NBC Graphics

If you're at an NBC O&O and create some of your own graphics, you can make some full screens look like add-ons, even if they're not. Here's how.

Say you're making a full screen with three bullet points....

How to Become a Millionaire:
1. Spend Less than You Make
2. Pay off Your Credit Cards
3. Max out Your 401K

Instead of making just the final graphic with three bullet points, make three graphics, the first with one bullet point, like so...

How to Become a Millionaire:
1. Spend Less than You Make

The second one with two...

How to Become a Millionaire:
1. Spend Less than You Make
2. Pay off Your Credit Cards

And the third full screen with three...

How to Become a Millionaire:
1. Spend Less than You Make
2. Pay off Your Credit Cards
3. Max out Your 401K

That way, during the show, the director can just flip between full screens and it'll look like it's adding on. This is much more visually interesting, even for a short story. Twenty, even fifteen seconds is a long time to sit without anything happening in a show.

Doubt me? Tape a show and watch it the next day. Halfway through the story, you lose interest because you've already read what's on the screen but the anchor's script hasn't caught up yet.

As always, read graphics aloud BEFORE you finish creating them or submitting the request. Also, I think, if at all possible, the show producer should create or request the graphics so they have a consistent look. One final note-- words should match script EXACTLY and full screens shouldn't be too wordy-- keep it to two, three, four or five words, not long run-on sentences.