Script props can be bloopers

Especially while going through sheer boredom the past week or so, I long for some of those old cable access programs I produced & hosted in from a decade ago, so I can laugh at what I was like back then.

I always made sure to compose a tape of bloopers/mistakes, which always turn out to be funnier than the finished product. Thinking back on the Four-Pro Forum sports show I used to host, it came to mind that 95% of those miscues came from reading a script, fastened together as a prop either on the table in front of me, or on an easel underneath the camera lens.

Of the four on-screen hosts, I was the only one that required a written script; even though the bulk of the show was impromptu sports discussion. Perhaps I didn't do my research until the last minute, as many shows saw me out in the hallway thumbing through sports magazines and writing down highlights.

I knew that once we got to my segment of the show, the conversation would flow normally. But when we would preview our subject material at the talk of the show, it did seem staged, especially my portion. And yet, this is where the bulk of the bloopers came from: in an urge for perfection in pronounciation, I would stumble over a word, and need to re-take the shot. I'm sure I exhausted my director's patience on more than one occassion.

One show, which was set in a classroom because the college studio wasn't available that day, was the most obvious. It took sixteen takes to get the forty-five second opening montage on film. I couldn't even bear to look at myself, as I had the worst case of the "giggles" ever (a prelude to bronchitis I would get two days later). I had to stick to the script because I thought, without printed words to guide me, I would be clueless and look froze on camera.

Turns out that speaking from the heart, and not from a prop, would have gotten us out of the classroom a bit quicker than it ended up being.

This is proof positive you need to do your research if you want a presentable program. Any script you follow should be committed to memory before the cameras roll. You should be able to talk freely about the subject matter without having to worry about sentence structure. I still can't say why it didn't jell with me, since there are many TV shows and movies I've seen over & over to where I have all the script lines memorized, with unlimited retainment.

Script props, as a result, can contain a block of their own, in spite of their obvious purpose to help the reader through his or her task. Don't rely on this art exculsively, especially if you need to compile a second full tape of blooper openings. Though looking at them was funny in itself, it also showed that a better system had to be in place for the show to look reputable.

Commit your scripts to memory, and look like you're the self-proclaimed expert on your subject matter before going "live". For if not, your act will look anything BUT "live".