I mean, are they using short screenplays or another kind of writing? Just curious...
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Do commercials have scripts behind them?
- Thread starter victortiti89
- Start date
Commercials (and all advertising, really) are precisely written & scripted to sell that one important message. So, yes.
I wanna do commercials, and I understand each one is a 30-second movie.
Yes, they have scripts.
I've seen them formatted like this:
Though I've also seen some formatted more traditionally. Depends what the ad is, I suppose.
That style was and still is used for audiovisual scripting. Sometimes with a third column for time tracking. I know of at least one high school program that taught AV scriptwriting that way. For a short commercial it has advantages because typically you have a narrator. If you are going to have back and forth dialogue, it also works. The format forces the writer to think more visually and storyboard. Obviously, not ideal for longer movies.
However, the script given to the actors to perform is in a more typical format, not the boxed version. Thanks Jax_Rox for the nifty illustration.
As for whether all commercials are scripted, it depends on what you mean by "scripted". The same is true for 'reality shows', btw. When I work as an actor, some commercials have lines they want you deliver. Others want you to improv. The scenes are defined ('scripted'), e.g., sitting at a table in a restaurant laughing with friends. The conversations may be totally off the cuff. You don't hear them as the music, background, and narration are overlaid. The camera shots may not even be scripted. There is an overall storyboard script (which is where the above comes in). The editor often works from that with the footage to get it to the right timing to overlay with the studio recorded narration. There is an entire science to the art of persuasion in marketing and advertising. Seldom is anything left to chance.
When scripted, I've mostly seen standard script-style handouts:
Code:
MAN: Wow, do you think XYZ can get this stain out, honey,
before my meeting?
WOMAN: No problem.
Husband walks away. Wife takes and drops the shirt in the
washer with a smile.
WOMAN: Men!
...Yes. Every filming endeavour needs a "blue print". Hell, even porn flicks have scripts!
MILF approaches Pool-boy, checks out his butt as he scrubs the pool.
MILF
Oooh, I'm soooo hot today... how long before I can get a dip?
Pool-boy lays his mop aside, steps up close to MILF... she OOZES horniness.
Pool-boy
It can take another hour, but if you're so hot, I can stop now, get off early.
ETC. (oh, I'm now missing the good parts like: MILF changes to reverse cowgirl).
MILF approaches Pool-boy, checks out his butt as he scrubs the pool.
MILF
Oooh, I'm soooo hot today... how long before I can get a dip?
Pool-boy lays his mop aside, steps up close to MILF... she OOZES horniness.
Pool-boy
It can take another hour, but if you're so hot, I can stop now, get off early.
ETC. (oh, I'm now missing the good parts like: MILF changes to reverse cowgirl).
