Odd Duck Restaurant logo (Austin, TX)
I recently moved to Williamsburg, Virginia, where I was born. I spend significant time still in Washington and Baltimore, where I’ve spent 30 years in a satisfying career. These days, I don’t have to be “up north” every week or even every other week. (more…)
Thumbtack is a website designed to help workplaces and individuals hire experienced folks easily. (more…)
Script (Photo credit: sc63)
Begin with a preliminary treatment, a page or so of prose describing what your production will be about. I do this when a lot of ideas have been kicked around, or when the production is long and/or complex.
I don’t use a preliminary treatment when (more…)
Teleprompter screen circa 1975-1980
Teleprompter
When you ask for script samples from prospective writers, they will submit scripts to you presented in television format or in a screenplay format. As their names suggest, one has become traditional to television (and video) and the other to dramatic presentations. (more…)
Two-column video script
Typically, when an organization like yours looks for a video, it searches for “video production companies.” (more…)
A typical corporate production
Why make a video?
Video and television demand attention. People actually prefer watching video to watching the real thing. If you videotape a speaker and a place a video monitor nearby, eyes will gravitate to the monitor. The medium is the message.
Why do videotapes and film work? Most of us are visually oriented; that is, we rely on sight more than any other sense for at least 80% of our understanding of the world outside us. We keep photo albums, watch dozens of hours of television each week, typically remember what we see in our dreams rather than what we hear or smell or taste. We also enjoy a good story—a package with a beginning, middle, and end. (more…)