What are the key components of a script?

• A. Lighting plots and sound cues only.
• B. Budget, revenue projections, and risk assessments.
• C. Title, character names, dialogue, scene headings, scene descriptions, and stage directions.
• D. Crew contacts and release forms.

Answer: (C)

A script is built from a few key parts that guide performers and crew. The title identifies the work, the character names show who is speaking, and the dialogue carries the spoken lines. Scene headings (often called slug lines) tell where and when the action takes place, while scene descriptions describe the setting and what happens on the screen or stage. Stage directions provide instructions about movements, expressions, timing, and other actions that aren’t spoken but are essential to how the scene plays out. Together these elements give a clear blueprint for performance, blocking, and pacing, helping everyone from actors to directors to understand how the story unfolds.

Other options mix in things that belong to planning or production documents rather than the script itself. Lighting plots and sound cues are technical notes or separate cue sheets, not the main content of a script. Budgets, revenue projections, and risk assessments are financial planning items. Crew contacts and release forms are administrative paperwork.