Beginning
your Video Story
When you start your video project, there are several steps
you must take before getting into production. They are: Developing
your Story Idea, Storyboards and Script writing.
Elements
of a video/television story
As you watch news and feature reports on television, you will
notice that many different elements are used in the reports.
They include:
- Stand-ups. A reporter at the scene of a news report.
It could be a live report or is sometimes used at the beginning
and end of a story or package.
- Voice overs consist of news copy read by a reporter
while edited video is shown on the screen.
- Graphics can help make stories easier to understand.
These include statistics, or a photo with a written description
or statement.
- Natural sound is used to enhance authenticity for
the pictures seen and the words heard.
- The term Packages relates to a complete, self-contained
report. It uses a combination of graphics, voice-overs, an standups.
Developing
your story idea.
What kind of stories
make good video?
1. |
School activities such as Aids Awareness Days, Sports, Drama,
etc. |
2. |
Profile of your school or unique/special school program. |
3. |
A Tour of your town or tourist attraction. |
4. |
Career Profile -interview a doctor, teacher or journalist. |
5. |
A Day in the Life. It's another way of doing a Career Profile.
Following a person through a typical day. |
6. |
A dramatic piece. As an individual or group program, you could
develop a story focussed on a key teen issue: career options,
leaving home, drinking, smoking, dating, teen images.....etc. |
Once you have your topic, brainstorm about it. Who to talk
with? What visuals to use? Interview ideas? Where to find information?
Storyboard
Once you have your idea, you need
to develop an outline of your story. It can be as simple as stating
the shots you want, the intro and closing. Or for a feature story
on your community it can outline each visual image, a voice over
to each scene, etc.
A storyboard is a visual script for your story. It is a guide,
a plan and a blueprint from which you will direct you story.
It is taking your ideas and translating them into visual images.
You do it by providing both a visual description and a written
description.
You save countless hours of uneccesary shooting and editing
by doing a storyboard. If you plan it all out in advance you
don't have to worry about wasting time shooting footage you will
never use.
There are four things that a storyboard does for you. First,
it is a way to work out and discuss your ideas. Second, is a
visualization of how your story will look. Third, it is a description
of how the story is sequenced and put together, and fourth, it
is a step by step guide to making and shooting your story.
To create a storyboard, you should follow three basic steps.
- Analyze (break down) your story into its component parts.
- Evaluate and choose what shots you need for your story.
- Synthesis - the process of developing and putting your project
together.
Developing a storyboard
- Put your shots and scenes of your storyboard in an order
that tells your story clearly.
- Plan your story so that the visual images and the script
can be clearly understood by reading your storyboard.
- Plan your film in the most interesting and appealing way
possible for the audience.
- Plan not only what happens in each shot, but also how fast
or how slow you want it to happen.
- Eliminate unnecessary or repetitive shots and add missing
shots. Cut long boring shots and break them down into shorter
more interesting shots.
- Make sure there is a smooth, clear, logical flow from shot
to shot and scene to scene.
Another thing you may want to do, especially in a feature
video, is indicate underneath your pictures the kind of camera
movement that you want such as pan, zooming in and zooming out
and whether the movement is actual or apparent.
Script
writing for television/video
When you watch the news on television, you will see different
styles of news reports. One style focuses mainly on interviews
and discussions. They are generally called semi-scripted stories.
They resemble a basic outline, indicating where the interview
is to be placed, an introduction (which could be a standup by
the reporter or graphic) and a closing (either by the reporter,
a voice over or again a graphic).
The second style is called fully-scripted stories.
These stories list the complete audio and video for every minute
of the story. This would include a dramatic story, a documentary
or feature story. In a fully scripted show the overall content,
balance, pace and timing can all be figured out before the production
starts.
Keep in mind that writing for the electronic media is not
the same as writing for print. Those who write for print enjoy
some advantages that their counterparts in radio and TV don't
have. For example, a reader can go back and reread a sentence.
If a sentence is not understood in a TV production, the meaning
is lostor worse, the listener is distracted for some time
trying to figure out what was said.
Here are some tips for writing a television/video script:
1. |
Assume a conversational tone by using short sentences and an
informal, approachable style. The active voice is preferred over
the inactive voice, nouns and verbs are preferred over adjectives,
and specific words are preferred over general words. |
2. |
Engage your audience emotionally, make them care about both the
people and content of your production. |
3. |
Provide adequate logical structure. Let viewers know where you
are going, which points are key concepts, and when you are going
to change the subject. |
4. |
Flow of story: You need to give the viewer a chance to process
each idea before moving on to the next. If you move too rapidly,
you'll lose your audience; too slowly, and you'll bore them.The
best approach in presenting crucial information is to first signal
the viewer that something important is coming up. Next, present
the information as simply and clearly as possible. Then reinforce
the point through repetition, or with an illustration or two. |
5. |
If a script is packed with too many facts, or the information
is not clearly presented, the viewer will become confused, lost,
and frustrated. |
6. |
Give your audience a chance to digest one concept before moving
on to another. |
7. |
Keep in mind that the average viewer has internal and external
distractions, preconceptions, etc., which get in the way of the
communication process. |
Correlating video and audio
Ensuring your video and audio match is a crucial ingredient
in video reporting. One way to do this not to just describe the
pictures, but ensure your words aren't so far removed from what
is being seen that you split viewer attention.
Even though you will want audio and video to relate, watch
out for audio that states the obvious.