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The first thing one must recognize about writing for the electronic media is that it is not the same as writing for print. When you write for print media you enjoy some advantages: a reader can go back and reread a sentence, the information is sorted into chapters, paragraphs, subheadings, with different fonts and font styles to guide the reader, words that sound alike can be seen and understood correctly from their spelling. All these advantages are not available to the radio and television writer.
When you write for the ear, the narration should be delivered in a conversational style. Verbs and nouns are stronger than adjectives. In general, there is no need to describe what the viewer can see, much less to use adjectives like ‘stunning, exciting’. By looking at the visuals, the viewer must feel that something is stunning or exciting. However, it is important to add significant detail to the visual information. For instance, if there is a celebrity car crash, the make of the car may not be visible in the visual, the voice over may provide the same. Sometimes also the date or day on which some event happens may be of importance.
The standard rules of punctuation sometimes are not followed. Instead, three dots and commas are more commonly used to indicate pauses. Complete sentences need not be always used just as they are not used in normal conversation. After the text is written, it is important to read it aloud. By reading aloud, difficult words, tongue-twisters, complex sentences can be replaced with simpler clearer words and sentences. Sentences should be short, preferably with a single idea in each. Words should be commonly used simple words. When jargon or difficult words have to be used, they should be immediately followed by explanation.
Graphic Effects
Graphics in television can include titles, credits, names that are super-imposed, graphs, maps, and diagrams. By visual effects we generally mean computer-generated special effects which use a combination of colour, graphics and digitally devised images in complex arrangement or motion. It is common to see beginning titles done this way to capture the audience with the impressive visual effects. Some subjects like budget, elections, sports and science also lend themselves very well to computer-generated graphic treatment. Often, in dramatic presentations, there is less use of visual effects (unless they are dealing with the supernatural!) as the visual effects draw attention to themselves and take away the impact of drama if overused. Experienced producer/directors use effects with taste and caution and not as a gimmick.
When preparing graphic for television, some important thumb rules need to be kept in mind. All the important information like text material or drawings should be done in the safe area. Safe area in a graphic means the central part of the frame leaving a margin of about one and a half inches all around. This is recommended to avoid cutting of the text or important visuals due to transmission loss.
The text used in graphics should be clear with uniform strokes, as opposed to serif fonts with thick and thin strokes. The colours used for graphics must have sufficient contrast to be visible on black and white television sets. This is possible if the colours are chosen from the extreme ends of the colour scale. Colours also have a cultural connotation. White for peace, saffron for auspiciousness, green for prosperity, red for danger, etc. depending on the culture one belongs to.
Graphics are used to set the tone, to set the emotional context for a programme. The colour schemes and the letter styles used in titles right away give the audience a feel for what will follow in the programme. A great deal of attention is paid to titles and graphics by professionals during post-production work to package the programme attractively.
Audio
Television audio would have voice, music, sound effects and silence as major elements. Voice can be running commentary as in description of sports activity, dialogue as in drama, voice over narration as in documentaries, discussion as in interviews/ discussions/talk shows.
Music is used in a wide variety of ways in all programmes – as title and credit theme, as a transitional device between scenes, as background, as theme for features and dramas. There are also programmes based on music as the main element. Such programmes may showcase talent in various genres of music packaged entertainingly. Just as in visuals, for managing the sound transitions also there are words like, cut, fade up, hold under, segue, mix, fade out, etc that are used in production scripts. These instructions are also given in all caps on the script page.
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