Spec Script vs Shooting Script

Here’s an easy way to remember which kind of script to write when looking at your goals

In the movie-writing business, spec scripts are usually the scripts that are purchased and win contests and shooting scripts are what you hand your script supervisor and director of photography during filming.

Shooting Script

Shooting scripts are usually built after the concept has already been accepted and ready to go into production. You may ask yourself why it’s like this, or better yet what the difference is. To find the answer we first need to look at the format differences in these two types of scripts.

A shooting script comes with instructions for the camera. You will see terms like “Close Up” or “CU” and “truck right” or the world famous “fade in.”

Spec Script

A spec script should have nothing to do with instructing the reader where the camera should go. This should be all about giving the reader a great story using only visual language. That means instead of saying: “CU on her hands playing with a ball then throwing it into the air…” you would write: “Her hands caress the ball, feeling the nooks and crannies of its textured leather skin before tossing it up into the air…”

In this example, instead of giving camera instructions to do a close up, all I had to do was make the mind zoom in on what I was talking about. Writing this way also gets you to be more creative and descriptive. This intrigues the mind of the reader, holding their attention until they reach “The End”.

Why would you not turn in a shooting script to a contest, or when fishing it out for producers/actors, etc? Because shooting scripts read like instruction manuals!! And who wants to read a manual when they hunker down for a good read? No one, that’s who! Especially not in the entertainment industry. Think about it, the name of the industry says it all…ENTERTAINMENT!

Make your scripts entertaining and you will find success in your endeavors.

Good luck.