Screenwriting

Activities

To develop your ability to write stories that work well on screen, use a video camera to record any short script you have written.

Perhaps you could persuade some friends to take part in your production. Try to keep your production team small in number. The simpler you keep this project, the higher are your chances of success.

To help with the camera work, make a comic strip or storyboard of your script – sketching how each shot should look on screen, with the relevant speech beneath each sketch. Use long shots to establish where a scene takes place. When a character speaks, cut to a medium shot (from the waist up) but when facial expressions are important, use a close-up (head and shoulders). The camera needs to be held still, so if you do not have a tripod make sure the camera is able to rest on something solid before any recording begins. Try to avoid using the zoom control or panning the camera from side to side. Keep each shot as short as possible to create a good pace for your production.

Keep the microphone close to the character speaking and listen for unwanted background noise – doors banging, car or aeroplane noise, etc – before and during any recording. Call ‘quiet please, everyone!’ as each recording begins.

Take your time. Check everything appearing in your camera viewfinder (looking for unwanted content) before you press the record button.

If you will be able to edit what you record, let the camera roll for four or five seconds both before and after any recording to allow you later to choose suitable edit points. Record each shot two or three times so that you will have a choice of shots during the editing session. If editing the recording will not be possible you will need to plan each shot very carefully.