Behind The Pixel: Closing The Animation Communication Gap

Welcome back to

the Hack... hackin’ it up!

That we’re gonna attack.

Wow. I don't know.

I was just.

I didn't think you would

break out into raps.

I didn't think I was either.

I regret everything

I've just said.

Okay, so in this hack,

we're talking about scripts

and script writing.

So getting right to

the content, it's a hack.

The biggest hurdle

that we come across

with new clients is

where do we start?

It's a big question.

But the good news is

that the answer is simple.

You start at a script.

Basically,

every animated piece

should have a script

if it doesn't have a script.

Big red flag there.

The script dictates

what you should see

and what you should say.

So even if it's all visual,

it should tell you

kind of what you should feel.

So there are many formats

to writing a script,

and the one that's easiest

for businesses

to kind of learn

is in an A.V. Script.

A V stands for Audio Visual script. A. V.

and in an A. V. Script

it looks like a spreadsheet

almost with two

columns in there.

So in this hack,

we can't tell you

what to write.

It's impossible. That’s ChatGPTs job.

Yes, correct.

You as a marketer,

as a strategy person,

you already probably know

what you need to say.

But what we can tell

you is how to structure

your script.

Once you have a first draft.

So that it's

easier to work with

and so that you can change it

and collaborate

with people on

so that it's

consistent. For sure.

That's a good way to put it.

So here at Open Pixel,

we use actually just

a spreadsheet

for all of our scripts.

We love spreadsheets. We can’t get enough.

I know this.

I know it's a little bit

kind of out of the box

thinking a little bit. But.

But we use Google sheets.

Super easy to use.

And it's a template.

And it's very simple.

It's a sheet

with just a few columns,

and we're going to put a link

in the description.

OoOooh. Super extra bonus content.

The idea is simple.

So once you

have a first draft

of the

script, you want to

split your script up

into sentences. Okay.

So in other words,

for every sentence,

you're going

to put a new return line

for every single sentence

you put in there.

So you have one standalone

line of text,

one right after the other.

And one caveat here

is that you may want to split

longer sentences

at the commas, usually

with long sentences,

you'll have a comma

in there somewhere.

Put another carriage return in there

so you have a new line

at that place. Okay.

So why. Would I do that?

So usually

with a long sentence,

the comma is where...

verbally, we’re...

splitting one idea up

from another.

Right.

So, like,

if my long sentence has,

like three different

visual ideas

that could be built

within there,

you're saying

it could split up the commas,

make them their own line, and then...

create descriptions for that.

Yeah.

And and just always like,

if you're

if you're looking

at a sentence structure,

you get a subject,

you get a predicate,

you get, you know,

those things

and that structure,

when you split it up

at the comma,

you then have another visual

that you're actually

talking about

when you come from

one place to another. So.

So it's really just kind of

organizing the visuals.

But I didn't want

to get too much into that.

We're.

We're going to it next.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So you would

then take all of that,

all of those lines,

and you basically copy

and paste those lines

into say “Column A”

on this A.V. Script.

Remember, it's a spreadsheet.

So... this is an audio medium,

so I’m trying to

visually describe here. Sure.

So we copy those

into column A

and then in column B,

you would

basically come up with

try to come up

with visual descriptions

for just that one

piece of sentence

or one

that one sentence

on the other side.

Would you say

instead of Column B, “Column V”

for visuals, A - audio. V - visual.

You know that

you're not wrong.

You're not wrong.

I'm clever.

You would come up with these

visual descriptions

on a per sentence basis,

and that allows for clarity

and allows for your audience

to sort of

sort of visually see exactly

what you're saying

or what you're talking about.

So it really

it connects all aspects

of writing

visual and listening.

Like all of your senses

are coming together into one

without smell

or taste, you know?

Right. Right.

So it doesn't

always need to be written

this way.

There are

definitely different

types of scripts that you can

that you can write out there.

So if you want us to cover

any of those,

please let us know

in the comments.

Find the comments box

somewhere out in the world

and put your comment in there.

You’re talking about

just anywhere

on the internet? Anywhere

on the internet,

just @ tag us

and we'll find it.

Right. Right.

Perfect.

Yeah.

So this method

helps us

sort basically

visual ideas

from *audio* sentences.

We use it all the time.

And again,

we'll put that template

into description.

It's a really,

really easy way to...

Yeah, really easy way

to write scripts. Yeah.

Is there another way, though,

if, like,

I'm a visual person.

So is there another way

that I could understand this?

Yes.

So if you are on YouTube,

you can find this

episode on YouTube.

It'll be the same description

we're actually going

to do a little video there

that will with the same hack.

Come like a weatherman. Yeah.

And we'll

we'll put a graphic in there

that basically takes you

through the template.

The template will be

in the description

and yeah,

go download that,

check it out.

Hopefully it will sort your

animations in a much easier way.

And you'll go

make awesome scripts. Yeah.

And then we'll get

to see those.

And then...

Please send us your versions.

Yeah. We’ve love to see ‘em.

Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

Good luck with your scripts.

Good luck with the project.

and we’ll see you in the next episode.