Creatives are full of ideas. And want to bring as many of them to life as possible.
So it’s only natural to get carried away and overwrite.
Hollywood’s rule is one page of script equals one minute of screen time (Hollywood as in the movies not Paul from Bake Off). But most ads are only 30 secs or even shorter these days, so you’ve half a page or less.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a creative write that short.
Nothing makes me sweat more than having a script overrunning in a voiceover session. The time it takes to trim and fix it in the record, is time you’ve lost from crafting the performance.
One way to avoid that is to create the production moment earlier.
It’s easy to record a script yourself. Using the tone, speed and pauses you’d like. Check the length, then craft when you’re not under the pressure of the record.
It’s the same with TV, long-form content, social or stills.
Act it out, shoot on your phone, do a mini-edit.
It really highlights what’s working and what needs more time.
If nothing else you might get a badly-acted funny film to play in the end of year meeting.
And when you’ve got everything crafted to time. Write some shorter alt lines or pieces of action, things to swop in and try out. Even know what sections could be cut completely.
It’s invaluable if you’re on a shoot or in a record. You can try other things fast, avoiding the massive pressure of rewriting scripts and getting sign-off in the room.
Record before the record.
Shoot before the shoot.
Edit before the edit.
