TV News Reporter Script for Writer

Video Transcript

"BILL ALBIN: Hello, I'm Bill Albin. And on behalf of Expert Village, I'm going to teach you what you need to know to be a local news reporter. In this clip, we're going to talk about the director's side of the script. Every script, as we said, has two sides. It has the talent side and the director's side. On the director's side, there are a variety of things that a director needs in order to better process the show. When you're watching a television show, you see how it goes from one scene to the next. Well sometimes, one picture will dissolve through the other picture and become a new picture. Or it might wipe across. It might go from one thing. A line or a shape will move the picture out and bring a new picture in, or it might just abruptly change from one picture to another. Or it might go from that picture that video that's flowing by to an anchor on the news or another reporter in the field or a sound bite. Those are all transitions, and the director needs to make those decisions on the fly sometimes but it eases that transition if it's already planned out ahead of time. Like anything else, if you plan ahead, it makes it easier later on. There are a variety of different kinds of transitions like we've discussed: the take, wipe and dissolve. Other things you might put on the director's side or other kinds of commands. Other kinds of information that's important to the director but not necessarily to the talent. For example, CGs, my name, for example, Bill Albin, I would create a graphic that would go across the bottom of the screen. Well, I don't need that information. I know who I am. And the information is in a computer somewhere and it--but we need to get it to the people. We need this--see who I am, I'm new. We need that little name across the bottom of my face while I'm doing my story. So we put that information on the director's side so that when I am on camera, the director can bring that name up. There are other things on that side for example, what camera to use or what tape to use. And these are all things that help simply make the show flow in a more smooth fashion."