by T G Campbell
Part Three: Script and Storyboard.
I’m not a scriptwriter. I want to make that absolutely clear from the start, in case you were thinking I was some sort of Goddess with miraculous writing abilities. I write novels and short stories. As those who’ve attempted to write a book and a screenplay can attest, they are two very different beasts. In addition to dialogue and descriptions, a screenplay must also take into consideration camera angles, sound effects, musical scores, locations (both interior and exterior), lighting, costumes, etc. For me, the hardest part of writing a script for my book trailer was getting into the mindset of a screenwriter in the first place. I wanted to write a highly developed scene like in one of my books, rather than a condensed version to fit within the space of three minutes.
Part of my difficulty came from a desire to promote the entire series of Bow Street Society books/short stories. At the time of writing, there are two books and a collection of five short stories published. Any attempt to fit such a wealth of material into a three-minute book trailer was always destined to fail. I was trying to plan the trailer with the idea of “reusability” in mind. If I could make a trailer for the series—rather than just one book—then I could keep it as part of my marketing plan indefinitely. For the sake of practicality, and my own sanity, I chose to concentrate on the first book in the series: The Case of The Curious Client. As this would be the point at which most readers would be introduced to the concept of the Bow Street Society, I thought the reusability of the trailer would still be quite high.
Another stumbling block in my thought process was cost. One draft of my script featured real-life London streets in the dead of night with 6-8 characters from my book making an appearance. If I were to go along with this script, I’d have to consider: fees for the 6-8 actors, the hiring fees for 6-8 costumes, the cost of hiring lights suitable for outdoor use, the cost of (potentially) closing a public highway, and the cost of any filming permits I may have had to acquire. Needless to say, this draft was abandoned pretty sharpish.
I’m fortunate enough to work with someone who has his own freelance scriptwriting business. He’s been a tremendous help to me during this entire process. He’s the one who suggested I create a storyboard alongside the script. He explained it would enable everyone involved to visualise what it was I was trying to achieve. I, therefore, wrote a (very) rough next draft of my script (constructed using actual scenes from my book) and created a storyboard. Just the process of drawing that—albeit crude—storyboard helped me to condense my script down further by taking unnecessary parts out, switching parts around, and generally discussing the overall order with my other friend, Karen.
It was during this storyboard creation session that I decided to take advantage of Victorian-era style drawings for the main part of the trailer. Drawings are more cost effective than live action, and the segment (a recollection of past events) lends itself to a drawn sequence. In order to enhance the quality of such a sequence, though, I included zooming and panning camera angles in my storyboard notes. I also stressed the significance of light and shadow in the drawings, to help create the dark, sinister mood of a Victorian-era murder mystery. After creating the crude storyboard, I then re-created it with my notes, alongside a new draft of my script so the two would marry. I decided the beginning and end segments of the trailer would be live action, still, but would only have 2 characters featured: Miss Rebecca Trent (the Bow Street’s Society clerk and therefore a pivotal character in the entire series) and an unnamed journalist interviewing her.
Since creating the storyboard and script, I’ve had the illustrations created by my usual artist, Peter Spells, who created the central cover art for all my books. Rather than keeping with the style of those, he emulated the pen and ink style of Victorian-era drawings. I’ve included one of the drawings below as an example. The script has also undergone some minor changes; mostly to include more of an overview of the plot so as to leave the audience wanting more. At the time of writing this, the script is with a voice-over artist who I’ve hired to read it out.
The most important thing to remember is your storyboard and script is fluid documents. You don’t have to get them 100% right from the beginning. As more people are brought onto the project—cameraman, voiceover artist etc.—you’ll all make small changes, to both the storyboard and script, with the aim of enhancing the final trailer. Utilise their expertise and always bear in mind what it is you’re trying to do with your trailer. It’s not a feature-length film, but a brief, visual representation of your product (the book), designed to convince the viewer to part with their hard-earned cash. Unfortunately, people won’t always buy your book simply because you’re an independent author. You have to prove to them, by showing them, why YOUR book is different to everything else that’s on the market.
For those who are unsure about the (sort of) format your script should be in, I’ve included a screenshot of part of my script below:
NEXT TIME: CREATING AN INDIE BOOK TRAILER Part Four: Choosing a location
Part of my difficulty came from a desire to promote the entire series of Bow Street Society books/short stories. At the time of writing, there are two books and a collection of five short stories published. Any attempt to fit such a wealth of material into a three-minute book trailer was always destined to fail. I was trying to plan the trailer with the idea of “reusability” in mind. If I could make a trailer for the series—rather than just one book—then I could keep it as part of my marketing plan indefinitely. For the sake of practicality, and my own sanity, I chose to concentrate on the first book in the series: The Case of The Curious Client. As this would be the point at which most readers would be introduced to the concept of the Bow Street Society, I thought the reusability of the trailer would still be quite high.
Another stumbling block in my thought process was cost. One draft of my script featured real-life London streets in the dead of night with 6-8 characters from my book making an appearance. If I were to go along with this script, I’d have to consider: fees for the 6-8 actors, the hiring fees for 6-8 costumes, the cost of hiring lights suitable for outdoor use, the cost of (potentially) closing a public highway, and the cost of any filming permits I may have had to acquire. Needless to say, this draft was abandoned pretty sharpish.
I’m fortunate enough to work with someone who has his own freelance scriptwriting business. He’s been a tremendous help to me during this entire process. He’s the one who suggested I create a storyboard alongside the script. He explained it would enable everyone involved to visualise what it was I was trying to achieve. I, therefore, wrote a (very) rough next draft of my script (constructed using actual scenes from my book) and created a storyboard. Just the process of drawing that—albeit crude—storyboard helped me to condense my script down further by taking unnecessary parts out, switching parts around, and generally discussing the overall order with my other friend, Karen.
It was during this storyboard creation session that I decided to take advantage of Victorian-era style drawings for the main part of the trailer. Drawings are more cost effective than live action, and the segment (a recollection of past events) lends itself to a drawn sequence. In order to enhance the quality of such a sequence, though, I included zooming and panning camera angles in my storyboard notes. I also stressed the significance of light and shadow in the drawings, to help create the dark, sinister mood of a Victorian-era murder mystery. After creating the crude storyboard, I then re-created it with my notes, alongside a new draft of my script so the two would marry. I decided the beginning and end segments of the trailer would be live action, still, but would only have 2 characters featured: Miss Rebecca Trent (the Bow Street’s Society clerk and therefore a pivotal character in the entire series) and an unnamed journalist interviewing her.
Since creating the storyboard and script, I’ve had the illustrations created by my usual artist, Peter Spells, who created the central cover art for all my books. Rather than keeping with the style of those, he emulated the pen and ink style of Victorian-era drawings. I’ve included one of the drawings below as an example. The script has also undergone some minor changes; mostly to include more of an overview of the plot so as to leave the audience wanting more. At the time of writing this, the script is with a voice-over artist who I’ve hired to read it out.
The most important thing to remember is your storyboard and script is fluid documents. You don’t have to get them 100% right from the beginning. As more people are brought onto the project—cameraman, voiceover artist etc.—you’ll all make small changes, to both the storyboard and script, with the aim of enhancing the final trailer. Utilise their expertise and always bear in mind what it is you’re trying to do with your trailer. It’s not a feature-length film, but a brief, visual representation of your product (the book), designed to convince the viewer to part with their hard-earned cash. Unfortunately, people won’t always buy your book simply because you’re an independent author. You have to prove to them, by showing them, why YOUR book is different to everything else that’s on the market.
For those who are unsure about the (sort of) format your script should be in, I’ve included a screenshot of part of my script below:
NEXT TIME: CREATING AN INDIE BOOK TRAILER Part Four: Choosing a location
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