4 cooL ARTS CAREERS SCRIPT WRITER CHAPTER ONE SHOWING A STORY hink of your favorite movie television show or video game What did you love about the story Have you ever thought about how the story was created Have you ever wondered who comes up with the stories for the videogames you
Stories for movies TV shows and video games come from the work of scriptwriters Scriptwriters also write stage plays Web site pages informational videos advertisements and more They create things for characters to say and situations for characters to deal with When actors or directors are interviewed they often talk about writers Every good film play or video begins with a script A good script must include an interesting story exciting action and quality dialogue Writing for film or TV is different than writing for plays or radio Film and TV require action and movement Plays and radio programs focus more on dialogue But all types of scripts share one important trait Unlike novels which can describe characters thoughts scripts must use action and dialogue to show what is going on in a character s mind Scriptwriters need a good sense for movement and action They use images to explain parts of stories without using dialogue Scripts also need good stories Like a good book if a movie or TV show doesn t have a story that pulls you in you probably won't finish watching it Scriptwriters who work on drama need a good ear for how people speak in real life They need to understand how people s words affect their actions They also need to know how to set up an interesting conflict Many conflicts are based around characters who have different goals such as a superhero and an evil villain Other stories are about a single character with a problem to solve such as a detective trying to discover who committed a crime 5
6 cooL ARTS CAREERS SCRIPT WRITER Think about a scene where a boy named Frankie likes a girl named Kathy Frankie sees Kathy at school In a story or a novel we may read that Frankie has a crush on Kathy A writer may tell us how Frankie feels or describe the thoughts racing through Frankie s head when he passes Kathy in the hallway The writer might also describe what Kathy is thinking or feeling Scripts don t usually do that In fact most scripts wouldn t even tell us that Frankie has a crush on Kathy Scripts show information instead of telling it Here is a sample script Almost all movies and TV shows begin with a
INTERIOR SCHOOL HALLWAY DAY FRANKIE stands at his locker talking with AARON about math homework A group of four girls walks by including KATHY who carries a book and a folder KATHY stops to talk with FRANKIE The other girls pause briefly to look at her and FRANKIE giggle then move on FRANKIE drops his books and folders into his locker loudly and then thrusts his hands into his pockets KATHY cheerful looks right at FRANKIE FRANKIE drops his head KATHY Hi Frankie FRANKIE speaking quietly Hi Kathy KATHY Frankie Linda told me you helped her with her math problems after school yesterday FRANKIE stares at his feet and glances up nervously at KATHY FRANKIE Yeah we went over the algebra homework It was hard but not that hard Linda didn t really need my help 7
