How to Mark a Script

1. How to Mark a Script English II Mr. Moser Song lyrics from “Fiery Crash” by Andrew Bird I know this doesn’t look fun, but it is important, so pay attention, yo.

2. Designating Color Words • Turnstiles on mezzanineJetways and Dramamine fiends and x-ray machinesYou were hurling through spaceG-forces twisting your faceBreeding superstitionA fatal premonitionYou know you got to envisionThe fiery crash…Beige tiles and magazinesLou Dobbs and the CNN team on every monitor screenYou were caught in the crossfireWhere every human face has youReaching for your mace, so it'sKind of an impositionA fatal premonition…And to save all our lives you've got to envision the fiery crash…It's just a formalityWhat must I explain?Just a nod to mortalityBefore you get onBefore you get on a plane…Oh, the line was starting to break up..what was that you were going to say? Color words are an important part of an interpretive reading. Simply put, they are words or phrases the performer emphasizes in order to elicit a clear message for their text. Read the short poem to the left. First, you will need to determine the poem’s message (or theme, as we are calling it). What is the theme of the poem? What color words would you highlight to emphasize/create that theme?

3. Adding Pauses • Turnstiles on mezzanineJetways and Dramamine fiends and x-ray machinesYou were hurling through spaceG-forces twisting your faceBreeding superstitionA fatal premonitionYou know you got to envisionThe fiery crash…Beige tiles and magazinesLou Dobbs and the CNN team on every monitor screenYou were caught in the crossfireWhere every human face has youReaching for your mace, so it'sKind of an impositionA fatal premonition…And to save all our lives you've got to envision the fiery crash…It's just a formalityWhat must I explain?Just a nod to mortalityBefore you get onBefore you get on a plane…Oh, the line was starting to break up..what was that you were going to say? While it may not seem like an important thing, the pacing of your interpretive reading makes a difference. If you read with the same rate, you will be missing opportunities to further emphasize important—and potentially powerful—elements in your text. A pause in a script is simply a slash mark, as in /. Think of each slash as a beat, or about a second. If you want to remind yourself to make larger pauses, add more slashes.

4. Reminders • Turnstiles on mezzanineJetways and Dramamine fiends and x-ray machinesYou were hurling through spaceG-forces twisting your faceBreeding superstitionA fatal premonitionYou know you got to envisionThe fiery crash…Beige tiles and magazinesLou Dobbs and the CNN team on every monitor screenYou were caught in the crossfireWhere every human face has youReaching for your mace, so it'sKind of an impositionA fatal premonition…And to save all our lives you've got to envision the fiery crash…It's just a formalityWhat must I explain?Just a nod to mortalityBefore you get onBefore you get on a plane…Oh, the line was starting to break up..what was that you were going to say? It is of the utmost importance that you provide yourself with reminders throughout the script. If the script is created on a word processer, you can add those in the header/footer for each page. Otherwise, simply writing them in the margins and the top/bottom of each page. What are some things you would write as reminders on your script?