Condensed from a workshop by Amy DeLouise for video producers at GVExpo.

1. Amy DeLouise @brandbuzz GV Expo 18
HOW TO SCRIPT:
BEST PRACTICES FOR
WRITING YOUR VIDEO
Video examples from live
presentation have been removed

2. Today
 Defining Goals
 The Act of Writing
 Story Infrastructure
 Narrative Arc
 Writing Tools & Strategies
 Scripting for Animation
 Scripting for Interviews: Workflow
from Pre-Interview to Post

3. PLANNING YOUR STORY

4. How We Learn
Observation
Attention
Retention
Reproduction
Motivation
Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory

5. How We Learn
 “Narrative
transportation”
 Empathy
 Proximity to content
 Identification with
characters
 Emotions experienced

6. Creative Brief
 Identifies goals
 Audience
 Scenes
 Style
 Schedule
 Budget
 Approvals

7. Develop Your Own Process
 Where you write matters
 When you write matters
 How you write matters
 Don’t start with a blank page
 Creative Brief
 Goals
 Outline!
 Writing Prompts

8. Outlining
 Just do it.
 Formal or informal.
 Tools:
 https://workflowy.com/ - for outlining
 https://evernote.com/ - for compiling research
 Or just use a napkin. As long as you do it!

9. STORY INFRASTRUCTURE@brandbuzz

10. Know Your Characters
 Not too many
 3-4 max in a 5-minute piece, 1 protagonist best
 5-6 characters in long form
 A company or product might be a character
 Setting can also be a character
 Primary character v. supporting or validators

11. Supporting Characters
 “Validators” audience can relate to
 Someone who can serve as narrator
 An authority on the subject
 Expert, physician, historian, author, etc.
 Not a requirement if a strong main voice

12. Pre-Interviews Matter
 Conduct by phone if possible
 Record with permission
 Gives you a personal connection before you meet
 Gives you a sense of the narrative flow
 Know the obstacles in advance
 Develop asset lists and shot lists

13. Define Your Style
 Doc vs Commercial
 Cutty vs Deliberate
 Animated vs Live Action
 Re-enactments
 Archival materials
 Music and Audio considerations

14. Determine Setting
 Location informs the story
 Establishing shots and interview settings
 Pro’s and Con’s of Green-screen
 Example: Safety Dance
 Solving an issue of setting AND characters
 Achieving an educational goal

15. Define POV
 Protagonist
 First-person interviews
 Narrator
 Combo
 Example

16. NARRATIVE ARC@brandbuzz

17. Story Arc
17
For nonfiction,
have a plan,
but be
flexible!

18. Story Arc
18
The Hook and
the Climax
are related.
(Hook hints at
Climax)

19. Hook
 Pulls in the viewer
 Connects to the climax
 Many options:
 A fast-paced visual montage
 An aerial shot zooming into main character
 Audio without picture, setting the scene

20. Exposition
 Introduce characters
 Gives the back-story
 Quick ramp-up for the viewer

21. Challenge
 Obstacle to be overcome
 For corporate…
 For nonprofits…
 For docs…
 For a profile…

22. Climax
 Turning point
 Character changes his/her mind
 Character takes action
 Something critical changes
 Hoarder decides to start unloading baggage (for ex)
 Volunteer makes a decision to get involved
 Drug addict decides to go into treatment
 Customer purchases product and uses it for the first time

23. Conclusion
 Wrap up loose ends
 May contain a Call to Action
 May contain an embedded link

24. SCRIPT WORKFLOW

25. Key Elements of Shooting Script
 Time of Day
 Locations
 Scenes
 Settings
 Dialogue or talking points
 Interstitial elements

27. Key Elements of Editing Script
 Script Notes
 Timecode/Transcript Selects
 Time of Day timecode can help match up to
shoot log
 B-roll options
 Interstitial elements options

28. Managing the Rewrite
 When to involve
 Decision-makers
 Focus groups
 Production team
 Post team
 Using goals to
navigate challenges

29. Animation Workflow
 Creative Brief- Story Goals, Look, Style Frames
 Proof of Concept – Animated Style Frames
 Keyframes Tied to Key Moments in Script
 Revisions to Keyframes
 Audio track locked
 Animating begins

31. Interview Workflow
 Conduct Pre-Interviews at least 2 wks prior to shoot
 Record Pre-Interview (with permission)
 Map out story arc
 Reverse engineer interview questions
 Consider other platforms/versions
 Elicit “evergreen” answers
 When and how to share your questions

32. Interview Workflow
 Transcripts
 Highlight best takes
 Embed PDF w/footage for future needs
 First draft—all in
 Later drafts—delete, delete, delete
 Respect interview content/tone, even when editing

33. Transcript Tools
 Builder by Lumberjack (FCP)
 LumberjackSystem.com/builder.html
 Transcriptives (PP) $299
 https://store.digitalanarchy.com/vi
deoplugins/263-transcriptive.html
 Speechmatics – AI - .08/min
 Human Transcribers - $1-2/min
 Discern accents
 Recognize acronyms
 Noble Transcription

35. Wrapping Up@brandbuzz

36. What We’ve Covered
 Know Your Story Goals
 Build Your Story Infrastructure
 Create a Narrative Arc
 Use Tools to Help You
 Define Script-to-Screen Workflow
 Have Fun!

37. www.amydelouise.com
Thanks! Please tweet about @brandbuzz