screenplay
Americannoun
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a motion-picture or television scenario.
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Older Use. a motion picture.
noun
Etymology
Origin of screenplay
Explanation
Before a movie can be filmed, a writer has to come up with a screenplay, a written script that describes all the action and every line the actors will speak. How entertaining, thrilling, realistic, or fantastic a movie is depends on many variables, one of the most important being the screenplay. A truly great screenplay includes brilliant dialogue that develops the characters and moves the action forward. TV shows and elaborate video games also require screenplays. Some writers adapt books or older movies into new screenplays, while others come up with entirely original stories for their screenplays.
Vocabulary lists containing screenplay
Academy Awards, List 3
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myPerspectives 7.3
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Introduction to Drama
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Moonlight” was directed by Barry Jenkins and earned Jenkins and McCraney an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 12, 2023
One of only two categories in which this largely underappreciated film was nominated, Best Adapted Screenplay seems like the most likely chance for "Women Talking" to score an award on Sunday night.
From Salon • Mar. 11, 2023
Along with the Worst Picture nomination for the movie, Colson Baker, which is Machine Gun Kelly’s real name, is also nominated in the Worst Director, Screenplay and Actor categories.
From Washington Times • Jan. 23, 2023
Branagh's Belfast won Best Original Screenplay, something he said was an "enormous honour".
From BBC • Mar. 28, 2022
Welles and writer Herman Mankiewicz shared the award for Best Original Screenplay.
From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
