it's a good sign that more description will be helpful for the director and cinematographer to know what to do. Also it's not like every single page has to be exactly 60 seconds, but it should average out to that over a 3-4 page scene.
themadturk 4y ago
The film/television industry is very conservative in some ways. Productions methods have stayed the same for nearly a century, often for very practical reasons. 12-point or 10-pitch Courier, the basic typewriter font, along with certain formatting rules, was found to produce a page of screenplay that equaled about a minute of screen time. Nothing has happened over the past 100 years to change that, so no one wants (or needs) to mess with an industry standard, which in this case might as well be a universal language understood by actors, producers, directors, etc. at least in the English-speaking entertainment industry. Thanks for the formatting, including the font used, everyone reading the script has the same idea about running time, scene lengths, character names, etc.

I just want to know why they're all written in the most horrible typewriter-style font. They're written on computers now, right? So why not use a font that's easier on the eyes?

raydiatian 4y ago

It’s a thing. Screenplays started in old Hollywood, pre-Depression era, when typewriters had mono space courier font. It stuck.

codazoda 4y ago

I believe they use a font that works well for time. So each page covers approximately the same amount of screen time. Probably a bit of tradition there too.

troymc 4y ago

If you look at the software designed specifically for script/screenwriting, it almost always produces scripts that look like that, even the very latest modern software. Examples are celtx and Final Draft. Why? Maybe convention, maybe superstition, maybe readability. Coders also like monospace fonts in their IDEs. In fact, the font I'm using to write this comment (on HN) uses a monospace font haha!

ilaksh 4y ago
Coders use monosoace fonts so things align.

crazygringo 4y ago

Because the line spacing and margins and font pitch are specifically chosen so that 1 page = 1 minute. This is critical. It's also why dialog is written in a much narrower column than description. But also, the typewriter font is "without personality". It gives a neutral almost engineering feel so you can focus on the content without being swayed by the style of a typeface. I think it also conveys a sense of technical precision. Every comma, every dash matters. Screenwriting is incredibly precise. In comedy, the exact punctuation is as critical as the words. (BTW, multicam comedies like Friends are double-spaced and follow a different formatting and speed-per-page. The double-spacing is to allow for handwritten changes and notes.)

thakoppno 4y ago
> Because the line spacing and margins and font pitch are specifically chosen so that 1 page = 1 minute. This is critical. That is quite interesting. Presumably one could check runtime of films in this dataset and see how precise this is.
- crazygringo 4y ago
  Films are often edited to be quite different from the shooting script, so it's not necessarily about the end product, it's more about intentions. The minute-per-page rule is really for two purposes: first to judge the general intended length of the movie (90 min? 160 min?) and therefore budget when shopping it around, and second in order to plan out a shooting schedule -- e.g. if you plan on being able to shoot 3 pages per day to produce 3 minutes of final footage per day. Screenwriters often actually adjust the length of their descriptions in order to make it one minute per page, since you can't change dialog, but you can add or tighten descriptive language. They'll literally sit with a stopwatch and visualize the shots and say the lines out loud, and then adjust if it's wrong. But once it goes into editing, then everything flies out the window -- the director and editor figure out what works best with what they shot regardless of what was on the page. Whole scenes frequently get dropped, especially in TV.
  - thakoppno 4y ago
    > They'll literally sit with a stopwatch and visualize the shots and say the lines out loud, and then adjust if it's wrong. Thank you for these insights. This behavior strikes me as strange since the final product diverges from input. However like many things, the customs and conventions take on a life of their own in industry. For clarity, 1 page = 1 minute, does that mean how long to read the page or how long that page is on film? I get a little confused by the part about adding descriptions, not dialog. For instance, could they not just leave trailing white space?
    - crazygringo 4y ago
      1 minute on film. So it's how long it should take for the actors to read dialog, plus pauses and action shots and establishing shots and everything. Trailing white space would achieve the same goal but I guess they're trying to be elegant about it. :) But also, if the content takes a minute but doesn't fill a page, it's a good sign that more description will be helpful for the director and cinematographer to know what to do. Also it's not like every single page has to be exactly 60 seconds, but it should average out to that over a 3-4 page scene.

themadturk 4y ago

The film/television industry is very conservative in some ways. Productions methods have stayed the same for nearly a century, often for very practical reasons. 12-point or 10-pitch Courier, the basic typewriter font, along with certain formatting rules, was found to produce a page of screenplay that equaled about a minute of screen time. Nothing has happened over the past 100 years to change that, so no one wants (or needs) to mess with an industry standard, which in this case might as well be a universal language understood by actors, producers, directors, etc. at least in the English-speaking entertainment industry. Thanks for the formatting, including the font used, everyone reading the script has the same idea about running time, scene lengths, character names, etc.