Screenplay Style

Time and again I return to this script as a touchstone of great storytelling and smart, efficient screenwriting. The script is not only a brilliant update of the mythological tale of the dragon-slayer, but is a masterpiece of hard-bitten, hardboiled economy.

Here is a passage that illustrates how screenwriters Walter Hill, David Giler, and Dan O' Bannon create the famously horrific scene wherein the alien baby bursts from Kane's chest.

                 LAMBERT
      What's the matter.

                 KANE 
      I don't know... I'm getting cramps. 

The others stare at him in alarm. 

Suddenly he makes a loud groaning noise. 

Clutches the edge of the table with his hands. 

Knuckles whitening. 

                 ASH 
      Breathe deeply. 

Kane screams. 

                 KANE 
      Oh God, it hurts so bad. It hurts. It
      hurts. 
           (stands up) 
      Ooooooh. 

                 BRETT
      What is it. What hurts. 

Kane's face screws into a mask of agony. 

He falls back into his chair. 

                 KANE 
      Ohmygooaaaahh. 

A red stain. 

Then a smear of blood blossoms on his chest. 

The fabric of his shirt is ripped apart. 

A small head the size of a man's fist pushes out. 

The crew shouts in panic. 

Leap back from the table. 

The cat spits, bolts away. 

The tiny head lunges forward. 

Comes spurting out of Kane's chest trailing a thick 
body. 

Splatters fluids and blood in its wake. 

Lands in the middle of the dishes and food. 

Wriggles away while the crew scatters. 

Then the Alien being disappears from sight. 

Kane lies slumped in his chair. 

Very dead. 

A huge hole in his chest. 

The dishes are scattered. 

Food covered with blood. 

                 LAMBERT 
      No, no, no, no, no.

You immediately notice that not a single line of description is longer than one line, and most of the sentences are from five to seven words in length. This particular style makes the script is a fast read, and this allows the reader to be carried along as the script builds quickly to its explosive moments of action. In "Alien," like in all good scripts, these moments of activity are always bracketed by long moments of quiet and calm.

But what if your script is not about action, motion, or jarring surprise? Straightforward drama, for example, often requires an entirely different approach.