Video script template

Why scene blocks and not two columns

The classic two-column AV script (audio left, visuals right) comes from broadcast, where a director interprets it live. For animated and marketing video you want less interpretation, not more: discrete scenes with their own timecode, a separate field for on-screen text, and explicit animation direction. Five fields per scene means the animator never has to guess.

The template

CONCEPT — 2–3 sentences.
The one idea of the video, who it must convince, and what they should do at the end.

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SCENE 1 · 0:00–0:07 · THE PROBLEM
VOICEOVER (max 17 words):
ON-SCREEN TEXT (max 6 words):
VISUAL:
ANIMATION:

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SCENE 2 · 0:07–0:15 · THE PRODUCT
VOICEOVER (max 20 words):
ON-SCREEN TEXT (max 6 words):
VISUAL:
ANIMATION:

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SCENE 3 · 0:15–0:23 · THE PROOF
VOICEOVER (max 20 words):
ON-SCREEN TEXT (max 6 words):
VISUAL:
ANIMATION:

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SCENE 4 · 0:23–0:30 · THE ACTION
VOICEOVER (max 17 words):
ON-SCREEN TEXT (call to action):
VISUAL:
ANIMATION:

The example is cut for 30 seconds. For other lengths, keep scenes between 3 and 10 seconds, make the timecodes contiguous, and check they sum exactly to your target length.

How to fill it in

• Write the concept first. If it takes more than three sentences, the video has two ideas — cut one.
• Fill the problem scene in your customer's words, not your category's.
• Give every scene one job. If a scene explains and proves and asks, split it.
• Budget voiceover at ~2.5 words per second of scene length — the word caps in the template assume that pace.
• Do a sound-off pass: read only the on-screen text. If the story collapses, the on-screen text isn't done.