When developing our long-form documentary films, there’s often an element of discovery in the production process. We’ll spend time with people over the course of weeks, observe them and learn of new opportunities to film. But just as often as we wait for interesting moments to unfold on screen, we also conceive of opportunities to film. We imagine, often on paper, wouldn’t it be interesting if our main character did this? And then we’ll ask them: “do you ever do this?” And they’ll say, “sometimes yes.” So we’ll respond, “next time that happens, can you let us know so we can tag along with our camera?” That’s scripting for nonfiction, at least informally. Below is the more formalized approach we take in scripting video, which happens not just before the cameras roll but importantly after as well.
1. Conduct a Pre-Interview With Your Subject
Once you’ve identified a subject for your video/film (here we share how to cast), find an opportunity to interview them in advance, ideally over video chat. Observe how they articulate and present themselves and what ideas they seem most passionate about. Sneak a peek at their home/setting – a possible filming location. Ask them about their backstory, but also about what they are doing this week or next week. Know that people are shockingly bad at identifying parts of their lives that are interesting to you. They’ll think they’re being useful in your production process, by offering “You should film this!” “Have you talked to my cousin about this?” “What about filming this?” Many times these suggestions will lead you astray. Listen to your subject carefully as they share their lives – that’s important! – but also don’t let them write the story for you. It’s the pre-interview that gives you nuggets of worded wisdom that you’ll want to pull from and provide you ideas of opportunities to film. If they mention something that piques your interest, ask them more. Asking them “how does that work? “What does it look like?” will help you imagine the scene better and then shoot it better.
2. Write a Treatment First
Once you’ve identified an approach driven by the goals, audience and story itself, start by writing a “treatment.” Unlike a line-by-line script, a treatment is a written envisioning of how the video will play out on screen, scene by scene. It reads much like a news magazine story, with descriptors of what’s happening and quotes of what characters are saying. The scenes should be plausible scenarios you will be able to film and the characters’ words should reflect what you expect them to say based on your pre-interview work. What do you see and hear in each scene? How will scenes flow from one to the next? How will information unfold for the viewer in a compelling way?
Start by scripting the main character’s story arc, then think about secondary characters whose stories and lives might intersect with the main character in interesting ways that elevate the story and message. Next, think about how the scenes transition from one to the next. Will there be visual cues? Will there be chapters? What’s your structure? Think about you may follow up on ideas introduced at the beginning of a scene. In the process of treatment-writing, if you come up with ideas that might benefit the story, follow up with your characters to see if there might be filming possibilities that didn’t come up in your pre-interview. Your treatment functions as a tool/an exercise for you as a creator. And ultimately, when refined, functions as a guide for production. Use it to schedule your hourly production plan, shot list and interview questions. While your treatment is an indispensable guide, also be open to surprises and new directions that will inevitably occur and will make your film more interesting.
3. Transcribe Interviews & Log Footage
In fiction, scripting is complete before the cameras begin rolling. In non-fiction, scripting happens both before production and after. In order to most efficiently script after you’ve captured your footage, you must conduct two tedious but important organizational tasks: transcribing interviews and logging footage. These tasks allow you to know what material you have. Because what you write in your treatment isn’t always what you get. Oftentimes, it’s better. We’ll import the footage into Adobe Premiere and log the footage by dating it (year_month_day) labeling each clip descriptively (“subject visits doctor_1”) and placing markers where great moments happen. For high-quality, affordable time-coded transcription, we use rev.com, which allows us to highlight, copy and paste sections of the transcript into a script.
4. Script After Production
When producing nonprofit video, formal scripting can take place after production because only then do you have the exact scenes and interviews, not just a plan for them. There’s a lot of scripting software out there, but I prefer google docs. It’s simple, bare-bones and allows for easy collaboration. I start by inserting a table with many rows and two columns – one for audio and one for visuals. I refer to my rev.com files to copy and paste the quotes I like best. This allows for hyperlinking should I want to listen to the clip; what reads well doesn’t always sound great. Next I add descriptors of scenes and note the names of clips to inform the editor what material I’m referring to. Using a table with rows and columns allows me to quickly move blocks, quote by quote, scene by scene, until I have a form that feels like it’s working. Being able to easily make changes like this allows me to be nimble and open to innovation and revision. Versioning is also helpful; by creating V1, V2, V3, you allow yourself the freedom to rewrite without the worry of losing something that you might consider good from earlier versions. In the edit, a lot changes, and what you felt might be working on paper doesn’t always work out in the edit. So I’ll copy my script, add a new version and rework again. Scripting, just like production is a process of trying, failing and trying again… until you get it JUST right.
