I am writing a script and their is a phone call in which only one side is shown. Do I put in a character intro for each answer or do I write it like this.

Matthew
You called me, who else would this be?...I’m fine! I don’t know why you guys keep asking me, I’m fine. ...How’s Mom, is she alright? I haven’t really had a chance to call her today...What does she need? Like a ride somewhere or something?...No. Not a chance in hell. I’m not...No. It’s not going to happen--...Why don’t you do it. You two had the relationship.

Hmmm...

Sounds a bit awkward.

I suggest writing out a full conversation, (Both sides) and then deleting out the caller. That way your responses sound more real beacause they are part of a whole conversation.

This way sounds too contrived.

I think he was asking more for the correct format than help writing the actual dialogue.

The answer is to write out only what the character says--this is a screenplay and things that don't appear on-screen don't belong in there.

If I understand your question correctly you're asking if you should put a new character slug for each section of dialogue, or just let them all run together under a single slug. I'd say, yes, put them all together in one slug. It's confusing to have multiple slugs for the same character in a row, with nothing in between.

well i must agree with winterreverie,,, it helps a whole lot more if you just write out the entire conversation that way when you start shooting you also have the option of shooting both sides of the convo..

Yeah, I was just wondering if i needed a new character slug. It unnecessarily adds to the page count if I do. I already know that I wont show the other half of the conversation. Thanks for the help.