You will be writing the script for a YouTube video running between three and seven minutes in length. You will need to write the script in proper format, and then film the video, uploading it to your youtube account.
You will be marked based on the quality of not only your script, but also that of your recording. So do not write something you do not feel you have the skill to create.
What will the script be about?
Well here’s the thing – the script… it can be about anything you want, so long as it is school appropriate. You know what this means, and as such you will stay within that guideline. Nothing – icky – alright?
Tell me more!Very well then. I will tell you that this does not have to be a visual script. This could be a script for a movie if you’d like – it could also be a t.v. show – you could script an internet video… or you could script a radio drama (which somehow needs to come together visually in the end... people reading with folio artists perhaps?), which has the potential to be quite interesting.
Just think of all the scripts there might be, and then clear it with me if it is more ‘experimental’. But don’t assume you can’t do it, just because it’s not listed here.
So what will you be learning?
Writing Dialogue
Recording your work
Editing tools
Using a script for many forms
Getting your work ‘out there’
Start ‘er UpSo here you are, about to embark on the script writing quest, but what will you create? And why would you spend your time creating it? Do you even have a story that you want to tell?
Well I’ll let you know right now – if you don’t have a clear direction in mind, your script is going to be a cluster f………………….orm. A cluster form. Yes, and you don’t want that. You want it to be more stream lined. Have a clear idea of where you are going, and how you want to get there.
Also important is to realize the materials you have to work with. Do you have multiple people in your script? That's fine - provided you can get people to act for you. Do you need special effects? Again, that's ok so long as you can create them.
“Joss Whedon is most famous for creating Buffy the Vampire Slayer, its spin-off Angel and the short-lived but much-loved Firefly series. But the writer and director has also worked unseen as a script doctor on movies ranging fromSpeed to Toy Story. Here, he shares his tips on the art of screenwriting.
1. FINISH IT
Actually finishing it is what I’m gonna put in as step one. You may laugh at this, but it’s true. I have so many friends who have written two-thirds of a screenplay, and then re-written it for about three years. Finishing a screenplay is first of all truly difficult, and secondly really liberating. Even if it’s not perfect, even if you know you’re gonna have to go back into it, type to the end. You have to have a little closure.
2. STRUCTURE
Structure means knowing where you’re going; making sure you don’t meander about. Some great films have been made by meandering people, like Terrence Malick and Robert Altman, but it’s not as well done today and I don’t recommend it. I’m a structure nut. I actually make charts. Where are the jokes? The thrills? The romance? Who knows what, and when? You need these things to happen at the right times, and that’s what you build your structure around: the way you want your audience to feel. Charts, graphs, coloured pens, anything that means you don’t go in blind is useful.
3. HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY
This really should be number one. Even if you’re writing a Die Hard rip-off, have something to say about Die Hard rip-offs. The number of movies that are not about what they purport to be about is staggering. It’s rare, especially in genres, to find a movie with an idea and not just, ‘This’ll lead to many fine set-pieces’. The Island evolves into a car-chase movie, and the moments of joy are when they have clone moments and you say, ‘What does it feel like to be those guys?’
4. EVERYBODY HAS A REASON TO LIVE
Everybody has a perspective. Everybody in your scene, including the thug flanking your bad guy, has a reason. They have their own voice, their own identity, their own history. If anyone speaks in such a way that they’re just setting up the next person’s lines, then you don’t get dialogue: you get soundbites. Not everybody has to be funny; not everybody has to be cute; not everybody has to be delightful, and not everybody has to speak, but if you don’t know who everybody is and why they’re there, why they’re feeling what they’re feeling and why they’re doing what they’re doing, then you’re in trouble.
5. CUT WHAT YOU LOVE
Here’s one trick that I learned early on. If something isn’t working, if you have a story that you’ve built and it’s blocked and you can’t figure it out, take your favourite scene, or your very best idea or set-piece, and cut it. It’s brutal, but sometimes inevitable. That thing may find its way back in, but cutting it is usually an enormously freeing exercise.
6. LISTEN
When I’ve been hired as a script doctor, it’s usually because someone else can’t get it through to the next level. It’s true that writers are replaced when executives don’t know what else to do, and that’s terrible, but the fact of the matter is that for most of the screenplays I’ve worked on, I’ve been needed, whether or not I’ve been allowed to do anything good. Often someone’s just got locked, they’ve ossified, they’re so stuck in their heads that they can’t see the people around them. It’s very important to know when to stick to your guns, but it’s also very important to listen to absolutely everybody. The stupidest person in the room might have the best idea.
7. TRACK THE AUDIENCE MOOD
You have one goal: to connect with your audience. Therefore, you must track what your audience is feeling at all times. One of the biggest problems I face when watching other people’s movies is I’ll say, ‘This part confuses me’, or whatever, and they’ll say, ‘What I’m intending to say is this’, and they’ll go on about their intentions. None of this has anything to do with my experience as an audience member. Think in terms of what audiences think. They go to the theatre, and they either notice that their butts are numb, or they don’t. If you’re doing your job right, they don’t. People think of studio test screenings as terrible, and that’s because a lot of studios are pretty stupid about it. They panic and re-shoot, or they go, ‘Gee, Brazil can’t have an unhappy ending,’ and that’s the horror story. But it can make a lot of sense.
8. WRITE LIKE A MOVIE
Write the movie as much as you can. If something is lush and extensive, you can describe it glowingly; if something isn’t that important, just get past it tersely. Let the read feel like the movie; it does a lot of the work for you, for the director, and for the executives who go, ‘What will this be like when we put it on its feet?’
9. DON’T LISTEN
Having given the advice about listening, I have to give the opposite advice, because ultimately the best work comes when somebody’s fucked the system; done the unexpected and let their own personal voice into the machine that is moviemaking. Choose your battles. You wouldn’t get Paul Thomas Anderson, or Wes Anderson, or any of these guys if all moviemaking was completely cookie-cutter. But the process drives you in that direction; it’s a homogenising process, and you have to fight that a bit. There was a point while we were making Firefly when I asked the network not to pick it up: they’d started talking about a different show.
10. DON’T SELL OUT
The first penny I ever earned, I saved. Then I made sure that I never had to take a job just because I needed to. I still needed jobs of course, but I was able to take ones that I loved. When I say that includes Waterworld, people scratch their heads, but it’s a wonderful idea for a movie. Anything can be good. Even Last Action Hero could’ve been good. There’s an idea somewhere in almost any movie: if you can find something that you love, then you can do it. If you can’t, it doesn’t matter how skilful you are: that’s called whoring.”
[ source:
http://dannystack.blogspot.com/2009/01/joss-whedons-top-10-writing-tips.html]
Written WorkOpen up a word file, and get to writing. Before you start working on the script, you'll need to do a few things. First, I want you to look at the list of ten things Joss Wheadon said, and write a sentence explaining why each idea is a good one.
Next, I want you to pick the idea you agree with most, and write a paragraph explaining why it's so important, and how you can use it in your own work.
Finally, I want you to pick the idea you disagree with most. The one where you're thinking, really Joss? Really? And then write about why you disagree with it.
Next - it's time to start brain storming script ideas, and get to writing.
Final PointsYou're going to need to understand script writing and formatting. Give this a look over, and check out the link below. It's your responsibility to know and understand these concepts / ideas.
Script Writing 2. Writing DialogueStep one to script writing is learning how to properly format your script. For some of the best advice in this regard please check out the good people at Script Frenzy. http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/howtoformatascreenplay
There, now that that’s out of the way we can start looking at how to create good strong dialogue. What is it that separates fantastic scripts from those that just get heaped on the pile destined to be forever forgotten, or used as kindling on cold winter nights?
Tip 1:This is going to seem obvious, and very insulting. But it’s also the most important, so really pay attention. Your scripted voice needs to sound like a real person. Yes, it’s true – when you write, you need to write as if you were talking.
Now, if you want a slight example of that, just check out how I’ve been writing these handouts, or these blog entries (depending on what source you’re reading this from.) When I write these, I do so in my own voice. I think it’s quite easy to imagine that I’m actually saying these words. However if I broke it down just a little to:
When writing, ensure you use proper formatting. Information on this can be found at the following address. Another important aspect of script writing is conversational dialogue. This is best achieved when…
Do you see the difference? Do you feel how that changed just a wee bit? Well – if you notice your script coming off strained like that (i.e. you could never imagine talking to a good friend with that voice) you need to cut, edit, or rewrite. I’ll leave that choice to you!
Tip 2:Good fast paced dialogue. Gilmore Girls was fantastic at sharp, smart dialogue. In fact, they had such fast paced back and forth dialogue that their scripts averaged being twice as long as other scripts for similar length television shows.
Real conversations hardly ever occur in paragraphs. Just when people lecture. And that’s rarely fun or entertaining. In real life people interrupt, talk over, and ambush. Work these ideas into your script if you want it to feel organic.
Tip 3:Embrace the grey section of reality. There is no right, as there is no wrong. Try to keep your dialogue headed in that direction.Think of the show Lost, or Battlestar Galactica. You will watch one episode and completely agree with a character, fully hating the other. Then the next episode you’ll have everything switched around on you. You’ll be backing one, while hating the other.What craziness is this?
Clearly, it’s because you’re seeing things from different sides. You’re expanding your horizons. This is what a good script does. By all means, allow yours to do it too.
