Writing a corporate video script 07/25/2010
"What job would you get when you graduate?" That's a question parents, concerned for our financial futures, are sure to ask. Now we have an answer to give them. We can be writers and directors for corporate video! Apparently this is a field much bigger than the television and movie industries, though the latter are the more ubiquitous in our daily lives. In fact, while would-be writers and directors dream of a break that will catapult them to fame and critical acclaim, some of them earn regular incomes by writing for or directing videos for the corporate world. There has been a constant need by corporations to project their messages visually to the public. From the silent film period to the present interactive and web-based media for, corporations have utilized video for different purposes. Companies use visual media, among others, their PR needs, to promote and market their products, to train and motivate their employees, to present data in meetings, and to build up their corporate image. But corporate video production is not quite known by the general public as its target are the internal and external audiences of companies. It is also not broadcast over free or cable channels, though corporate videos may come with products bought or uploaded to the companies' interactive online sites. And with the need for more markets and the emergence of new products, plus new platforms to present corporate videos, there is the continuing need for creative people to produce visual media messages for the communication needs of companies. How do we train ourselves to become effective writers for visual media in the corporate world? One thing we should keep foremost in our mind is to be client-oriented. We need to remind ourselves that we are writing for the needs of corporate managers. It is not our personal artistic vision we want to highlight but the communication needs of our clients. But we also are not there just to make money but to help our clients how to communicate to their publics. That is why we need to learn the more often than not unfamiliar subject matter and technical stuff our clients want us to transform into easily understood visual messages. In the process of learning, we also need to understand how our clients' businesses are run. We need to learn how our clients think and see the world. We can use the knowledge provided by SMEs or Subject Matter Experts that companies usually point us to for information. What this means for us is: writing a script for corporate video requires a lot of document research, interviews with multiple sources, field or site visits, and other prewriting activities before we can even visualize our message. And once we understand the message, our next hurdle is to sell our creative idea to our clients. Sometimes this can be a more difficult task, given the different language of our clients. While we express ourselves in creative terms, our clients think and talk the bottomline. They may be wary of the creative and artistic visions we propose to them, as they are used to straight talk. But if we learned enough in our research, we may find a way to translate our vision to them in a manner they would understand. (The Manipal University corporate video above is a case in point.) Our clients may easily understand our concept if we tell them we'll use the following devices: on-cam narrators or anchors to explain the message, interviews, case histories, vox pops, graphics, and show and tell. These are devices they might easily visualize and may be quite familiar with. But they may balk at our concept if we tell them we'll do some dramatization, or use humor, or provide a visual metaphor, adapt a television format (like a quiz show), follow a documentary format, use a lot of visually seductive shots, or do a story of a day. They may think we're being "too artistic" and may forget the message we're supposed to convey to their publics. But with constant client consultations, a must in writing and in the production of corporate video, we may be able to convince them of the soundness of our approach. We may be surprised how some clients would encourage this, especially when they see how our creative and innovative concept will effectively stamp the message in the minds of their publics. But don't let the creativity fool you. This is still a business proposition we are talking about. However imaginative we get, we still have the bottomline to consider. Take a training video, for instance. It's not enough to think, "A show and tell will work for this one." We actually have to do formative and summative evaluations, perhaps have focus groups or distribute questionnaires to a test audience. We may need to do a survey or interviews with our target audience to find out what they need to know more about a subject. Then we need to test if our concept or script will achieve the desired results. And if that isn't a challenge enough, we still have to consider the limited budget available for corporate video production (unless we're talking of global business conglomerates for clients). Add to that is our target audience's attention span. While some are captive audiences, especially if we're talking about a company's internal public or about training videos, we need to think of the amount of information they can absorb without tuning off (even as they pretend to watch our masterpiece). What is turning out to be a standard for corporate videos are 10- to 15-minute programs. We need to be visually creative in developing a concept for a script for a particular platform or for cross-platform projects (video and interactive online media, for example). One mistake beginners usually commit is to use wall-to-wall commentary or voiceovers in their scripts. Because they have a lot of information to deliver, the easy way out is by filling the right-hand side of the dual-column format (the standard in corporate video) with narration. They then fill up the left-hand side with the appropriate visuals to accompany the voiceover. This kind of writing yields boring videos that don't sell the message. We should think visuals first, and sometimes that may be all we need, plus some music and a bit of text (like that Hyundai video). The challenge then is to develop visually creative concepts based on our research, and to transform that concept into an equally exciting visual script that effectively conveys the desired message. And we definitely can be as creatively humorous as that Kodak "Winds of Change" promotional video, using the traditional on-cam anchor in a subversive way.  Add Comment Writing ads and PSAs 07/18/2010
Our first scriptwriting assignment is for an ad or public service announcement (PSA). We can choose a product or service a local business offers, or we can choose to promote a local organization's advocacy. This assignment poses a challenge for us as we have to figure out how to fit a message in a small amount of time (20-, 30- or 60-seconds), given that air time on TV is quite expensive. More than that, we also have to make our ad or PSA effective in delivering the message to our audience. And we have to make it as creative as possible to get our audience's attention. We know, of course, that doing these ads and PSAs for local TV are excellent training ground for us. Let's remember that Ridley Scott (of Black Hawk Down fame) and Brillante Mendoza (Kinatay) learned their chops doing the same stuff. Like them, we can start creating our complete play for TV or film with our ad or PSA. Unlike them, however, our task becomes especially challenging when we consider the small amount of time and the limited resources available for local TV production (we definitely won't have the same budget like the "Angel and Devil" softdrink ad above got). This challenge though will keep our creative juices flowing. But let's not forget that with such local ads or PSAs, usually commissioned work, our client's needs are paramount. It'll help us to do Friedmann's seven-step method for every ad or PSA project we do. Creativity and resourcefulness will really go a long way in meeting the challenge of doing local TV ads or PSAs. As PSA above shows, humor and imagination make up for the lack of high-end equipment and financial backing. Using a visual metaphor makes this PSA successful in keeping the audience's attention. We want to find out who will be the next to disappear with the passing van. And the humorous clincher at the end drives home the message. Just like writing ad copy for a billboard, we have to keep in mind that visual communication plays a major part in persuasion. It's really in the visuals, and not so much in the text or dialogue, where we can put that message across to our audience in 20- or 30- or 60-seconds time. And this could never be more true than in a script for an ad or PSA. That's why we come up with a storyboard for our clients to understand how we'll tell the world their message. Our clients need to see how our ad or PSA will look like on TV. And as we learned earlier on, doing a storyboard draft will also help us visually think out our script that we'll write using the dual-column format (usually applied for ads and PSAs). So let's get on with that ad or PSA. Thinking out a concept 07/17/2010
 Auguste Rodin's The Thinker Okay, we know the stages our script will have to go through. But how do we come up with a concept for a script? Particularly, a concept for a PSA or ad. Anthony Friedmann, in his Writing for Visual Media (2006), suggest his seven-step method of creative concept development. Chapter 4 is helpful, too, as it provides "case studies" of how concepts for PSAs (our first scriptwriting assignment) were developed. Here are Friedmann's tips: 1. We need to define the communication problem. That means deciding on the message we want to communicate. But that also entails knowing our target audience and our objectives. This basically means deciding on what we "need to show, tell, explain, attract, entertain, seduce, delight, or distract an audience" (Friedmann 49). Once we know what we need to do, and have an audience in mind, we can think of how that message would be successfully received by the audience. (Friedmann also warns us to make sure it's the communication problem, and not the social or marketing problem we're addressing.)  2. We need to fit our message to our target audience. To do this, we need to determine the demographics and psychographics of our audience. Demographics refers to our target audience's general age, gender, race/ethnic origin, education, income, and other characteristics that may help us write our script. But aside from the audience's demographics, it is equally important that we determine their psychographics. Understanding the audience's psychographics means taking into consideration the attitudes and mental outlook of groups of people. This will involve looking into their emotions, attitudes (receptive, hostile, indifferent) towards the subject and medium, attention span, and the amount of information our primary audience are usually able to digest at a given time. 3. Aside from defining the communication problem or the "what for" and the target audience or the "for whom," we also need to determine what we want to achieve through our concept. We need to define our objective or "why" we want our audience to be affected by our concept. Why do we want them to be motivated to think or feel one way or another, or why do we want them to act one way or another. To test if we have our objective on target, we can try to describe in a statement the result we want to achieve with our script. 4. Once we know the result we want to achieve, we can define the strategy to employ. We can use humor, a story, create suspense, use shock, sow intrigue, insert unique footage, have testimonials, or present a case history. Whatever strategy we decide on, we want to make sure that it will yield the result that we really desired. 5. We then try to translate this message to achieve a specific result from our target audience, using a particular strategy, by describing the content we'll put into the script. By content we mean exactly what visual elements we'll write into the frames we want the director to shoot. The key words here are: visual elements. 6. Of course, we also have to fit the visual content we envision with the medium we plan to use. Some visual media, like TV or multimedia, have specific conventions that determine what content works best. Should we include a detailed table or graph of numerical figures in our visuals for a 60-second TV ad, or would that work better in a multimedia slideshow? 7. Once we've answered the questions raised from Step 1 to 6 (what communication need? for whom? why? how? what to include? which medium?), we can now start writing our concept. The concept may read like a script, but is usually written in prose paragraphs rather than the dual-column or master scene formats. It presents a visual blueprint of your answers to Steps 1 to 6. Not sure if your concept will work? Try pitching it to someone. If it gains some interest, perhaps you may have something there. Prepping to write 07/10/2010
 So we're now ready to write that masterpiece, right? Our first assignment is to come up with a script for a Public Service Announcement (PSA) or an ad for a company and organization. What to project on that blank screen? But before we rush headlong into our writing, we need to know the stages we have to go through in developing our scripts. It might help us to read Chapters 3-5 of Friedmann's Writing for Visual Media (2006), where he outlines several steps we might find useful in developing our concept and our script for that PSA or ad. Friedmann tells us that once we have an idea for a script, we should first do our background research and investigation. This stage of script development is usually done anytime before we write our concept outline. This task involves gathering facts and background information on the concept we have in mind. It also entails doing interviews with people who may be able to provide data we usually cannot find in written sources. Another aspect of our research work entails collecting images (footages, stills, and graphics) we might be able to work into our scripts. It also includes searching for possible locations we can use as the setting for our story concepts. The latter two tasks of our research work will greatly help us in visualizing the story concept we have in mind. Which leads us to the second stage of our script development: coming up with a creative concept (Friedmann devotes the whole of Chapter 4 for this phase). What Friedmann considers important in formulating a creative concept is an imagination free from conventional ideas. He suggests we open our minds to different ways of visually thinking and writing our concepts. There is no fixed format for writing the concept. Some writers are able to come up with an intriguing one-sentence concept, others a paragraph or a page to present their idea of how the final script will look like. What a concept should achieve is to convince others (especially the client or producer) to invest in the project. Once we are able to translate our ideas into a concept, we're ready to move to the third stage of script development: the pitch or verbal presentation. Yes, verbal presentation. In other words, we need to "excite" our client or the producer in our concept. In order to do that, we need first of all to be convinced with our own concept. We're only able to persuade others to invest in our project if we ourselves are sold to it. Other than that, we need to hone our verbal skills in persuading other people. Once we get the client's or producer's consent (hopefully in the form of an advance), we're ready to write the treatment which is the next stage of our script development. The treatment outlines the narrative sequence of our story as expanded from the concept. It lays out the different scenes and fleshes out the characters as well as highlights the key moments in the forthcoming script. It also provides notes indicating where dialogue or voiceovers occur. The treatment is usually written in normal prose and always in the present tense, and usually presents a scene-by-scene outline of the storyline. If we're writing a script for a television series, we usually call the treatment as the beat sheet. Once the client or producer has given the OK for our treatment, we're ready to move on the sixth stage of script development: writing the first draft. We use either the master scene or dual-column format, following industry convention, that will serve as the blueprint for visual and audio production. Using either of the two formats and the specialized language for writing scripts and screenplays, we write down shot-by-shot or scene-by-scene the story we want to tell. We write this in the present tense. Friedmann suggests that we make sure the voice narration or dialogue use language that is "clear, complements the image, matches the character or subject matter, is pronounceable or speakable, and is suitable for the target audience" (2006: 44). We then present our first draft for inputs from the producer, director, actors, and other people who may have a say in translating our written work into visual form. This seventh stage of script development is where we revise our first draft according to the inputs from other personnel involved in the project. Revision doesn't mean checking for spelling and grammar (which should have been done before presentation). Rather, it means rearranging some scenes or throwing out scenes and dialogue that turns out to be unnecessary. It might also mean writing in new scenes. We always need to remember that writing a script or a screenplay is collaborative work, with us writers respecting the inputs from other people who will transform our work into its final visual form. Once we've revised the draft or drafts of the script, we're now ready to hand over our final draft. This eighth stage of script development marks the end of our work as writers. We may or may not (as is often the case) be called in to do some rewrites, but technically and contractually the final draft ends our task as writers. We trust, however, that our script is in good hands. Our script is then transformed by the director into a shooting script that breaks down our final draft into shots and camera setups with detailed directions for camera angles. Because our work is done, we leave that part of the job to the director and cinematographer just as we leave it to the actors to make our characters come alive onscreen. The movie in our mind 07/03/2010
 Storyboard sample by Pelotica The best way to present the story we have in mind is through storyboards. We can start out by sketching our story in frames. It doesn't have to be great art. It can be like notes we write in the margins, something that will remind us of what we want to achieve in our script. Storyboarding also helps us to write our script the way we want the cinematographer or videographer and director to shoot the scenes we have in our head. We need to make them "see" what we imagine just by reading our scripts or screenplays. Drafting a storyboard for ourselves will help us translate "the movie in our mind" to the written page. Our knowledge of the specialized language we've learned (like VLS, LS, MS, CU, CUT, SUPER, SFX, PAN, TILT, etc.) will come in handy too. Of course, we don't want to describe too much of the shots we imagine. After all, we don't want to turn off the cinematographer and director by preempting their part of this collaborative work. We just give them what they'll need to "see" how we imagine the story. And if we write our scripts right, they'll get us excited as we are when they read how we write our shots, scenes, sequences, and acts. But first we have to imagine our story right. And so back to storyboarding basics. How do we imagine in a concrete way the scenes we have in our head? Russel Evans, in his book Practical DV Filmmaking (2006), suggests we do the following things in our storyboard. Yes, even if these frames are just notes we make for ourselves to guide our writing.
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MEDA 112Media Arts 112 or "Writing for Video/Television" is a three-unit course that trains students to write for different visual media formats. Students taking the course should have passed MEDA 101. ArchivesAugust 2010 CategoriesAll .
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