Scriptwriters and editors must also be researchers. It’s easy to focus entirely on the ‘look and feel’ of a video, and miss critical details that confuse the audience. Using mind mapping and the six ‘Ws’ and one ‘H’ when writing and editing scripts ensures that the end result isn’t just entertaining, but factually accurate. (what are the 6 W’s and 1 h?)

Be Descriptive AND Prescriptive
School Crossings Victoria needed to update their safety video. The traditional ‘lollypop lady’ training video needed to incorporate new Victorian Government Child Safe Standards, procedures around emergency vehicles, extreme weather conditions and pandemics. The previous video had employed a passive voice, recommending procedures, rather than setting down the rules. The training video also had to be entertaining, by holding the audiences attention, we have a better chance of getting them to retain the information.

The internal training video that the Chairperson of Schools Crossing Victoria Dreena Lawrence-Gray agreed to was descriptive and prescriptive. It was narrated by an ex-police inspector in a warm but authoritative way and featured  three experienced school crossing supervisors, demonstrating every safety procedure that prospective supervisors were expected to adhere to. Watch the video

Start with the Big Picture
Before you get stuck into dialogue, it’s important to confirm the storyline synopsis. Alan Fletcher, star of Network Ten’s long-running soap opera Neighbours, had an idea for a short film; A washed-up comedian tells jokes at a retirement village and one of the residents laughs so hard that he dies. A dark comedic idea but not enough story to take it to the screen. The creative team at Mezzanine Films took the basic premise and fleshed it out with rich characters and intriguing back story to create the final short film entitled ‘Dying for a Laugh’. The narrative follows stand up comedian, Marty Moore, played by real life funny-man, Marty Fields. The non-linear approach to the script starts with Marty already at rock bottom performing as a clown at a children’s birthday party. Through a series of flashbacks, we witness his fall from grace as national comic star to being accused of murdering a heckler in one of his audiences. He finally gets the opportunity to redeem himself by performing at a retirement village and literally ‘killing’ on stage. It’s a 16-minute dark comedy with an unexpected sting in the tail.

Great writing and editing is logical, but avoids predictability. At Mezzanine Films we combine facts with entertainment to not only ‘tell’ your story, but to tell your story ‘accurately’. If the script and dialogue isn’t believable, then the overall story will fall flat.