How to Write a Script
Pre-Production
- Arrange a script meeting with everyone involved in the video.
- Have an agenda prepared prior to the meeting with bullet points to cover.
- Decide on a timetable and delivery objectives up front.
- Following the meeting, write the script IN DETAIL and send a draft to all persons involved for comments and approval.
- Avoid including every visual idea in the initial script. Voiceover and spoken words should be given priority, with general references to the visual content.
- Get the script approved by everyone involved. This should take 1-3 drafts.
- Once the script is approved, the team can move forward with the storyboarding process.
Determining Script Content
- Develop the script from the bullet points generated from the first script meeting.
- Stick to the objectives. Cut out sentences that provide unnecessary background information.
- Less is more.
- Tell them what you're going to tell them. Tell them. Tell them what you told them.
Do's and Don't's
- DO use a document that can be viewed and edited by a large number of people, such as a Google Doc.
- DO use a three-column structure.
- Column 1 numbers the lines and labels the type of image on screen (e.g. VIDEO, STILL IMAGE)
- Column 2 contains the voiceover/spoken word
- Column 3 to show storyboard material (e.g. visuals, conceptual notes, props, etc.) - DON'T write a script in paragraph format.
- DO keep the script as short and concise as possible.
- DON'T fill the video with technical jargon if your audience won't understand it. Write how people speak, not how they write.
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