Detailed Treatment
This excerpt from a detailed treatment,
covers only Part Two, Scene Three, as
summarized in the previous version.
The Sidewinder Drill: Part Two, Scene Three
The daughter brings her broken sailboat
to the mother, at the kitchen table. The
mother says it will be simple to fi x. She
uses the sidewinder to drill a pilot hole
for screw. The daughter watches, impressed.
The mother hands the boat back, and the
daughter says, “Great! Thanks, Mom.” The
husband starts into the kitchen saying,
“Honey, I can’t fi nd my Sidewinder again!”
Seeing that her husband is coming, she
hides the drill under the table as the
daughter takes the toy and runs out.
Husband enters and registers humorously
on wife’s guilty expression.
The amount of detail in your own treatments
will depend on how minutely you need to pre-
visualize your program, and how completely you
want to communicate it to clients and colleagues.
Creating a Storyboard
The old saying claims that one picture is
worth a thousand words, and this is often true
in developing video programs. In graphic-based
project design, a succession of pictures resembling
a graphic novel, sketches all the important
moments in the program. This script in picture
form is called a storyboard.
Storyboards got their name from the bulletin boards
on which the drawings of scenes for animated
cartoons are pinned for inspection and editing.
Storyboard Uses
Storyboards have two main uses: to help
others visualize the look of the eventual program
and to pre-plan complex sequences shot-by-shot.
Visualization
Storyboards are particularly valuable for
communicating content to clients and crew,
Most clients demand a full script, rather than just
a summary treatment.
Levels of Treatment
Video program treatments have no fi xed
style or length. They can be a one-sentence
statement of concept and content, or a multi-
paragraph synopsis. They can also be an outline
so detailed that it identifi es every separate
content component. Whatever the level of detail,
program treatments attempt to convey the effect
of fi nished videos. Here are samples of program
treatments developed to three different levels of
detail. Each is for the Sidewinder drill program.
Skeletal Treatment
A skeletal treatment covers all three parts of
the Sidewinder video, in the briefest possible form:
The Sidewinder Drill
Part One: A succession of quick scenes
shows the many jobs performed by the drill.
Part Two: Several vignettes in which a
husband is frustrated because his wife
is always using his Sidewinder drill.
Part Three: After he presents her with
her own Sidewinder, the two of them
collaborate happily on a construction
project.
Summary Treatment
This excerpt from a summary-level
treatment covers just one third (Part Two) of
the skeletal treatment in greater detail:
The Sidewinder Drill, Part Two
Scene One: Husband asks where his Sidewinder
is, as we see wife using it to repair
kitchen cabinet hinge.
Scene Two: As wife assembles picnic table
bench in backyard, husband appears and
again asks where his Sidewinder is.
Scene Three: Wife is repairing child’s
toy at kitchen table when she hears
husband asking where drill is. As he
appears in kitchen doorway, she hides
drill in her lap.
Chapter 9 Project Development 167