How do You Write a Corporate Video Script?

How do you write a corporate video script? If you Google ‘video scripts’, you’ll be inundated with hundreds of complex and dull-looking documents. They are all written in the same font, all looking the same and quite complicated to understand.

Every business should present a corporate video script in a completely different way. A screenplay has many rules, including formatting, terminology, and presentation. However, a corporate video script is much easier to get your head around.

Our trained scriptwriters at Word Philocaly have written scripts for everything from corporate videos to light-hearted drama films, health and safety videos, to explainer animations. So we have a pretty good idea of what makes a good script.

Writing a Corporate Video Script

A corporate video script uses a table layout. There are usually three columns, separated into rows at moments where the visuals or narrative changes. There is a reason to structure a script in this way because it’s simple for anyone involved in the project to see what’s happening at any given point in a film without understanding complex film terminology.

But where do you start when writing a script?

Three columns make up a typical corporate video script:

Column One: Narrative

The narrative column contains all of the dialogue that will tell the story of your videos, such as voiceover, on-screen presenters, interview comments, or even a combination of the three.

Let’s say there is a voiceover or presenter script, a minute of narrative equates to around 150 to 175 words. So be sure to keep an eye on this if you want your film to be within a certain length. If your video is primarily interview-based, the narrative column in the script will need to be written a bit differently.

Of course, you don’t want to script interview answers word for word and spoon-feed them to the interviewees. That does not only look a bit shifty on camera but takes away the naturalistic and spontaneous delivery that you want from an interview.

Instead, you’ll want to add bullet points of key messages that the interviewer will need to bring out for the interviewees. Then you will develop a list of questions further down the line. But at this stage, it’s important to see how the interviews fit in with the overall story.

You can include some templates or ideal answers to help indicate how the film’s narrative will flow. But remember that you can’t put words in your interviewee’s mouths.

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Column Two: Visuals

The second column in a corporate video script explains what visuals will be shown on-screen during each scene.

Traditionally, this will be footage that’s captured during a filming day. But it can also include details on stock footage, photography, or animated scenes for projects such as explainer videos. A scriptwriter will pay close attention to what’s happening in the narrative column when describing visuals for a corporate video.

The visuals, of course, want to support the narrative, so they need to be relevant, exciting and can sustain the length of the description. So, if you have around a minute of voiceover, you’ll need more than just a shot of someone walking into a building to cover it.

If the video is entirely animated, there may also be storyboard images alongside the script to show illustrated examples of each scene. Don’t forget, though, that the script is meant to tell a story, so using expressive and creative language here will help stir up stimulating and inspiring images in the audience’s minds.

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Column Three: Graphics and On-Screen Text

The third most crucial column in a script describes any on-screen text or graphics to be seen during the video.

These could be names and job titles of the interviewees, animated titles, technical terms used in call-out graphics, or call-to-action text for the end of the film. Including on-screen text in the script, it is imperative if it is likely to include a lot of phrases or terms that need to be checked for accuracy before filming.

Plus, making sure you double-check all spellings before editing takes place is always helpful. Just like the visuals column in a script, any on-screen text should be there to support the narrative and not be fragmented in any way.

Adding in an on-screen text that isn’t referred to in the narrative would confuse the audience. This situation might happen if you want to shorten down the film. And you think that by moving some voiceover into the on-screen-text column, you’ll save a few seconds of screen time.

But this doesn’t work, and it only confuses your film. Similarly, you don’t want to bombard the audience with extensive bullet points or paragraphs of text. Keep it concise and essential to the story.

Narrative, visuals, and text are the most vital sections to include in a script, but you may need additional columns for things like:

Numbering each scene
Location information for filming
Estimated duration of scenes
Translations
Technical information and so on

But the script is the backbone of every corporate video. Even if a film is primarily interview-based, a script is the only way to show how the film will be structured and explain the story before filming begins.

It would be best to share a script with all stakeholders in the project during the writing stage, so any feedback is considered and worked into other draughts before the script is signed off and production begins.

Adjusting scripts after filming or editing can be both time-consuming and expensive, especially if it involves reshooting or scrapping scenes entirely. So spend as much time as possible to make sure this production stage is perfect before filming. It is well worth it.

For more handy tips on how to get the best out of your corporate video project, keep track of our articles every other day. You can also find us on social media: Facebook, Instagram, and Medium.

Top Corporate Script Writing Company in Malaysia

At Word Philocaly, we understand the importance of a script in crafing an outstanding and successful corporate video. So we have a professional team of corporate script writers and copywriters with incredible experience and expertise to help you create a corporate video that convey your brand messages to the audiences effectively.

You can hire Word Philocaly for a one-time corporate video script writing project, or outsourcing all your video script writing projects to us on a monthly or yearly basis. Besides corporate video script, we offer a vast range of script writing services: