We all know that videos are meant to simplify our understanding of a given subject, but creating a script that translates into a good video is a challenge.
Luckily, there is a process that you can follow to create an exceptional video script that can explain any problem, convey any message, and never leave someone scratching their head at the end.
To simplify your script writing process, try to simplify your writing process into these 6 easy steps. Whether you’re working in 2d animation or filming in-house, scripting is vital to a video that engages your users.
1 Purpose
Your video can be willy-nilly, but it will be better if you give it a purpose. A story, an idea, or a well thought out message is all it takes to help a script start to live. The purpose of your video can be as easy as one word or one phrase, and it that should be used to create the identity of your video.
From there, you can start brainstorming ideas that revolve around that initial purpose. If you need to, take away the bad ideas and highlight the good ones, then start to build a timeline of your ideas.
2 Sequence
Once you have your ideas in front of you and an idea of how they fit together, it’s time to create your structure. Start by generating main ideas or sequences, and explain important steps from one to the other in your sub notes.
This is where your story summary will start to come together, and the process will start to speed up. Once you have your story sequence and flow, it’s time to bring in other minds to help you review.
3 Review
Ok, so it’s not exactly necessary to involve other people it in the process, but you have to be willing to be hard on yourself. You have to look through every step of your video to make sure the progression of the events that are going into the script make sense and have explanations.
4 Draft It
With holes filled, it’s time to make your first draft. Using your character structures and sequence progression, you can draft dialog and direction with your words that bring your dream to life. It’s ok to jump around if you burn out on answering one question in your plot structure, just make sure you cover everything on your list before you are done.
If you are making images for the finished product, you can align them with your video style and content. Corresponding content creates brand trust and visibility, especially when used on social media posts. The videos and pictures are 3x more likely to draw traffic interaction on social media, too.
5 Talk It Out and Record
If you’re making a video set up a tape recorder and get a helping hand or two. Have everyone read through the script, and say each line out loud. If it’s hard to say or sounds funny out loud, it probably won’t connect with your audience. You want every line to be short sweet and to the point, so if it sounds funny when you say it or hear on the playback, find a better way to say it!
You should also have your questions handy when you go through the playback process. As you listen to the recording of the read through, you want to make sure that you answered all of the questions to the best of your ability. Check them off as the plot progresses and make sure that everything is explained that you want explained.
6 Edit and Repeat
It’s time to take a red pen to everything and rearrange what you need to. As you start to edit your draft, make sure you correct all of the issues you found during the recording session, but pay special attention to keep your script in line with the original purpose. Don’t let your edits take you too far off your beaten path.
When you have an edited and rearranged copy of your script, make sure you jump back to step 5. You want to be pleased with the way the script sounds start to finish before your progress any further with the video and shorts, and it’s a good idea to get the opinions of a few others.
Repeat these two steps until you end up with a script, video, and other related content that you, and your advisers, agree on.
Conclusion
Creating a script is more about filling in the blanks and simple communication that speaks to the audience than creating spitball comments and zingers. You want purpose, direction, and visuals to work together on the video’s production. The goal of a script is to explain the purpose as clear as possible, so you want to make sure you take the time to edit your work. The project can’t be done without the video blueprint.
How do you structure your scripts for videos? Any tips for making a more organic script creation process? Share your stories in the comments below.