jrn 572de - lecture 10

JRN 572 - Researching & Writing the News DocumentaryRich Hanley, Associate ProfessorLecture Ten

JRN 572 - News Documentary

Overview:• This week we make the

transition to the final phase of the semester.

• That phase culminates in December with a completed script of narrative elements, including voice-overs and some interviews.


Overview:• Now that we understand the

treatment, we move this week toward more fully and firmly expressing the idea with a concrete outline.

• The outline sorts the research and interview material into identifiable acts and scenes.


The Outline: • Materials posted in the Learning

Module for the week focus on an Indiana public television station production of a local documentary.

• The lessons are relevant to sports and journalism students as the approach to a subject is the same.


The Outline: • First, please understand that

this is a local documentary of the kind that many first-time producers/writers/directors will pursue for pay.

• Docs of this type help first-timers learn the craft of factual visual storytelling to a wide audience.


The Outline: • It does not have the stylistic

trappings of the screenings from Vimeo or Nowness, or from PBS or the BBC.

• What it does is tell a story in a structured way following what is more or less the standard approach.


The Outline: • Elkinsville – Washed Away by

Progress, produced in 2003 but still aired regularly, explores the story of a town purposely flooded as part of the Lake Monroe reservoir project in Indiana.


The Outline: • The Learning Module for the

week includes a link to the documentary, its treatment/outline and the script.

• This will show the progress from treatment to finished film.


The Outline: • Please note that the Elkinsville

film outline we use as our model for the assignment this week is titled Overview and Treatment but it really stands as how an outline should be written in terms of detailing its acts and scenes.


The Outline: • The treatment/overview shows

us how to integrate our research and interview material into an outline before we produce the full script that will be used to either shoot and edit or just to edit.


The Outline: • A revised script is also posted to

show how the idea moves from treatment and outline to script.

• This is a key pivot we will make later this semester but all we are focusing on this week is the firm outline.


The Outline: • Think of the outline as the first

true road map to the script.

• It is from this textual representation of the idea that the script will emerge in terms of providing its narrative arc of acts and scenes and key informational components.


The Outline: • Thus, the outline provides the

first focused opportunity to plan how the documentary will unfold in the specific format of acts and scenes.

• This will help sort the information and provide a mechanism to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the story.


The Outline: • For one, the outline gives the

writer room to move information around acts and scenes and information.

• In short, it provides a more concrete approach while preserving options in the telling of the story.


The Outline: • To get the process started, it’s

often best to think of an opening that would capture the audience’s attention, meaning you are setting the narrative train in motion.

• Experiment with that during the process.


The Outline: • Pro tip: to keep the process

moving, simply write a chronology of the subject even though that won’t be in the finished outline.

• It is simply a way to avoid looking at a blank screen, to keep your mind engaged with the material.


The Outline: • In addition, the act of writing

provides the animating motivation to get to know your material as a documentary film instead of as a clump of research and people you would like to interview.


The Outline: • With the chronology in place, it

is possible to envision the beginning, middle and end of something.

• The objective then becomes to turn those components into story instead of a list of things that happened.


The Outline: • That means moving material

around as you sort through the material and think of how it will unfold on the screen.

• It is okay to pursue creative approaches but it is important to land on firm ground when finished.


The Outline: • Why? Because the outline will

serve as the scaffolding for what’s to come in the script, which, in turn, combines the video with the audio components.


The Outline: • Please note that the outline will

take time to properly prepare because the writer needs to think of the relation between scenes within an act and of the relation between acts.

• Think everything through as much as possible.


The Outline: • The outline is not the same as a

script in that the script will include directions of what will appear on the screen in the traditional format of video on the left column and audio on the right.


The Outline: • The script for Elkinsville is

included here to show how the outline drives the script in terms of acts and scenes.

• Please note the evolution of the idea from outline to revised script.


The Outline: • As noted at the top, the process

followed in Elkinsville is the exact same as a producer/writer/director would pursue for a sports subject, so its applicability is universal.

• The story can be about a team as much as about a town.

jrn 572de - lecture 10

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