Writing Advice Wednesday: When to Use ALL-CAPS in a Screenplay

We all know certain things like scene headers and character name blocks should be in all-caps in your screenplay.

But when you're reading a script, you'll probably find a few other seemingly random things in all-caps.

These all-caps words usually aren't random (at least, I hope you're not writing in all-caps for no reason!!!!!).

The core reason behind writing something in all-caps is to make it stand out on the page.

And there are many different reasons why you would want, or even need, something to stand out in this way.

In my last Writing Advice Wednesday post, I wrote a couple of example scenes that had some of these "random" all-caps occurrences, as this commenter pointed out:

So I figured I'd answer for these specifically, AND all the other words I put in all-caps in that post!

as a treat 😘

Here we go!

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Production Purposes

This is one of the main reasons a word would be written in all-caps.

Certain words need to be emphasized to ensure the producer reading your script can quickly and accurately assess the budget of your film, and hire all the necessary people needed to bring your film to life.

Let's take for example this word I capitalized:

DRIVES is in all-caps because this requires a different production set-up than a still car.

As the writer, I want to make sure this detail isn't missed, because it's important to the story that Ethan is driving.

Alternatively, I could have typed in the scene header "INT. CAR - DAY - MOVING" to get the same information across.

Another example is this:

SHOT is in all-caps because this is a stunt.

A stunt requires a stunt coordinator, stunt actor, and because this specific shot involves a gun, an armorer.

When he gets shot, we'll probably need to see some blood too. Which makes this a spfx shot as well.

And because the cowboy is on a horse, we would also need to ensure the actor playing this part is able to ride a horse, which puts a restriction on casting.

And of course, we need a horse, and an animal handler.

That's 4 people and one horse that would otherwise not be needed if this scene weren't in the film.

So to put it simply: I wrote "SHOT" in all-caps to bring attention to this stunt so the line producer can notice it easily as they read through the script.

They can take the planning and budgeting from there, but I did my part by making damn sure they saw it ;)

Another word I capitalized was SHUSH:

This is in all-caps for one of two reasons:

1. This shushing will need to be recorded on set with the extras

   
   

or

2. The shushing will need to be added in post-production.

So this is in all-caps either because it's a sound that will need to be picked up on set, or sfx that will be added in post.

Which leads me to the next main reason something could be written in all-caps:

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Post-Production Purposes

This isn't always necessary, but as a writer who also studied producing and worked in production for a long time, I like to write in a way that makes the crew's job easier.

So you really don't HAVE to put things like sfx in all-caps, like this:

or this:

You don't even necessarily have to put vfx in all-caps, like this:

("SHOT" is the vfx here -- the post team would likely need to include a FLASH, SMOKE, or both when the gun is fired)

However, you may want to put it in all-caps for another reason...

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Reading Purposes

Had I not put "BLARES" in all-caps, someone skimming through the script could have easily missed why "Everyone turns to her."

Yes, it's literally in the same line of action description, so you'd think no one could miss it, right?

WRONG.

Most people will skim as much as possible when reading a script.

So if you want or need the reader to notice something, you better put it in all-caps.

Or in my case on this blog, write the important things in pink. 💅

If you haven't accepted that most people are skimming through the work that took you weeks, months, or years to write, I'll give you a minute.

...

...

...

Have you accepted it?

Good. Now you can write with this in mind!

Since we know people are skimming your work, you want to write in such a way that makes it impossible for the reader to miss the key details of your story.

This means putting things in all-caps, AND writing as concisely as possible.

If you give them less to skim, and make every word count, they can't skim!

Their only option is to READ!

But I already went over how to write concisely in this blog post here. ;)

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And those are the main reasons something would be written in all-caps in a screenplay!

Whether you do or don't do these things, you won't be dinged for it. This is really an optional formatting guideline that helps make other people's jobs easier.

So if you don't do it, you're a huge meanie.

JK

But seriously........................

It doesn't matter hehe

Anyway, come back next week for more writing advice!

What topics would you want to see covered next?

Let me know in the comments!