Tricks to Write a Great Two Column Screenplay
We talked about the formula to write a good narrative for a video in the last blog — 4 steps to write a great script for your video. This time we’ll be diving headfirst into the video screenplay.
What is a screenplay?
It’s the script for your video which includes visual directions based on the narrative you wrote.
I like to keep my screenplay in a two-column format with the narrative on the right and visual directions on the left.
So similar to writing a script, there is a formula to write a good screenplay. But I would also like to mention that one of the most important things to this is actually watching a LOT of videos. They give you the possibilities in which your visuals can go. I tend to go to different websites of various video production houses and get inspiration from those videos.
There are three directions your script can take in an explainer video — a fully animated 3D visual experiences, a fully animated 2D visual experiences and a stock footage + graphics variety. Your client would generally have an idea of what they need and what most resonates with their brand of these three.
All three types need different visualization. So keep the type of visuals in mind when you write the script. This will help you greatly
Also study “perspective” to write really good visuals.
One last thing to keep in mind before we start — capabilities. Disney isn’t the benchmark for animated explainer videos, check what your capacity is when it comes to actual illustration and animation in terms of budget and money and write accordingly.
So once you have done your background, you divide the narrative up into scenes. I like to divide them sentence wise and the smaller the better as this gives me more scope to add transitions.
I prefer writing in the simple present tense with as many relevant details as possible.
Start from scene one. Imagine or visualize the video and write exactly what you see in your mind in the same sequence.
Then continue on to the next scene. Remember each scene has to have a connection with the scene before it as well as with the voiceover narrative. The scenes should jell with each other, they should flow.
This is also made possible with transitions. Each scene will ‘transition’ to the next. It could be a direct cut (use this as little as possible) or you may find an object in the video on which the camera zooms in to zoom out on the next scene. These are just two examples in many many transitions out there. Research, watch videos a lot and find out. Transitions will be a gamechanger for your video.
I would suggest writing any screenplay under 3 minutes in a single sitting. This might be an unpopular opinion but I have seen it work with myself and with other writers I worked with. It helps you maintain the flow of the script.
Last thing I would like to say on this topic is re-read. Don’t finalize the first draft. That’s rule number 1 of any kind of writing. Check if you can make the visuals better. Check if what you imagined actually works for your client’s brand. It is very very easy to get lost especially while writing visuals. But at the end there is a goal to every corporate video and you need to fulfill that goal before all else
