How to write a video script

Perhaps writing a video script seems like a really complicated process to you.  So much so that you’ve never actually tried.  

But if you get some good pointers you’ll be off and running, or writing in this case.  It’s not a great mystery.  You don’t need a literary degree or any professional copywriting skills.  You just need the ability to work through the process.

And in this episode of the Moonshine Moonshot series, we are going to walk you through the process on how to write a video script.  By the end, you’ll

Know how to plan out the length of your video script.

1. How to structure the script - beginning, middle, end.
2. How to start the script in a way that grabs attention.
3. Important visual elements.
4. Custom thumbnail tips.
5. What is an AV script?
6. How to work focus keywords into the script.
7. How to create versions of your script or video.
8. How to plan what people see as well as the dialogue or narration.
9. How to source music for your video.

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello, welcome to the Moonshine Moonshot online series where we're talking about all things impact, impact filmmaking, what is an impact and how do you do that with your own work? So a really exciting topic that we're on to today is how to write a script. And I'm Sue Collins.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

And I'm Mike Hill. Yeah, today's topic for the Moonshine Moonshot Podcast is really related to pre-production. It's how to write a video script. And the reason we've chosen this topic is because we realise a lot of you like us are working from home, you are isolated, and this is a great time, the perfect time to lay the foundations for your pre-production, setting you up for success for the other side of this crisis. As we all rebuild our businesses, our organizations, and our missions, we are going to need to communicate, communicate quickly and effectively. So now is a great time to start doing that work that has to happen during pre-production, which includes the script writing. So we thought today we'd do a more tactical, a more how-to guide on how to write a video script, some of the key things to keep in mind.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

Yeah, and this is really useful stuff. So it the way you write a script is actually not that dissimilar to how you would write uh the blog copy to go with it. You're still meeting all the same beats and there's all the same nuance in it. So um just pretend for a moment, Mike, that I am a communications person or a marketing person who's just embarking on making my first video content for the business that I'm working for. Um I've done a huge amount of online marketing, but I have never actually made a video.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

So

Where do I start?

SPEAKER_00 1:42

what do I do?

SPEAKER_01 1:43

Where do I start?

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Long time listener, first time script writer. Okay, here we go. So where do you start? Um, look, I think uh you need to start thinking about where you're communicating to, where this video is going, and what some of the key durations are for that content. So uh I think we've talked about in the past that there is a bit of a magic number that some people feel is a magic number anyway, magic duration for some social media platforms at around 90 seconds. So let's use that as an example. Let's say that you are planning to do a communication that's around 90 seconds long, which might be targeted to Facebook. Uh, you need to just, you know, do the math, you know, think about how many words that actually translates into. Now, for most people, their regular speaking pace is about 100 to 130 words per minute. For a more of a professional voice actor, it's going to be up to 150 words per minute. So if you're going for a 90-second script, you really need to think about your word count. Um, and it's going to be quite limited when you start putting pen to paper or start typing it out. Because at 90 seconds, you're looking at a couple of hundred words. So think about that. How does

How does word count relate to target duration

SPEAKER_00 2:52

word count relate to target duration? Uh, often when people are starting out, they will write too much, too long. Uh, you don't have a lot of words to play with, so it's much better to know that going in right from the get-go. So use as a rule of thumb 130 words per minute, then target your duration and say, okay, whatever my target duration is, let's say it's a you know 10-minute uh instructional video, then it's gonna have to be about a 1300-word script.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

Yeah, that seems pretty overwhelming. And I'm thinking as you say this around that older adage, um, I'm sorry I've written you such a long email, I didn't have time to write a short one. So I think that's the same thing we all face when we're writing something is you you massively overwrite and then gotta edit it right back to get to your duration. But I think um it's probably about hitting those beats within within the script. So I'm assuming you still have to go with the same beginning, middle, end. And I've also heard that the first few seconds is incredibly important on social media.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Yeah, that's right. Yeah, so of course we do need a beginning, middle, and end. And we can break that down if you like, just looking at the actual structure of the video script. Um, and there are a few shortcuts too, so it is a limited amount of words. Going back to our 90-second example, you've only got a couple of hundred words to play with, but because video is a visual medium, it means you can show things as well as tell them. Showing is a much more efficient and effective way of communicating. When you show people, they get it quicker, uh, which gives you lots of opportunities to speed things up, to put more in. Uh, I know a lot of you who are watching this will know that a great 90-second video can pack a lot of information in, and a lot of that information often comes from visuals. Yeah. Okay, so if we're talking

Overarching structure for the script

SPEAKER_00 4:47

about the sort of overarching structure, beginning, middle, and end, let's start with beginning. So, as you say, the beginning is all important with video communications because we know from the data and analytics that you get that big data that comes out of you know Google and YouTube in particular. We know that there is going to be a decision made within that first five to 15 seconds about whether your viewer is going to continue to watch your content. So if that content is not resonating with them in the first five to 15 seconds, they are likely to move on. That means that your message, your topic, your hook, your angle all needs to be packed into that first 5 to 15 seconds. Not many words that you've got to play with there. So you're only talking about 20 or 30 words. So you need to make those words count. Get to the point really quickly, um, and underscore it with some visuals if you can. For example, a full-screen title card really communicating clearly to your audience, what's this all about? How does it relate to them and their core concerns?

Why a strong beginning is critical

SPEAKER_00 5:58

So that beginning section is very short with a video script. Typically, it's uh you know, a handful of words, it's going to be five to fifteen seconds of screen time, it's gonna be very succinct and to the point, and it means that if you're using a messenger, um, someone delivering your message in a more authentic conversational way, that's fine. But the bit you need to have most scripted, and you might consider for some messengers using a teleprompter for uh is gonna be that opening statement. That opening statement is gonna be critical to the engagement of your audience for the rest of the video.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

And I imagine that opening statement's not dissimilar to what you might be using as like a blog title or an email headline or something that's really grabbing, and you're not trying to create clickbait because you need it to be true to what the video is about, because of course, otherwise you might make this really sensational title, this sensational statement at the start, and then the video is not actually about that, so people are gonna click away. So you're really trying to speak to the people you want to be speaking to, so when they hear that first line, they're gonna stick around and watch the rest of the video.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

I think that headline, that blog title idea is really helpful. It probably is also gonna become crucial metal metadata in terms of the description, the name of your video, and of course, with the name of a video always goes an image. That important thumbnail should be a custom thumbnail. What's the visual that goes with this headline? In your video script, it needs to include that key visual information as well, so people aren't only hearing it, you're not only telling them, you're showing them as well. So get that key first imagery right up there near the front as well, which will probably inform what goes into your custom thumbnail, and that'll become really useful. And this actually informs the format that you write your script in because when you're writing a video script, it's not all dialogue, it is a combination of what you see and what you hear. And we call this an A V script. And if you do a Google on A V script templates, you'll find lots of options. Uh, usually, what an A V script looks like is you have two columns, one being your audio column, so what you're hearing, and often that's coming through dialogue or other audio sources, and the video column, the vision column, which is what you're seeing, so that you can have concurrent ideas going, audio ideas, video ideas be very helpful to your production company, to your videographer, filmer, to your film crew, and also to your editor in terms of putting together the final video.

SPEAKER_01 8:43

No, that's a that's a really good point. Think about how you want it to sound, but also what people are gonna see on screen. So that's a really good tip there as well. And I think um, you know, you your search terms, so this is anything

How work search terms into the script.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

anyone in marketing is gonna understand search terms, so anywhere you can incorporate um key lines that your audience will search for will be really beneficial to your script as well. Would you suggest ways people can work that into their copy without it sounding too strange and salesy?

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Uh yeah, so for you marketers out there, you're gonna know all about focused keywords, all about Google search terms. And yeah, uh this is a little known fact, I think, that um actually when you create a video, um, particularly when you create a video and create closed captions through a service like Rev.com, you end up with a transcript of everything that's been said in the video. Um, that transcript, when it's uploaded to YouTube, or you know, in particular, uh, becomes metadata, searchable data. So, yeah, thinking about search terms and key phrases, incorporating them into your script in a natural way, increases their visibility because they essentially become searchable elements on the web.

SPEAKER_01 10:00

So, all right, so we've got uh let's just walk through these steps of how to create a script. First of all, you're um got to pick your audience who you're trying to talk to. Then uh we've got a whole podcast on how to break down on your audiences on one of our early podcasts. Uh, then we you want to get into how to how what duration. So probably thinking about what platform you're wanting to put it on. If it's YouTube, it can be longer, but Facebook 90 seconds kind of a sweet spot.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

True, and you're probably gonna end up with versions, right? Because you might end up with a shorter version for a Facebook ad or some sort of advertising on Instagram, a Facebook version, you might have a longer version for YouTube's often what we do, five to ten minutes long. So you might end up with scripts of different durations based on that.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

So I uh my my process would be I'd just do a huge brain dump for my first pass on the script, and it might end up being way too long, and then carve out all the unnecessary bits and get to the beginning and trying to tell a story, you know.

SPEAKER_00 11:01

That's that is one way of doing it. So start long and edit down. Um I'm less like that. I'm more of a structure-driven person, so I would probably start thinking about it in terms of hook opening statement, what's that really key important information, thinking about my ending in terms of concluding the piece and a call to action that goes with it. Yeah, the call to action, and then structuring the middle section so that it has a cohesive flow of ideas through it, and then starting to write within that framework. I I don't think there's a right or wrong way to go about it, it's about your personal, you know, writing process and journey. Um, you know, I think

How to keep the script sounding authentic.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

it's really important that you keep an authentic voice no matter which way you do that, so that if you use a structure approach that you're still remembering that the way we speak and the way we write is very different. So it's absolutely critical, no matter which way you go about it, that you are, and it's gonna seem crazy when you're

Planning the visual elements.

SPEAKER_00 12:00

doing this at home in your home office, you are reading that script out loud because you cannot, you know, it's it's a gift to write the way that you speak is a gift. I don't think many people have it, and the only way to, you know, to hack that and get around it is to speak it out loud and then start editing based on the way it has actually coming out.

SPEAKER_01 12:20

Yeah, and and I think a real advantage to reading it out loud too is you can time yourself so you can actually say the script at the speed you think or you imagine it would be read at, and then you can get a really clear understanding of how long it would be. And if um you're planning to have a lot more visuals than you are dialogue, you can start thinking about how much, you know, how everything's gonna fit together, how much gaps there are between the narration versus um the the visual elements, or if it's just all dialogue with visuals over the top, or you know, how you want it to look and feel, and it's gonna help you really kind of get into that next step.

SPEAKER_00 12:57

So I like listening to music. So when we're talking about the you know, how much do you see as well, you can just sort of jump right to the end of the process and jump straight into post-production

How to source music.

SPEAKER_00 13:08

in your mind and start listening to the types of music that you might run with this film, and it's actually gonna help you find the tempo and the tone of the writing. So uh, let's say you're gonna use uh Stock Music Library as your source for the music, either a free library like the one you can get out of YouTube Studio, or a paid library that's pretty affordable, you know, like Premium Beat or Stock Music Site. You know, why not go in there and start listening to the types of music that are gonna eventually end up in this video? Because that's really gonna give you a sense of uh, you know, what type of tone is it gonna be, what type of tempo is it gonna be, and if you're writing with that in mind, it's gonna work better in post-production than having a mismatch.

SPEAKER_01 13:54

That's true. Although music's very subjective, and uh we come across this all the time where what music one person likes somebody else really doesn't like. So you've always got to be kind of have that in your mind as well that who's who's ultimately signing off on this video. So just be a little bit wary of that.

SPEAKER_00 14:12

Yeah, you've got to be pretty flexible with music because it is highly subjective. But I think the idea of still using it for those who like to have music in their workspaces, the idea of having it in the process is probably still pretty helpful for getting an idea of tone and tempo, even if that track's replaced for something else. Uh, if it's a million miles apart, okay, uh, that might cause a problem. But I think if it's generally in the right ballpark, it's gonna help you along.

SPEAKER_01 14:39

And I think the key thing that we haven't really drawn on here, but is so critical to any communication, specifically video as well, is the end call to action. What do you want people to do once they've seen your video? Because if you don't ask people to do something, they'll just click away and they'll they're gone. You've got it, you've got to know what you want them to do and you've got to entice them to do it.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

Yeah, quick summary of the insight. They've just watched your video. If it's short, you don't need to go into an extensive, you know, summary of what's being said, but a really quick uh succinct to the point summary and then the all-important call to action. Is it is it buy, is it give, is it share, uh, is it get in touch? You know, it could be anything, but you need to know what it is and you need to make sure that you say it. Uh, and when you say it, you might also want to show it with an on-screen graphic as well, which is also really helpful uh for your collaborators to have early because you might be sending this out to a graphic designer, for example, and they need to know if you're promoting certain social media platforms, what you know icons they need to have. They might need logo assets and other visual brand guidelines as well to make that a really effective end card that helps you carry that call to action through to your audience.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

And um, I think I think what you can also do um with the call to action is that I find really useful is have a look at how other people are doing it. So have a look at people whose videos you really respond to, and just have a look and a listen to the way that they've ended their video. And did it get you to do something? And if it did, what was the language? Was it you know, visit the website or click this button or buy now or what whatever that call to action was, how effective was it on you? So think about your own behaviors, and that can really help you kind of craft what your call to action is going to be.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

Now, little research goes a really long way through all parts of the production and post-production process. So, given that we're talking about pre-production and how to write a script, actually looking for examples of videos that you love and identifying what you like about them is not only going to be helpful for your writing process, but it's actually going to be really helpful for your collaborators to make sure they're on the same page and giving you what you need.

SPEAKER_01 16:55

So I think we've got some really good tips throughout all of this conversation. But um if you get into it and you're getting stuck, please reach out and um let us know and ask questions, and um we'll share um some links in the show notes about um places you can find, like we mentioned a few sites like Rev.com and um Stock Library, Stop Music Library, and a few things like that, and we'll add them in the comments so they're easy for you to find.

SPEAKER_00 17:19

Yeah, you might also might find it useful to have a look at the five essential do's and don'ts white paper that we've created, which is available from our website www.moonshine.agency. You can download it there for free, and it just might also give you some extra direction about things you need to think about in pre-production that's really going to help you avoid fall into any potential traps.

SPEAKER_01 17:42

Yeah, and you can go to episode eight of this series as well, because we did a um whole session on the five do's and don'ts in that as well. So that'll be really easy for you to follow along.

SPEAKER_00 17:51

Alright, well, thanks a lot for tuning in today, everyone. Hope you're doing okay, making the most of this time, um, staying safe, keeping well, and also getting moving on your pre-production so that you can, you know, launch on the other side of this thing with renewed energy and great success.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Yeah, you can do a huge amount of pre planning in this time, so it's a unique opportunity to get organized. So good luck with it, everybody. We'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_00 18:16

See you next time.