Hey there,
Does anybody know the 'Do's and 'Don't's as far as pitch bible design/layout goes? .... and does anyone know where I could find an example of a pitch bible visual layout?
From what I can tell, they should have a certain amount of uniqueness to their visual appearance, but should also be relatively cheap/easy to reproduce.......
I'm pretty sure I understand what sort of content is expected, and I know that pitch bibles are a bit fluid in what they need / don't need inside... but I continuously find myself stumped on where I should go with layout/visuals.
I've HEARD of bibles being really intricate (one I know of was designed as a magazine, with articles and so on) but I've also seen rather simple ones (black text on white backgrounds with the occasional splash of color).
Any input would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks.
Jeffrey Scott's book "How to Write for Animation," does a pretty good job of covering this topic and he even includes a sample of a bible he developed.
The trouble I've ran into with a bible I developed...so you can learn from my silly mistake... is I used artwork from an independent contractor that wasn't entirely appropriate for the show. I included a note that specifically said, the artwork is concept art and not intended to exemplify how the show should look and I'm totally flexible, etc... but who the heck is going to listen to that when the visuals are such a central part of the pitch!? Stupid! Haha, live and learn....
Anyway, my show would have been best done as a simplistic, line drawing... or even flash animation but the artwork I used was intricately detailed, almost like a children's book illustration. While it certainly got attention and looked beautiful, I'm sure producers must have seen nothing but $$$$$$ when they looked at it. So, if you're an artist and have a REALLY keen sense of what the look of the show should be, then I would say develop and include some artwork. But otherwise, you may want to limit visuals to a cool logo that reeks of marketability... and/or colorful headers that pop off the page. But don't go too nuts... just make it easy to read, organized, less text is more... lots of white space! You may want to educate yourself with a little page design 101, how to most effectively place copy to follow the reader's natural eye movement. Hope this helps.