Hello, I started practicing writing with short stories and idea I am trying to write involves narration while what you see on the screen is drone flight over city and then over fields and then over some open area. I haven't found any inspiration on how to describe what you see while there is a narration. Any suggestions / examples? Thanks
Isn't it just something like: A drone flies over a modern city. It passes out of the city, over fields and into an open area. Narrator (V.O.) whatever the narrator says I'm not an expert at screenwriting, but I've read a few screenplays and I think it's handled something like that. Maybe you'd split up the city, fields, and open area description between specific bits of narration. Or maybe you can just say it's a continuous shot that starts over the city, etc., and then go into the narration.
You can use SERIES OF SHOTS Narrator (V.O.) whatever the narrator says SERIES OF SHOTS A) Long Island Highway During Rush Hour B) A Field Of Birds C) A Farm D) A Lonely Field With A Crashed Two-Seater Plane Etc. This is used a lot to show people falling in love as quick as you can. First you see when he picks her up, then SHOTS of them at a fair, then on rides... all the way up to the first kiss. Usually there is music instead of narration though. [link redacted]
In screenplay writing, you get a bunch of scripts, including the script for the camera. Might need to use boards to draw the shots, but I'm guilty of writing my camera direction into my screen plays. Words like; Pan Zoom Center Focus Fade Follow etc How you write camera direction comes down to how creative you can get. Try having fun with it for an exercise and write something for the camera to do too.
You write the shot, the sequence, and then write the dialogue of your narrator. If your narrator isn't in shot, then just put in brackets next to their name (voice only). If writing for TV: THIS IS AN EXAMPLE WRITTEN BY BOBBY BURROWS Cast/Props: Narrator Web page INT Writing Forum Day 1/1 The camera focuses on the web page, the web page scrolls down to my post. Narrator (Voice Only) This is an example. End. You don't want to write a screenplay written like a radio show; Narrator: This is an example. (Where everything is on the left and there is no camera direction).
That's just using stock footage, IMO. Those are good for montages. Or... Do you mean planning the shots, and that's your story board, and you plan to shoot what you need to to get those shots? I like the word shot, when using stock footage, like; Cut to a black and white shot of a steam train entering a tunnel. When it comes down to it, you're going to need different scripts. Scripts for story board, which can be fun, and scripts for your camera, which could be fun. I think the cast get the camera script and the camera gets the story board script, I am not sure, but that's where I like to begin, is my camera script. I mean that for EVERYTHING, from whatever and as ever, forever all of my writing here that's not in lyric or poem. My poems used to be lyrics before I came here right.
http://www.burrows-service.co.uk/ I'm just telling you what was taught to me and this is my father's idea of the family business bless him. BASICALLY, if you want, send the script, and it gets formatted to suit different production. And it knows all the people in the business and we'd try sell it for you as well as format it/cater it to different production companies in the UK from Hatrick Productions, Tiger Aspect, BBC (This is showing my age, I'm old/out of the loop on who exactly, but in my day, in 2002, it was all of those, thought it does me joy yo see the family business is still open, found that one out recently, it's still going strong, only there's no work about for sitcoms or sketch shows 'comedy based writing here' and the only thing the BBC want is PANEL SHOW ideas). However, you want a biography about some old famous person job, then, that's what's hiring, and that's what card carrying writers are working on while no one's buying sitcoms or sketch shows. Could be TV, Radio, even comic book for example/I've seen. Because, different production companies have slightly different formats. Different platforms/mediums have different templates. I learned the difference between Radio and TV script by the age of 14 for sure. Douglas Adams, Hitch Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was basically my lesson into that. That was a radio show (actually with a narrator) that the BBC wanted to make a television show of, but the transfer didn't lose the narrator character, and, tbh, Douglas Adams was a comedy genius R.I.P and, then afterwards, it became a book. This is how I was actually taught formatting in the homestead.
Well, I can tell who has written a screenplay before and who hasn't. Bottom line: every screenwriter should have a copy of: "The Complete Guide To Standard Script Formats" by Cole/Haag. Some producers won't even finish reading your script if by page 3 you aren't following standard format.
I've found some production companies like their own formats, which are slight and subtle from the industry standard.
Replace the word MONTAGE for SERIES OF SHOTS if it's a montage (they're about the same). And it can be stock footage or your own. There is only ONE Screenplay. The screenplay writer's job is to tell the story. It will be up to the director and camera man how to shoot it. The tools they use may or may not be story boards. Then when it is all over the Editor takes over. When you look at the end credits of any film you see how many people are involved in creating the finished product. But there is only ONE screenplay (the blue print of the story). [link redacted]
I know UK does it a bit more to the script, so I'm talking BBC and stuff, but, I know American is more free with jokes changed between each shot, and. there might be more of that nowadays in the UK perhaps, where certain jokes are rewritten too while shooting, but, I'm thinking 6 episodes a series stuff Vs. 24 episodes a season. So, I know Hollywood and UK has different production, and, I can only go by what I was taught. BBC, Tiger Aspect etc, yes there is an industry standard, production companies tend to have their own preferences too; and script writing is catering the story for the client and selling it for the writer and getting a commission if it sells in the UK, I believe, which is good, since more people get to be published that way, I think.
There's a specific way to WRITE the screenplay. There is a totally different way to MAKE the film. Don't confuse the two.
The op's question was about writing the screenplay, not shooting the screenplay. Story boards, and choreography, etc, is not the screenwriter's responsibility. If you want to know how to write a screenplay that you will enter into screenwriting contests or pitch to get it sold to a producer or get representation by an agent...you better know the difference.
