WRITING A GREAT SCRIPT NARRATIVE v 2 COLUMN

WRITING A GREAT SCRIPT NARRATIVE v. 2 COLUMN SCRIPT STYLES

The 2 - Column Script (TV style) VIDEO AUDIO FADE UP FROM BLACK MUSIC INTRO SNEAK UNDER EWS OF STUDIO VO: “WELCOME TO…. DIZ TO CAM 1 MCU OF ANCHOR MY 9 “HELLO AND WELCOME TO NEWS…” CUT TO LIVE SHOT: MCU OF REPORTER “IN: 30 PEOPLE FLED THE SCENE TAG: HERE’S THE STORY. ROLL PKG- (SHOOTING STORY TRT: 2: 30) IN: IN NJ, 30 PEOPLE. . . OUT: 9 NEWS NJ MCU-CAM 1 (STUDIO) WE TURN TO WORLD “NOW

The Narrative Script - (Film Style) INT. GOOBER'S SPORTS BAR - NIGHT The place is a mess, having suffered the insanity of a Friday night. smoke floats in the air. INSERT: THE DART BOARD As a dart SMASHES into the board. BACK TO SCENE BOBBY plays darts in a dark corner of the bar. Even in his state of mind, he's not too bad. Bobby's darts still fall into the board. BOBBY Damn! I'm good! The phone RINGS. We follow Bobby over to a phone sitting on the bar. Resource: http: //www. simplyscripts. com/WR_format. html

WHAT TO DO. . . • LET YOUR BITES DRIVE THINGS – You have a story to tell, but that’s your backbone. You can’t change what you have on tape, but you can adapt what you write to what you already have. • LET YOUR VIDEO DRIVE THINGS, TOO. – This is one of the best things about telling a story visually, and one of the worst things, too. Use it. And work around it when you have to. TALK about your video with words like “these students” or “like this. ” Let it help you tell your story. Let it SHOW so you don’t have to TELL everything. (You don’t have to say “The puppy is cute” when you can see the cute puppy for yourself. ) • WEAVE YOUR STORY TOGETHER – Connect one interview to another. Connect track to your SOTs. Connect it all to what you’re seeing.

WHAT TO DO. . . • USE NAT/SOT TO TELL YOUR STORY – NAT/SOT helps grab viewers’ attention and helps to draw them into your story. • BE SPECIFIC, USE FACTS & DATA, WRITE IN ACTIVE VOICE – You know this part. It’s the same as any other kind of good writing. • BE CONVERSATIONAL – You’re telling a story, not giving a lecture. Engage people and keep it interesting.

WHAT TO DO. . . • THERE’S MORE THAN ONE WAY TO GET THERE. – Don’t be afraid to experiment, to start over if something isn’t working, to throw out the plan you expected to have. There’s not a single right answer. And you will OFTEN REVISE anyway, or as you go. • DON’T WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT GRAMMAR AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE – How it SOUNDS is more important than how it LOOKS on paper. Thank us, because this is the only class that will ever tell you that!