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Writing to pictures

Write drunk, edit soberErnst Hemingway

Writing to pictures

Rule 1

Writing for video is completely different to writing for print

Writing to pictures

Rule 1

Writing for video is completely different to writing for print

In print you order facts with the most important at the top

In video you follow the Figure-of-eight, or put the most interesting thing first

In print your article could be anything from 500 to 1,000 to 3,000 words long.

In a 2 minute video you have room for 360 words.

In print your words can be read over, and over again for understanding.

In video, people will only watch your video once.

Writing to pictures

Rule 2

In video, pictures lead. Always

Writing to pictures

Rule 2

In video, pictures lead. Always

You choose the pictures first then write the words.

You edit the pictures first then record the voice over.

Do not write your script first and then put pictures over the top!

Writing to pictures

Rule 3

Keep it simple. Keep it short.

Writing to pictures

Rule 3

Keep it simple. Keep it short.

We speak at around 3 words per second

In a 60 second film, that's 180 words. In a 2 minute film it's 360. And that's without any interviews or other voices.

With so few words, every one must count.

Keep your sentences short.

Really short.

Writing to pictures

BBC News package on Remembrance Sunday

Duration: 2'35

Word count: 192

Telegraph article on Remembrance Sunday

Word Count: 519

Writing to pictures

How do you make your writing better?

1. Don't tell people things they can already see

2. Hold hands

3. Contrasting Pairs

4. Groups of three

Writing to pictures

How do you make your writing better?

1. Don't tell people things they can already see

The Queen, dressed in black, carrying a black handbag, walked up to the cenotaph and lay a single wreath, watched by dignitaries...

Bad :(

Writing to pictures

How do you make your writing better?

1. Don't tell people things they can already see

The Queen lay a wreathe watched by thousands of by-standers...the numbers swelled by the increase in deaths in Afghanistan since the last remembrance day...

Better :)

Writing to pictures

How do you make your writing better?

2. Hold hands

Thousands of people turned out in Whitehall to honour the one minutes silence....

...these soldiers gathered in Camp Bastion in Afghanistan to remember the fallen.

Bad :(

Writing to pictures

How do you make your writing better?

2. Hold hands

The turnout in Whitehall was the biggest in recent times...

...and here's why...since the last remembrance Sunday the number of British fatalities in Afghanistan has nearly doubled.

Better :)

Writing to pictures

How do you make your writing better?

2. Hold hands

Good words to help your sequences hold hands:

But...

And...

Yet...

And here's why...

And here's the reason...

And for proof just ask...

Meanwhile...

Nearby...

Two years later...

Writing to pictures

How do you make your writing better?

3. Contrasting Pairs

Veterans came from across the country. Tributes from old soldiers to comrades lost in previous campaigns...and to those who are dying in today's battlefields.

Writing to pictures

How do you make your writing better?

3. Contrasting Pairs

It's the end of the road for students finishing their degree...but for these students, their journey is just beginning

As the office closed, the heavens opened.

Richard Branson's latest balloon venture rises up into the sky...but his company's profits are only going one way...down

Writing to pictures

How do you make your writing better?

3. Contrasting Pairs

The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms.

Writing to pictures

How do you make your writing better?

4. Groups of three

They came from London...from New York...from Sydney...

The government says their new plan will lower taxes...lower bills...and cut our carbon emissions

Hull City's new manager will need to be tough, fearless, and able to perform miracles on a budget.

Writing to pictures

How do you make your writing better?

4. Groups of three

My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.