Pre-Production: 'The Office USA' Script Analysis

Introduction

As I am writing the script for our production, I decided to try and research other scripts which are based in the Mockumentary genre to study and learn about their formats. This is mainly because I am aware that mockumentaries consist of constant interviews, meaning the way they format the interviews in may be different compared to normal.

Nonetheless, I came across the script for The Office US episode The Masseuse, which was on the website simplyscripts.com. After reading through the script I came across some useful techniques which the screenwriter, John Chang has purposely used in a way to make the script seem easier to understand or generally a useful script-writing technique.

'End Teaser' Annotation

Conventional for all mockumentaries which I have been researching, it seems apparent that each episode has a 'teaser' which helps to set up what the plot may be for the episode, or simply teasing the audience into the introduction. Nonetheless, in this script, John simply puts in 'ends teaser' to enable whomever is reading the script that what they've just read will be the teaser for the episode. Although this is quite simple and straight forward, I think it's very helpful as the teaser often differs to what the rest of the episode may show. For example, it could simply be a mini-story (i.e. a character debate or relationship strand etc) which doesn't have any relevance to what is coming up in the episode. Therefore, I will be incorporating this into my script.

Screenshot showing the end of the teaser in The Office USA

Here I have incorporated this into my script. The teaser for our pilot episode
would be the introduction to Giles and Alex: The audience learn who they are,
but want to learn more about the company and the other characters.

Talking Head

Another useful technique which i found was the use of adding 'Talking Head' every time a character was getting auditioned. This makes it very easy to understand when a character is conversing within the episode, and when they are getting interviewed. As we are creating a Mockumentary, there is a large amount of interviews/mini-interviews meaning it can get confusing at times to understand when a character is being interviewed or not. Therefore, this too has also been incorporated into my script, which you can see below:

Script print screen from The Office

Script print screen from my script

The only difference is that I've decided to add talking head after every time a character (whom is being interviews) is talking. This is mainly because my script is very descriptive and it seemed clearer to me to understand instead of making the 'talking head' a sub title. 

'(beat)' Annotation

Another useful skill I picked up was adding (beat) when necessary during dialogue. After reading the script, it seemed conventional that John uses (beat) for pauses in between character speech. This will make it easier for whomever is reading the script (particularly the actors) as they will understand that there needs to be a break in between the dialogue. This is often used to enhance the drama of the script, as it can help to add emotiveness or tension to whatever is being said. Below is an example of me using (beat) in my script in comparison with The Office USA:

 

Print screen from The Office USA

Print screen from my script

As you can see, the (beat) for my script has been used to an advantage. I've purposely used a couple of the (beat)'s to help reinforce Maddie's anxiety, as we are to believe that she is a very nervous character. This is used in a similar way to The Office - the last (beat) in the example I've given above helps to add tension to the dialogue as the beat makes it more dramatic for when Jim says 'Don't tell Pam I mentioned that'. Therefore, this technique is very subtle yet can help make a script seem more dramatic, as well as making it easier for whomever is reading it to understand the tone and style the character should say the dialogue.

'Another Angle' Annotation

Lastly, I noticed that The Office also has a few examples of having a sub title saying 'Another angle'. This is used in a way to tell the audience that another camera is being used to film the same part of the script, hence why it gives 'another angle'. This too can help reduce confusion when filming something with more than one camera as it clearly tells you that it's being filmed at a different perspective. To me, this is very useful for my script as we have a few moments where we need more than one camera to help deliver what we're trying to show.

For example, we would need 2 cameras to show the reaction of more than one person, or showing someone react after the prime camera is filming something which causes a character to respond. Below is an example on how The Office has used it compared to how I've adapted this technique:

Print screen from The Office

Print screen from my script

As you can see, The Office clearly uses the 'Another Angle' annotation to show that there is now another camera viewing Michael in a different perspective. The only difference with my script is that I've added in an 'original angle' annotation as well, which makes it even clearer that we see the camera change, but then return back to the original camera.

Conclusion

All in all, this research has helped me significantly for completing my first draft of the script. It helps to give the script a better structure to understand as well as generally making it seem more organised.