8
Scriptwriting
Objectives
• Identify each of the program formats
presented and summarize the unique
characteristics of each.
• Identify the expected components of a
program proposal.
• Explain the format of a program
treatment.
• Recall the elements in each type of script
used in television production.
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Program Formats
• Lecture, BTF (big
talking face),
talking head
• Lecture
demonstration
• Panel discussion
• Interview
• Documentary
•
•
•
•
Newscast
Magazine
Drama
Public service
announcement
(PSA)/Ad
• Music video
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Lecture
• Also known as BTF (big talking face) or
talking head
• Lack of camera movement & talent action
• Dull, uninteresting
• Lowest viewer retention of information
• Amateurish
• Script may be simple outline
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Lecture/Demonstration
• More interesting to watch
• Includes action and many props
• Examples:
• Cooking show
• Infomercials
• How-to shows
• Script will need more detail due to multiple
cameras or action
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Panel Discussion
• Often called “talk shows”
• Program driven by content–not action
• Too many people on panel creates shot too
wide for shape of the screen
• Script may be outlined with just topics for
moderator to throw out to the panel
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Interview
• Often shot with only one camera
•
•
•
•
Shoot interviewee answering questions
Later shoot interviewer asking questions
Shoot nod shots
Edit them together to make seamless
conversation
• Script may be just questions, or there may
be no script at all
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Documentary
• Can take many forms
• Topic researched, information outlined,
script written
• Shot sheet developed to support audio
• Audience interest can vary with topic
• Script generally is detailed because the
entire documentary is pre-planned
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Newscast
• Each story produced by different people
• Each story may have unique style of script
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Magazine
• Also collection of stories produced by
several production teams
• Stories are not news or timely
• Stories are usually longer than those in
newscasts
• “60 Minutes” generally has four stories in 60
minutes
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Drama
• Includes comedy and drama
• Generally includes storyboards
• Nearly all require completely detailed
scripts for actors to memorize
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Public Service Announcement (PSA)
• Scripts are fully detailed with storyboards
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Music Video
• Concert style music video
• Story style music video
• Hybrid
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Visualization
• Taking daydream or vision from your head,
then:
• Transcribing it to paper (now others can join in
your vision)
• Converting the vision to reality on screen
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Program Proposal
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Basic idea of program
Applicable program format
Message to be imparted to audience
Program’s intended audience
Budget considerations
Shooting location considerations
Rough program shooting schedule
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Storyboards
• Resemble comic books
• Rough sketches to indicate viewfinder
images to help plan shots
• Rough scripting under sketch
• Computer programs available to do
storyboards that allow “click and drag” of
picture elements—no actual drawing ability
is necessary!
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Storyboards (Cont.)
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Basic Outline for Program Formats
• Dramas, lectures, lecture demonstrations,
and documentaries use the same basic
outline
• Each major point/event on different line
• As few words as possible
• Each line indicates location
• No dialogue
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Basic Outline for Program Formats (Cont.)
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Outline for Panel Discussion or Interview
• List at least 20 questions that do not elicit
one word or short answers
• Interviewer/host may stray from list but list
provides “starters” if conversation lags
• Interviewer/host is free to initiate questions
and follow-ups that are not on list
• Not every question must be asked
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Music Video Outline
• Concert style does not need outline
• Story style and hybrid style need outline
similar to drama outline
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Music Video Warning!
• Pay particular attention to copyright law–
see Chapters 12 and 13
• Lyrics of some songs may cause issues with
the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) if broadcast over public airwaves
• Your school or facility may also have
regulations on lyrics
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Expanding Outline
• Take each line of the basic outline and try
to divide it into 5-7 smaller detail lines
• If each line is a scene, expand to 5-7 more
details (sub-topics) that must occur in the
scene
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Expanding Outline (Cont.)
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Treatment
• Not all programs will require treatment
• Usually drama, music video story style, PSA
• Entire outline is converted to paragraphstyle narrative with little or no dialogue
• Each scene is a complete paragraph
• After reading treatment, a person
understands program’s story
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
The Script
• Television scripts are in two columns
• Left column contains video and camera notes
• Right column contains audio and stage
directions for performers
• Use word processor if possible
• Save every revision as a different file
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
The Script (Cont.)
• Break up video or audio however necessary
in order to make them line up with each
other
• Do not write/print on both sides of page!
• In video column, use abbreviations as much
as possible
• For example: ZO-2S Brian/Mike
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Discussion
What are the advantages of using a word
processor to write scripts?
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Discussion
Why should you not write on both sides of
a page?
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Types of Scripts
• Word-for-word script
• Outline script
• Format script
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Word-for-Word Script
• Used for drama, music video, lecture,
documentary, PSA/Ad
• Audio column written first, contains audio
and stage direction for actors
• Visualize camera angles and switches
• Content specialist verifies
• Then video column written, contains
video/camera direction, sound cues, and
lighting cues
• Plan to change shots about every seven
seconds
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Outline Script
• Used for lecture/demonstration, some
interviews, how-to shows
• For interviews: list of questions
• For lecture/demo: major points of process
listed
• Plan to change shots about every seven
seconds
• This requires many shots of B-roll
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Format Script
• Used for panel discussions, talk shows,
game shows, and other programs where
format does not change from episode to
episode
• Lines and talent change but from
production point of view, each show is
nearly identical
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Discussion
What are the three types of scripts? Give
an example of a program currently on the
air that would use this type of script.
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Writing Style
• Write the way people speak
• Use informal language
• Do not use formal language with complex
sentences
• Use shorter sentences than those written
for print
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Montage
• Use the shot sheet example from the
montage section of the chapter just before
“Wrapping Up”
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Career Page
• Screenwriters Federation of America
• Formerly Screenwriters Guild of America
• Training opportunities, networking,
feedback, and mutual aid for
screenwriters
• http://screenwritersfederation.org/
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Review Question
Given the steps needed to write a script
(research, outline, expanded outline,
treatment, script) why should executive
producer approval be obtained before
moving to the next step?
Because e.p. may not approve up to this
point, causing scriptwriter to do re-write
before he can proceed.
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Review Question
Name the 10 program formats.
Lecture, lecture/demonstration, panel
discussion, interview, documentary,
newscast, magazine, drama, PSA/Ad, music
video
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Review Question
What are the three kinds of music videos?
Concert style, story style, hybrid
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Review Question
What information should be in a program
proposal?
Basic idea, format, message, audience,
budget, locations, rough shooting schedule
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Glossary
• actors: Individuals who participate in a
drama or comedy program, performing
as someone or something other than
themselves.
• concert style music video: A type of
music video in which the audience sees
the band perform the music that is
heard.
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Glossary
• documentary: A program format that is
essentially a research paper for
television. The audio in the program may
include both on-camera and off-camera
narration. The video footage used in the
program is determined by the topic
research and should support the audio of
the program.
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Glossary
• drama: A program format that includes
both dramas and comedies and requires
actors to portray someone or something
other than themselves.
• format script: A program script that is
very brief and used for programs in
which the order of events is
predetermined and the sequence of each
episode is consistent.
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Glossary
• interview: A program format that
involves a conversation between an
interviewer and an interviewee.
• lecture: A program format in which the
talent speaks and the camera shoots
almost entirely in a medium close-up.
Also known as big talking face (BTF) and
talking head.
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Glossary
• lecture/demonstration: A program
format that provides action and makes
use of props in addition to lecture.
Examples of this format include cooking
shows, how-to shows, and infomercials.
• magazine: A program format comprised
of feature packages, each addressing a
different story for seven to eleven
minutes.
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Glossary
• montage: A production device that
allows a gradual change in a relationship
or a lengthy time passage to occur in a
very short amount of screen time by
showing a series of silent shots
accompanied by music.
• music video: A program format in
which all or most of the audio is a song.
• newscast: A program format that is a
collection of individual news stories.
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Glossary
• nod shots: A cutaway shot often used
in interview programs and usually
recorded after the interviewee has left
the set. In a nod shot, the interviewer
does not say anything, but simply “nods”
naturally as if listening to the answer to
a question.
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Glossary
• outline script: A program script that
usually has a word-for-word introduction
and conclusion, but an outline for the
body of the script.
• panel discussion: A program format
that presents a group of people gathered
to discuss topics of interest. Daytime
talk shows are an example of this
format.
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Glossary
• program proposal: A document
created by the scriptwriter that contains
general information about the program,
including the basic idea, applicable
format, message to be imparted to the
audience, intended audience, budget
considerations, shooting location
considerations, and rough shooting
schedule. Used to present the program
to the executive producer to obtain
permission and funding for the
production.
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Glossary
• public service announcement (PSA):
A program that is 30 or 60 seconds in
length and aims to inform the public or
to convince the public to do (or not to
do) something in the interest of common
good.
• script: An entire program committed to
paper, including dialog, music, camera
angles, stage direction, camera
direction, and computer graphics (CG)
notations.
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Glossary
• story style music video: A type of
music video in which the audience hears
the music, but does not see the band
perform. Instead, actors act out a story
line that is supported by the lyrics of the
song.
• storyboards: Sketches that portray the
way the image on television should look
in the finished program.
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.
Glossary
• treatment: A narrative written from a
program outline that tells the program’s
story in paragraph form.
• visualization: The ability to mentally
picture the finished program.
• word-for-word script: A program
script in which every word spoken by the
talent is written out.
© Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Permission granted to reproduce for educational use only.