Title: A Good Ad Tells a Story: Scripting
Course: Appdate yourself 4t ESO (in English) - Curs 2020/21 > Section: Topic 14. Video: Scripting, Creating and Editing

Starting Production

The filming process requires time and each production phase is critical to the creation of a successful product. It is essential to clearly define the purpose of the production before you start to shoot. It is very important to:

- Develop an idea, message or concept
- Research and analyse the target audience
- Explore which genre best suits your concept

Developing the Idea

If you want to start to work you have to define the idea you want to convey in the recording. One way of starting to define it is brainstorming, a technique you already know and have used. In this case you can use large sheets of paper to make a mind map of two or three possible conceptual ideas (the more options the better).

- Write words, phrases, lines or poems to help spark your imagination.
- Select an unusual or everyday object to use as a device to drive the narrative of your story. A board game, kitchen appliance or even a gardening tool can inspire creative, abstract or quirky ideas.
- Cut out newspaper articles and magazine pictures or use old photographs that may help you select a possible message or issue to explore.
- Think about your own experiences. Do you have a story you are passionate about telling?

Target Audience

The next step in the pre-production process is to identify the target audience and consider the production possibilities that will communicate most effectively with that audience. Audience members observe, listen and respond in different ways. Remember the target audience is also the audience your App will be aimed at and which you defined in the scenario map.

If the production is the central axis, its success depends on in-depth research and initial understanding of the target public.

Selecting the Genre

Videos, both narrative and non-narrative, can be classified by their genre, which is based on shared or recognisable codes and conventions such as structure, content, pattern or style.

Contemporary genres have evolved as a result of blending and borrowing from the conventions of one or more popular genres.

Look at different ads in the same genre and identify the conventions they share and the style they have in common, such as:

- Plot devices
- Thematic conventions
- Location or setting
- Character types
- Visual imagery and symbols

During pre-production planning you have to select the genre that best supports your intended message. You need to consider:

- The values and attitudes of your target audience.
- How the intended audience’s values and attitudes might shape the way conventions are used in the production when you make the video.
- The impact the intended audience’s values and attitudes have on the selection of the appropriate genre for the message.

Narrative Structure

An engaging production is often attributed to a well-developed narrative and the ability to effectively use a range of production techniques in a stylistic manner. Prior to writing a script, it is helpful to explore the narrative possibilities of your chosen form. You might also consider where particular production elements can support your narrative ideas or provide opportunities to experiment with and develop a sense of personal style. This will ensure that the result is visually rich and conveys complex ideas, evoking a much deeper and more meaningful response in your target audience.

A basic understanding of storytelling principles helps to structure the narrative of your story. Consider the importance of storytelling in our everyday lives and how different versions of the same story can captivate us depending on similar storytelling conventions when it comes to telling it. The following story elements are common to all visual narrative forms:

- Plot
- Opening and closing sequences
- Characters
- Setting
- Conflicts or cause and effect
- Point of view

Plot

While constructing well-developed characters is fundamental to the storytelling process, the central storyline or plot that drives the on-screen events of the story is equally important. Most traditional, mainstream narratives are based on a three-act linear approach to storytelling.

Using cards or post-it notes, write each narrative event on a separate card and arrange the cards side by side in a linear progression, from beginning to end. Once you have done this, break the events into three different parts: orientation, complication and resolution. Consider the following:

Act 1 – Orientation: How is the audience introduced to the characters and their situation? What events will create a disturbance and draw the audience into the world of the narrative?

Act 2 – Complication: What complications will the characters face?  What steps will they take towards achieving their goals and resolving their problems?

Act 3 – Resolution: How will all the loose ends be tied up? What will the outcome of each conflict be?

Although the three-act linear approach is commonly used, consider how audience expectations and our own natural experiences influence the way on-screen narratives are structured. The narrative expectations of the audience can be changed by altering the narrative in a non-linear way. The use of flashbacks, circular progression or even multiple tandem narratives can jolt the expectations of the audience.

Opening and closing sequences

The opening sequence introduces the audience to a world where on-screen normality is disrupted by an abrupt or unexpected action. Characters are established and narrative possibilities are suggested as the cause-and-effect cycle draws the audience into the narrative journey that lies ahead. The opening sequence also establishes the underlying themes that will be explored in the production.

You will need to ensure that your opening sequence effectively captures the audience’s attention and that it is maintained throughout, until the end. Make sure you can answer the following questions:

- How will the major characters and location of your story be established?
- What disruptions will trigger the cause-and-effect cycle of your story?
- What narrative possibilities will be suggested to the audience?
- What is the intended response of the audience? What will they see, hear and feel?

Equally important to the construction of any visual narrative is the closing sequence. Its primary purpose is to resolve all the central problems and questions, signalling the conclusion of the emotional journey for the characters and the audience. It is important to construct a closing sequence that effectively draws the story to a conclusion. When structuring the closing sequence, consider:

- How will all the major conflicts be resolved?
- How will the central characters develop? Will they change? If so, how?

Keep in mind the expectations of your intended audience and remember that unanswered questions or a lack of narrative closure may result in dissatisfied audience members.

Characters

At this stage of pre-production planning, you must start to outline and refine the characters that will drive your narrative. It is important to take into consideration the intended audience response when constructing on-screen characters.

Identify the major and minor characters that will drive your narrative, and construct a series of character profiles that outline:

- Age and appearance (including physical features, clothing preferences, skin tone, body shape and size)
- Speech, dialogue and tone of voice
- Body language and actions
- Strengths, weaknesses and beliefs
- Relationships with the other characters (including conflicts that may potentially arise when these characters interact)

Once you have constructed your character types, write a one-paragraph description of each. Think about how common stereotypes or caricatures might be useful when constructing minor characters, particularly when a specific audience reaction is desired.

On-screen characters often possess values deemed important by society and may be a representation or reflection of society at large. The audience members’ ability to become engaged in the story on-screen is enhanced when their own attitudes are reflected in the values of the characters they are watching. It is essential to construct characters whose words and actions reflect their beliefs and values. Consider extending your character profiles to include the following information:

- What is important to each of these characters? What do they believe in? What are their values? How will these be reflected in their actions and words?
- What themes arise from the values of the characters?
- What additional narrative devices might deepen the audience’s connection to each character? Could flashbacks or flash-forwards or even voiceover narration strengthen the characters’ development?

Setting

All visual storytelling forms are reliant on setting as the location where the action occurs. Realism is imperative for the audience members to be convinced that the events unfolding on-screen and the locations in which these actions take place are real. The setting has the power to authenticate a story for the audience.

Prior to selecting the locations in which your narrative will unfold, consider these questions:

- What locations will be established in your narrative?
- Do the genre and the narrative influence the setting?
- How does setting reinforce the on-screen action of your story?
- How do the characters in your story respond to their surroundings?
- How might setting be used to construct an emotional atmosphere that contributes or relates to the story?
- How might this result in stronger audience engagement?

Cause and Effect

Cause-and-effect storytelling is integral to the progression of a narrative and the audience’s engagement with the on-screen events. It is often a series of unexpected events that progresses the narrative and triggers an effect that will ultimately draw the narrative to a final resolution. Generally the characters are the agents of cause and effect as they are the ones who respond and react to the events in the story. As you begin to build and develop the cause-and-effect structure of your story, answer the following questions:

- What will be the on-screen events that will initiate the cause-and-effect cycle?
- What will motivate characters to respond?  How will they respond?

Start to map your ideas visually, highlighting the characters that cause the action to happen and the logical progression of events that are a direct result of the action.

Point of View

In many stories, point of view is established through the major protagonist, and the audience is positioned to adopt the character’s perspective by the way in which they experience the on-screen events.

With your idea in mind, explore the relationship between characterisation, point of view and audience positioning by considering the following:

- From whose point of view will the story be told?
- How might other characters provide alternative viewpoints?
- How might the possibility of interconnected or parallel narratives provide greater opportunities for your audience to respond to different viewpoints?

The Storyboard

A storyboard is the visual interpretation in drawings or photos of a script or story. The purpose of a storyboard is to provide the crew who are making the project with sequential images relating to the script that describe action, location and camera movements. This enables the crew to fully understand the vision of the script.

This important working document allows discussion and planning over various aspects of the story such as: technical preparation; mood; timing; location; set design; stunts; special effects (SFX) and visual effects (VFX).

Storyboards communicate very specific information to the crew covering all aspects of the filmmaking process and represent the camera shots or set-ups required to tell a story, sequence or particular action. For this reason, they are drawn using a certain language.

Other symbols, like arrows, are used together with drawings and photographs. Arrows are used to describe the movement of both the camera and of subjects within the frame.

Narrative Script

It’s time to start to write your script. This is your chance to flesh out and bring to life the ideas you brainstormed in your initial narrative planning material and which you have been describing. Visualise how your written ideas can be communicated through moving images and sounds during the production stage.

Here are some tips to writing your script:

- Break the story up into scenes, and ensure each scene has some sort of action to move the story along. This will provide greater room for narrative intensity and audience engagement.
- Make sure the script tells the story visually. The on-screen actions, events and atmosphere are just as important as the dialogue between the characters. Write about what the audience will hear as well as see.
- Develop the conflict on the basis of one main incident. If the film is less than 5 minutes long, one type of conflict may be sufficient, otherwise it may be too complex.
- When scripting dialogue, know what you want your characters to say and why they are saying it. Consider alternatives to dialogue such as voiceover, actions or gestures to convey emotions or ideas more profoundly.
- Clichés are not realistic. Avoid writing dialogue that is melodramatic or overly emotional.

The Shooting Script

Once the script is completed, it is time to construct a shooting script. This document outlines and communicates your visual ideas for each scene. The shooting script should work alongside the script, providing detailed descriptions of all the visual elements that will shape your story, indicating where and when to use selected camera shots, movements and angles for each scene in the video.

Explore a range of aesthetic possibilities when interpreting your script. A realist approach dictates that the techniques you use will create the illusion of reality. This includes shooting for continuity. When planning shot transitions, ensure that the action and actors’ movements between shots are smooth, continuous and logical. The audience should be unaware of cuts between individual shots.

Shooting scripts are laid out in the format of a table in which scenes are broken up according to the action in the scene. The shooting script includes detailed descriptions of shot types, visual content and sound to be captured for each aspect of the scene.

Remember to indicate lighting directions and transitions between each shot. The shooting script and storyboard should use abbreviated directorial terms to specify camera placement and movement.

Tips:

- Have a clear understanding of the visual direction of your production and the techniques that will best match that direction.
- Use shot and scene numbers.
- Indicate camera distance, angles and movements throughout the script.
- Give estimated shot durations.
- Describe the on-screen action.
- Indicate lighting techniques.

Camera and Sound Techniques

Frames

1. Close-up (CU)

A close-up shows an actor’s face, allowing the audience to judge the character’s reaction to what is happening.  A close-up may also focus on a significant object.

2. Point-of-view shot (POV)

A point-of-view shot is where the camera shares the character’s point of view and appears to be looking through his or her eyes.

3. Extreme close-up (ECU)

Extreme close-up shots are used for dramatic emphasis and can reveal intense emotion or other important details.

4. Mid shot (MS)

Mid shots show the actors from the waist up and are most commonly used for showing action and dialogue.

5. Reverse shot (RS)

A reverse shot is filmed from the corresponding or opposite point of view of the previous shot (for example, cutting between two characters talking to each other or cutting to the subject of the POV).

6. Wide shot (LS)

Wide shots (also known as long shots, hence the abbreviation LS) show the whole person or the whole feature object as part of the landscape.

Camera Angles

1. High camera angle (HCA)

The camera is positioned on an angle above the action, looking down.

2. Low camera angle (LCA)

The camera is positioned on an angle from below the action, looking up.

3. Eye level (EL)

The camera is at the same height as the action.

Camera Movements

1. Zoom

The shot zooms in to show a detail or zooms out to reveal more of the scene.

2. Pan

The camera moves from one side of the action to another, following the action or showing the audience more of the scene.

3. Tilt

The camera tilts up or down.

Sound Effects (SFX)

The inclusion of a particular sound effect can be either diegetic (heard by the characters) or non-diegetic (not heard by the characters, often used to give the scene more dramatic impact).

1. Voiceover (VO)

The voice of a character (or narrator) narrating the events or expressing a perspective about the on-screen action.

2. Voice Off-Screen (OS)

The voice of a character who is part of the scene but not seen on-screen at the time.