Word-Based Prototype Template
David Eugene Smith · Focal Press eBooks · 2022
The chapter starts by reiterating that we analyze a script and not our ideas and advocates due diligence. It then introduces the Purpose/Reason/Meaning/Research word-based prototype template that I use to develop my designs and advocates that it can be adjusted to be used for all design areas. The chapter goes on to explain why we need to notate the page number and the use of different typography for stage directions versus dialogue. It then shows the template filled in with the Reason and Research for the L&N train cue in A Streetcar Named Desire and shows that William&s;s distributed support for this cue throughout the script. The chapter then describes how prototyping this cue using words offers another choice for this cue, a streamlined passenger service rather than a freight train passing. It then gives an example of how using word-based prototyping allowed complete reimagining of a whole section of a show and explains in detail how that played out. Returning to the L&N train cue, the chapter now populates the purpose and meaning of the cue and offers a litmus test to tell the difference between purpose and meaning. The chapter ends showing that meaning can also be a potential opportunity for a cue and advocates the need to find a purpose lest the cue gets cut.