Scripting

Excerpts from:
How to Write for Animation by Jeffrey Scott
Chicken Run: Hetching the Movie by Brian Sibley

Script samples:
Teenage Mutant Nija Turtles by Jeffrey Scott
About my name by Midori Kitagawa


Script should include the following:

• Scene Heading: A short description of the location and time of day of a scene

• Action: A description of any moving elements

• Character Name: The character's name appears on the line preceding the dialogue when s/he talk s

• Dialogue: Speeches between characters

• Transition: A notation denoting an editing transition. For example, "DISSOLVE TO" is a transtion where the action seems to blur and refocus into another scene. It is often used to imply a passage of time.

• Shot: What the camera sees. For example, TRACKING SHOT would mean that the camera is following a character as s/he walks in a scene. CLOSE-UP SHOT shows a character's face and shoulders. It is close enough to show subtle facial expressions clearly. WIDE SHOT would mean that we see all characters that appear in the scene at once.