174 Video Digital Communication & Production
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
For convenience, nonfi scripts (like the fiction
following excerpt) are sometimes formatted over
and under, instead of side by side (Figure 9-12).
25.
VIDEO TWO SHOT: The GIRL brings in a toy
sailboat and sets it on the table.
AUDIO GIRL: Mom, the rudder broke!
26.
VIDEO OTS on the GIRL.
AUDIO GIRL: Can you fix it?
27.
VIDEO OTS on MOM
AUDIO MOM: Sure! I’ll get the drill.
28.
VIDEO CU drilling a hole in the sailboat
rudder.
AUDIO SFX: Drill whirring.
Goodheart-Willcox Publisher
Figure 9-12. Over-and-under nonfiction script style.
Storyboards or Scripts:
Which Method Is Best?
Treatments, storyboards, scripts—
professional video makers employ all
these forms of program development,
sometimes mixing and matching them as
needed. For example, a program may be
documented completely in script form, which
is supplemented by storyboards of action
sequences or other activities that demand
precise visual pre-planning.
When you make fairly short, simple
programs, it is usually enough to write down
your concept, develop a narrative treatment
that covers the major components of your
video, and perhaps storyboard critical
sequences for camera angles and continuity.
As your productions grow in scope and
complexity, you will probably move up to
fully scripted programs, with or without more
extensive storyboarding. Whatever form or
forms you choose, the result is the blueprint
from which you create your video program.
Several word processing programs are
designed exclusively to simplify script writing.
Though there is no production industry standard,
the most widely used software is Final Draft®, t t which
is available in two different versions: a screenplay
version for fiction scripts and an audiovisual (AV)
version for scripts requiring two-column format.
Final Draft has two big advantages: it has pre- t
formatted styles for each type of paragraph, and its
smart typing function remembers character names
and standard commands. For example, if you have
a character named Alexander, the second time you
start to enter the name in a “character” paragraph,
as soon as you type “Al” the program offers to enter
exander automatically. If you also have a character r
named Albert, the program first offers you both
names to choose from. If you then type “alb,” it
offers just Albert. Since script writing involves so
much repetitive typing, this feature saves a great
amount of time. The same is true of scene locations
and standard transitions.
Final Draft Screenplay
The figure below calls out the standard
formatted paragraphs used by Final Draft. These
include:
A — Character name (always capitalized
automatically)
B — Parentheses for short descriptions of the
speech below
C — Dialogue
D — Action
Professional Scripting Software
Final DraftftD
Parts of two typical Final Draft screenplay pages. t
Fi l