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Pitch my scripts in LA -------------------------------------------------- RESOURCES and INDEXSCREENPLAY WRITING SOFTWAREMUSINGS ON THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY |
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These observations of screenwring software below are based on my 20 years of experience in the film industry, having worked directly on many major features. Screenplay writing software has come a long way since the advent of the home computer. I regret to say, I remember using an old beaten and battered Royal typewriter and nursing the carbon ribbon to maximize its usage. (Rumour has it that Arnold Schwarzenneger used to work out by lifting it.) On a regular basis I would allow a scene to continue even though I knew it had serious limitations – purely so that I didn’t have to retype the entire page. As a swift two-finger typists I could watch my fingers fly across the keys with amazing dexterity – never daring to glance up at the typos that were occurring on the advancing paper. Then the heavens were rent asunder and a voice from on high boomed out “Lo, let there be software and let it be self-correcting”. Naturally this scared the ##$@ out of me. Being a part-time atheist, the ramifications from this disembodied voice still has me questioning the meaning of life. Anyway, back to my observations of screen writing software. Now you have to understand that I come from a background where, after I had installed my first home fax machine, my wife stated that it was broken. Naturally I was disappointed at my failed installation and asked how she understood it wasn’t working. “It’s obvious “ she stated in disgust. “Every time I put the paper in to fax it, it goes through and straight back out again!” I think that was when I had another epiphany. I understood what that booming voice from the heavens was trying to tell me. There are indeed people feeding pieces of paper into machines and believing that nothing has taken place since the paper is returned unchanged. My epiphany was that SOMEWHERE in this Galaxy (and NOT too far away..) someone of like-mind was receiving a facsimile of our reality and was subtly connected in ways I was just technologically coming to comprehend. It was at this point that I decided to invent the Personal Computer. I had toyed with changing my persona by deed proxy to the name Bill Gates but my wife didn’t think it had cache and so I remained Richard Patton and the Personal Computer never saw the light of day. How cruel life can be when I now read about another wannabe Richard Patton is now running something called Microsoft. Somewhere in the back of my consciousness there has always been that nagging question: did the fax that my wife tried to send actually enter into a parallel dimension - and was sensed by this Microsoft person such that it inspired him to go into his garage and invent this Windows system. Anyway my therapist says I cannot waste my time on what MIGHT HAVE BEEN! So that’s how I came to learn about screenplay writing software and the power it could wield over the general populace. I think it was after seeing Sunset Boulevard that I began to see the subtle influence of a writer over an audience of one Norma Desmond. I quickly extrapolated this and reckoned I could – if all went well – seduce numbers of people to sit in darkened halls and pay me to view flashing images on the wall. Well that venture didn’t last too long since no matter how I manipulated my fingers I found that people were not too interested in viewing images of animals projected onto darkened theater walls. The earlier audiences thrilled to my images of chickens and duck’s smoking cigarettes but then the fad passed. That golden time was all too fleeting – in fact it lasted about seven minutes before the audience became belligerent and demanded their money back. And that is how I came to learn about screenwriting software. There are two tiers of script software.
In the first category there are software packages that loosely Brainstorm your ideas, prompting you to clarify each point to a greater focus. The granddaddy of the traditional programs is FINAL DRAFT. In the early days the major feature of this formatting package was that it integrated directly with the studio financing package. This was a definite favorite of the accountants and producers and in most cases still is. Final Draft was also victim to its own success. Like Microsoft they were the first players on the block and had to establish the rules. As time went on they had to adapt to new situations in the software and writer’s needs. Instead of starting completely afresh and rebuilding from the ground up, they remained building on existing architecture. The young guns on the block could look at the best features of Final Draft and then incorporate their newer ideas into newer screenplay writing software packages. They were leaner and meaner as products. This is the case of Movie Magic Screenwriter that has now carved a wide swath through the status quo of screenwriting software packages. To survive in the contemporary market all the packages have had to introduce intuitive elements that ‘prompt’ writers as they proceed in the writing process. Most packages include existing TV structures that you can model if you intend to write for TV. Formatting for character name, dialogue and other elements are achieved at the press of a key (no more tabbing to align). Although the packages are all simple to use you should verify that support is non-chargeable. Movie Magic Screenwriter also offers the unique feature of being able to collaborate with someone else in another location. So if you are in LA and your writing partner is in NY, via modem, you can work on the same script in real time together! There are many other add-on products that will assist you in fleshing out your characters and creating dynamic plot turning points etc. One I have used over the years is POWER STRUCTURE. This asks you specific questions that lead you to building a clear structure when you do not already have a predefined storyline. The beauty of this program is that it will directly integrate with Movie Magic Screenwriter. So the workflow would be very general and you would keep filling in details until the overall storyline was clear to you. At this point you would export into MMS where it would appear fully formatted. So my screenplay writing software recommendation would be to use Power Structure from write-brain.com to outline and develop your story - then import it for final production into Moviemagic Screenwriter
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