Learning from Erik Barnouw – Part 2

By Philip Craig Robotham

Hi folks,

I’m taking another look this week at the advice offered by Erik Barnouw in his Handbook of Radio Writing (1947). This time the attention is focused on how audio scripts are formatted. Enjoy…

Here are some more of my notes, thoughts, and “learnin” from reading Erik Barnouw’s Handbook of Radio Writing.

Three tools and volume

The radio script is a trio for three singers: (1) sound effects, (2) music, (3) speech, in which for a few minutes one of the singers does his stuff alone, then suddenly hands the spotlight to one of the others, and once in a while two or three of them burst out together.  When they do, only one must dominate.

Volume is radio’s spotlight and is used to highlight where the listener’s attention should be.

Formatting the three parts of a radio script

This is the basic format I use for my scripts. Mr Barnouw brackets musical cues and indents and brackets sounds without underlining them. I prefer the conventions below because (for me at least) I think it is easier to avoid mistakenly reading out a sound cue during a performance.

1 MUSIC:        [1] OPENING THEME “WILLIAM TELL OVERTURE” – 
                ESTABLISH AND UNDER.
2 SOUND:        [2] (WALLA) BUSY STREET  NOISES, OCCASIONAL CARS – 
                ESTABLISH AND UNDER.
3 JOHN BROWN:   (ASTONISHED) Hey, Mazie.  (BEAT) It’s five o’clock 
                already!
4 SOUND:        [3] SIREN BLOWS (END OF  SHIFT) – LET IT FINISH.
5 MAZIE GRACE:  (EXCITED) Oh John!  The shift’s over. We’ve been paid 
                and we can  go out on the town!
6 JOHN:         (NERVOUS) Now don’t get too  excited.  You heard they 
                still haven’t  caught that killer yet.  The wireless  
                said he’s killed four couples already.
7 MAZIE:        Oh, don’t be such a killjoy.  We’ll be just fine!
8 MUSIC:        [4] (BRIDGE) OMINOUS SCENE  ENDER – LET IT FINISH.
9 WIRELESS  ANNOUNCER: [CUE] (TINNY - AS THROUGH A WIRELESS SPEAKER) 
                Last night another  young couple met a grisly end in 
                the streets of Cartagena (KART-A-HAYN-YA)...

Each of the three parts of the radio script need to be readily distinguishable.

General comments

All lines are numbered.

Put the names of the characters at the side, in capital letters, followed immediately by a colon (no space). The names can flow over into the right hand column if they must.  The first time a character name is used it should appear in full, but it can be abbreviated thereafter eg.

JOHN BROWN:

becomes

JOHN:

Dialog

Dialog is identified by the Character’s name (capitalized).  Place the dialog approximately 12 spaces to the right of the name margin.  The dialog should always be double spaced. Never use quotation marks around the speeches. Any directions for the actor are supplied in round brackets (usually at the beginning) and are capitalised.  Numbers are spelled out and difficult words are followed by a round bracketed phonetic spelling in capitals).  Instructions for the director are supplied in square brackets eg.

[CUE]

Try not to break speeches across more than one page.  If it is necessary, put the following notation at the bottom of the first page;

(CONTINUED OVER)

Then place the following notation at the top of the next page;

(CONTINUED FROM  PREVIOUS)

Sound

Sound is underlined and capitalised and accompanied by a square bracketed identification number eg.

SOUND:          [2]

The sound is described and, if a bed of background sound is required, it is preceded by a round bracketed identifier eg.

(WALLA)

Directions follow the description eg. –

FADE OUT, - LET IT FINISH

 

Music

Music is underlined and capitalised and should be accompanied by a square bracketed number eg.

[1]

to identify which piece of music is required. The type of music is noted in round brackets eg.

(BRIDGE),(STING) or (BUMPER)

Directions follow the identification of the music’s title or description and are separated from this by a dash eg.

- FADE IN,  -  ESTABLISH AND UNDER

The bracketed SFX numbers correspond to a master list provided to the Sound Engineer in order to make the location and creation of sound effects easier.

Directions

For those unfamiliar with the technical terms, directions, and vocabulary used in scripts the following explanations might be helpful…

Term	Definition
(BEAT)	A momentary pause for the count of one or a single beat.
(BRIDGE)	Music played between scenes — the radio equivalent of lowering and raising the curtain on a scene. Often used to indicate music that transitions from the mood of one scene into the background music for then next.
(BUMPER)	Often sysnonymous with BRIDGE but tends to end discretely rather than transitioning into the background music of the next scene.
(CALLS OUT/SCREAMS)	Achieved by raising the head and mouth to shout or scream to the ceiling.
CONTINUE UNTIL	Let the sound or music play until a particular line number is reached.
[CUE]	The actor should wait for the director to indicate it is time to begin delivering the line.
(DISTANT, OFF MIC)	In traditional radio broadcasting this was achieved by having the actor step away from the microphone before delivering the line. At the dinner table this can be achieved by stepping back from the table or by simply lowering the volume of the voice.
(ENTERING/EXITING)	Approaching or moving away from the microphone.
ESTABLISH	Let the sound or music play for a moment before any other sound or dialog is added.
FADE IN	Start the sound or music softly and then gradually increase its volume.
FADE OUT	Gradually lower the volume on the sound or music until it can no longer be heard.
FADE UNDER	Lower the volume of the sound effect or music until the actors’ voices are clearly audible over it.
LET IT FINISH	Play the sound or music until it is complete without fading it.
(STAGE WHISPER)	A loud whisper uttered by the actor, intended to be heard by the audience but supposedly unheard by other characters in the play.
(STING)	Music used to emphasize the emotion of a moment: the “dum-de-dum-dum” that plays when a body is discovered, or the “bada-bing” cymbal crash of a joke being delivered etc.
(TO ROBIN, TO ALL)	Dialog to be directed to one or a number of characters in the scene.
UNDER	Continue a sound effect or music at low volume under the dialog or action taking place.
(WALLA)	Background sound belonging to the environment (for example, the sounds of a busy street).

Organisations that produce and perform scripts often have varying requirements. American scripts (which I personally find easier to read) use formatting similar to what has been discussed here. English scripts (such as those which are used by the BBC) use a different format. Be sure, if you are thinking of submitting your script to an organisation for performance, that you understand the style and formatting requirements of that organisation.

Well, that’s all for this week. This has turned out to be more a discussion of how I format scripts than of Erik Barnouw’s advice this time, but I hope it still proves helpful.

For a better example of the formatting in actual use, grab a copy of one of our scripts or download one of the sample files from http://www.weirdworldstudios.com/products.html .

– Philip Craig Robotham

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