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Scripts - how do you do them?

Video / Image editing, advanced techniques, computer settings, third party software, shortcuts, workarounds ... share your tips and tricks here.

Scripts - how do you do them?

Postby Ron Hunter » Tue Apr 07, 2015 12:24 pm

I don't use scripts for every video but they are helpful in many instances. I'm curious if you use scripts, and if so, how do you use them?

I use Excel spreadsheets to create scripts as follows:
- Column A is shot number
- Column B is required narration
- Column C is brief description of on-screen visuals for that shot
- Column D is used for notes that may be helpful for a scene

Excel isn't required (Google "Sheets" is free) but I have it on my PC so I use it. Here is how I use it:

After I complete the script I group similar shots with yellow highlighting. In this way I know that when I shoot shot X, I should also shoot shots G and R because they all have yellow highlighting.

The tab at the bottom of the screen is for the version number. In this way, if I need to make changes to the script at a later date I can create a copy of the script, name it "V2" or similar, and away I go.

If I start shooting but don't finish in one day, I can easily highlight all sections that haven't been shot with different colors, highlighting, etc. The next time I open the script I can quickly see what shots are needed by looking at the different formatting of the text.

Let's pretend I complete a video based on script "version 1" and I send the video to my management for review. My boss comes to me a week later and wants a couple of changes in the middle of the video. I create a "version 2" of the script, modify only the shot description that my boss wants, and I use BOLD font for the change. Then, when I have a chance to shoot the modifications, I see "V2" is the latest version and I open it and look for the formatting changes I used to indicate "THIS IS NEW, DO THIS."

Do you use scripts, and if so, how do you use them? Do you use a different software program, such as Microsoft Word or other? Do you handwrite your shot list in a notebook? Or do you skip the script and just storyboard everything?
Desktop: HPE-580T, i7-950 (3.07GHz), 16GB RAM, Win'7 64-bit Home Premium, PSE12/PRE12, Lightroom 5.
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Re: Scripts - how do you do them?

Postby Francesco Carzedda » Tue Apr 07, 2015 12:38 pm

I have to learn from you !
Google Docs is recommended when sharing with a staff:
http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-write-a-video-script-ht
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Re: Scripts - how do you do them?

Postby sidd finch » Tue Apr 07, 2015 2:10 pm

I also add time code so that any revision references the time code of where it needs to be changed.

Sidd
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." ..... Ferris Bueller
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Re: Scripts - how do you do them?

Postby Francesco Carzedda » Fri Apr 10, 2015 4:19 am

I timeline everything,
I usually start with a rough idea of the final output,
I rely on the in progress inspiration (not very design neither professional, ehm ...).

I keep an archive of shots with meaningful names for folders and files (.mp4 h.264 codec, mostly soundless), for example:

Carnival > 2015 > girls_in_red_dancing.mp4

Flowers > Roses > Yellow > two_roses_in_vase_blue_background.mp4
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Re: Scripts - how do you do them?

Postby Francesco Carzedda » Mon Apr 20, 2015 4:42 am

I have had a challenging (for me) idea I want to share: I have started a new project, the third visual comment to a poem by Edgar Allan Poe, "A dream".
I keep the memory of every step of editing (day by day) uploading the output on a YouTube channel.
The poem is developed in three stanzas, so it contains a trace itself.
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