playwriting terms

Question 1

Back Door Pilot

Answer 1

A two-hour TV movie that is a setup for a TV series if ratings warrant further production.

Question 2

Back End -

Answer 2

Payment on a movie project when profits are realized.

Question 3

Back Story

Answer 3

Experiences of a main character taking place prior to the main action, which contribute to character motivations and reactions.

Question 4

Bankable

Answer 4

• A person who can get a project financed solely by having their name is attached.(think of profitable)

Question 5

Beat

Answer 5

• A parenthetically noted pause interrupting dialogue, denoted by (beat), for the purpose of indicating a significant shift in the direction of a scene, much in the way that a hinge connects a series of doors.

Question 6

Beat Sheet -

Answer 6

An abbreviated description of the main events in a screenplay or story.

Question 7

Bill

Answer 7

The play or plays that together constitute what the audience is seeing at any one sitting. Short for “playbill.”

Question 8

Binding

Answer 8

• What literally holds the script together. As a writer submitting your manuscript, you might use either brads with cardstock covers or one of a number of other pre-made folders (all available from The Writers Store).

Question 9

Black Box -

Answer 9

A flexible theater space named for its appearance.

Question 10

Blackout

Answer 10

A common stage direction at the end of a scene or an act.

Question 11

Book

Answer 11

The story and the non-musical portion (dialogue, stage directions) of a theatrical musical.

Question 12

Brads

Answer 12

Brass fasteners used to bind a screenplay printed on three-hole paper, with Acco #5 solid brass brads generally accepted as having the highest quality.

Question 13

BUMP

Answer 13

A troublesome element in a script that negatively deflects the reader’s attention away from the story.

Question 14

Button

Answer 14

• A TV writing term referring to a witty line that “tops off” a scene.

Question 15

Cable

Answer 15

A cable television network such as HBO, or cable television in general.

Question 16

Cast

Answer 16

The characters who are physically present in the play or film. These are the roles for which actors will be needed. When we talk about a role in a stageplay as being double-cast with another, it means that the same actor is expected to play both roles. This happens in film as well (e.g. Eddie Murphy), but only rarely.

Question 17

Cast Page

Answer 17

• A page that typically follows the Title Page of a play, listing the characters, with very brief descriptions of each.

Question 18

Center (Stage)

Answer 18

• The center of the performance space, used for placement of the actors and the set.

Question 19

CGI

Answer 19

Computer Generated Image; a term denoting that computers will be used to generate the full imagery.

Question 20

Character

Answer 20

• Any personified entity appearing in a film or a play.