LO1: Analysis of Scripts

Content and Style:

Scripts for most types of media are typically written in the 'Courier New' font, the size it's written in is a size 12. Screenplays for medias such as TV, film and even radio include a character description, this is so they can help visualise a character to the costume designers and make-up artists (for the TV and Film script), for the radio script it would be there to help the actor understand the character, this can be seen in the 'Atching Tan' example when it says "A YOUNG MAN APPROACHES, HE IS IN HIS EARLY TWENTIES, TALL, WELL BUILT AND HANDSOME". Computer games on the other hand, including the script, will have a flow chart, this is important for dialogue that isn't in a cut scene but what is being said whilst you actually play the game, the flow chart would show a certain action or checkpoint that would need to be done or achieved, this could then trigger a dialogue specific to that action being completed. A script for a TV show, film or radio drama will have the presenter or character's dialogue in the centre of the script, although it's speech, it does not have speech marks, it also has the character or presenters name above the dialogue so it's easy to indicate who says what, this can be seen in the 'Death in the Family' short film script where the character 'Albert' says "I don't know what I'm going to do without her. It's going to be so quite now" which is justified to the centre. Video games also have a synopsis, this is an outline of the plot of the film, and this is used so someone can get a quick summary of the game to see if it's interesting enough to play. Stage and location directions can be an important part of certain scripts; these scripts are for a film, theatre or TV show. Stage directions are written in sentence case inside brackets, typically placed above dialogue and are basically what the audience sees and what they will hear that is not dialogue. Some examples of stage directions are obviously 'Enter' and 'Exit' as this will indicate whether the actor should be on stage or not and another would be a simple action such as 'Micheal picks up the keys'. They are important because it gives a clear idea to the actor of what they need to do. This can also been seen in the 'Death in the family' script where it says "ALBERT wipes his eyes and sniffs."  Sound effects are also shown in the scripts, they are mostly presented on the right side of the script, and it is also underlined and has the description of the sound. The mode of address is the way the addresser speaks to an addressee, an example of the addresser is the scriptwriter/character on the other hand the addressee is the audience. There are three types of these modes of address, the first being a peer-to-peer relationship, this will be very informal with slang and very casual language. Secondly, it's a very formal language based relationship, and that is Teacher to Pupil, this would be language that's used to learn and educate. The final relationship is the Parent to Child, this can be both formal and informal, depending on the context, this language relationship can be used for giving advice and guidance. The narrative structure are what the story of a media such as film and radio are made of, common narrative structures of most screenplays are; a beginning, middle and end. The beginning consists of the introduction to the setting, protagonist and then a plot device such as a plot twist that sets the protagonist on their story to solve the problem. The middle contains the protagonist having a goal to resolve the problem and facing obstacles that may stop them. The end is then the problem being resolved and the protagonist maybe learns something.

The example scripts have used a formal language for the screen directions, transitions, camerawork, shot types and locations/settings. Dialogue on the other hand is mostly a mix between a formal and informal language. Dialogue is always justified to the centre of the script. The news broadcast script has to be formal as the news can hold serious topics and stories in which informal language is unsuitable for, this means it fits into the Teacher to Pupil relationship as the news is there to educate you by keeping you up on topics in the world, this can be seen in my example when it says "Residents of Tagaytay have been riding the wheel of fortune for over a year now - Ever since legalised gambling came to town. As Mara Santos reports, it's had a positive effect on what was once the poorest town in the cavite province". The radio drama will be targeted to a more adult audience and the characters in the radio programme are also talking to other adults, this can be seen as a more serious Peer to Peer relationship as the adults do still use a formal language such as when my 'Atching Tan' example has one of the characters say "Don't stop on my account.", this is very formal and polite, the radio drama also shares a informal language as one character says "You ain't my neighbour", I say this is informal because it uses a contraction which makes the word sound different and much shorter to the original word that had the same meaning. The short film script 'Death in the family' is written in the majority of the formal language, and with the example I have used this part of the script is more of a Parent to Child relationship as the character is offering guidance to the other character, as shown by one character saying "Well, if you need to talk..." and the other character responds with "Thanks, but I have some pills somewhere so I might just sleep for a while.", I feel as though the language for this script is like this so that the audience feel like they are actually people talking. Informal language can also be used to create verisimilitude, which can make it seem as though it’s really happening in real life, and it can also for entertaining purposes. Finally, the video game 'The Walking Dead' I could not find the script for, but I do have a flowchart, the outcome of these are to allow the audience to be in control of the game play, flowcharts show the different choices and the consequences they lead to, between these choices and consequences there may or may not be dialogue. With the context being a zombie apocalypse the characters will be quite serious, but then it may be quite informal as the characters are everyday people, meaning it may be in the peer to peer relationship mode of address, this is useful as it can relate to the audience and make them associate with the characters. The only script example that was fully dependant on the formal language was the news broadcast whilst the others varied with using both informal and formal language as the genres vary.

From the examples scripts may not follow the exact conventions of a script and the house style may vary. Firstly, the Video game's flowchart isn't really a script at all, but more like the instructions of actions that may lead to dialogue being activated, with the 'Walking Dead' flowchart I have chosen it shows the different choices you have and the consequences they lead to, with each choice the dialogue may be different compared to if you had chosen another choice.

The script that follows the conventions of a script the most is the short film script from 'Death in the Family’; the script is written in the 'Courier New' font at the size of 12, as this is a convention in scripts. The script has the edit decision 'Fade In', although this is conventionally justified to the right always justified to the left. On the other hand, the location on the script is justified to the left and always says whether the location is inside or outside, as indicated by the 'INT.' which means interior and 'EXT.' which means exterior, the location also states the time of day (day/night) and the locations name. The character's names are centred, just like the dialogue, and also capitalised, even in the stage directions. The stage directions are also justified to the centre and are there to indicate to the actors what they have to do in that scene. This script, because it follows the conventions, is easy to follow for both the actors and crew and is in a professional format that is seen in nearly every script.

The TV news broadcast script example is very different compared to the official conventions of a script. Firstly the visual's descriptions that would go with the anchor's dialogue are placed to the far left and the audio is then placed to the right. The visuals would transfer to the stage directions on a normal script and so would be placed above the dialogue the anchor reads out, but in this case are not and are written in capital letters. The dialogue the anchor reads is also capitalised because it needs to be easy to read, so they look more professional and are less likely they will mess up the lines and placed to the far right when it should be justified to the centre as it would in a conventional script. A TV News broadcast script also helps give a clear understanding of the running order as it will say what news needs to be shown and said at times in the news broadcast, which is helped shown by the dialogue and the visual descriptions on the script.

Finally, the radio drama has a few of the conventional features in a script but also has differences, the conventional features it has are; the location which includes the EXT./INT. , location and the time of day, it also includes the scene/act number which was not seen on the short film's script, it justified to left like it should be but also is underlined. Next is the stage direction/scene description and this justified to the centre although it is much bolder which it shouldn't normally be. The character's name is in capitals, although it isn't justified to the centre like it should be, as does the dialogue, which should be below the character's names. Other features that are typically seen on scripts are the different camera works, edit decisions, special effects and graphic effects, these are conventionally justified to the right and are what change a script to a shooting script, as this version will not just help actors, but the people behind the scenes too, such as the cameramen and post production editors.

Narrative Structure:

The narrative of a media product and its script can be either be single or multi-stranded, these can mainly be seen in films, theatre, TV dramas/soap operas and radio dramas. Firstly, single stranded narratives can follow one main protagonist and their story, from the selected scripts I have chosen this appears in the Short film script, the radio drama script and even in the video game flowchart. Having a single stranded narrative has the advantage of the audience relating easily to the character as you can easily feel empathy for them as they go through their journey. The short film script follows the single protagonist ‘Albert’ who is dealing with the death of his wife, this can make the audience feel empathy for him as they would be able to tell he is distraught due to the script directions, it also indicates that he wipes his eyes, showing that he was crying which normally associates with being sad and the audience can see this and relate. The radio drama script cannot use visuals to help the audience relate to the protagonist, a lady called Lovvie, but through the dialogue you can tell she is in discomfort when a stranger approaches her (John) and she says, “I think you ought to find yourself some shade” when he makes a inappropriate comment. The audience can hear this and maybe have a feeling of discomfort too. Finally, the video game flowchart shows the choices and outcomes of them made by one single protagonist, the choices you make also effect the relationships of other characters in the game, because this is the choices also made by the player, it is quite immersive and the player can relate to the main protagonist easily as in a way, it is them.

Next, it’s the multi-stranded narrative, and this is when it focuses on more than one protagonist, they are then called a band of protagonists. This narrative gives equal appearance to all the protagonists in a media’s script.  I do not have a script that uses this type of script, but an example would be films, TV Dramas/soap operas and radio dramas. A film that would use this would be Avengers (2012), which the story consists of 6 protagonists, they all have equal screen time and the characters have different personalities that the audience can easily relate to. A TV Drama/Soap Opera and radio drama would also have a wide cast of characters which all fit into the story in a way, multiple stories can also take place and ravel up into a much bigger story, this can make it easy for the it to have a spectacle which would be entertaining and dramatic to the audience, keeping them involved in the story to see where the characters and plot goes. An example of this would be the TV Soap opera ‘Eastenders’, this would also use editing techniques like Crosscutting, and this would get different perspectives from the many protagonists and help make the show immersive to the audience. Finally, a video game can also have the multi-stranded narrative, such as ‘Halo 5’ which allows 4 players to play 4 different protagonists in the story, each one has there own dialogue, although this is only implemented mostly for the game play and less for the plot.

A linear narrative structure follows three general stages, the equilibrium, which is when the story is calm and everything, is balanced, the disequilibrium which is the part where the problem or main challenge arises and then finally the resolution which is where the problem is resolved and the story goes back to an equilibrium. The scripts that would follow this are the short film, video game, radio drama and the theatre/play. The short film script "Death in the family" for example follows this as the equilibrium may have been the husband and wife living together happily, the disequilibrium is then the wife dying and the husband dealing with it and finally the resolution which may be the husband finding solace and excepting his wife's death.

A non-linear narrative structure on the other hand may end up starting with the disequilibrium or even sometimes the resolution, which leads on to disequilibrium; this kind of script also gets the audiences involved. Scripts that also use a linear narrative can also use a non-linear narrative. An example of a script could be a sequel to a film, as the previous film could have ended on a cliffhanger in the disequilibrium, which is where the sequel carries on with the narrative.

Finally, a TV News broadcast follows a running order, this is different to a narrative structure as this is a list of news reports and articles they have to inform the audience about, usually the breaking news that effects the majority of people will be broadcast first as it is more important, the running order may then lead on to different specific types of news such as the sports and weather. Each News report will usually follow the format of who, what, where, when and why and also any other additional information that may be important.

 Genre:

As defined by Barry Keith Grant in 1995, "a genre is a type or kind". Scripts that fit into fiction, a narrative that is made up and isn't real, are the video games, film, TV Drama and theatre scripts as these will normally have made up characters and settings, more typically the video game and film scripts as these may include science fiction, fantasy and adventure genres that can easily make up locations and characters as it isn't a world we live in, TV dramas and theatre/play scripts on the other hand are usually set in historical context or real locations but with made up characters. As said by Carl Rodgers in 1980, some medias can create an "ideal self" for the audience, a sort of role model the audience want to become, this can be represented well in Fictional medias as the creator can make a character that fits to a target audience that may relate to them. Non-Fiction, meaning that the narrative or information is real, includes scripts that belong to a media that is there to educate and inform the audience, typically being factual. These scripts are the TV news broadcasts and radio news as they have real life stories they report on, which are done to inform and educate the audience. Another non-fictional script is a documentary, as it will only use facts on the topic it faces, which again is there to educate the audience on the topic.

Target Audience:

The first script is the short film script "Death in the Family" and fits into the melodrama genre, which appeals to the more emotive audience as it has a melancholic plot that deals with real life drama people go through. The gender this would be more targeted towards are both male and female as they can both relate to the experience the main character, Albert is going through, which is grief after death. The short film script shows that Albert is sad about what has happened as seen when he says "I don't know what I'm going to do without her. It's going to be so quiet now." and indicates that he is wiping his eyes; it's very likely both gender would act the same in the same scenario. The age this would most be suited to is a much older audience, around 40 and above. This is because the plot centres around the main character losing his wife, and so for the audience to really relate with that, they would need to be married themselves as they could relate to the feeling of maybe losing their loved one one day. It could also relate to a younger audience (around 20 to 30 years old) as they could still relate to losing someone. The geographical target could be close to local as it is only a short film and would most likely only be shown at a film festival, as it may not have a big budget to be marketed or shown internationally or even nationally. Although the short film could be published on a website such as YouTube and would then be able to be seen internationally but may still not get much exposure. The ABC1 social grade for the short film would be a E and above, as the short film will most likely be on a local scale which may only be shown at a film festival, which are most often either free or a very low price, meaning that it would be easy for a person with a low spending power, such as someone at the social grade E, to see it. A Short film or TV Drama would usually have a sense of escapism in them, as said by Denis McQuail in 1972, this is when the audience get involved and sucked into the narrative, this can be done through many ways such as spectaculars and drama between characters, this short film would most likely do this through the emotional drama the film presents us with as you emphasise with the character.

The video game flow chart shows us that the genre of the game is an adventure set in a post-apocalyptic zombie setting. The gender this game is targeted towards is both genders, more on the side of male as the game's protagonist is a male and this can make it easier for the male audience to relate to the character, maybe even creating an ideal self. It can also relate to females as the choices you make in the game are all done on the decision of the player meaning the protagonist in a way is the player, making it easy to empathise with the protagonist. The age that would be targeted and more suited to the game is 18 and above as the PEGI (Pan European Game Information) had rated it this, so wouldn't be suitable for a younger audience as it contains strong language, violence and gore that would be inappropriate for anyone younger. Adults would also easily relate to the protagonist as he is also an adult and you have to make decisions that would be best left to an adult. The geographical target audience would be International as it is based of a well known TV show that is shown internationally, so the brand would easily be recognised on the game cover in stores, it would also have a big budget for marketing and so would get a lot of exposure and it can also be accessed online to be bought which would mean it's international. The ABC1 social grade that would be targeted would be a person in the social grade C2 and above, this is because the game is a well-developed game and plenty of content meaning it would be around the full price of a triple A game, which can be costly and so the audience would need a moderate spending power. This game's plot is very impelling as gives a sense of escapism as you feel like your decisions effect the story and you emphasise with the other characters.

Next is the TV News broadcast script and they are made to educate and inform the audience of events that are happening locally, nationally or internationally. The gender that would be targeted are both male and female as the news is meant for everybody to hear and isn't specified towards a certain gender. The age the news would be targeted at would be any age, depending on the topic at hand, for example, if it's about politics, it would use more sophisticated terms and language that a young audience will not understand whilst and older audience would. The geographic target audience can vary on what type of TV news broadcast it is, if it's talking about the news specific to a small town or city, then the target would be that local population, if it's news relative to a country then it would be a national target audience and if it was news that effects the world then it would be shown to an international target audience. In this case, the script would be targeted towards a local target audience, as the script specifies a certain region of the city/town when it says "Residents of Tagaytay have been riding the wheel of fortune for over a year now - ever since the legalised gambling came to town". The ABC1 Social grade this script would be targeted towards is a E and above as the news is there to inform and educate everyone who sees it, as the news is supposed to relate to everyone, the only thing they would need to watch a TV news broadcast with is a TV and they can easily be afforded at either a retail store or second hand shop, so it should be easy for someone to get one to watch the news. TV news broadcast use surveillance, which are recorded footage relating to the topic, this can help visualise and make the news a bit more intriguing, which can be very appealing to an audience.

Finally, the radio drama script for "Aching Tan" is again, another drama-based genre. The gender this would be more appropriate for is female as this is more of a romance themed drama as the stranger seems to be a kind of love interest for the character Lovvie, romances are seen as a more appropriate genre to the female audiences because they can easily create an ideal self in the relationship they are seeing, or in this case hearing about. The age that would be targeted for this are an adult audience, around the mid 20s and above, this is because a drama would involve situations or scenarios that an older audience could easily relate to as it may have happened to them. The geographic for this radio drama would depend on how far out the radio goes, typically it would only be a local radio station meaning that it would broadcast across a city or town, but if the radio drama is broadcast across multiple radio stations then it could maybe be heard nationally. The ABC1 Social grade that would be targeted would be a E and above as it doesn't require a lot of spending power to afford a radio or phone that could access the radio, which would be free to access. This radio drama does have escapism, and because there aren’t any visuals it is less easy to get distracted from the narrative being told, so it may be more immersive for the audience.