Writing for television

In television the visual comes first: words support the pictures by saying what they cannot show; do not crowd visuals with voice-over — let them talk. Sentences of about 13 to 14 words, present tense, active voice ('A private plane crashed into an airliner').

Objectivity is hard: in Kurosawa's film 'Rashomon' each witness tells the same forest incident differently, and the viewer is left asking what really happened — meanings are something we create.

Elements: the anchor's lead-in and lead-out; a 'reader' or 'liner' read on camera without visuals; sound bytes of about 10 to 20 seconds; a piece to camera of about 20 seconds from the spot, at the start, as a bridge, or at the end.

Shot types: Mid Close Up (face and neck), Mid Shot (waist upwards, often for action); GFX means graphics (text, numbers, logos).

The sample script about Lakshmi at Anand Niwas, a home for children, runs in two columns: VIDEO (shots) and AUDIO (lead-in, voice-over, sound bytes, song, lead-out).