Writing for Visual Media, 2nd Edition

Describing Sight and Sound

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Writing a script, simply put, involves describing what the eye sees through the camera lens and what the ear hears on the audio track. This is where we should start. It sounds easy enough. The problem, as we found out in the previous chapter, is knowing what to leave out. When you try to write a script for the first time, you usually end up describing too much, or not thinking concretely about what is seen within the frame. You must describe the essential visual event that happens in front of the camera, but without preempting the basic production responsibilities of the director. Describing what the camera sees means understanding the basic technique of shooting and what separates one shot from another. To communicate ...