80 points - 8 days in class to work.
20 points for introduction
40 points for body
20 points for conclusion
20 points for introduction
40 points for body
20 points for conclusion
A script is a written description of what the audience is seeing AND hearing.
A well-written script should be able to “capture your imagination” and help you visualize what the audience will experience on the screen.
A well-written script should be able to “capture your imagination” and help you visualize what the audience will experience on the screen.
Writing A Short Documentary Script | |
File Size: | 221 kb |
File Type: | ppt |
Example
Documentary Script Template | |
File Size: | 74 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Download me ^ then upload me into google docs and share with group.
Instructions
The First Script or Shooting Script
1. Have your documentary topic completely researched. Before you start shooting, you need to have an idea about what your story will be. As with dramatic films, there needs to be interesting characters, conflicts and plots. Unlike dramatic films, these should occur naturally, without directing the people in your documentary.
2. Write down an outline of what you think your documentary will be about. This outline needs to include the characters, their conflict and how you imagine their conflict will be resolved. Your documentary will change as you begin shooting, so right now all you need is a vague outline.
3. Create a list of questions that you want to ask your characters. These questions will help to develop the characters and investigate their conflict. As you shoot, your characters' answers will provide you the meat of your documentary.
4. Begin shooting, now that your shooting script is done. Make sure you cover all of the questions you had, but be ready to take your documentary in a different direction if a new, better conflict arises. As your conflict changes, keep editing you shooting script.
5. Complete all of your filming, and start your post-shoot script. The purpose of this script is to help you or your editor know exactly what to do to complete the project.
6. Choose the scenes that you shot that best develop your characters, conflicts and plot. Write an outline of the scenes that you intend to use in your final documentary.
7. Write, word-for-word, the script for your documentary. This means that you will write the dialogue of your characters as well as the narrator's dialogue. Remember, your script needs to be complete so that another person who edits your documentary will cut the dialogue just as you envision.
-Read more: http://www.ehow.com/how_2098456_write-script-documentary.html#ixzz2jy9dYfTB
How To Write a Script for a Documentary: After Shooting is Complete
The very nature of the documentary is that it is “unscripted”. It is meant to capture some aspect of “real life”. Then it is up to the you (the writer) to take the messiness of real life and create some kind of story.
As the scriptwriter, you will need to examine all the “unscripted” & “raw” footage and create some sort of structure out of it.
It will seem daunting at first (you WILL feel overwhelmed at some point), but think of it as putting together a great big puzzle. It will look like a jumbled mess at first, but bit by bit, the big picture will begin to reveal itself as you mix and match the various pieces. How to write a script:
The First Script or Shooting Script
1. Have your documentary topic completely researched. Before you start shooting, you need to have an idea about what your story will be. As with dramatic films, there needs to be interesting characters, conflicts and plots. Unlike dramatic films, these should occur naturally, without directing the people in your documentary.
2. Write down an outline of what you think your documentary will be about. This outline needs to include the characters, their conflict and how you imagine their conflict will be resolved. Your documentary will change as you begin shooting, so right now all you need is a vague outline.
3. Create a list of questions that you want to ask your characters. These questions will help to develop the characters and investigate their conflict. As you shoot, your characters' answers will provide you the meat of your documentary.
4. Begin shooting, now that your shooting script is done. Make sure you cover all of the questions you had, but be ready to take your documentary in a different direction if a new, better conflict arises. As your conflict changes, keep editing you shooting script.
5. Complete all of your filming, and start your post-shoot script. The purpose of this script is to help you or your editor know exactly what to do to complete the project.
6. Choose the scenes that you shot that best develop your characters, conflicts and plot. Write an outline of the scenes that you intend to use in your final documentary.
7. Write, word-for-word, the script for your documentary. This means that you will write the dialogue of your characters as well as the narrator's dialogue. Remember, your script needs to be complete so that another person who edits your documentary will cut the dialogue just as you envision.
-Read more: http://www.ehow.com/how_2098456_write-script-documentary.html#ixzz2jy9dYfTB
How To Write a Script for a Documentary: After Shooting is Complete
The very nature of the documentary is that it is “unscripted”. It is meant to capture some aspect of “real life”. Then it is up to the you (the writer) to take the messiness of real life and create some kind of story.
As the scriptwriter, you will need to examine all the “unscripted” & “raw” footage and create some sort of structure out of it.
It will seem daunting at first (you WILL feel overwhelmed at some point), but think of it as putting together a great big puzzle. It will look like a jumbled mess at first, but bit by bit, the big picture will begin to reveal itself as you mix and match the various pieces. How to write a script:
- Log your tapes – This may seem like a tedious and boring task at first, but TRUST ME, you will thank yourself in the end. This is where you begin to "log" and categorize the various "pieces" of your puzzle.
- Review the BIG picture. What are the main elements (characters and plots) that have surfaced through shooting process that create the tapestry of your overall story. What are the key “moments”?
- Create Scenes. Take these “moments” and divide your documentary into mini-stories (scenes) that, together, create the documentary.
- Build a Roller Coaster. Take these scenes and begin creating a “Roller Coaster” ride for your audience. What kind of “ride” are you taking them on? Think about the powerful moments in your story and how to write a script to build up those moments. A fantastic book that describes this process is Writing Great Screenplays for Film and TV by Dona Cooper.
- Villain and Hero. Another important part of scriptwriting is determining the villain(s) and hero(s) in your story. A hero/villain can be a person, thing or event. (A tornado can be the villain).
- BEGINNING, MIDDLE and an END. Of course, every story has a beginning, middle and end. If you can outline your story in these three general categories, then you can begin to fill in the details.
- The Ending. If you have a lot of footage and information to work with, a simple way to clarify how to start building your script is to think about how you’re going to END your documentary. Everything else leads up to that.
- Start Strong. I cannot express enough the importance of how you START your documentary. This is when you “hook” the audience and set the tone for the entire program. The beginning of your film should:
- Establish the “core message” of the documentary (this often includes a specific “incident” that is controversial or offsets the balance of forces in some way).
- Create curiosity -- set up the “problem” or “issue” in the most compelling way possible to tantalize or grab your audience’s interest. Create a situation that makes the audience ask, “Why is this happening?”
- What's in the Middle? It’s easy for scriptwriters to get “lost” in the middle (body) section of the script. Just keep asking yourself, “does this scene/story or information move the story forward and lead to the ending conclusion?” Don’t get attached to any particular footage or information. If it doesn’t fit, leave it OUT. You can always put it in the “Bonus” or “Deleted Scenes” section of your DVD. :-)
- Script Template. Finally, once you have a general outline of your story, begin building your script using a 2-column script template: one column for audio, one column for video.