Script format for :30 commercials?

January 9, 2007 12:41 PM

Script format for :30 commercials?I've been asked by a local company to write scripts based upon concepts I've given them for :30 commercial spots to air on local cable. I know it's not a big deal, but since I'm anal about proper format in general, I was wondering what the proper formatting is for this kind of script. Plus I'm simply curious.

I have Final Draft and am comfortable with basic screenplay format, teleplay format for 1 hour dramas, and stage plays. Is there a specific way to write a commercial script or is it irrelevant cause it's so short and anything goes?

posted by JMB1138 to writing & language (7 comments total)

Note the irony that I say I'm anal about proper formatting yet I improperly formatted my post. Don't think it doesn't bother me.
posted by JMB1138 at 12:44 PM on January 9, 2007

Generally, when I used to work on commercials (two years or so ago), it was the same as basic screenplay format.

And I don't think it's changed at all.

best of luck
posted by ryecatcher at 1:01 PM on January 9, 2007

You'll be fine with screenplay format.
posted by nathancaswell at 1:25 PM on January 9, 2007

there is no real format you are supposed to keep, every other agency has a different way to lay them out, but it would be proper to separate voice and action the way you are used to from other scripts. put the camaign, title and :30 on top and you're done.

hint: time your voice. if you need more than 15 sec to say it all, it won't work in a :30.
posted by krautland at 1:51 PM on January 9, 2007

I can't find an example of it online, but the agencies I've worked with used a simple table. Two columns. Just "video" and "audio" (voiceover text, music and FX), going down the page. And it was very rarely longer than one page.

There's a temptation to overdirect (i.e. describe it in exhaustive detail), but usually that stuff is left to the director, not the writer.
posted by pzarquon at 4:09 PM on January 9, 2007

since you didnt say whether it would be TV or Radio, the advice given to us when writing radio spots is:

WRITE IN ALL CAPS SO THERES NO CONFUSION AS TO WORDS.

WRITE OUT ALL PUNCTUATION THAT IS SPECIFICALLY TO BE SAID (i.e. W W W DOT META FILTER DOT COM).
posted by softlord at 5:52 AM on January 10, 2007

Write it in screenplay format, or in the audio/video table format described above - whichever you are most comfortable with. The video crew will eventually format the script into a "shooting script" in the format with which they are most comfortable.
posted by Mister_A at 12:55 PM on January 11, 2007