Aspects of a Professionally Written Script

When you are thinking about creating a new video for your company, social media, or YouTube page there are a few things you should always keep in mind in order to create an engaging video. One of the first places you should begin is writing a compelling and professional script that encapsulates your video and guides the viewer through the different parts of your story.

Looking for more information? Check out our article on how to create a successful video campaign.

Creating a Compelling Script

Scriptwriting is an art in its own right. It takes time and practice to get good at and should be one of your top priorities if you want to progress as a filmmaker. It’s one of the first places you should start after brainstorming your idea and coming up with the premise for your video. Here are some tips to help you write an amazing and compelling script:

Discern and Identify your Target Audience

Before you begin writing your script it’s essential to find out and identify who your audience is and how you will connect with them. In any marketing campaign, you must discern who your target audience is and come up with ways to relate with them and provide a solution to their problem.

By creating a script that is directed at your target demographic and audience you will increase your chances of creating an emotional impact with them and locking in their attention to your video. The content needs to resonate within the viewer, creating a connection between your brand and their needs. You want to avoid targeting a broad audience because this will rarely appeal to anyone.

Make Your Video’s Purpose Clear and Concise

Your video should have a clear and concise purpose and your audience should be able to see this right away. Your script is where this purpose is laid out and formulated before the video is even shot. The goal of your video production should be at the forefront of your scriptwriting. Make sure that every line of a script you write leads the viewer to the end goal of the video.

Some questions you should ask yourself are “where does my video fit into the sales funnel of my campaign?” “What does my video want to achieve?” “How can I best guide my audience through the video to reach our end goal?"

Make sure the video fits well into your sales funnel and is not put to waste or misses the mark. There should be a clear purpose for the video to achieve. You shouldn’t be creating this video for the sake of creating a video. Your script should also be built in a way that delivers the viewer straight to your end goal. Make sure that you build a call-to-action into the script so that you give them something to act on after the fact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1nVUG3sTuE

Create the Main Character of your Video and Write Around Them

Your story cannot be all over the place focusing on many different characters and parts within your video. Create a central character, tell a story about them, have a beginning, middle, and end. Build on the theme of your story by creating a character that fits the purpose of the video. This is essential for building an emotional connection with your audience. Just like any book we read or movie we watch, we love a good main character. So why shouldn’t your video do the same?

Always choose one person to be on the screen for the majority of the time, you shouldn’t be switching back and forth between multiple characters because this can confuse your audience and throw off the feel of the video and destroy the narrative.

Companies create almost mascot-like characters for their videos because their audience becomes trusting and familiar with these spokespeople. So if you can, use the same person across your videos to act as your spokesperson.

Now, Start Writing Your Script

It’s time to actually begin writing your script!

Begin with the Visual and Audio Elements of the Script

This a crucially important part of your script. You need to write out the different visual and audio elements of your story before anything. Visualize your video in your head and begin writing out how each shot will play out as the video goes on. Do the same for your auditory elements, such as background music, voiceover descriptions, etc.

Write Your Script

Now, it’s time to write out the script of your video. Utilize your planning and come up with an invigorating way to propel your story using your research and planning. One of the biggest things to keep in mind is how long will your video be? If you are trying to create a short 30-second video, you may have to trim your script so that it fits within your expected timeframe.

No matter the length of your video, you will have to expect at least 125 to 150 words of dialogue per minute. So keep this in mind while you begin writing your script. But don’t let this hold you back either. You should be writing everything you want to put in the video because we can always come back to it later and trim as needed or add any additional thoughts.

Remember to keep your audience at the forefront of your dialogue and speak directly to them. Use “you” instead of “we” and keep things personable. Speak to them, not at them.

Another good tip is to write in a way that you actually talk. What may look great on paper might not work that well when you actually say it. Read your script out loud and write in a way that you would actually speak. This will help you out a ton in the long run.

Take what you have written and figure out a rough estimate of how much video footage you will need to go over your script. Make sure to account for pauses in dialogue and shoot some extra shots to fill in these spots.

Shoot Your Video

Now it’s time to start shooting your video. We want to stick to the script as much as possible while making adjustments as needed. Avoid implementing large changes to the script, however. This can be costly and tarnish the theme or point of your script. Just because something seems like it will work better, doesn’t always pan out that way. Be sure that whatever you are adding to your script backs up the goal of your video and the purpose of the script.

Keep an eye on your resources and if the script is asking for too much as well. Sometimes writers need to go back to the drawing board because their video simply takes up too much of their budget in order to complete the tasks at hand. This can lead to the script being changed or rewritten entirely if it doesn’t line up with the resources dedicated to the project.

Conclusion

Writing a script involves many different aspects being intertwined together to create a masterpiece. It will take time and lots of practice to become great at this fine art. But it’s not impossible! Keep at it, improve, learn, and recognize where you made mistakes in your past productions. Move forward and always keep writing and producing. You will only get better as time goes on.

Remember to identify your audience and write your script in a way that creates an emotional connection and resonates with the viewer. Make the purpose of your video clear and concise, and demonstrate that to the audience. Create an interesting main character that is at the forefront of your story, encapsulating the purpose of your video within them using your script. Begin writing your script and plan out the length of your video. Afterward, start shooting your video and determine the number of resources you’ll need moving forward. Adjust your script and video accordingly.

Can’t wait to see your masterpiece come to life through your innovative scriptwriting and filming techniques!

Andrew founded Vek Labs in December 2017 with the goal of bringing cinematic visuals to the corporate and documentary sectors. With over a decade of experience as a designer in UX/UI, branding, editorial, and audio production, Andrew has a diverse background that informs his work. His time in Rome, Italy, included work as a marketing consultant for various non-profits and institutions, including the Holy See. At Vek Labs, Andrew has been involved in the production of documentaries that have reached wide audiences and secured syndication deals. His primary interest lies in the thoughtful combination of video production and musical scoring to tell meaningful stories.