with tips on story structure, script formatting, character develpoment and selling your script. There are also a few sample scripts available to look at. Here is an extract from The Green Mile (directed by Frank Darabont; 1999), at the execution of John Coffey:
EXECUTION CHAMBER
Full house tonight. Bill Dodge is waiting at Old Sparky.
Silence as Coffey is led in, all eyes on him. Klaus and
Marjorie Detterick are in the front row. She mutters:
MARJORIE
Die slow, you bastard.
COFFEY
is faltering as Paul and Brutal bring him to the chair.
COFFEY
They's a lot of folks here hate
me. A lot. I can feel it. Like
bees stinging me. It hurts.
BRUTAL
Feel how we feel, then. We don't
hate you--can you feel that?
Coffey tries to take comfort in it, but flinches as:
MARJORIE
Kill him twice, you boys! You go
on and kill that raping baby-
killer twice, that'd be fine!
She dissolves into tears. Klaus pulls her against his
shoulder, looking dazed by the whole thing.
Paul and Brutal turn John around, sit him down. Paul notices
Dean crying again, his back to the witnesses. They kneel to
apply the leg clamps, while Brutal and Harry secure the arms.
PAUL
Wipe you face before you stand up,
Dean.
Dean nods, wiping his face with the sleeve of his coat. They
rise, stepping back. This time, Paul's out front:
PAUL
Roll on one.
Van Hay cranks the generator. The lights flare hotter and
brighter. It's just like in Melinda's bedroom the night
Coffey cured her with a kiss. Airless and bright, dreamlike.
MARJORIE
Does it hurt yet? I hope it does!
I hope it hurts like hell!
PAUL
John Coffey...you have been
condemned to die in the electric
chair by a jury of your
peers...sentence imposed by a
judge in good standing in this
state. Do you have anything to say
before sentence is carried out?
John hesitates, nods.
COFFEY
I'm sorry for what I am.
MARJORIE
You ought to be! Oh, you monster,
you damn well ought to be!
Brutal takes the mask from the hook to draw it over Coffey's
head. Coffey looks to Paul with terrified, pleading eyes.
COFFEY
Please, boss, don't put that thing
over my face. Don't put me in the
dark, I's afraid of the dark.
PAUL
All right, John.
Brutal puts the mask back, proceeds with the sponge.
IN TIGHT ANGLES
The cap is lowered, the straps drawn. Coffey is breathing
fast, terrified, muttering under his breath:
COFFEY
...heaven...I'm in heaven...
heaven...heaven...heaven...
THE WITNESSES
sit and wait, barely breathing.
JACK VAN HAY
is poised at the switch, wondering why the order won't come.
PAUL
is staring at Coffey, unable to say the words.
BRUTAL
(whispers)
Paul. You have to say it. You have
to give the order.
Paul can't. He reaches out and touches Coffey's hand. Their
fingers clasp. In that moment, staring into his eyes, Paul
hears the last thought that ever goes through Coffey's head:
COFFEY
(whispered V.O.)
He kill 'em with they love. That's
how it is ever' day. All over the
worl'...
Their fingers disengage. Paul steps back, eyes still locked
with Coffey's, and says the hardest words he's ever spoken:
PAUL
Roll on two.
Van Hay throws the switch. Coffey surges forward, fingers
splayed and jittering past Old Sparky's arms.
Lights begin blowing out all over the Mile, raining shattered
glass and sparks. Some of the witnesses scream.
A thin line of blood comes trickling out of Klaus Detterick's
nose. He reaches up, absently wipes it away.
Coffey's eyes are locked on Paul's, riding the lightning all
the way. He finally slumps. Van Hay kills the current.
Coffey's expression is peaceful, as if sleeping. A final pair
of tears drift gently down his cheeks.
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