- The plot must be logical. Later developments need a seed planted early in the script.
Use unresolved questions and action throughout to hook your audience into watch-
ing until the end. All structure points must be there. - If the story isn’t working in the middle, add more conflict. New information spins the
hero and/or villain off in a new direction. This information may be new to the hero
or the villain, or the audience. - Include the major gags, showing how you get in and out. Think broadly. Comedy
scenes usually go out on a laugh, so set them up that way. Build your gags, top them,
and pay them off. Save the best gag for the climax. - Watch pacing and timing.
- Know your location, where each door is. What’s the closing shot?
- Build your story, your chases, and your gags to a climax.
- If the outline is too hard to write, perhaps the main situation isn’t funny enough, you
don’t have enough props, the structure is wrong, or there’s not enough conflict
between characters. - Have you told a good story in an original way?
- Is it funny? Keep your outline light and fun to read. Make it snappy.
Alternate Outline Formats
The sample Jackie Chan outline is written in narrative form. There are no numbers on the
scenes because the format you see is the format that Sony uses. You’ll notice that character
names, places, props, effects, and other points that the writer wanted to emphasize for pro-
duction are written in capital letters. Frequently, outlines do not use caps in this way. Follow
the format of each individual series.
Many outlines are instead written in master scenes like the one that follows. It’s often
a good idea to number your scenes so that the story editor can easily refer to them as he
gives you notes. The average animation script uses caps for character names only on their
first appearance in the script. How is your sample written?
- ANCIENT GOTHIC LIBRARY—DAY
Inside this medieval looking library JACKIE makes a treacherous three-story climb up
a ladder to the top shelf where he finds...not a talisman or a demon portal, but an impor-
tant book for Uncle’s library: an unearthly tome with....Revisions
- Do you need to add more action and peril, a life-threatening time factor (the ticking
clockor ticking bomb)?
The Outline 133