Getting Started:
Loading the Application and Sharpening the Pencil
The wave of the future is coming, and there is no fighting it.
Before you sit down to start writing any form of script for any medium, genre, or method of distribution, you need to consider the common factors that exist among all media forms, despite their basic differences. This chapter will reveal as many common traits as possible to avoid repeating the same information throughout the text from chapter to chapter. Such topics include correct English that is written to be read out loud, writing for an audience, and understanding the laws and censorship affecting writers. At the same time, you may need to recognize that there will be duplication and repetition of some material when the redundancy is critical for that particular type of writing.
Topics included in this chapter cover the history and types of scripts, accurate and concise English, language discrimination, law and censorship, and the audience and distribution.
The written forms used to instruct a production crew to carry out the writer’s desires did not blossom forth overnight. Script formats evolved over many years through the development of a variety of entertainment venues. Even within a specific medium, variations of format style evolved as the technology of the medium changed to meet the combined needs of the production staff as well as the challenges of the latest technology.
Live theatrical performances presage all forms of modern media. You may learn much from the study of live theater in addition to recognizing the field of theatrical production as a predecessor of electronic media.
In the earliest time of live presentations by actors, the actor-director determined the story line, dialogue, and action. In many cases, nothing was written, but stories passed from one troupe to another or became simpler in the memory of the originator. When productions became more complex, notes were written and passed from one performing group to another. Finally, actors and directors wrote more detailed scripts to guarantee that a play would be performed as the writer had intended.
As the theater evolved, so did the scripts that the directors and actors followed. The format became relatively standardized so that whoever needed to read or follow the script would be able to understand what was expected of them as members of the cast or crew. The script was the bible for the director, listing all of the dialogue and who spoke the lines, as well as the basic settings and action. The director had the prerogative of making modifications as the rehearsal process moved forward. But, before rehearsals started, the actors needed the script to learn their lines and basic blocking movements, both of which could be modified by the director.
Before the end of the 19th century, motion pictures followed live theater in presenting dramatic productions, as well as documentaries and other genres as the field developed. The original filmscripts mimic the format layout of theatrical scripts once scripts became the rule in film. As with theater directors, early filmmakers shot film without recorded sync sound and so needed little in the way of a written script. The director/writer told the cinematographer where to place the camera, and the actors were told where to stand and move and what lines to mimic. As the camera rolled, the director yelled directions to the actors. Little postproduction was necessary since the early films often were shot in one or two long takes in the 10-minute-long scenes.
Figure 1.1. A typical Shakespearian era play script.
Figure 1.2. A script from a 20th-century play.
Figure 1.3. A modern film scene script.
Figure 1.4. A typical radio drama script.
When sound arrived, filmscripts became reasonably standardized in a single-column format. In individual portions of the script, scene description, action, movement, dialogue, and the name of the actor were set, each with variations in margins. That made it easy for actors and crew to concentrate on the their parts of the script.
Shortly after the turn of the 20th century, radio became a reality for drama, news, and, of course, commercials. The first radio scripts resembled theater scripts, except instead of describing scenes and action, instructions for sound effects and music cues completed the script. Dialogue was much more detailed since radio drama is, in essence, a series of dialogues with music and sound effects helping to build the imagination factor. Radio’s advantage lies in requiring the audience to use its imaginations to fill in the visual gaps. This allows radio drama to achieve complicated effects that, until digital media arrived, were impossible to create in either film or video.
It became obvious early in the days of television that motion picture and radio script formats did not work well for live multiple-camera productions. A type of script developed for audio-video production at about the same time. The two-column format placed both sound and picture elements of the script on their own spaces in the script. This made it easier and more accurate for the cast, crew, and director to isolate the portion of the script critical to each. The left-hand column (at one time the networks NBC and CBS disagreed on the arrangement) now lists all visuals, with camera instructions, camera framing, shot selection, and transitions all entered in capital letters. The right-hand column lists all of the audio, including music, sound effects, and narration or dialogue. All copy to be read by the talent is entered in uppercase and lowercase letters, and all other instructions are in caps. This system developed to make it easier for talent to pick out their copy from all other instructions.
Some newscasters prefer to have their copy entered in all caps under the false belief that caps are easier to read on a prompting device. Readability studies indicate uppercase and lowercase copy on prompters prevents reading errors and helps readers add meaning to their delivery.
Most dramatic video productions are shot single-camera style, and some commercials and documentaries adapted the single-column script format. Since many of the writers and directors moved back and forth between shooting film and video productions, it became comfortable to use the same single-column format. The physical appearance of the format followed the same pattern as the film single-column format.
Figure 1.5. A dual-column video script.
Figure 1.6. A single-column video script.
Figure 1.7. An interactive script.
Multimedia, Internet, and Web page scripts have not been formalized in the same way as scripts for other electronic media. Digital scripts take a variety of forms, some borrowing from both motion pictures and video as well as from audio-video script formats. The problem of indicating branching, choices for interaction, and the variety of different media used in one digital production requires a specialized script tailored to the specific production. The script must contain enough information for the producer/director to understand what is required to assemble the segments. The editor must also be instructed on the specifics of chapter assignments, transitions, linking, and other specialized techniques in a digital interactive production.
Today, television writers use both dual-column and single-column script formats, depending on whether the script will be produced as a live multi-camera production or as a single-camera video production. Each studio, station, or production operation may require a specific script format for its own operation. A writer should determine from the client how to format the script. Even with the two basic standard formats, there are many variations. Such variations depend on the size of the production, the budget, the production methods used, and the personal preferences of producers. Such variations also exist in film and audio scripts, but as modifications of the basic format. Interactive script formats have not yet reached a standard format, leaving a great deal of variations in the scripts used today.
Each of the electronic media requires that scripts provide information in different formats to best serve the people using the scripts. Radio scripts primarily serve the voices, secondarily served the director and, in some cases, a production operator. Therefore, a radio or sound script must accurately and precisely indicate the copy to be read, the music, the effects (if used), and timing factors. The writer must find a way to motivate the listeners so that the listeners visualize what they cannot see; the writer must prod their imaginations to feel what the writer is trying to convey using only sounds. For a writer, it is a daunting challenge, but at the same time, it is an opportunity to control the listeners by engaging their ears.
Filmscripts, like theatrical scripts, provide the basic blueprint of the production. The actors need to know their specific dialogue, and the director needs to have a written form of the overall concept that the writer’s vision provided in the script. Highly detailed and specific shots and framing are not necessarily required in a filmscript. Each key member of the production crew gains an understanding of the part his or her work will play in the production, but the final decision of specifics rests with the director.
Television and video scripts must balance serving both the aural and visual needs to be met by the script. The script must give the director all of the necessary information, including accurate narration, detailed (depending on the type of script) visuals, and timing information. Whether the script is single-column or dual-column, the same information must be easily read and obvious to the director. Talent will be most interested in the lines they need to memorize or read. The crew, in addition to their specific instructions from the director, will need to find their technical needs answered in the script. A writer is less responsible for technical matters in video scripts, providing instead general shot and transition descriptions and minimal audio instructions. But the video writer must concentrate on the visual without ignoring sound. A balance must be reached between using the tremendous power of visuals and, at the same time, stimulating the viewer’s hearing senses to match, contrast, or supplement the visual experience. The challenge for the visual writer demands that the balance between sight and sound make sense for the production and maximize the power of the medium.
Multimedia scripts must cover the same areas as a video script. If the script is interactive or branched, then additional instruction needs to be included to meet those needs. The writer working in multimedia must be aware of the technical aspects of the digital medium and must learn to use the wide variety of means to communicate to the audience without overwhelming the audience or misusing those same techniques. The world of digital production offers so many new and yet unexplored shapes, images, and combinations of the electronic media; much will come from writers exploring those avenues yet unexplored.
Audiences listening to radio, watching television, or viewing a film under normal conditions cannot go back and review what they have just been exposed to if they did not understand the message or were confused by plot changes. Obviously, with modern recording equipment and techniques, a replay is possible with any medium, but the goal of an audience absorbing a story as it unfolds requires that the story be told in as clearly a manner as possible. You should not write in such a muddled manner that the audience must review each section to reach an understanding of the presentation. This is not writing down to the audience, but more importantly, writing at the comprehension level of the audience within the time the audience has to grasp the material presented to it.
In order to write for the audience’s comprehension level, you must know your audience. You should not write for yourself or, necessarily, for your own amusement; rather you should target a specific audience. To accomplish this, you must be aware of audience demographic analysis methods, broadcast ratings, market studies, ticket sales analysis, and Internet response analysis.
Reading to Be Heard
Media writing must be written to be read out loud by narrators, actors, and newscasters. Written material that is intended only for the eyes of a reader may be much more complicated than material to be read by a performer. You must write copy to sound as if the person reading the copy is speaking directly to one or two people, not the possible millions that a single media performance may reach at any one moment. Most media audiences (except for motion picture audiences) are small groups of people gathering in a home, restaurant, or club. Therefore, the copy must be as natural as possible. It is as important to make the copy natural as it is to avoid slang, poor English (even though we too often do not speak our language properly), and sloppy construction.
You may use slang only to develop a character’s personality or to depict a specific incident or scene, but not to make the speech appealing to only one segment of the market. As our population becomes more diverse, the tendency to use colloquial speech to appeal to a segment of the population may, at the same time, turn off or annoy a major portion of the rest of the population. Using slang is particularly tempting when the targeted market includes young people who may be using the latest fashionable speech pattern.
The Passive Voice
One major danger of using what appears to be natural speech is the overuse of the passive voice. A verb may be either active—that is, indicating an action of some sort—or passive, using any of the forms of the verb “to be.” The verb forms of “to be,” including is, are, was, and were, describe nothing. They simply exist. Any sentence with a passive verb may be improved and carry the story forward if an action verb is substituted for the passive verb.
“Attitude is a breath of fresh air.” This sentence sounds better if an action verb replaces is, as in “Attitude provides a breath of fresh air.”
Often, a sentence becomes passive because the position of the subject of the sentence and the object of the verb are reversed. Simply writing the sentence as a description of who does what to whom automatically changes the sentence from passive to active.
The subject of the sentence is Sam, and the object of the action was Joe; therefore, if the sentence is written in a logical order, a listener will understand immediately what the writer says.
If you use a gerund form of a verb (i.e., a verb ending in -ing) with a passive verb, or if you attach have, has, or had unnecessarily to the sentence, that also makes the sentence passive.
“Sara is graduating from Rice University” is strengthened by changing the gerund graduating to graduates, so that the sentence reads “Sara graduates from Rice University.”
“The family has arrived for dinner” sounds better without the has, reading “The family arrived for dinner.”
Matching Subject and Verb
A tricky problem with writing involves matching subject and verb in number (i.e., singular or plural). Matching number in news writing can be tricky because of the number of sentences that include quantities of items and measurements. The verb must match the subject of the sentence, regardless of the position of the subject in relation to the verb. Units of measurements are generally considered as singular. In complex sentences, the subject may be hidden by phrases or clauses. You may prevent this error by writing simpler sentences.
The cause of the multiple wrecks on Highway 10 has [not have] yet to be determined
Three thousand tons is [not are] a lot of coal. [Although tons seems to be plural, as a measurement, it is treated as a singular subject.]
The new telephone company, along with its two subsidiaries, is [not are] moving to town.
Adjectives and adverbs provide the spice to interesting writing. They modify either nouns or verbs, adding color, definition, and specificity. The problem in media writing is overuse of modifiers to the point of confusing the audience by hiding the important parts of the sentence, the subject, the verb, and the object. Well-placed modifiers add much to the meaning of a sentence, but too many can muddy the meaning. You may misuse modifiers by not being accurate, by overstating facts, or by misleading the listener with an inaccurate degree of intensity.
The high mountain
The higher mountain
The highest mountain
The river rising fast
The river rising faster
The river rising fastest
Pronouns
Pronouns take the place of nouns to avoid repetition and to add some flexibility to a sentence. There are three cases of pronouns: subjective, objective, and possessive. The subjective case (also called the nominative case) is used for the subject of a sentence.
Subjective
I, you, we, he, she, it
The objective case is used for the object of a verb or the object of a preposition.
Objective
Me, you, him, her, it, us, them, whom
Possessive pronouns indicate a relationship between at least two objects.
Possessive
My, our, your, his, hers, its, their, mine, ours, yours, theirs
A pronoun must have an antecedent. The antecedent is the noun that the pronoun refers to or replaces. Mismatching the pronoun with its antecedent contributes to most misuse of pronouns. If the antecedent is a subject, then the pronoun must be a subjective pronoun, and if the noun is an object, then the pronoun must be an objective pronoun. The same holds true with possessive pronouns and their matching antecedents. Limiting the use of pronouns avoids mismatched antecedents. Remember, the audience cannot go back and check to see to what or whom the pronoun refers, so repeating the noun avoids confusing the audience.
In another quirk of the English language, who generally is subjective and whom generally is objective, but there are acceptable violations of that rule.
Like-Sounding Words
When more than one meaning is attached to a word that sounds like another, the sentence must make clear which meaning is intended in that particular sentence.
To, too, two
Their, there, they’re
Your, you’re
The number two seldom causes confusion since the sentence will obviously refer to a quantity of some sort. (e.g., “Two horses raced to a close finish in the final race.”)
The word to serves as a preposition. (e.g., “The house belongs to you and me.”) To also is half of a verb infinitive. (e.g., “to run”)
Too is an adverb modifying a verb. (e.g., “The coffee was too hot to drink.”)
Their is a possessive plural pronoun referring to a plural noun and an object. (e.g., “Sue and Sam purchased their new home yesterday.”)
There has two meanings and uses: an indication of location (e.g., “The book is over there.”) or an expletive used to start a sentence (e.g., “There are twelve stores open late tonight.”)
They’re is a contraction of they and are. (e.g., “They’re going to miss class this afternoon.”)
Your is another possessive pronoun. It may be either singular or plural. (e.g., “Your iPod is in the knapsack.”)
You’re is a contraction of you and are. (e.g., “You’re going to miss the bus if you don’t hurry.”)
Prepositions
Prepositions, although small, carry important meaning and accuracy to a sentence. There are many of them, and their close meanings create confusion if not properly used.
To, for, of, on, above, from, under, at, by, with, until, after, over
Each preposition carries a specific meaning. Of is different than for, although these are often used incorrectly, as if they offered the same meaning.
The more difficult prepositions to use properly are defined similarly but yet are not precisely the same. A writer needs to know the correct meaning so as to use each word properly.
In general, many prepositions indicate the location of the object. If the exact location is critical to the story, then the accurate preposition must be used.
Among refers to sharing by more than two people or objects. Between specifically refers to one-to-one relationships.
Beside indicates two objects close to each other. Besides indicates that an object is in addition to the original object.
Beneath indicates two objects in direct contact, one on top of the other. Below simply means one or more objects are in a position lower than the others or are lower in rank than the others.
Because of always refers to one object acting in a manner to cause a change in another. There must be a direct cause-and-effect relationship.
Due to simply explains a change in the condition of an object.
Pronouns used with prepositions always are in the objective case, even if the sentence structure makes it difficult to determine the antecedent’s relationship to the preposition.
Punctuation
Punctuation marks help readers deliver the meaning of copy as is intended by you. You use punctuation to tell the reader when to pause; whether a pause is long, short, or medium; when to separate individual thoughts; when to shout; when to ask a question; and when to stop. Writers may find it easy to overuse punctuation. Just as with overused special effects, overused punctuation loses its value and may distort the intended meaning.
Basic rules exist for punctuation, but they need to be modified in media writing to help communicate meaning and correct interpretation for a listening audience, not a reading audience.
The Period
The period simply means stop. Nothing complicated. It is the end of the thought; start a new thought with the next sentence. A period ends an abbreviation and indicates a decimal point in numerals.
A complete sentence contains a subject, a verb, and a period.
The president spoke about his $100.5 million budget.
The Comma
Commas indicate a slight pause or a change of ideas, or they may connect a series of items or thoughts. It is the most commonly overused punctuation mark, but the comma serves to clarify meaning by separating long clauses or phrases. Of course, both long clauses and phrases should be avoided in media writing because they are too complicated to comprehend without seeing the sentence in writing. Commas may be used if more than one adjective modifies a noun, but the comma is not necessary if the comma may be substituted for a conjunction (e.g., and or but).
The Semicolon
The semicolon indicates a slightly longer pause than the comma, but not a full stop. Semicolons are most commonly used to connect independent clauses without a conjunction. Again, except for dialogue, you should rewrite copy to simplify the sentence into two sentences. You may also use semicolons to separate a complex series of items to clarify related information.
The truck contained five hogs, two cows, and a sheep.
When the cloudburst dumped 4 inches of rain on the county, the citizens felt they had to evacuate.
The snowstorm brought a shower of fluffy, white flakes.
Sam drove the truck into the river; he drove without stopping to think of the consequences.
The vacation family consisted of the father, Sam; his wife, Sue; her sister, Olga; and her brother, George.
The Colon
The colon separates two related sentences as if the first introduces the second. The first word following the colon should be capitalized. You may also use the colon to introduce a direct quote or to separate numerals in time or citations.
The Incredible family came to a sudden conclusion: They had to take the battle to the enemy.
The mayor said: “No more taxes!”
5:15 PM
Section 5: paragraph 22.
The Hyphen
The hyphen connects compound modifiers when the first modifier modifies the second modifier but not the following noun or verb. Again, you often may misuse the hyphen when you want a pause longer than delivered by a comma, semicolon, or dash.
Bertha shows she is a some-time supporter.
The dash indicates a longer pause than given by a comma or semicolon. It is used to connect two thoughts for an effect—probably a comma or semicolon would have accomplished the needed pause.
Parentheses
You should best avoid parentheses in media writing, especially news writing. They do serve the purpose of allowing additional information or a side comment, but parentheses can confuse both the reader and the listener.
The airliner landed at Miami. (The Atlanta airport was closed.)
Question and Exclamation Marks
Both marks need to signal the reader of a change in delivery. Unfortunately, in English, these marks come at the end of the sentence. A question mark ends a direct question but not an indirect question. Exclamation marks should be used sparingly to avoid losing the impact of the mark. Both marks are enclosed within the final quotation mark if either is part of a direct quote.
How does the weathercaster know when it will rain?
The volcano has erupted!
Ellipses
Ellipses indicate the longest pause without a full stop or indicate that something in a quotation has been omitted. You should carefully consider omitting sections of quotations, being careful to avoid misleading the audience by changing the meaning of the quote.
Quotation Marks
Quotation marks enclose a direct translation of a recording of dialogue or statement. Any punctuation that follows a quote is placed within the final mark. Quotation marks indicate works of art, television show episodes, and chapter titles. Titles of individual television film and radio programs, newspapers, movies, book titles, theatrical performances, magazine titles, and some reference book titles should be italicized or underlined.
The county clerk concluded, “No more licenses today.”
Toy Story
Saturday Night Live
Time magazine
The Dictionary
Courage, Justice
For much more detail and for help with specific problems regarding grammar and other writing-construction problems, consult your personal writer’s guide. One of the best has been prepared specifically for media writers and the individual problems faced in writing for the electronic media.1
Spelling
The comprehension, ease of reading, and accuracy of the meaning of media scripts, whether news, instructional, documentary, or dramatic, depends partially on precise and correct spelling of each individual word.
The English language causes enough confusion to the audience’s ears with words with more than one meaning, similar words carrying totally different meanings, and a variety of words misused in common speaking conversation.
To avoid these pitfalls, you must present the reader of the script accurately spelled and precisely chosen words. A script presented for professional consideration will be rejected immediately if misspelled and improperly chosen words appear. Various societies and editors compound the problem by attempting to simplify some spellings of words. The matter is worsened by the confusion when their suggested modifications have not been universally accepted. Also, the original spelling of some words still used by the British only adds to the confusion.
| United States | British |
| Honor | Honour |
| Color | Colour |
| Defense | Defence |
You may gain the basics of maintaining and improving correct spelling by reading, listening, and studying word construction and usage. Reading well-written copy from quality newspapers, magazines, and novels will furnish excellent and accurate examples of proper spelling. Again, listening to well-spoken individuals who enunciate the English language properly also provides excellent models for you as a writer.
If you concentrate on finding the correct spelling when in doubt, you will build the final bridge to accurate spelling in your writing. Computer spelling and grammar checkers offer a limited measure of accepted spelling, but they are not reliable all of the time. In addition, most spelling tools offer selections of spelling choices depending on usage and sentence structure, leaving the final choice to you. One of the most useful tools for you, along with an up-to-date comprehensive dictionary, is an Instant Spelling Dictionary.2
Clear, Concise, and Nontechnical Language
You must remember that the reader of the script, whether it is the talent, a producer, or a possible fund provider, may not have knowledge of the technical language used in media production or of any of the subjects covered within the script. Remember, the audience will have one opportunity to hear and see the production. If the language and terminology is foreign or confusing, the message will be lost. Simple, straightforward wording that makes sense to anyone with a minimal level of understanding of the English language will suffice. You must constantly remember to write to communicate to the audience, not to yourself. Mentally choose someone who has at the minimum an interest in the subject, but little knowledge, and then create language and descriptions that the person will easily understand upon hearing and seeing the production the first time.
Style Comes after Information
First-time writers may feel they must develop a style that will make their writing stand out from all the rest of the new writers. There is nothing wrong with striving to be an individualist, but a well-developed style will come with experience and much writing. Few successful writers look back after they have achieved a level of satisfactory success and can say they originally had any concept of what their style would finally become. Style is the frosting on the cake of an accomplished career and comes only after expending a great deal of effort and writing many, many scripts that never see the light of a studio or the eyes and ears of an audience. If your writing is effective and satisfactory to you and your audience, then your style will develop.
A writer must deal with the “isms”—racism, sexism, ageism, and, if you will, disabilitism.
A difference exists between political correctness and depictions based on fairness and accuracy. Political correctness follows the law and the fashion of the moment, but you need to treat all individuals and groups of people with the same care and consideration you would expect to receive. We all are individuals, so we all must be respected for our individual characteristics.
Often the “isms” fall prey to the use of stereotypes and stereotypical depictions. Using stereotypes in a positive manner often is a necessity in media writing. Within productions of short time frames, especially commercials and animation, you may use stereotypes to quickly establish mood, location, and, often, descriptions of specific characters. A police officer may be depicted as a short, stocky, red-haired Caucasian male in a blue uniform. That quickly tells the audience this is a officer of the law without narration, labels, or other indication of the character because this has been the stereotype of a New York Irish policeman. It is not accurate, but virtually all audiences will accept and recognize the depiction without further explanation, saving time. If the depiction is not negative, it is neither racist and is only mildly sexist.
The danger in using stereotypes is inadvertently choosing negative characteristics or consistently creating a character in a negative role specifically because of gender, sexual orientation, ethnic background, religion, or national origin. The tragedy of 9/11/01 and the following unrest in much of the rest of the world should teach us all to carefully consider how we depict and think of people of other beliefs and backgrounds. You must be even more careful of considering the depictions and treatment of people with individual differences. This extends to remembering woman are not included in the term mankind and that a fireman actually is a firefighter. If you use a person’s physical condition, religious beliefs, age, or sexual persuasion in a news story, it must be germane to the story, not used to categorize the subject of the story. In other formats, depictions may need to include descriptions of a character’s race, gender, and even ethnic or religious beliefs, but only for the accuracy of the story, not as a shorthand escape from an honest description of the character. Obviously, the use of slang expressions to describe groups of people is not acceptable except as a part of dialogue to establish the personality of a character using the slang.
The tremendous power of the electronic media must never be forgotten as you place descriptions and develop characters in your stories and reporting. That power can cause far more harm than can be imagined until an incident reveals that power in a negative manner.
Depending upon whether the media production is broadcast on radio or television or is distributed by cable, satellite, motion picture theater, recordings, or printed forms, certain laws specifically apply to the written word.
The First Amendment
The First Amendment offers a certain level of protection for anything spoken or produced electronically or in print. But the right of protection comes with a heavy dose of responsibility. The work (specifically, the words) must be original, defendable, truthful, and created within the laws, rules, and regulations of communication, and they must not be plagiarized.
Copyright laws protect your work from unfair or uncompensated duplication; at the same time, you must respect all other creators’ ownership of their works. Copyright covers print, film, photographs, video, audio recordings, and reproduction of any media, whether they are analog or digital. Copyright is in a state of flux, caused partially by rapid changes in digital duplication technology.
Before publishing or producing any work, it will pay you to request qualified legal advice on both the originality of the work and the protection of the work once it is made public. As a guide, you may refer to a recently published guide on copyright and clearance.3
Defamation
Defamation law includes both libel and slander. Traditionally, libel suits were based on printed negative comments—slander, if spoken. Over the years, the two have come to be considered the same, and in fact, except in California, there is no legal difference between the two. Care must be taken to make certain your printed words are truthful. Anyone described in a negative manner (in the eyes of the subject) may file a libel suit demanding retraction and financial compensation for the damage caused by the written words. Anyone may sue for libel; the plaintiff then has to prove innocence—a reversal of the usual bromide of “innocent until proved guilty.” Even if your published words prove to be truthful, if it can be proved that you intended to harm someone’s reputation or personal privacy, you may lose the libel suit.
The second part of the laws of defamation, slander, parallels that of libel but is based on the spoken word, not printed information. With the confusion of whether electronic material, radio, television, and cable fall under either libel or slander, the two terms have converged.
To prevent a defamation suit, it is your responsibility to make certain your work is well within the law by fully understanding the end result of your written and creative works.
Broadcast Laws
The Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) responsibilities include setting rules and regulations passed by Congress for the broadcast, cable, satellite, and telecommunication industries. Theoretically, the FCC cannot censor broadcast content or programming. But, because broadcasters must apply for and periodically renew their licenses to operate on the air with the FCC, any action the FCC feels goes beyond the station’s operating in the “public’s convenience, interest, or necessity” may bring punishment. This statement gives the FCC the right to levy fines (set by Congress) and the right to cancel the broadcaster’s license, putting them out of business.
The FCC operates within a process regulated by raised eyebrow. A broadcaster must determine if a program or its content falls outside of the inexact expectations of the FCC. If such a content offends the FCC, the station may receive a fine, or a threat may be placed on their license when renewal time arrives.
A second increasingly worrisome area of criticism for broadcasters now comes from parental and religious organizations who monitor broadcasts and file complaints with the FCC if they feel the broadcaster has stepped beyond the bounds of local standards. The FCC is more likely to respond to such complaints.
To you, these rules, regulations, and laws present a challenge to be true to your creative vision and yet to stay within the bounds of imprecise and inconsistent borders. Again, legal advice may be helpful, but these regulations change with each session of Congress and each time a station broadcasts something that annoys and displeases a large enough group of protesters.
Indecency, Pornography, and Obscenity
Two of the thorniest problems of broadcast content originated with the indefinite statement that the FCC was charged uphold the law stating that indecent and pornographic material cannot be broadcast. The original statement does not in any manner define what is or is not indecent or pornographic, except that broadcasts should be based on local standards. This concept was born from the idea that all broadcasting was intended for a local audience. Networks and cable and satellite operations changed the local status of broadcasters. What is a local standard of indecency in New York City varies considerably from that of Springfield, Missouri, yet both cities will receive the same television program and some of the same radio programs.
Court cases have periodically attempted to set standards, but generally these have been overturned by later court decisions or are simply ignored as the sophistication of America’s audience has changed. The three levels of concern are defined as follows:
Indecent: (based on a 1975 FCC decision) Any material patently offensive, measured by contemporary community standards
Pornographic: Sexually explicit and intended for the purpose of sexual arousal
Obscene: A class of sexual material so offensive, because it is without any redeeming value, that it is not protected under the First Amendment
With the increased coverage of cable and satellite for distribution of video programs, which are not licensed under the FCC’s mandate, broadcast television has to try to compete within the tighter standards impressed by the FCC. As a result, all electronic media continue to push the envelope in programming that 10 years ago would never have been allowed.
Writers forced by the undefined, yet flexible, standards on sexual programming are left to fulfill their creative stories with the hope that, with some guidance from the standards and practices departments of the networks, their work will be produced and broadcast. This chapter does not offer professional legal advice; it is only an introduction to the legal areas of which you need to be aware while pursuing your career. An up-to-date book on communication law may provide guidance during the writing stages.4
To you, the audience presents a dual target. First, the audience “buys” the product you produce (i.e., your show, article, game, or Web site), or not. Secondarily, the audience attracted by your work is sold to the advertisers. This dichotomy is true in broadcasting, cable, print, the Internet, and, with product placement, in motion pictures and television dramas.
Regardless of your creative motivation, you must write for an audience. To write for an audience, you must connect with the audience, stimulating its senses, appealing to their imaginations, and triggering mental pictures, either to support the presented work or to supplement the work if only audio or print appears.
A formidable isolation exists between the creator and the audience when communication is distributed by mass media, whether by electronic means or print. Despite creating for a maximum-sized audience, the communication actually is interpersonal, from you to each individual reader, listener, or viewer. You must write for that one individual, despite the fact that the audience consists of millions of other individuals.
The term audience is misleading. Programmers and editors compress all the members of the audience into a single mass with one set of characteristics. Such a mass does not actually exist as a single package of demographic descriptions. It is unlikely that any one member of the audience fits the demographic description. No one is average, and every single audience member exists as an unique individual. How do you then sell a film, radio program, TV program, game, or Web site that appeals to a maximum audience and the most sponsors? You must understand the differences and similarities within the audience and choose the topic and the plot to appeal to a specific targeted audience.
Differences exist among the media, but to succeed at distributing any created work, you must first choose the most likely audience and target the creation to that group. One of the problems to be solved depends on analyzing the fragmented nature of today’s audience. Individual audience members have a high number of options to select among to suit their specific interests. Today’s population is highly diversified, not only from new immigrants, but also from a general sense of independence of individuals within their own isolated personal world; people have begun to choose whatever interests them instead of following what once was the most commonly accepted fashionable activity or program.
For you to expect distribution of your work, a portion of research effort should be spent analyzing the potential and actual audience and the specifics of the media choice, as well as the practicality of the produced work. You should be as conversational as possible, using short words and short sentences. Print can be more detailed and authoritarian, electronic media can be more personal and exciting, and the Internet and games carry the advantage of interactivity.
With these general guidelines, each of the following chapters offers greater detail for writing within the specific genres and formats. Most of this chapter may be applied directly to the information within the following chapters, but a number of comments will need some adaptation, depending on the requirements of the genre.
Throughout the history of public performances, whether on the theatrical stage or on film, radio, television, or a digital format, the means of communicating to the production staff and crew from the writer have evolved. Some of the traditions have migrated from one medium to another; in other cases, totally new means of communicating were created. Each succeeding medium borrowed from previous media to suit the new demands of the new medium.
A script must be written to maximize communication. In some cases, it is written in order to most clearly communicate with the audience; in others, so that all members of the production staff and crew understand what the writer had envisioned. In all cases, sentences constructed using correct, straightforward language and proper punctuation are a necessity. The formats must be programmed for the purposes of the specific medium.
You are responsible for matters of avoiding discrimination and violations of the law, and if writing for broadcasting, for understanding the rules and regulations of the broadcast industry. It is necessary to understand the audience to accurately target the message and to avoid annoying or displeasing members of the audience.
1. Research your intended audience.
2. Understand the power of your words—especially to individuals in the audience.
3. Write simple sentences structures using well-known and understood vocabulary.
4. Create scripts that your director and crew will understand easily.
5. Avoid plagiarism and protect your own work.
1. Write a brief (30–60 second) script on any subject of your choice. Create one copy of the script in radio format and a second in film format, or create one script in single-column video format and a second in dual-column video format.
2. Listen for someone speaking a passive sentence. Look for one example on radio, one on TV, and another on a film or even in a newspaper story. Rewrite each as an active sentence.
3. Describe a scene in a film or TV program that uses a stereotype to describe a character or a character’s actions. Explain whether you felt the stereotype was used legitimately (as a positive stereotype, not negative). If it is negative, how should the description have been written?
4. Research the question of defamation of a person in the public eye, including who would fit that description and how the laws of defamation would affect such a person.
5. Carefully watch your favorite TV program. From the content of the program and the type of commercials offered within the program, describe the targeted demographics of the audience.
Brockett, Oscar G., and Franklin J. Hildy. History of Theatre. 9th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1998.
Head, Sydney W., Thomas Spann, and Michael A. McGregor. Broadcasting in America: A Survey of Electronic Media. 9th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000.
Macgowan, Kenneth. Living Stage: A History of World Theater. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1955.
Mamer, Bruce. Film Production Technique: Creating the Accomplished Image. 4th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 2006.
Marx, Christy. Writing for Animation, Comics, Games. Boston: Focal Press, 2007.
Miller, Carolyn Handler. Digital Storytelling: A Creator’s Guide to Interactive Entertainment. Boston: Focal Press, 2004.
Miller, Philip. Media Law for Producers. Boston: Focal Press, 2003.
Straus, Jane. The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation: The Mysteries of Grammar and Punctuation Revealed. 8th ed. Mill Valley, CA: Jane Straus, 2005.
Strumpf, Michael, and Auriel Douglas. The Grammar Bible: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Grammar but Didn’t Know Whom to Ask. New York: Henry Holt, 2004.
Thurman, Susan, and Larry Shea. The Only Grammar Book You’ll Ever Need: A One-Stop Source for Every Writing Assignment. Avon, MA: F + W Publications, 2003.
Wexman, Virginia Wright. A History of Film. 6th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2005.
Web
www.edufind.com/english/grammar/
www.owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/
1 Kessler, Lauren, and Duncan McDonald. When Words Collide: A Media Writer’s Guide to Grammar and Style. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 2004.
2 Dougherty, Margaret M., Julia H. Fitzgerald, and Donald O. Bolander, eds. Instant Spelling Dictionary. 3rd ed. New York: Warner Books, 1990.
3 Donaldson, Michael C. Clearance and Copyright: Everything A Filmmaker Needs to Know. 2nd ed. Los Angeles, CA: Silman-James Press, 2003.
4 Donaldson, Michael C. Clearance and Copyright: Everything A Filmmaker Needs to Know. 2nd ed. Los Angeles, CA: Silman-James Press, 2003.