SCRIPT WRITING
The Rules
Screenplays are traditionally written on 8 1/2" x 11" 3-hole punched paper*. A page number appears in the upper right hand corner (in the header). No page number is printed on the first page. The type style used is the Courier 12 font. The top and bottom margins are between 1.25cm/0.5" and 2.5cm/1". The left margin is between 3cm/1.2" and 4cm/1.6". The right margin is between 1.25cm/0.5" and 2.5cm/1". The extra inch of white space on the left of a script page allows for binding with brads, yet still imparts a feeling of vertical balance of the text on the page. The Courier 12 font is used for timing purposes. One script page in Courier 12 roughly averages 1 minute of onscreen film time. Experienced readers can detect a long script by merely weighing the stack of paper in their hand. http://www.screenwriting.info/03.php
* US Letter size measures 8.5 by 11 inches - or 216 mm x 279 mm, which is smaller than A4. US Letter size is a recognised standard adopted by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) whereas the A4 is the International Standard (ISO) used in most countries. It is fine to use A4 size paper for your script.. GOOGLE DOCS
If you want to collaborate on a script, Google Docs is an excellent and easy way for your team to be able to work on your script even when you are not together. Below are two templates you can use - be sure to MAKE A COPY before editing the template.
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