AustLit

'This short screenplay casts the screenwriter as investigator of screenplay formatting, through the writing of a script within which she performs this practice. That is to say, the writer uses a creative practice methodology to critique and examine screenplay formatting conventions through screenwriting practice itself. Specifically, she explores the role of the slugline (or scene heading) and the creative possibilities of this element of ‘scene text’ (Sternberg 1997), beyond its practical function in screenwriting and screen production. The writer drinks with authors, theorists and the fabled typing monkeys in her exploration of the slugline as punctuation; asking how it might contribute to rhythm and transitions in screenplays. She considers the slugline in its capacity as ‘extrafictional voice’ (Ingelstrom, 2014) and asks: can sluglines guide editing and mise-en-scene, as Claudia Sternberg suggests of the impersonal narrative voice? Can sluglines be used repetitively (as in songwriting) to reinforce imagery and rhythm? The work critically engages with the traditional INT. and EXT. and also floats a broader question: what might the language of online abbreviations have to offer screenwriting conventions? A subplot sees a cast and crew meet for a table read, putting voice to an industry potentially suspicious of such an endeavour, and providing a playful commentary on the different ways in which the roles within screen production engage with the traditional screenplay.'