Video Scriptwriting for Point-of-Purchase Programs: New Opportunities

An expanding area in the video scriptwriting field is point-of-purchase programming (also known as digital signage). POP programs are displayed on large video monitors in retail establishments and professional offices. Programming can be educational, promotional or a combination of both. For example, my local Wal Mart has large monitors located over each cashier line, displaying video on products, sales and store promotions.

Because of the high noise level within a public space, most POP programming is delivered without audio. Instead, text appears on screen as a replacement for narration.

In some ways, scriptwriting for POP can be more challenging than traditional video scriptwriting. Without audio, you really need to think how to succinctly tell a story visually and with only a handful of words.

Before writing a POP video script, you should know the size of the display monitors and how far customers will be from the screens. The farther the monitor is, the larger the text has to be. But this also means less space for words. (You may be given a style guide from the client which provides the content creation guidelines to follow.)

I currently write health-oriented POP videos displayed in the waiting rooms of chiropractic offices. Since patients are closer to the screen than in most retail environments, I'm able to write about 10 to 12 words per screen. Anymore than this and it becomes difficult to read and obscures the visual content.

To get POP video scriptwriting assignments, search for video production companies that also provide point-of-purchase or digital signage programming.

Script Writing for Video Tutorials - Link

"How-To" videos are increasing in popularity for both B2B and B2C sectors. Here's an article with tips on creating scripts for this format.

http://tinyurl.com/2443xkw