Scripts are comprised of different types of information -- scene headings, action, characters, dialogue and others. Each of these has its own indents (margins), alignment, spacing, casing and other attributes. Final Draft calls these unique paragraphs "Elements." In this sense, a script can be described as a stack of elements.
The specifications for all elements are defined in the Format > Elements dialogue. Other word-processing programs may refer to them as styles or style sheets.
Whenever a new paragraph is created, it gets its characteristics from the specifications in the Elements dialogue, which gives the script a consistent, professional look. An entire script may be altered by changing the settings for one or more elements. For example, if the indents (margins) for the dialogue element are changed, every existing and new paragraph of dialogue is (re)formatted accordingly.
Elements in a Script
Elements are paragraph types that, when populated with clever text and arranged in the right order, comprise an award-winning script.
General
General elements are used for any text which does not fall within any of the standard elements.
Scene Heading (Slug Line)
A Scene Heading marks the beginning of a scene, describing where and when the scene takes place. Scene Headings are always written in uppercase. Traditionally, scene headings are the only element that have a scene number assigned to them. They are never “orphaned” at the bottom of a page but are placed at the beginning of the next page to stay with the action that follows.
The Scene intro indicates whether the scene is set inside or outside. The default scene intros are: INT (interior); EXT (exterior); I/E (interior/exterior).
The Location indicates where the scene is to take place.
The Time of Day indicates when the scene is to take place.
Action
Represents screen direction that tells what is happening in the scene. It may include physical and psychological action, as well as showing everything we may say or hear.
Character and Dialogue
A character always precedes dialogue to indicate who is doing the talking. Character elements are always written in uppercase.
Dialogue represents a character’s speech. It is always preceded by a Character, which identifies the speaker, or Parenthetical, that modifies the dialogue.
Parenthetical
Parentheticals provide directions which precede or go between lines of dialogue. They indicate an immediate action being taken by the speaker, or that the dialogue should be delivered in a certain way. Parentheticals should be no more than a few words. When a parenthetical element is added, Final Draft automatically enters both the left and right parentheses and positions the cursor between them.
Transition
A Transition marks the end of a scene and may indicate how the passage between scenes takes place. They are always written in upper case. Some examples are CUT TO:, DISSOLVE TO:, and MATCH CUT TO:.
Shot
A shot is used to indicate a camera angle, camera movement or direction within a scene. Shots are always written in uppercase and behave and paginate just like scene headings, although they do not get numbered. They will not be “orphaned” at the bottom of a page but will be placed at the beginning of the next page to stay with the action that follows the shot description.
Cast List
The Cast List feature is used in sitcoms to list which characters appear in a scene. The cast list appears directly below the Scene Heading. See Cast List for more information. Note: Cast Lists are almost exclusively used in Multi-Cam Sitcoms, and shouldn't be used to show a full cast list of the entire script.
As characters are entered into the scene, their names automatically appear in the new Cast List element. When a character is removed from a scene, it is removed from the Cast List for that scene. To learn how to add a nonspeaking character to a scene's Cast List go here.
Continueds and Extensions
Final Draft will automatically add a (CONT'D) after a character name if that character's speech is interrupted by an Action paragraph. Automatic Character Continueds are enabled by default and can be disabled under Document > Mores and Continueds.
A character extension indicates where the speech is “coming from” — offscreen, off camera, voice-over, telephone, etc.
The Element dropdown menu indicates the element type of the paragraph that contains the blinking cursor.
Changing a Paragraph’s Element Type
Occasionally, a paragraph’s element type may need to be changed after it has been created. See Reformatting.
Outline Elements
See Outlining a Script on the Page.
Custom Elements
In addition to the above elements, you can also create Custom Elements.
To learn how to create custom elements watch the following video: