Writing the Script

In the class that goes along with this project, Documentary Production, we briefly talked about writing the script. Basically there are two types that could be used for a documentary.

There is a single column script, better known as a "film script" and then there is a two column script.

A film script looks something like this...


This film script is compliments of Waggish.org If you are the author and would like me to remove it please email me at lniecg72@mercyhurst.edu

Film scripts are very fun to write, but very hard to write for a documentary style film, especially when you do not have all of your interviews completed. This is because a single column Film Script only allows text and no pictures. Therefore I would have to try my best to predict the scenery of the interviews, and what the interviewees are going to say in their answers. If I couldn't write a lot about what I thought they would say and what the image was going to look like I would have a very short unclear script.

Luckily the storyboard I started during a group work day looked exactly like a two column script ready to be made for this documentary. First I printed the half complete storyboard I had originally typed into my computer. Then I started adding more cells to the story board, drawing in little pictures to create a vision and adding ideas for audio to make it flow.

When I was done drawing in all of the pictures, and wrapping up the story, I went back to my computer and filled in the blank table. This time I went through the entire video column and added "Roll Graphic, Name, Year etc." in each of the blocks that I want to add a graphic to.

Blogger does not allow you to post PDF files so I uploaded the file to my Professional Website, so if you would like to read my whole script you will have to click the link below. Sorry for the inconvenience.

CLICK HERE TO GO SEE MY SCRIPT AS OF TODAY!! (IN PDF FORMAT)

A graphic could be any still image or text to go in place of the video, or compliment the video. Usually used as a title or a name.

For this documentary our group has decided to add a small graphic in the lower right or lefthand corner with the name and title of each interviewee, or the name and year of the performance.

A common mistake that most beginning filmmakers make is having the graphic up too many times or for too long.

The graphic only needs to be up for about as long as it takes to read through it twice.

If you show the same person more than once you do not need to show the graphic every time. I have learned that you should show a graphic text once every four to five time someone appears on screen.

The next part of the script writing process for me is going to be searching for and selecting B-Roll video I would like to use.

Since we are going to have a limited number of interviews we have decided to make the documentary more exciting by adding several clips of past programs in the PAC's history but we have yet to find any to add.

See You Next Time!

Ailey II

So right after our first meeting with Ellia, we learned that the last big show of the Performing Arts Center was going to be in two days. The program was Ailey II, a dance show from the popular New York City dance company of Alvin Ailey. This gave our group an excellent chance to get good footage.

During the day the Ailey II dancers did a dress rehearsal and they invited students from Mercyhurst Prep School to watch and even participate. I was not there myself but John, our videographer was, and he got almost an hour and a half of great footage of the dance company and student interaction.

Later on that night the Ailey II dancers went on stage and did their performance. Me and three other group members went to film the show and get some interviews with the audience members during intermission. The publicist said that we could film the show for B-roll, but when we got there they said that they had changed their mind. At first I was upset because I thought that gave us a chance to get some great footage, but instead it made us rely on the audience members and what they had to say. Before the show we got a chance to interview these two guys who are always dressed in outrageous outfits riding a tandem bicycle around campus. Their names are Jesse and Ricardo and they love the arts and being cultured. During the interview they gave so many good answers that would fit perfectly for the documentary. Unfortunately I did not have a tripod with me, so I had to film by hand, and I forgot to charge my camera so we had to stay near a wall outlet when filming. This did not ruin the shots, but they did not turn out as nicely as they could have. Either way the audio from the interview will provide me with some great sound bites to add to B-roll.

A sound bite is just like a VO except it is not narrated it is captured from another source, like an interview or just the natural sound from the background.

Sound bites should not be shorter than 7 seconds or longer than 13 seconds. There is nothing worse in a documentary than endless amounts of talking with no B-roll so please if you are going to have a long sound bite, break it up with lots of good various B-roll.

After we interviewed Jesse and Ricardo we interviewed a few dancers, a long friend of the D’Angelos and several students. Everyone gave us so many great answers that it will be hard to end the documentary at 30 minutes.

Here is a video of the awesome Ailey II dance company. Like I said before I was not allowed to film any of the show, so instead I grabbed this from Youtube.



This video was not filmed by me. I found it on Youtube, on the AileyOrganization channel.