Careers in Television and Video: Producing a Video Project and Script Development

Although producing an entire project is beyond any entry-level position in a film, television or video career, in this segment we will concentrate on producing a small budget (if any) project. In terms of a local market, these projects would be safety, corporate, instructional, informative and promotional productions of more than three minutes in length. Let us imagine that you are the manager of a public information department wanting to produce an informational video, highlighting what the corporation does. You are given a small limited budget to complete the project, as usual. After researching prices of local video production companies, it becomes apparent it would be too expensive to pay them to fully produce the video. This will require a more hands-on approach on your part to stay within your budget.

You decide to use the in-house A/V department to keep costs down, and you will also direct the actual taping. The undertakings and responsibilities of a producer will vary, depending on the project. The producer is the person that makes it happen. They usually conceptualize the idea, and manage the project from inception to finished product. Sometimes grants are available for additional funding, which means a producer may have to write several grant proposals, or hire a grant writer. For this project, you only have your limited budget to work with, oh well. Depending on their resources and how much time the producer has to devote to the project, they may delegate tasks like script writing, obtaining talent releases, music rights, etc. to others. Sometimes a producer has to roll up their sleeves and do everything themselves, a notable requirement in your case. Having fun so far? Here are some tips to help make it easier on you, keep costs to a minimum, and stay within your budget.

Every production is different, but even the most simplest requires planning. First you will need a script. If possible, do most of the script development yourself. Later in this segment we will look closer into script development. Outline the major points you want to feature, and place them in a logical order. Research and prepare as much written content as you can before seeking professional rewrite consultations, if that is allotted in the budget. In any event, writing a script requires many hours and will take up most of the pre-production time, but the time put into a script is worth the effort. The final script will make or break your project. Incorporate opening dialogue, transitional dialogue sequences, and closing summations into the actual content of information you have previously researched and prepared. Keep in mind that your script is the story. The dialogue should flow from point to point with ease, always mindful of the viewer's attention.

After you have the final script, it does not end there. You will need to develop a written screenplay, describing the camera shots you have assigned to each scene in the script, whether it has dialogue or not. Assign each camera shot a number, and indicate where the scene will take place. Let us say that your video will feature three locations, the intake department, process and shipment departments. In your screenplay you can notate each location as A, B, and C respectively. Each camera shot in the scene will then be assigned a number. For example scene B-0012: LS, a long shot of the actors, which takes place in the process department. How many actors there are, what they are doing or saying, is further noted after this entry. A simple project may require someone just speaking to the camera, often called a 'talking head', but you want your video to be more visually interesting than that. You decide to incorporate dramatizations and full screen graphics along with the talking heads.

You envision opening titles, establishing shots and a host to guide the viewer through the three topics. Included will be short dramatizations with no sound, of what the host is describing. In your video it will be much easier during taping (production) to have volunteers act out their part, rather than have spoken dialogue. This is just a suggestion, and is something to consider for a new producer. If time constraints will be an issue during the actual taping, it might be beneficial to limit spoken parts on-camera, especially if inexperienced actors are being used. You can hold rehearsals (more time), but in this case you will be using volunteer actors. Realistically, they will not have much time for rehearsals during the day while performing their regular job duties. If you still want to give them speaking parts, limit their part to a sentence or two. This will help to alleviate multiple takes when taping. The more you give them to say in one take, the more they will make mistakes. If the scene requires a long speaking part, break the dialogue up by changing camera shots every few sentences.

After this, a shooting schedule needs to be charted. This is a schedule to make the actual taping run more smoothly, and is where numbering each scene and camera shot becomes extremely valuable. Your project requires three locations and involves several on-camera talents. These hurdles will be dictated by location access, and the personal convenience of everyone involved. Most projects are not recorded in sequence, and are usually taped out of order. For example, depending on the location and everyone's schedule, your last scene may be shot first, your middle scene shot second, and so on. It is just part of the process. This is where a shooting schedule becomes important in helping you to manage the overall production process. Do not forget that anyone recognizable in the video should sign a talent release, even if they are coworkers. This is written permission to use their image in your project. If you are taping at a location, a property release may also be required. In this case you will be taping in-house, so a property release is not needed. After everything is taped you will review what you have, and put it back together in order during editing, adding titles, credits, music and related graphics.

Here are some tips to help your production run more smoothly. You do not need professional actors, but choose people that are knowledgeable with the subject and comfortable in front of a camera. Give them a copy of the final script as soon as it is complete, so that they are familiar with what they are supposed to say. Sometimes they may be knowledgeable enough to give you the information without a lot of script preparation. Later, you can use whatever recorded portions you need in editing. Prepare the information required for on-screen titles, graphic information and credits well ahead of time. This will make the video editor very happy, and will help to remain on speaking terms with them. Also have whoever will be editing the piece prepare any needed full screen graphics in advance, if possible for your approval. You may even prepare your own in PowerPoint or a graphic program. Check for spelling. Give your project a title, and keep track of names of those who helped. Compile a list of everyone involved, and those you would like to thank in chronological order. Again, this is to help keep the editor happy. If you require images, music, video clips etc., make sure you have the legal right to use them. Educational and government productions may have limited rights for some things. Investigate what rights you have, or will require purchasing. Stay on top of things and keep well organized. While this all may first appear overwhelming, with proper planning a producer can fully accomplish their objectives with ease. It just depends on how ambitious the project is, and how much time and money you have to accomplish it. You may have to scale-down your idea to cut costs and time, and/or you may need to pay for assistance in certain areas. Anything is possible.

Tips for Developing Scripts

Most people do not realize that writing the script actually takes longer than video taping the project itself. With a proper shooting schedule, the taping may only take a few days. Scripts on the other hand, might take several months depending on your schedule. You probably will not have an experienced scriptwriter around, so you may decide to take on the duties yourself. If this is the case, you should keep in mind that above all, your script is a story. It has a beginning, middle, and an end. Whether it is a safety video or a training tape, the script should reflect the information that is required, and must also be visually interesting. Remember, you are writing a script for video. You must also think in those terms when typing out the words. What images will you need for the line of text you are writing? Will those images require actors, locations, graphics, costumes or props? These will be things to consider when you are writing your script. Start with an outline of the main topics that you want to cover. From there, develop each idea in more detail. You may be planning to let a knowledgeable person give the information on-camera. In these cases, the script is developed after the taping is done, and you will be working with more of an outline.

When each topic is developed, you will need opening dialogue to introduce the viewer to the subject matter that will be covered. You will also need closing dialogue to summarize what the viewer has been informed. Transitional dialogue between each topic will be necessary. Transitional dialogue summarizes the topic given, and introduces the next one. This dialogue helps to define the overall tone of your program, so it is important text. It is just a question of style. There are a variety approaches you may take. Even if you consider the subject matter to be dry, this should not stop you from including interesting elements into your script. Viewer attention should always be considered. You do not need eye-popping special effects to do this, but a visual approach does have its advantages. For example, using transitional dialogue to better define and summarize the topic. This helps to cut down on long technical narratives. Using full screen graphics with written key points, increases viewer participation. If your budget allows, you might consider writing in dramatizations or demonstrations. An inexpensive way of making your video more interesting is by using a variety of camera shots in your screenplay. All of these techniques help in retaining the viewer's attention. Timing is another matter. Most projects can get their point across in twenty minutes or less. Time yourself as you read the script out loud. Read the script slower than you normally would, and allow for image transitions or visual montages. Avoid redundancy, and hone the text down to only essential dialogue and information. Keep in mind that some dialogue may have to be reworked later on, because what you write may not sound right when the actor or narrator reads it aloud. It happens. Above all, develop your script so that it makes logical sense. Include opportunities to increase and retain viewer attention, maybe even entertaining them.