A CDSL contains the dialogue of the film in the form of subtitles. The dialogue list portion contains a complete account of the dialogue of the production. The spotting list portion contains the subtitles of the production, the time they begin and end, and their duration.

• Transcription
  The full dialogue of the production is written, including pauses and/or interruptions.
• Speaker identification
  Every time a new dialogue starts, the speaker is named. If the speaker is not in the shot when the dialogue is spoken, it is written as an ‘off-screen dialogue’. In the spotting list portion, who the speaker is talking to is also included.
• Time code
  Each dialogue is written with a time code to mark when it starts and ends.
• Subtitle duration
  ‘Time in’ and ‘time out’ are used to note the duration of each subtitle which consists of two lines of dialogue.
• Sound effects
  All speaker related sound effects, such as coughing, laughing, sighing, sneezing, etc. are shown.
• Music and lyrics
  The beginning and end of all music and lyrics are enclosed within the ♪ symbol.