A white draft is the first draft of a script without revisions. As revisions are made to a script, the new pages with changes are printed on another color to avoid reprinting entire scripts.

 

Nothing is ever final on a script. There are changes being made to tomorrow’s shooting scenes even as the cameras are rolling today. To deal with these changes and keep everyone up to date, the industry standard practice is to distribute different colored pages with the changes to particular scenes. The original script is white and the first set of changes is printed onto blue paper, the second set onto pink, the third onto yellow, and the fourth onto green. The entire rainbow of draft colors in order is as follows:

 

 

When a new set of script changes is printed, they are typically distributed to all the cast and crew members immediately. This system helps everyone know that they are working with the most up to date draft. The director might ask an actor if he is ready to perform a scene with green changes and the actor might say, “I’m still working with the yellow changes. No one gave me the green pages!” 

 

In addition to being printed on colored paper, changes are denoted with an asterisk at the right side of the page next to the altered line. If there are more than 10 asterisks on a given page, there is just one asterisk at the top of the page instead.

 

Usually, you will have a script supervisor on the project who keeps a log with all the changes made to the script each day and records them in the Daily Production Report. 

 

One small change on one page of a script affects everyone from the prop people to the cameramen to the actors. For example, if a director decides he needs more explanation of a character’s thought process for the audience, he may add a scene with the character talking to her therapist. Suddenly, we need to get back to the location of the therapist’s office, we need wardrobe to dress both actors for the scene, we need coffee cups or water glasses, we need to schedule the crew and… well, you see the implications of one added 2 minute scene.

 

Using colored pages helps everyone quickly locate new insertions to the script that require adjustments on their part. Typically, a draft goes through so many changes by the time production is complete that it is truly rainbow colored. If a film script goes through all 12 colors of revisions, then the cycle is started over with white changes, then blue etc. Some studios start over with a blue script that includes all the previous changes and continue adding pink, yellow, and green pages (throughout the cycle) as new edits occur.

 

When the film is complete and edited, one more exact version of the script that reflects word for word dialogue and scene directions is produced. This is called a continuity script and is used for distribution.