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Research Guides@Tufts

EE-31 Junior Design

Script

1. Focused brainstorming

Before writing your script consider the following with your team:

  • Purpose - your motivation behind creating this project 
    • What is the purpose of the project?
    • What essential message do you want to communicate?
  • Audience – who is this project for
    • Who is your intended audience?
    • What prior knowledge (if any) might they have of the topic?
    • What do you want your audience to do after seeing the presentation?
  • Perspective – the point of view from which you will speak from
    • Who is telling your story and why?
  • Structure– how will you tell this story using media
    • How would you characterize the "tone" of your video? E.g., formal/informal? upbeat? melancholy? etc.
    • How will the content be sequenced?
    • What sounds will help tell this story? E.g. Music, sound effects, recordings of your bot.

2. Create an outline

Outline the main sections of your video.  You might consider the following sections but may choose to include more or revise based on your specific project.  Don't worry about the order of the sections.

  • Introduction to problem
    • Key point 1
    • Key point 2
  • Process for creating and collaborating
    • Key point 1
    • Key point 2
  • Interview/impact
    • Key point 1
    • Key point 2
  • What's at stake/purpose
    • Key point 1
    • Key point 2
  • Conclusion
    • Key point 1
    • Key point 2

3. Write your script. 

Begin writing a text that will accompany your video.  You may find that interviewing each other to get the answers to these questions will sound for more natural but for the moment write down the essential information you need to convey within each section or scene.  Your script can simply be a document that names who is saying what information, for example:

X person: We designed it to be inexpensive,open-source, but also have high performance.

Y person:  Each of the legs are four-bar linkages that are driven by a belt pulley system.

Try to keep your writing concise.  When processing audio information the audience won't necessarily rewind to hear what you've explained a second time.  It can be helpful to write in a similar way that you would speak and then revise. For the first draft of your script, approximately 500 words is roughly equivalent to 3 - 5 minutes of video.

Sample text from transcript of Meet Doggo: Stanford's student built, four-legged robot. 

StanfordUniversity, director. Meet Doggo: Stanford's Student Built, Four-Legged Robot. YouTube, YouTube, 20 May 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E82o2pP9Jo. Accessed 14 Feb. 2023.

4. What is your story arc? 

Will you start with an introduction to the problem or the process of creating your bot?  Once you have a script and have identified all the major concepts you need to cover, consider how you might re-organize the various sections for clarity or engagement.

Storyboard

Creating a storyboard can help you organize your ideas before you even open an editing application.  Start placing your script into the storyboard and sketching what kind of shots/images/graphics would support and add context to what is being heard with the audio.  This will help you think through the types of shots you need in advance.

The template below will help you keep track of timing, video, audio and notes connected to each scene.  When creating your storyboard, you can use 6-10 seconds as a placeholder duration for each shot.  Once you move into the editing stage you will need to adjust these durations based on your narration, sound effects, music and other elements in your video.