Tone Description

Infusing the Page with Feeling

Tone description is not a formal, distinct element of a screenplay like a slugline or dialogue; rather, it is a stylistic technique. It refers to the art of imbuing the scene description with the specific tone and mood that the writer wants the final film to convey. While the action description tells us what is happening, the tone description tells us how it should feel. It is achieved through the careful and subjective selection of verbs, adjectives, and metaphors.

The primary audience for this tonal writing is the reader—the producer, director, and actors who will bring the script to life. The goal is to make the experience of reading the screenplay as close as possible to the experience of watching the finished movie. A script for a horror film should feel scary to read. A script for a comedy should feel funny to read. This ensures that the entire creative team is aligned on the intended emotional experience from the very beginning.

The Power of Word Choice

The same basic action can be described in vastly different ways to create a completely different tone. Consider the description of a car driving down a road:

• Thriller Tone:

  • A lone pair of headlights TEARS through the oppressive darkness. The car, a black sedan, HUGS the winding, treacherous road. Rain LASHES the windshield.
  • (Words like tears, oppressive, treacherous, and lashes create a tone of danger and intensity.)

• Romantic Comedy Tone:

  • A cute, cherry-red convertible CRUISES down a sun-dappled country road. The wind playfully TOSSES the driver's hair.
  • (Words like cruises, sun-dappled, playfully, and tosses create a light, carefree, and romantic tone.)

• Melancholic Drama Tone:

  • An old, beat-up station wagon DRIFTS down a grey, empty highway. A steady, monotonous drizzle streaks the dirty windshield.
  • (Words like drifts, grey, empty, and monotonous create a tone of sadness and weariness.)

In all three examples, the basic action is the same, but the tone description completely transforms the reader’s emotional experience, which is the ultimate goal of the technique.