Transcript Scripts - People Server at UNCW

Snow Day 2003
Video Script Formats
• Numerous script formats exist - depends on
purpose.
• Most follow certain guidelines but vary
depending upon the organization.
• 2-column and narrative and are the main
types we will study.
News Package Script
• 2 columns
• LEFT for video directions, RIGHT for
audio.
• Written after tape is shot, but before editing.
• A detailed organization of visual and aural
material to be included in a "stand alone"
package.
• That is, it should be able to be played from
beginning to end as a complete story.
News Package Script
• Goal: organize visual/aural material before
editing the piece together.
• Inserted into a newscast on a VTR.
• All transitions cuts, unless otherwise
indicated
• Most “packs” are under 2:00
• Be sure to gather enough b-roll
News Package Script
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•
•
•
•
Writing style
Clear, concise, to the point,
ACTIVE - limit use of verb “to be”
Conversational - must ‘sound good’
Reporter must “pre-digest” data, facts,
statistics and make them relevant to the
viewer
• Visuals (video, graphics, maps, titles) are
essential
News Package Script
• Writing style
• Timely, present: endeavor to find current
angle in story
• In practice, new style of ‘timeless’ writing
emerging (“…ing”)
• “Weapons inspectors finding little evidence
of nuclear or biological weapons in Iraq.”
News Package Script
• In practice, news story scripts are rarely
fully typed-out.
• Edit Process:
• audio (reporter VO, sound bites, nat sound,
interviews, stand-ups) is laid down first
• along with anchor stand-ups
• video laid over the audio
PSA Script
• Two-column is used most, though
sometimes a narrative style is appropriate
• Like news: must be conversational and
appropriate to topic
• Additionally: must match target audience,
message, goals of message
• A main goal: break through the clutter and
resonate w/audience
• What appeal will work best?
• Reach and frequency
Persuasive/Advertising Appeals
• Genre of message appeal
• Means of gaining attention, breaking
through the clutter
• Depends on goals, product, target audience
• Demographics & psychographics
• Keep persuasive goals in mind
• Some ads very creative but ineffective
Persuasive Appeals
• Straight Announcement
• VO by announcer or DJ
• Price, value
• Very typical selling point for local ads
• Informational/rational
•
•
•
•
Facts about the product
List of benefits
Even gets out blood stains
Computer ads
Persuasive Appeals
• Demonstration
• Show audience how product works
• Infomercials
• Fitness gear
•Testimonial
•Client speaks of product benefits
•Jared of Subway
Persuasive Appeals
• Emotion/sentimental
• Inflated emotions related to the product
• Hallmark
•Fear
•Scare audience away from the
product or behavior, or toward it
•Baldness, hair restoration
•Just say no, drug bust, gunshot,
pregnancy
Persuasive Appeals
• Celebrity Endorsement
• Tie product image to famous person
• MJ & Jackie Chan for Hanes
•Urgency
•Need to respond/act quickly
•Sale Ends Saturday!
•2-days only!
•Disney DVDs will not be available for
10 years!
Persuasive Appeals
• Humor
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•
•
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Associate humor with product image
Often memorable, not always effective
Bud - Wassup?!
Office Linebacker
•Slice of Life
•Problem/solution in a story form
•Detergent, dandruff, slice and bake
cookies
Persuasive Appeals
• Dramatize problem
•
•
•
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Then offer solution
Hertz - Not exactly
Diarrhea
Employees fired for mistakes
•Dramatize benefit
•As the solution
•Sprint - “Hear a pin drop”
Persuasive Appeals
• Shock!
• Jar audience
• Anti-drug/smoking PSAs
•Sex
•Associate product with sexual
satisfaction / conquest
•Calvin Klein, cologne, Cosmo, Maxim
Sex Sells
Persuasive Appeals
• Before / After
• Demonstrate specific results of using product
• Grecian formula, weight loss
•Image
•Associate product with some image, style, attitude…
coolness
•Product benefits, attributes are secondary to the image
•Cadillac, Nike
Storyboard
•Range from single page for a 30 second PSA
hundreds of frames for a film.
•May be on standard paper or on foam-core
posterboard.
•Useful means of envisioning the concept.
•Range from rough sketches to polished
drawings or photographs.
Client: UNCW Student Productions Campaign: “You Need Us”
Title: Full Service
Sept. 17, 2002
Theme music, UP, then
UNDER. “UNCW Student
TV productions”
…we can get your message
across.
“Narr.: Your one-stop video
production source.
UNCW Student Productions
- a full service company
From planning to
editing …
Because so much is riding on
your video.” (A subsidiary of
Gene’s Tire and Auto)
Documentary Script
• Some parts developed far in advance
Interactive process with the following steps:
1) topic is researched
2) outline is developed for the program along with
treatment (detailed outline)
3) draft script is written
4) as visual and sound elements are captured and
reviewed, the script is likely to be adjusted
accordingly
Documentary Script
• Style choice: 2-column or narrative style
script
• Writing style: clear, conversational,
dynamic
• Must “sound” good to the listener
• Varies depending upon talent, goals, director’s
style
Documentary Script
Visual elements:
• Interviews, stand-ups
• Original b-roll, cover video
• Archival, file footage
• Still photos (capture, pan & scan)
• Documents
• Graphics, maps
• *Capture enough b-roll: CU, MS, LS for @
Documentary Script
Sound elements:
• Interview audio: on-screen, under video
• Voice-over narration
• Talent/on-screen narration
• Actors/talent reading historical documents
• Archival audio recordings
• Music
• Nat-sound (natural)
• Special effects
• Blended to help tell the story
Documentary Script
Director/writer chooses direction/voice of
story.
• Who tells the story?
• Depends on story approach
• Director must blend all elements into
cohesive, interesting, motivating story
Documentary Script
Story approaches:
• Investigative
• Scientific
• Human interest
• Educational
• Recreations/dramatizations/reenactments
• Verite’
Documentary Script
• It is important to choose the style which
best matches the content.
Ken Burns
• historical perspective = heavy voice-over
narration
• Actors reading words of subjects adds life
• Visual style critical - pan & scan brings
stills to life
Documentary Script
Michael Moore
• Straightforward presentation of:
• Interviews - selection of subjects critical
• His perspective in VO and on-camera
• Powerful imagery
• Sometimes best to just let the camera roll and let
the truth ooze out naturally
• Edited in a way to get his point across
Documentary Script
• Requires extensive research - entire story
must be written first
• Time frame: one day, months, years.
• Once interviews and b-roll video (cutaways)
have been recorded…
• Director must review and log all footage
including each shot and the details of each
interview
Documentary Script
The transcript of the interviews will be used
to construct the final script.
Writer/director will weave research,
interviews, archival footage, graphics and broll video into a complete, dynamic and
compelling story.
Two-column script
• Helpful means of organizing shots and
video
• VIDEO information goes in the left column
• AUDIO information goes in the right
column
• Be as detailed as possible
Two-column script
• Tip: Use the ‘table’ function of your word
processor to create a 2-column table
• Lines may be omitted for a cleaner look
• Header:
• Project title, writer, director, client if
appropriate, length, date
Video
VIDEO
INSTRUCTIONS
ALWAYS GO
HERE. BE AS
DETAILED AS
POSSIBLE. VIDEO
INSTRUCTIONS
ARE IN ALL CAPS.
Audio
The audio portion of
the script goes on the
right hand side and is
double spaced.
Video
• 2-COLUMN FORMAT
TIP: CREATE A 2COLUMN SCRIPT BY
USING THE TABLE
FUNCTION IN YOUR
WORD
PROCESS. CHOOSE A
2-COLUMN TABLE
WITH 15-20
ROWS. ADD ROWS AS
NEEDED.
Audio
Any additional directions
should be listed in
parentheses before the
copy.
Also, indicate who is
speaking: narrator,
character, etc…
Video
EACH BOX IN THE
LEFT COLUMN
SHOULD CONTAIN
NO MORE THAN A
SINGLE SHOT, NO
MORE.
EACH SHOT MUST
EXACTLY MATCH
THE AUDIO
Audio
• (Special instructions
include : UP, UNDER)
• Example
____________________
(Theme music up,
establish, then under)
Narrator: Water - the
single most important
element on earth.
Video
• ALSO IN THE LEFT
COLUMN: SPECIFIC
VISUAL
DIRECTIONS
(CUTS,
DISSOLVES),
GRAPHICS, TITLES,
SPECIAL EFFECTS,
Lower Thirds (NAME
AND TITLE).
Audio
• Be as detailed as
possible with
instructions, music
and sound effects
• Write out everything
just as it is meant to be
spoken aloud.
• Keep script
conversational
VIDEO
AUDIO
XLS - HOGGARD HALL, Music up, Faber College
CANNON IN
Theme
FOREGROUND
DISSOLVE TO MS
Music continues
CRANE SHOT, BURNEY
FOUNTAIN
DISSOLVE TO CU
Music under.
SPIRIT ROCK
Narrator: “One of the best
kept secrets in higher
education, the University
of North Carolina at
Wilmington, has been…
Narrative Scripting
• Dramatic and comedic stories
• Variety of script styles used at different
phases of production
• Concept/story idea/premise/synopsis:
thumbnail sketch
• Quick summary of the story - a necessity
for an ‘elevator pitch’
Narrative Scripting - Scene Outline
• Scene outline:
• List of scenes in numerical order w/ brief
descriptions of each.
• Little, if any, dialogue -- brief expansion of
the original concept.
• Explains and clarifies the progress of the
film/show.
Narrative Scripting - Treatment
• Prose description of the story
• Reads like a short story
• Includes detailed visuals, characters,
settings, actions and motivations.
• 5-12 pages.
Narrative Scripting Master Scene Script
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•
•
•
Translation of the treatment into script form.
General scenes, not specific shots.
Includes:
headings for each location (INT.
CLASSROOM, DAYTIME).
• Scenes numbered.
• Below heading, a description of the setting,
characters and the action.
Narrative Scripting Master Scene Script
No detailed shot or camera instructions.
Dialogue is generally indented 2 tabs on each
side.
Character direction: the character's name is
centered above each of their lines of
dialogue and are in all caps, directions may
be included under their name in
parentheses.
SCENE 1
• INT. CLASSROOM - DAY
• It is a cold and rainy fall day as students enter the
classroom for their college class. The classroom is
a typical "theater" style room with a slanted floor
and rows of seats in a semi-circle facing the small
"stage" area. There is a chair and podium on the
stage and a blackboard on the wall. Students are
filing into the room and chatting, getting ready for
class. GREG is a college junior majoring in
history, he sits down next to his friend MIKE.
There is an assignment due today and the class
looks a bit haggard.
GREG
Did you finish typing your paper last night?
MIKE
You mean this morning. It was an all-nighter
again. I've got to stop doing this or I'll be
dead before I graduate.
GREG
No chance, man. You couldn't get a paper done
in advance if your life depended on it.
GREG laughs as MIKE shakes his head.
PROFESSOR SUMNER enters the room and
gets prepared to teach. The students turn to
the front of the room and get their
notebooks ready. There seems to be a
tension in the room, PROFESSOR
SUMNER seems tense as he readies his
lecture notes, the class falls silent as they
realize something is not right.
Narrative Scripting
Shooting Script
Final stage of scriptwriting:
• specific settings, characters, dialogue
• AND camera angles, movement and
position
• and transitions between shots
• Each shot within a scene is listed in order.
• Each shot is numbered and technical details
are added.
SCENE 1
EXT. CLASSROOM - DAY
FADE UP
1. HIGH ANGLE of students entering a college
classroom building, rushing through the rain. It is
a cold and rainy fall day and students are covering
their heads with books and jackets trying to stay
dry. The campus is "traditional" looking with red
bricks and lots of trees. CAMERA PANS
SLOWLY to follow students into the building.
OPENING THEME plays over the scene.
INT. CLASSROOM.
2. LOW ANGLE MS of doorway to
classroom door as students enter for class.
3. MS - LOW ANGLE (below the desktops
only, no faces or heads are seen) of a row of
seats with students preparing, chatting. Feet
shuffle as students take their seats, bags are
placed on the floor and books are taken out
of the bags. There is an assignment due
today and the class looks a bit haggard.
THEME MUSIC FADES.
4. TWO SHOT of GREG and MIKE. GREG is a
junior - he looks studious but not a stereotypical
nerd, he sits down next to his friend MIKE,
basically a slob who has brains, but doesn't put out
much effort.
GREG
Did you finish typing your paper last night?
MIKE
You mean this morning. It was an all-nighter again.
I've got to stop doing this or I'll be dead before I
graduate.
5. CU GREG:
GREG
No chance, man. You couldn't get a paper
done in advance if your life depended on it.
6. CU MIKE:
GREG laughs as MIKE shakes his head and
rolls his eyes. MIKE sees the PROFESSOR
enter and shakes his head, as if to tell
GREG to look at PROFESSOR SUMNER.
7. HIGH ANGLE LS - PROFESSOR SUMNER
entering the room from the rear of the classroom.
The classroom is a typical "theater" style room
with a slanted floor and rows of seats in a semicircle facing the small "stage" area. There is a
chair and podium on the stage and a blackboard on
the wall. The students turn to the front of the room
and get their notebooks ready. There seems to be a
tension in the room. PROFESSOR SUMNER is a
traditional "liberal arts" teacher -- in his midfifties, thin, wearing a tweed coat, sweater and a
tie.
8. CU - STEADICAM of PROFESSOR as he
walks to his desk. CAMERA PANS AND
FOLLOWS professor as he walks to the
podium. CAMERA MOVES around the
front of the professor's desk maintaining a
CU, moves around the other side of the
professor as the he pulls his notes from his
satchel and settles on an OTS of the class.
9. TWO SHOT - GREG AND MIKE, they
look at each other, shrug as if to
acknowledge the tension but not
understanding its origin, then forward at the
professor.
10. CU - LOW ANGLE of Professor Sumner
as he removes his reading glasses from his
pocket, places them on his nose. He raises
an envelope which has been opened into the
frame and takes a letter out.
11. OTS - CLASS. Entire class is silently
looking at the professor sensing that
something is just not right. The letter is in
the frame -- it is written on very nice
letterhead stationery.
12. CU - LOW ANGLE of Professor Sumner,
reading the letter.
PROF. SUMNER
Does anyone know what this is? (PAUSE) I
received it in the mail this morning.
Narrative Scripting
Production Script
Script broken into logical parts for shooting
• Technical dissection of the script based on
locations, actors, props etc…
• Most narratives shot out of order w/shots on
the same location shot at the same time
My kids. Why? Just because!
Logan
Haley