Texting in the Movies

By David Trottier

I am frequently asked how to format text messages, instant messages, email messages, FaceTime exchanges, Skype conversations, and TV announcements while maintaining the script's "readability." There are several methods depending on your dramatic or comedic purpose. All of the examples below are correctly formatted.

In the first example, Sharon receives a text message from Alice and she (Sharon) shows her friend Cynthia.

INT. SHARON’S ROOM – DAY

Sharon shows Cynthia her iPhone. The display reads: "I'm engaged!"

It's important to put quotation marks around any words in narrative description that you want the movie-going audience to see and read.

If the text message is misspelled or abbreviated, show that ("I luv U," for example). It's okay to include emojis (also called emoticons). If you want to emphasize the message (make it pop out) so that the reader doesn't miss it, then you might use the following approach:

Sharon displays her iPhone for Cynthia to see.

ON SHARON'S IPHONE SCREEN

The text message reads: “I’m engaged!”

BACK TO SCENE

Or: present the content of the text (IM or email) as follows:

The text reads:

“I’m engaged!”

If you wish, you may indent the message as if it were dialogue.

The text message reads:

        “I’m engaged!”

Here is another example involving a TV set:

Sharon jumps joyfully from her bed and texts: "Guess what happened?"

She stops when she hears her blaring TV set.

ON SHARON'S TV

A NEWS REPORTER holds a paper in his hand.

NEWS REPORTER
This just in. Alice is engaged.

BACK TO SHARON'S ROOM

Naturally, you can use the same format for emails, text messages, instant messages, and so on; and you can use a variety of styles.

Here is an additional example:

Sharon glances at the email on her laptop. It reads: “I’m engaged!”

Handle Skype and FaceTime conversations in a similar way.

Sharon’s Skype BEEPS and she sees “Cyn27” on her computer.

Since both Sharon and Cynthia (via Skype) are visible at the same location (Sharon's room, in this instance), just write out their conversation like regular dialogue. If you feel it's important to indicate which character appears on Skype, just adjust the character cue as follows:

                CYNTHIA (SKYPE)
        Are you there?

One character could be off screen (O.S.) at any point in the conversation just as in a regular conversation.

Chyrons
Suppose you want to show the texts spelling out on the screen in conversation bubbles or balloons (as in comic books). The term for that is chyron (pronounced KY-ron). Just write:

Smart phone in hand, Sharon jumps joyfully from her bed.

CHYRON of Sharon’s text: “FYI, I heard Alice is engaged. ♥♥♥”

CHYRON of Cynthia’s reply: “To Bozo?! No way.

In most cases, you don't need to indicate CHYRON BALLOON, CHYRON BUBBLE, CHYRON CRAWL (as with sports scores or stock prices crawling across the bottom of your TV screen), or CHYRON "WHATEVER" in your spec script. That is normally decided in post-production.

If you wish, use the following method, especially for a long electronic conversation:

CHYRONS OF SHARON AND CYNTHIA'S TEXTS

Sharon: "FYI, I heard Alice is engaged ♥♥♥"

Cynthia: "To Bozo?! No way.

Intercuts
Here’s another version featuring Sharon and Cynthia at separate locations:

INTERCUT TEXT EXCHANGE -- SHARON/CYNTHIA

CHYRONS appear above their heads as they text each other:

Sharon: "FYI, I heard Alice is engaged ♥♥♥"

Cynthia: "To Bozo?! No way."

Italics
Some writers prefer italics. In general, I prefer not to use them because they are a little harder on the eyes than standard text. However, you could write the above exchange using italics, as follows:

Sharon: FYI, I heard Alice is engaged ♥♥♥

Cynthia: To Bozo?! No way.

How about one more method? These days, a few writers are writing text messages in standard dialogue blocks. Since only dialogue is dialogue, they alter the format as follows:

Sharon jumps from her bed.

                SHARON (TEXT)
        FYI, I heard Alice is engaged ♥♥♥

                CYNTHIA (TEXT)
        To Bozo?! No way.

Two golden keys
As you can see, you have a choice of formats, depending on your purpose, the amount of space you have, and how readable you want your script to be. You may even think of variation on any of the above themes.

Use the method or methods that best suit you, but keep in mind two golden keys: First, be clear. Second, be consistent in what style you use. You cannot afford to lose or confuse the reader.

Oh, and one other thing: keep writing!