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Video and Film Script Writing

Is it a dream or a nightmare? You finally have it made--full production facilities for your project. The crew is looking at you expectantly, the talent is standing around waiting for direction, and behind you is a producer looking at all these expensive people and demanding to know what you are going to do. This is no time to be considering your alternatives.

Perhaps your vision is less grand. You turn on your camcorder in a room full of tenth-reunion college chums and realize that you have no idea what you should shoot.

Whether you're a professional working against a fast-running meter or you make video for fun, everything goes a lot easier when you figure out what you're going to do ahead of time. The two best tools for this are the script and the storyboard. It's true, some people can make videos with only a few notes written on the back of an envelope; but the more detail you have, the faster and easier production will go.

There are good reasons why successful videographers use these tools. First, they help you to organize and clarify your thoughts. Then they allow you to transmit your ideas to the other people who will be involved with the production. If you're going to edit in-camera, you'll know exactly what to shoot and how much. Finally, when you're on the set and everybody is looking at you, it allows you to take charge and look good.

A good script describes everything that the viewer will see and hear in the order it will be seen and heard. A script consists of words; videos consist of pictures. To visualize what they will shoot, many people use a storyboard. A storyboard consists of a picture that shows what the camera will see along with words that describe the shot.

The script is the primary document that the videographer uses to create all the video and audio raw material and keep it organized. This last point is important, since it is sometimes not possible to shoot a video in the order in which the viewer will see it. For instance, it is easier to shoot everything that takes place in one location at the same time. You then put all the shots in their proper sequence when you edit--again, using the script to help you keep everything straight.

For our purposes, we can break videos down into two general categories: dramatic and informational. The purposes and techniques of each are different, and so are the script formats that have developed for them. See the accompanying sample scripts for a look at how these simple rules can help you create effective documents.

Dramatic videos are stories told by action and dialog for the audience's entertainment, such as feature films and television shows. The film format script is preferred in Hollywood for dramatic film and television productions. In this format, the writer sets the location of each scene, describes the actions and interactions that take place, and writes out the dialog. This kind of script does not indicate individual camera shots or moves. The basic format is as follows:

• Type scene descriptions, camera directions, stage directions, etc. from margin to margin.
• Place dialog and narration in a three-inch wide column down the center of the page.
• Type the name of the speaker in all-caps and center it just above his or her speech. Place delivery instructions in parentheses, on a separate line, and indented within the column of the speech.
• Single-space material such as: dialog, scene descriptions, camera directions and stage directions.
• Separate blocks of material with a blank line between. For example, separate:
• Lines by different characters.
• Dialog and scene descriptions or stage directions.
• Location information and scene descriptions.
• Adjacent shot descriptions.
• Transitions (such as "DISSOLVE TO").
• Type everything in upper and lower case except the following, which are all-caps:
• Transitions.
• Location descriptions.
• Camera directions.
• Character's names (when indicating their lines and the first time they appear in scene descriptions).