A screenplay is a written blueprint for films, television shows, or video games, detailing character actions, dialogue, and visual elements. In the early silent era, films began with brief synopses, evolving into detailed "scenarios" for works like A Trip to the Moon (1902) and The Great Train Robbery (1903), and later into continuity scripts crucial for budgeting. Thomas H. Ince revolutionized production by industrializing filmmaking with more detailed written materials, effectively separating conception from execution.

With the advent of sound, dialogue quickly dominated, and the term "screen play" (used by 1916) became "screenplay," exemplified by richly detailed scripts like Casablanca (1942). After the 1950s, the industry transitioned from technical continuity scripts to more readable "master-scene scripts," a shift complete by Chinatown (1974). This evolution made screenwriting a more literary endeavor, though it also arguably elevated directors' status while lowering the profile of screenwriters.