Craig of the Creek Wiki:Manual of Style/Transcripts

Episode transcripts are provided as a reference for dialogue and a text reference for the events taking place within an episode. They differ from captions in multiple ways. Primarily, they are not intended to overlay video but instead to describe the events, in some ways similar to a screenplay. However, the Craig of the Creek Wiki is intended for a general audience, and screenplay formatting is not. Transcripts on the wiki may be considered a sort of hybrid of a screenplay and subtitles.

Basic setup

A transcript article should begin with {{Stub}} if applicable, followed by {{TranscriptBox}} and {{EpisodeTab}}. These templates are integral to informing readers about the status of the article and its purpose.

The transcript itself is surrounded by {{Transcript header}}, which provides the formatting. The template takes the entire transcript as its sole parameter. Unbalanced parentheses, single quotes, etc. can usually be spotted by the loss of formatting in the article.

Opening, ending, and scene transitions

Opening a transcript is simple. In order to create a line in a transcript that is not dialogue, leave the first parameter of {{TD}} blank. Each line in the transcript corresponds to one line of wikitext. For the opening, no special formatting is required. The formatting is identical to what would be seen in a screenplay slug line, except that it is written in sentence case, with abbreviated words being considered a full sentence. Follow with the name of the location or the most concise description possible.

Ending a transcript is even easier; the line only needs to contain the following:

{{TD||[END]}}

Describing a scene transition is similar to opening one. Rather than "Open", use "Trans.", an abbreviation for transition. Again, use Int. or Ext. depending on location. Make sure each scene transition is in its own non-dialogue transcript line. Camera angle changes should not be described as they would be in a multiple-camera-setup screenplay; only scene changes.

Descriptions

Descriptions should be written in prose, but should be purely descriptive rather than emotive. They are used for actions or descriptions of visual details significant to the scene. They should give the viewer an idea of the events without explaining every single detail.

Events that change the context of graphics and/or dialogue, such as imagine spots and flashbacks, should be quickly noted in a description when they begin and end, but within these scenes the same tense should be used as outside. These should be described, not marked, but voiceovers should still be marked in the speaker box.

Speech descriptions

Speech descriptions, such as the tone a character takes, if applicable to the entire line, should be included in the speaker section of a dialogue entry in present tense, surrounded in parentheses.

Songs and music

Diegetic music, with or without lyrics, should be mentioned if named. Non-diegetic instrumentals (e.g. "SUMMER IS DYING, CRAIG / SUMMER WISH") should never be mentioned in a transcript. Song lyrics should be fit between event descriptions, and if performed as a voiceover, should be indicated as such. Song lyrics are italicized, similar to their appearance when using {{Lyrics}}.

Speaker	Dialogue
Craig (singing)	Roll down the windows, the air smells like victory