It depends upon if you are directing or not. If you're directing and you know it's all directed towards the Camera's POV you really don't have to do anything.

Otherwise, you can add the information into each scene.

EXT. FOOTBALL FIELD - DAY

The two rockstars look over the destruction from last nights concert and turn to the CAMERA.

ROCKSTAR ONE
Can't believe we sold out.

ROCKSTAR TWO
Yeah man. I feel empty now.

The other way you can do it, is if you have ordinary scenes but someone occasionally notices the camera and talks to it (like Malcom in Malcom in the middle) you add an aside beneath their name.

EXT. FOOTBALL FIELD - DAY

ROCKSTAR ONE picks up the remains of a joint from the lawn and deftly lights it.

ROCKSTAR TWO
(to CAMERA)
We're going to rehab next week,
it's in the tour schedule you know.

Rockstar One hands the joint to Rockstar Two

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

Many thanks for that RJ. I'll probably use the 'aside under each name' as I think this will work better for what I have in mind. Dont be surprised if you see more questions with my name attatched to them, this writing larks not quite as easy as I thought it would be. Getting the idea was the easy bit, putting it down on paper is a whole different ballgame, and I was never very good at sport.

We're going to need a bigger boat!

One secret to writing screenplays in the modern era is to go to ?url="http://www.script-o-rama.com/table.shtml"?Drew's Script-o-rama?/url? and find a screenplay that does something similar so you can see how it was done. This wouldn't have helped much in your first question but for future questions reading the screenplays can be invaluable.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

I like where that story is going rjschwarz.

I think that continually using a parenthetical to state 'to camera' under the character name or repeatedly stating this in the business (action) would become deeply irritating and turn off any readers. Remeber, if you annoy the person reading your script they'll bin it and move onto the next in the pile.

I would suggest making one short statement at the start of the script that all camerawork is using the 'subjective treatment'. Something like this would do:

FADE IN.

(CAMERA USES SUBJECTIVE TREATMENT THOUGHOUT)

INT. LOCATION - DAY

Etc.

You can also state at the beggining of the film that you're doing a "documentary."

You can do this by having the actors talking to the camera, and explaining that the camera men are going to be there all the time.

good luck.

Thanks for all of the replies, I now realise that script layout was something I should have spent more time looking into before I sat done and just started writing. Marks comment that the reader might bin the script because the layout annoys them has certainly brought home to me how important this can be. The closest film I can think of that comes close to the kind of thing I would like to do is "The Blair Witch Project" Does anybody know were I could get a copy of the spec script? I've tried Drews script-o-rama but they didn't have it.

Cheers,
Simon.

We're going to need a bigger boat!

I don't think the Blair Witch project actually had a script. NOt in the conventional sense. I think they had some scene ideas and ad libbed the stuff (combined with the directors and others torturing them at night with odd noises, etc).

This is similar to how THIS IS SPINAL TAP was done. No real script, just scene ideas and ad libbing. This kind of thing works if you intend to film it yourself but it doesn't read well by its very nature so it's unlikely to be something you could sell.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

here is my 2 cent

?url? http://www.ngmfilms.com/howtoformatascript.htm?/url?

this page will show you how to format, with how to come up with script ideas.

Ive been working on my script for 2+ years and now i have a shooting date in July im on it everyday and still changing it.

if you want I make documentaries for a living, well sort of, a half living. look up
Rebel without a crew by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez
or
Make Your own Damn Movie by Lloyd Kaufmann

these are definitely for novice filmmakers