LO1: Analysis of Scripts

A) Style & Content

The fonts commonly assigned to script is the Courier New font, and text normally has a 12pt size. Scripts can also be formal or informal, depending on the context they are intended to preformed with. For my particular scripts, 3 are informal (radio, game and short film) and 1 is formal (news script). For example, the game script flowchart prints the phrase to the player “Hey! This is the Super Secret Book…”. The informality can be seen with the “Hey!” rather than using a more formal “Hello”.  With the scripts seen, only one uses this conventional house style. Scripts tend to follow this style of convention to maintain consistency between scripts - not only allowing the actors/directors to pull their important information out, but also to make the text easier to read. The other scripts have not got this conventional house style. This could easily be due to the way they were laid out on the site (i.e Web font rather than courier font). It also could be that they are different types of media and therefore have flexibility when it comes to following the conventional house style that scripts like film/TV should follow. Video game scripts such as the 'a room with a book' script as an example are normally plotted in a flow chart format as multiple options are normally available per dialogue option, creating a dynamic storyline in contrast to a fixed storyline like a film script is. A news script is another example of a script that might not follow traditional conventions, this is because of the amount of speech and lack of movement that takes place on the news. For this reason, the scripts appear to focus more on what to say rather than camera movement and position etc. News scripts also have a running order, which is different to the others as you will see in ‘B) Narrative Structure’.

Most scripts contain more than just dialogue. Many include details to assist the production team; including actors/presenters, camera operators, SFX crew and many more. SFX and other editing decisions are also justified to the right in common script. To ensure people understand the roles and positions they need to be in for a scene, the styling of the script is laid out so that different members of the production team can identify different sections easily and simply. This can be seen for the characters sections of a script. Dialogue for actors is justified towards the center on the page, this makes it easier for actors to read and understand. In the short film ‘The night roarer’, formats the text centrally and also consists of the name above the speech, making it easier for actors to identify their parts of the script. The night roarer also contains locations that the script is currently taking part in. For example, justified to the left is ‘EXT. URBAN BACKYARD. EVENING’. Being justified to the left allows once more for the production team to clearly see the scene’s location and time of day. It can also influence the actor to behave differently (as locations have many connotations).

Another advantage of having the script designed to take production teams into account is so errors can be identified by different team members and easily fixed without having to scan through hundreds or even thousands of lines of text to find a mistake. 

Video games will often feature a synopsis as part of the gameplay. For the most part, this is done to allow players to gain background knowledge of the time and place the game is set in. It also allows a player to gain important information allowing to narrative to become more apparent and also to provide helpful information which is required as part of the gameplay. For ‘The room with a book’ script, a synopsis is seen with the phrase ‘Player is in room. There is a book on the floor.’ Alone this doesn’t seem very informative, but to a player who has experienced the synopsis up to this point, it is useful to help immerse the player in the game even more.

Stage directions are not compulsory for every type of script, but are used a lot more in some types of media over others. For example, in the radio script 'a summer night' stage directions are used 'Then lights suddenly rise on a man standing on stage.' Even though this is a radio script, stage directions are still used to state about a man standing on stage with lights rising on to him. Stage directions create verisimilitude by giving the actor instructions to get more into character, providing more in depth information on the character’s position, and also help to connote a picture for the actor. In the example above, the man might be nervous, scared, or ready to perform. All three emotions require the actor to play the part differently, which helps to create a more real feeling film/radio show. 

Similarly, sound effects also help to create verisimilitude. In the short film script 'The night roarer', Sound effects are used to help make the audience feel immersed into the scene. 'Speakers large and small abound as Reg tunes and adjusts the cacophony that issue from them: the sound of many motor vehicles revving and roaring at once.' The sound effects given helps identify that Reg (a character in the script) likes cars which plays an important role in learning the character and also can make some of the audience see Reg as an 'ideal self'. Sounds effects are particularly useful in radio scripts (in the radio script extract ‘A summer night’, sound effects are seen throughout the script ‘FX Live music plays’), as no image is provided when listening. This means the listener must build up a picture in their own head, which is easier and simpler if sound effects are present. Once again this allows the listener to become more immersed in the play.

Mode of address describes a relationship of two people, normally referred to as an addresser and an addressee. The addresser is normally more assertive and normally in charge, however this is not always the case. Dependent on the script type, a different mode of address might be used. This could be based on numerous factors, including understanding, formality, educational aspect and purpose. In the film/radio script extracts, the dialect is normally more informal/chatty, meaning a peer to peer mode of address “What they’re sayin’ bout my dad.” Appears in the short film script ‘The night roarer’. This is to broaden the targeted audience for the script allowing people to listen/watch with ease. This is particularly useful as people often want to relax when watching/listening to radio/TV, meaning the peer to peer mode of address is more approved in these sorts of scripts. On the contrary, game scripts are more complex, and require more attention to understand fully. For this reason, the mode of address tends to be teacher to pupil. They provide information to the player and wait for them to build up their version of the story rather than showing the story in one static piece. “Player is in room. There is a book on the floor.”

In screenplays (a type of script mainly for TV/Film), narrative structure tends to follow a conventional narrative structure, of which normally consists of equilibrium, disequilibrium and a resolution. Although this isn’t seen easily in any of my script extracts, the main reason is due to this being an extract, where as you normally require the whole store to view all aspects of the narrative structure. 

B) Narrative Structure

Scripts can be any of four narrative structures. Single stranded, multi-stranded, linear and non-linear. For two of my scripts which I have taken extracts from (Short Film and radio), they are multi-stranded. These scripts are multi-stranded as they consist of narratives which are of different perspectives rather than just the one. The news script on the other hand is neither single stranded nor multi-stranded. This is because it has a running order, and hence contains factual information that does not correspond to neither a single stranded or multi stranded narrative structure. Opposing the multi-stranded short film and radio scripts, the game script is single stranded, as the player takes the role of one perspective not more. This is not to say games must all be single stranded. Games like Grand Theft Auto five takes the perspective of three characters rather than the more standard one.

Multi Stranded

A multi-stranded script is commonly noticed as a script which has more than one main protagonist, referred to as a band of protagonists, in which one narrative is followed, but with different perspectives. A good example of a film with said narrative structure, is Suicide-Squad. A band of protagonists who have the same mission but with different attitudes. For my script extracts the Short Film script and Radio script are both multi stranded. In the Short Film script, characters Max, Reg and Mal are all seen as main characters. The script is common amongst both film and tv scripts as well as radio. It gives the audience the chance to get into the storyline more by following which character they like the best, and to see their interactions to all other main protagonists.

Single Stranded

A single-stranded script is defined as being a script which has a single main protagonist following a single storyline; this does not mean they are the only character, but instead the only main character who appears throughout all or most of the script. This narrative type is more common than the multi-stranded narrative type and appears in the majority of films, for example Spiderman. It is also common across video games, which normally allow the player to take the perspective of one character, a good example of this is Halo, where the player takes the role of one main character “Master Chief”. In the game script ‘a room with a book’ the story is single stranded as the player is described as ‘Hero’ and seemingly adventures on his own, hence being the main character.

Linear

A linear script is where the storyline follows a preset path, most commonly equilibrium, disequilibrium and resolution in said order. Although the script extracts will be either linear on non-linear, it is hard to tell which narrative type they are as they are only extracts. For this reason a linear storyline can be seen In the film ‘Interstellar’ where the mission is as normal, then a disequilibrium occurs (no chance of returning home) followed by a resolution (they figure out a scientific solution to get back home). This narrative structure is important as it defines the most common structure to scripts and is often the most thrilling to the audience. TV soaps are also another example of linear storyline (even though this may run over multiple episodes) as everything seems alright followed by conflict and then some sort of resolution.

Non-Linear

A non-linear script is the opposite of a linear script, one that does not follow the conventional equilibrium, disequilibrium and resolution structure. A good example of a film following a non-linear narrative type is ‘The Martian’ which starts off at disequilibrium. This narrative type can often be concluded as better than a linear narrative type due to the difference from the norm, and tension that the audience will feel due to not knowing what will happen next. Non-linear narrative types also allow opportunities for sequels later on by concluding a script at a disequilibrium over the conventional. Once again it is difficult to define which of the script extracts belong to which narrative type, due to them only being extracts of the full scripts.

C) Genre

The word genre was stated by Barry Keith Grant in 1995 to be a “type or kind”, which allowed media products worldwide to be defined into ‘genres’ or ‘sub-genres’ off of their type or kind of content contained within said media product. Scripts can be classified into fiction or non-fiction as a basic divider, some scripts cannot be fiction or non-fiction based on the media they need to be presented in, for example news. The Radio Five Live news extract has to be non-fiction as news cannot be fictitious due to the stories being real and current to our world, rather than made up ones.

Only the news extract selected is non-fiction (meaning real stories). Created to educate the viewer, it is expected that news should be non-fiction. Non-fiction scripts tend to be serious rather than to entertain the viewer. News in particular is quite the opposite to fiction due to it drawing the viewer to real life stories rather than distract them from the real world. The news covers real world stories such as ‘a Russian security agent’ being in critical condition, and ‘an injured police officer’ has died. News is also seen to be mainly more negative which can also be assigned to the non-fiction genre.

Fiction based media tends to be more positive which is why it is used as a form of ‘escapism’ from the real world. The Short Film, Radio Script and Game Script are all examples of the fiction genre. The three productions follow a ‘made up’ storyline, which is not to say they are not realistic, but more so haven’t occurred in real life. They are intended to entertain the audience and may even promote an ‘ideal self’ to the audience members (someone who the audience may inspire to become). In the short film script ‘The night roarer’, the audience may see themselves as inspiring to being the character Reg, a man who loves ‘Hot Rods’, a type of upgraded and modified car. This ideal self theory came from Carl Rogers in 1980 and is something seen in both fiction and non-fiction media products. The game script ‘the room with a book’ also follows the ideal self and fiction genre by the player taking the role of a ‘Hero’. This storyline once again acts as a form of escapism which takes the player away from the real world whilst they are playing.

D) Target Audience

The target audience for the short film script ‘The night roarer’ is aimed at a target audience of 24-40+, mainly male (about 80%) and with a NRS demographic of B/C1. The reason for this is due to the seemingly more mature nature of the script ‘I was never one of them radical types, not till the tankers stopped’. The short film storyline also evolves around Reg, a person who loves vehicles, especially ‘Hot Rods’. This is stereotypical to the older male due to the location information provided in the script ‘Reg’s Headquarters’. This shows that Reg himself is most likely an older male, and so therefore this older audience could be seen to follow the Carl Rogers ‘Ideal self’ theory looking up to Reg as being someone they inspire or inspired to be. This also adds to the B/C1 demographic due to the working class C1 being at a lower position than Reg. The story may also be used as a form of escapisim (proposed by Dennis McQuail in 1972). The informal narrative also appeals to the older population, who understand the local dialect more than some teenagers or younger.

Secondly the news broadcast. It is difficult to provide a concise target audience to such media due to how they intend to promote this form of media to a whole population, even internationally! For this reason, the target audience age is around 17+ due to the negative and somewhat upsetting nature of the news in general, however this is even more apparent in the Five Live news script which speaks about deaths and critical condition patients, something that younger viewers may find disturbing/distracting. The news also attracts a NRS demographic of A-D, consisting of all forms of spending power. Although this is not always the case (financial news for example would be aimed at an upward demographic of A or B). The targeted gender for the news is both male and female (50%, 50%). The news also falls under the “surveillance” category described by Dennis McQuail’s’ “uses and gratification”. The reason for this is that it promotes “surveillance” is that the viewer gets to follow real world stories currently ongoing.

Thirdly the radio script ‘A Summer Night’. The main target audience for this script is 40+ with a target audience of mainly male (70%, 30%) and a demographic of C1/C2. The script also seems quite northern, with its witty humour “And he stands up to show me the giant turd he’s just laid on my lawn.”. For this reason the geography of the target audience is quite niche. The 40+ targeted age comes from the stereotypical listeners of radio shows and the estimated age of the characters in the show. The C1/C2 rating is also given based on the “You making a f***ing s**theap of that vest aren’t you son”. This informal slang is often connoted to people with lower spending power, which is hence the reason I have selected C1/C2 as the audience rating. The witty humour which appears in the script also links to Dennis McQuail’s “uses and gratification” in the form of escapism. Often associated to lunch breaks, the radio provides an opportunity for workers to get away from their jobs for a while and sit down and listen to something they enjoy which takes them out of the real world.

Finally the game script, ‘the room with a book’, is quite vague and hard to pinpoint a target audience to due to it being a video game with only minor information. However we can see through stereotypical age that it appears to be a mystery/RPG style game and hence would target a more teenage audience, being around 12-20. Predominantly male due to the character playing as a ‘Hero’ rather than ‘Heroine’, about (80%, 20%). The demographic for the game is also really difficult to pick, but would be more D or E, people/students who have time to play games whilst not working. The media theory of “uses and gratification” by Dennis McQuail here links to ‘escapism’, due to the player being put into a fictitious world which takes them away from the real world. The lower margin of the teenage audience would mainly be who the game is aimed at with the informal and simple dialect seen: ‘Hey! This is the Super Secret Book of Top Secret Codes…’.