• INTRODUCTION
• AUTHOUR CREDITS
• 1 WORKING OUT YOUR IDEA
• WORKING OUT YOUR IDEA
• WHAT DO YOU WANT TO COMMUNICATE
• HOW DO YOU COMMUNICATE
• HOW WILL VIDEO COMMUNICATE YOUR IDEA
• WORKING AS A GROUP
• CHOOSING MEDIA
• WORKING OUT YOUR IDEA EXERCISES
• 2 PLANNING A VIDEO
• PLANNING A VIDEO
• WHAT TYPE OF VIDEO DO YOU WANT TO MAKE
• HOW ARE FICTIONAL FILMS STRUCTURED
• HOW ARE DOCUMENTARIES STRUCTURED
• STRUCTURING YOUR STORY
• PUTTING YOUR IDEAS ON PAPER
• HOW WILL YOU PLAN
• 3 FILMING AND RECORDING GOOD SOUND
• PLANNING A VIDEO EXERCISES
• FILMING AND RECORDING GOOD SOUND
• HOW TO USE A CAMERA
• HOW TO USE A TRIPOD
• HOW TO USE LIGHTING
• HOW TO RECORD GOOD SOUND
• HOW DO YOU RECORD SOUND EFFECTS
• HOW TO INTERVIEW SOMEONE WELL
• DIFFERENT FILMING TECHNIQUES
• QUICK VIDEO REPORT CARTOON
• SHOOT MOBILE VIDEO REPORT CARTOON
• RECORDING SOUND EXERCISES
• 4 HOW TO EDIT
• HOW TO EDIT
• BASIC THEORY OF EDITING
• WORKING WITH VIDEO CLIPS
• EDITING EXERCISES
• 5 DISTRIBUTION
• MAKING VIDEOS AVAILABLE ONLINE
• DISTRIBUTION EXERCISES
• 6 LEGAL AND SAFETY ISSUES
• LEGAL AND SAFETY ISSUES
• WHAT LEGAL ISSUES SHOULD I CONSIDER
• DO I HAVE TO CONSIDER BOTH SIDES OF THE STORY
• CAN I USE MUSIC AND TV CLIPS
• WHO OWNS MY WORK
• HEALTH AND SAFETY RESPONSIBILITIES
• WHAT PRACTICAL STEP SHOULD I TAKE
• LEGAL AND SAFETY EXERCISES
• APPENDIX
• AUDIENCE WORKSHEET
• PROJECT SCHEDULE TEMPLATE
• BUDGET TEMPLATE
• VIDEO ROLE TEMPLATE
• ROLE DEFINITIONS
• SELECTION OF FILM GENRES
• NARRATIVE STRUCTURE PLOT POINTS
• SAMPLE VIDEO TREATMENT
• SCREENPLAY FORMAT
• CAMERA MOVEMENTS
• EXAMPLE OF DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT
• STORYBOARD TEMPLATE
• STORYBOARD TEMPLATE 2
• SHOT LIST
• EQUIPMENT TO CONSIDER
• AUDIENCE FEEDBACK QUESTIONAIRE
• PERSONAL APPEARANCE RELEASE
• LOCATION RELEASE FORM
• SAMPLE CREATIVE COMMONS LICENCE
• RISK ASSESMENT TEMPLATE

2.5 How Will You Put Your Idea Onto Paper?

Here are some of the many different ways you can prepare your idea for filming.

Text

Just like a novel you can write your story down as short or as long as you need. Bear in mind structure and the focus of your piece.

It may be useful to you, before going on to writing your script, to write what is called a ‘treatment’. A treatment serves two functions; the first is to make a record of the idea in written form. The second, and most important, function of a treatment is to communicate the idea to others. Before writing the treatment, it is useful to think about your intended audience (see next section) and then clearly define the objectives of your project (See sample in appendix).

The first part of a treatment should contain basic information regarding the film or video. This could include the group’s names, approximate target length for your video, genre (for example: comedy, horror, documentary etc.), the video format (type of videotape stock you will be using) and the intended audience. The main body of the project treatment contains the basic story concept, with little or no dialogue (this isn’t a script). The over-view should contain only significant highlights that convey the general concept and the project treatment should be brief and to the point - no more than around one page in total length. This is a useful way of focussing on your idea, communicating your project idea to others and, for professionals, is often used to interest producers in financing projects following the ‘pitch’ one-liner.

Scripting

The most well known way of putting down ideas, following a fairly formal format. It is worth learning the format as it helps divide aspects of the production into scenes, dialogue and instructions for camera and actors. (See the example in the appendix.)

Fiction

Just as in plays, films can begin with a script. This generally includes the words the actors are meant to speak, a breakdown of the characters and scene descriptions. If it is a detailed script it may also have directions for the actors, where they move to and even for the film crew like “CAMERA ZOOMS IN” or “We HEAR the door CREAK”. There are some conventions to fiction script formatting – for an example of a script including these elements, see the appendix.

Factual Programming

There is a new trend towards lifestyle programming like gardening, DIY or cookery which use the conventions of documentary but in a more light-hearted, less serious way.

Documentary

Documentary scripts follow a different format; ‘two-column’ scripts where video and audio material are placed in parallel columns. The left-hand side contains video information, with audio on the right. Every visual and audio element should be specified with full descriptions in the appropriate column. For an example of a two column documentary script, have a look in the appendix now.

The audio column can contain any kind of sound, speaking or music cues that are important to the meaning of the project. It can contain narration or a transcript of what people onscreen are saying, or at least their first and last words to use as cues to begin and end the shot.

This format has many variations and possibilities. Shots are usually given as a basic size, with perhaps some camera direction. The font is generally the same as with fiction scripts; 12 point Courier. In some cases, documentaries have already been shot when the script is written, simply for the purpose of pulling ideas together and seeing how they look. It is essential, if possible, to write a script for documentary, even if it is only an outline, so that you don’t start filming with little idea of the end result. Most documentaries work from an outline script or shooting script written ahead of filming. It is possible, however, to write your script after the documentary has been shot, which helps create the narrative of the video. It isn’t recommended to work without any idea of your final piece, though.

The format you choose may depend on the type of documentary you choose. A detailed script for a fly-on-the-wall documentary isn’t feasible because much of the camerawork will be event-led. In such instances it’s really a case of capturing the action and trying to ensure that there are sufficient cutaways and other material for the post-production processes. The same usually applies when shooting a talking head sequence, where the gist of what is to be said is probably known, but not the precise detail. However, material for later insertion (insert edit) in that sequence could be scripted after the interview.

Even in fly-on-the-wall documentaries there are still likely to be some scenes which will benefit from either a shooting script or much more detailed notes developed from your outline. For example, if you know you are going to film on a boat, and that prior to this the boat crew will engage in preparatory work getting ready to sail, you could at least make a note of what preparations you want to show.

With a dramatised documentary, where full directorial control can be exercised, then most things can be planned and scripted in advance. Storyboards can also be useful for documentary - see below.

Storyboarding

A storyboard, which doesn’t have to be elaborately drawn, showing the shots and required camera angles etc. may also help. This is especially so in a team shoot, where the director needs to ensure that the crew can set up the shots with a minimum of verbal instruction.

Storyboarding is the process of producing sketches of the shots of your script. The end result looks like a comic book of your project (without the speech bubbles). Ideal for describing framing and angles very specifically. You don’t need to be brilliant at drawing; stick figures will do although it helps to indicate which way characters are facing. Text underneath the frames helps explain it further and can indicate sound and camera movement.

Why do it?

It helps you think about how your film is going to look. You can work faster on set and, as pictures communicate better than words it will allow your colleagues to know which parts of the location are going to be in shot and understand how the overall project will look. It allows you to experiment quickly and cheaply, testing out different versions of how a scene may look and play on camera.

Storyboarding is especially useful for complex visual sequences e.g. elaborate shots or special effects sequences. There are a few conventions storyboard artists use to illustrate movement - whether it’s movement within the frame (actors walking) or the frame moving itself (camera panning etc.).

• Arrows - Suppose the camera is tracking in, following someone’s footsteps towards a flower. Draw in an arrow pointing into shot to show the camera’s movement. Now the person goes to pick the flower. Use an arrow to show the arm movement into shot. What about a zoom in as the flower is plucked? From each corner draw in arrows pointing to the centre, draw in a new smaller frame to show the end of the zoom. See Figure 2.5.

• The floating frame - What if you want to show the camera panning to show a cityscape, or following a character as they walk through an airport? There are two options here: 1) Illustrate one shot using more than one storyboard frame showing the key stages of the shot’s movement across a number of frames or 2) Draw out the entire scene (e.g. the horizon of a city) and place a frame on it with an arrow indicating the direction of movement.

 

Storyboarding tips

• Keep the area you have to draw small. It allows you to draw much faster. The pictures become more like doodles than works of art. Remember the point is to get an idea of how things will look on screen.
• Copy up a set of storyboard sheets so you don’t have to spend lots of time drawing screen boxes. See examples of sheets in the appendix.
• Sketch in pencil so you can make changes easily, then ink in for photocopying.
• Draw your basic characters and then photocopy them so you can cut and paste them.
• Scribble down short notes about what’s happening in shot (e.g. BOB enters) what characters are saying or sound effects (Roll of THUNDER).

Drawing storyboards is an excellent way to keep motivated, to keep organised and helps everyone understand the project. Storyboards aren’t there to constrain you - they are there to act as a useful tool for you to work from. If you want to change some aspects during production, then you still can. In the real situation you may see a new angle - go ahead, shoot it. Get the shots you need by checking your storyboard and give yourself the time and freedom to experiment.

Shot lists

Shot lists are like a description of the storyboard in its most detailed form. It is very handy for scheduling later on as similar shots (for example all those in the same location) can be scheduled side by side (out of sync with the story) for ease of filming. You can combine it with the storyboard, or write out a separate list to use during filming.

In a nutshell, a shot list is exactly what it implies. It is a list of shots you intend to take. It serves as a reminder during filming. Write down the shots you want to get during filming in a list and number them so that they can be quickly referred to on the shot list and during editing.

Some different shots can be labelled with letters, as they can be filmed as if one continuous shot then later cut into two or more to match your storyboard. For example, see ‘Scene 2’ in the sample shot list below - shots 2 and 2a can actually be filmed as one and then cut into two later in post-production. Also, shots in the same locations can be filmed at the same time, even if they don’t happen next to each other in the story. For example, scenes 1 and 3 below can both be filmed together as they both take place in the park. See 2.6 for more details on scheduling (there is a blank version for you to use in theappendix).