Chapter 9 Project Development 171
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Writing a Script
Another way to lay out a detailed production
design is by writing a full script. A script describes
every sequence in your program, including both
video and audio components. A script is especially
useful if the program contains dialogue to be
memorized and spoken by actors and/or voice-
over text to be read by an off-screen narrator. Scripts
are also a common alternative to storyboards for
presenting programs to clients. They are especially
valuable for planning and budgeting a production,
since they include every element of the program in
a compact narrative form.
The project development process, from choosing a
subject through creating a storyboard is covered in
three related activities in the workbook.
The Scripting Process
Writing a script can follow any system—or
no system at all. In commercial and industrial
production, however, the process of creating a
script often breaks down into fi ve stages: fi
1. Producer and client agree upon the
program’s content and concept.
2. A detailed content outline is written. This
is often critiqued by the client and then
revised by the writer.
3. A first draft script is written. This is the fi
initial attempt to lay out a complete
production script. Usually the client
reviews this draft and orders revisions.
4. A revised draft of the script incorporates
the client’s changes.
5. The revised script draft is reviewed by the
client and further changes are ordered.
If all is going well, these changes do not
require a complete third draft, but only a
refi of the second one. finement
Common Script Formats
In professional productions, video scripts have
standardized formats that are adhered to rigidly—
so rigidly, in fact, that failure to use the right format
is considered the mark of an amateur.
Final
Draft®
software, discussed below, even has a
template for the special format preferred by Warner
Brothers Studios.
Fiction Script Format
The formatting of movie and TV scripts
includes so many rules that at least one entire
textbook has been written on this subject alone.
However, an Internet search will offer several
detailed guides on script formatting. Once you
have learned the rules, you can then set up word
processor paragraph styles to automate the
process (Figure 9-11). The main styles include:
• Action: Margin-to-margin descriptions of
people, places, and actions.
• Character: Names of characters speaking.
• Parentheses: Very brief descriptions of the
dialogue that follows, such as (loudly).
• Dialogue: Lines spoken by the characters.
• Transitions: Type of transitions between
scenes, such as CUT TO or DISSOLVE TO.
• Headers: Identifi for each new scene, fications
such as INT–THE KITCHEN–DAY.
Nonfi Script Format fiction
The traditional nonfi script layout fiction
consists of two vertical columns with the visuals
on the left side of the page and the dialogue,
narration, and other audio on the other side. The
problem is that this side-by-side layout can be
inconvenient to use in a word processing program.
Using Microsoft Word, you can set up a two-column
table with as many rows as your script has shots. In
each row, use the left cell for picture and the right cell
for sound. (Format the table without border lines.)
Goodheart-Willcox Publisher G dh t Will P bli h
Figure 9-11. Word processor styles customized for
screenplay writing. p y g