HRFWiki:Transcription Standards
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Along with the Fanstuff Guidelines, transcription standards are the most important thing to get right when making an email show, or any other fanstuff that uses a transcript, such as Flash Fanstuff and Interactive. Things such as Text Adventures and Fan Fictions are not required to use this format.
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[edit] Correct Transcript
''{A brief description of the scene.}''
'''CHARACTER A:''' Something witty.
'''CHARACTER B:''' ''{singing}'' Something melodious.
''{Cut to some other scene.}''
{A brief description of the scene.}
CHARACTER A: Something witty.
CHARACTER B: {singing} Something melodious.
{Cut to some other scene.}
[edit] Incorrect Transcript
(A brief description of the scene.) '''Character A''': Something witty. '''Character B''': (singing) Something melodious. (Cut to some other scene.)
(A brief description of the scene.)
Character A: Something witty.
Character B: (singing) Something melodious.
(Cut to some other scene.)
[edit] Explanation
The correct transcript shows the exact way to write a transcript. There are two major things that need to be followed:
- The speaker's name needs to be in ALL CAPS and bolded. The colon (:) also needs to be bolded, and there should be a space after the colon.
- Any actions need to be in curly braces { } and in italics. The same goes for any scene descriptions and other miscellaneous things which aren't spoken.
Once you know those two rules, you shouldn't have a problem. Remember that you should always press Enter/Return twice instead of once, to ensure that there's a blank line in between each character.
If a character does something while speaking a line of dialogue, or if more description is needed for their manner of speaking or inflection (e.g. if they're singing or whispering) the action (if it is not too long to describe in a few words) can be enclosed in curly braces — { } — and made italic, like this: {goes to the refrigerator}. Note that the curly braces themselves are also italic. Short actions like these do not need to be proper sentences.
If there is a scene change or major action (which takes more than a few words to describe), it should be separated from the dialogue by a blank line above and below, and in this case complete sentences and proper capitalization and punctuation are desirable.
Whenever an email is involved, you need to use <blockquote></blockquote> tags, like this:
<blockquote class="email"> <div>subject: bored...</div> Dear Strongbad,<br /> Does it ever get boring where you live? Right now I am<br /> bored out of my mind.<br /> <br /> With lots of crap,<br /> Callie, Lake Jackson, TX </blockquote>
See the Blockquotes page for more information.
[edit] Easter Eggs
Easter Eggs don't only need to be restricted to Flash Fanstuff; you can also make up Easter Eggs for email shows, or whatever fanstuff you want.
The transcription format is similar to the normal transcripts, except with a colon ( : ) placed at the beginning of each line.
:''{A brief description of the scene.}''
:'''CHARACTER A:''' Something witty.
:'''CHARACTER B:''' ''{singing}'' Something melodious.
