How would you handle a scenario where you have, say, a dozen people who are in a room. None have been introduced in the screenplay yet, but they all already know each other, and it's important that each of them be there for the plot later on. Not all of them have dialog, though, or even do anything of importance in this particular scene.
Would you still introduce and describe each character anyway, even though most of them don't have lines or actually do anything in this particular scene? I can make arguments for doing a character introduction for each one, just so it's understood who is actually there, and also for not worrying about it and just mentioning that "everyone is there" and let the others be introduced when they actually have dialog or do something.
What say you?
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I'd tend to go with waiting until there is a need to introduce them. 'Everyone is there' is probably sufficient and the most succinct.
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I agree with Jessica Niemi, J. Franklin Evans. If you decided to introduce a large group of characters individually, I suggest introducing and describing each character on separate lines so the reader wouldn't get confused. I also suggest making their intros interesting so the reader would remember the characters later on in the script.
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Best way to learn is watch movies & read stack of pro scripts similar your ideas and study how writers did it on the page with an ensemble intro.
Reservior Dogs, Saving Private Ryan (beach invasion), The Warriors..
also watch & read scripts of ensemble intro movies that you think sucked, and ask yourself why they failed. GL
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I would say there are a dozen people in the room and introduce them as they speak or move around. Anyway, that is how I do it. As far as character descriptions go I only briefly describe them and I never describe extras,
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Dan, Max and Jessica hit solid points there. And totally agree with Maurice's thoughts. Make them memorable. And keep each one as tight and punchy as hell.
Always handy, to keep the flow, knitting their intro descripts into the scene's actions/reactions, pacing, reveals etc. -- even if they have no dialogue yet. Guiding the eye.
Page real estate is precious ;-)
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An ensemble introduction is where the character's names are extra important. You don't want any character name to start with the same letter, sound the same as another etc. Don't introduce a Jack and a Jake in the same scene for example. They shouldn't even be in the same script for that matter. Too confusing.
Also each name should be unique and call up an image of that character just on it's own. Tuco will obviously look totally different than Takashi. So that's another easy way to differentiate quickly. Nicknames are another great way to give characters immediate "looks".
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Check out this indie flick "Circle"...interesting approach...