Using a script format for your video will help you in many ways, it helps you visualize the end result, it helps your cameraman visualize the end result and feel that you're going for and it gives you a rough idea of how long your video will be and how many shots you need to shoot in order to cover all the narration/voice over that you may be using.

In this post I'm going to talk about the script layout and format. Video scripts (not movies) are usually formatted in two columns, on the left you have a column titled Visuals and on the right is a column titled Audio.

In the Visuals column is where you list what's going to be seen on screen, for example it may look like this:

Visuals

• Fade up from black to Opening Title animation
• Fade to WS (wide shot) of New York futuristic cityscape at night
• Dissolve to ECU (Extreme Closeup) of Superhero's eyes as he scans the city from atop of the ruins of the Empire State.
• Here's the corresponding Audio column for the above shots.

Audio

• Music starts with a bang – big orchestral arrangement – dramatic, intense, evil. Makes the viewer jump. (Remember you don't have any music yet so you want to describe the feel that you're looking for)
• Music fades to background as narration starts.
• Narration: It was a dark and stormy night, the citizens had all retreated into their modules and the streets were abandoned…….(Yeah, I usually hire people to write my scripts..but you get the idea.)

When you first sit down and write your script, you can just use notepad or word. I find that I tend to brainstorm and do a lot of cut, copy and paste when I'm trying to organize my thoughts. When I'm happy with what I have then I use the two column layout and start adding the visuals, effects and soundtrack notes.

In this layout (two column) one page of script is roughly one minute of video. So if you script is 20 pages long, you have a 20+ minute video, and are going to need a lot of visuals to cover it. Having your script laid out this way before you shoot will definitely help you when you are filming. Usually a visual, (a shot, title, animation etc…) will only be on screen for 3-6 seconds, of course this all depends on the type of video you're working on, the energy of the piece – how fast paced to you want it to be. For example: your script is 5 pages, this means your video will be about 5 minutes in length. You estimate that you need a shot every 6 seconds of audio, that means 6 shots a minute multiplied by 5 minutes equals 30 shots to complete your video and keep the viewers attention.

Remember, this is only a guide for formatting your script and getting a better idea of what your finished  video will look like. Often people tend to over-shoot for the video or don't shoot enough, by using this as a guide, and looking at your script in this format, you'll be better able to match up the audio with the visuals and see where you might need to shoot more or less in each scene.

Feel free to leave a comment and don't forget to sign up for you free gift.

Be Sociable, Share!

•