“Just a few days ago, we released version 2.0 of the Celtx software.

A lot of people don’t quite get what Celtx is about. I guess people see things from their own perspective. If they are screenwriters, they see a screenwriting application, if they are filmmakers, they see a pre-production package, if they are storyboard artists, they see a media application, if they are comic book creators, they see a new tool to help them make the same. And so it goes, each person seeing in Celtx what is useful to them in their own pursuit of creativity.

Don’t get me wrong. That’s all fine by us. In fact, that’s what we hoped would happen. That people would derive their own benefit based on their own needs. We always figured that there were, are, as many different ways to create media as there are users, so we tried to make the Celtx software as flexible as possible.

Thing is, no matter how they work, whether following traditional bottom up approaches to developing their story, or employing non-linear methods, most every media creator uses a lot of the same tools as the next person. It comes down to Story – characters, a situation, and locations.

You see a lot of references these days about the trend towards “convergence”, the merging of many different media formats – film, game, audio – the re-purposing of one media format for adaptation to another format. This in our view, is only describing what has always been the case. Artists have never been afraid to try new forms; to apply, and expand their skills beyond the confines of a single type of media.

Very few, if any, of the existing media software offerings seemed to recognize that fact, choosing instead to pigeon hole users in to one type of media, and through the use of proprietary file formats, and rigid work flows, preventing those same users from expanding beyond their initial canvass.

This, ultimately, is the opportunity we saw – to provide media artists with a tool that would be as expandable as they wanted it to be. One that let them easily re-purpose their media to other formats, and re-purpose their data to other applications.

What was needed was a universally accepted tool. A platform. Whatever you want to call it. But a way for any and all media creators to use one system that supported all of their requirements and let them collaborate without worrying about data formats, and incompatible technologies. Making media is hard enough without being frustrated by files that won’t open or technologies that limit creativity.

This is why Celtx is open source and uses only open standards. It ensures maximum flexibility and a common platform that all media makers can use.

Being an open source software application, Celtx is open to anyone to integrate their own technology in to the system. Just recently, another company developing a script writing offering had indicated that they are developing a tool that ties in to the Celtx software.

That’s the whole idea. To make Celtx the default system for developing media regardless of the specific application you are using to create different aspects of their project. Once saved in a Celtx Project, the media is unassailable, re-purposeable, convertible, and sharable by all.

This usually begs the question of how do we make money from all of this? What motivation do we have to make Celtx a success (other then for altruistic reasons)?

The growing use of web services is an undeniable, and unstoppable trend in the technology business. Every company developing technology sees the writing on the wall. The future is in selling web services that augment the desktop environment.

When the cell phone industry first got going in Europe, everyone agreed (with the help of some gentle persuasion from the regulators) to a common standard. The risk was that without a common standard everyone would go off madly in all directions, balkanizing the cell phone environment in to a myriad of networks, none of which would talk to each other. The result would have been very bad for users.

Instead, an open standard was promulgated, and everyone rushed to innovate off that open standard, introducing new hand sets and new technologies to gain market share. Nokia became one of the best in the industry at being the first to market with new innovations, gaining more and more users. The rest, as they say, is history.

This is what we hope for Celtx – that it continues to establish itself as the open system for creating and sharing media. We may have invented it, but we don’t own it, any more then Nokia owns the 3G cell phone network that they have so successfully leveraged.

The new Celtx Studios is our first commercial offering based on the open standards Celtx software. It is designed to provide media creators with web based access to their media projects, including optimized archiving for sub-versions, collaboration features and the ability to create protected web Previews.

The same offering, or one similar to it, could be developed by anyone using the open source code of Celtx to achieve their goal, just like the Nokia competitor, Ericsson, has also developed new cell phone technologies that work on the same system as Nokia’s.

One open system, many offerings based on that system, all benefiting users. That’s the promise. That’s the future.”

-Mark Kennedy
CEO Celtx

]]> https://www.thestorydepartment.com/from-one-to-many/feed/ 5 1341 https://www.thestorydepartment.com/structure-iron-man-pics/ https://www.thestorydepartment.com/structure-iron-man-pics/#comments Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:24:15 +0000 /?p=422 Read more]]> A structural overview of Iron Man (Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway 2008).
Not just a great comic book adaptation and an exciting action flick, but also an elegantly written piece of cinema entertainment, executed with a daring cast and grounded in a solid foundation of character.

ACT ONE

SEQUENCE A

– Tony Stark visits soldiers on duty in the Middle East.
– The convoy is attacked, the soldiers are quickly killed.
– Stark flees when a bomb explodes, severely wounding Tony’s chest.
– Tony is captured and recorded by a group of terrorists.

FLASHBACK

– Tony’s history as a child prodigy, taking over his father’s company at 21.
– Colonel Rhodes presents Tony with an award in his absence.
– Stane accepts the award in Tony’s honor.
– Rhody finds Tony partying in a casino.
– Reporter Christine approaches Stark with questions regarding ethics.Stane
– The two end up spending the night together.
– Christine is greeted by Tony’s assistant, “Pepper” as she leaves the house.
– Pepper helps Tony with some business before he heads out to the airport.
– In flight, Tony talks with Rhody, who is unhappy about Tony’s attitude.
– Tony gets Rhody to relax, they get drunk and have an in-flight party.
– At a military outpost, Tony demonstrates the Jericho, a missile system.
– Tony goes off with the convoy that is soon attacked by terrorists.

SEQUENCE B

– Tony regains consciousness, his chest is hooked up to a strange device.
– His cellmate Yinsen explains the device keeps shrapnel out of Tony’s heart.
– The captors tell Tony to build a Jericho. Tony refuses and they torture him.
– The terrorists show off a huge weapons stockpile and Tony starts building.
– With Yinsen’s help, Tony constructs a super power generator.
– Tony designs a powered weapon suit to defeat the terrorists.
– Terrorist Raza, attempts to torture Yinsen and gives them one more day.
– Yinsen and Tony set off a bomb as distraction as Tony powers up his suit.
– Yinsen grabs a gun and runs off to distract the surviving guards.
– Tony muscles his way through the cave, his suit deflects weapon fire.
– A dying Yinsen encourages Tony to not waste his life as he escapes.
– Tony destroys their weapons, the armor is ruined, but he is alive.
– US helicopters fly overhead, a group of soldiers led by Rhody, find Tony.

ACT TWO

SEQUENCE C

– Back home Tony announces to shut down Stark Industries’ Weapons.
– Agent Coulson tells Pepper he wants to talk to Tony about his capture.
– Stane confronts Tony about his actions, furious.
– Tony wants Stark Industries to move forward with Ark Reactor technology.
– Stane tells Tony to lay low for a while so the company can sort things out.
– During the upgrade of the Ark Reactor, Tony verges on cardiac arrest.
– Pepper helps in the process, she’s told to get rid of the old model.
– Rhodes says Stark is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
– Tony starts upgrading his armored suit to “Mark 2,”.
– The terrorists gather all fragments of the original armor in the desert.
– Tony perfects the armor’s flight system.
– Pepper comes in and leaves a box on Tony’s desk.
– Stane and the board filed an injunction to gain control of Stark Ind.
– Tony completes the upgrade of his flight system.
– A test flight shows Tony the power supply shuts down at great heights.
– After a near-crash, Tony crashes through three floors of the house.

SEQUENCE D

– Tony finds Pepper’s box with “Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart.”
– Tony rebuilds the suit to solve the icing problem, to code name Mark 3.
– Tony leaves to attend his benefit dinner while the suit is being painted.

MID POINT:

– At the charity event Agent Coulson wants to learn about the incident.
– Tony and Pepper share a moment together in the moonlight.
– Christine challenges him on his weapons being used in the Middle East.
– Stane reveals he filed the injunction against Tony.
– Tony is furious, transforms into Iron Man for the first time.

SEQUENCE E

– In the Middle East, Iron Man defeats the terrorists, destroys their weapons.
– Two F-22 jets spot him.
– Col. Rhodes contacts Tony, who plays ignorant.
– The jets are too much and Tony reveals to Rhodes he is responsible.
– Iron Man is hit by one fighter jet but saves a pilot’s life.
– Tony convinces Rhody to pass it all off as a “training exercise.”
– Back at home, Pepper catches him removing the Iron Man armor.

SEQUENCE F

– The terrorists are visited by none other than Stane.
– He paid them to kill Stark, but they demanded a much higher price.
– Stane takes the remnants of the Mark 1 armor they have gathered.
– Pepper agrees to help Tony.
– In Stane’s office she finds evidence he was behind Tony’s capture.
– Stane realizes what she was up to.
– Agent Coulson agrees to help stop Stane with his fellow agents.
– Stane cannot figure out how to create a power source for the suit.
– Stane arrives at Tony’s house and paralyzes him with a sonic weapon.
– Stane yanks out the power source from Tony’s heart.
– Tony gets the Ark Reactor that Pepper gave him.
– Tony gets the power source installed just as Rhody arrives.

ACT THREE

SEQUENCE G

– Pepper and Coulson spot the Mark 1 Armor, Stane attacks them.
– Iron Man fights Iron Monger, with half power in the suit.
– Tony grabs Iron Monger and climbs higher, then loses him.
– Iron Man is now almost completely powerless.
– Tony instructs Pepper to overload the building’s Ark Reactor.
– Pepper is hesitant, believing that Tony could also be killed.
– Tony manages to keep fighting while she builds up power to the Reactor.
– The Ark explodes, killing Stane, injuring Tony but saving him from death.

SEQUENCE H

– At a press conference Tony adopts the name “Iron Man”.
– Coulson: cover stories about Stane and the “truth” about Iron Man.
– Tony goes before the reporters once more, and declares “I am Iron Man.”

EPILOGUE

Back home, Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. talks about “The Avenger Initiative.”

Thank you to IMDb for the full synopsis.

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

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Because the plot points are often quite subtle, structurally this film seems a bit fluid and the protagonist’s objective is never explicitly stated. Yet there is a clear Hero’s Journey, with Enid Crossing the Threshold to enter and discover the Special World of Seymour. But where does this happen, at the end of Sequence B or C?

(UPDATE Nov 2010: Looking at Sequence C, with the introduction of the art class as sequence opening device, it is clear to me that this is where Act Two starts. I have also moved Sequence I into Act Three because Enid’s confession to Seymour “you’re my hero” is effectively the climax of their relationship. For the first time she shows the courage and honesty to tell him what she had been feeling ever since first seeing him.)

Enid is a reluctant character, and although she decides to enter the Special World, it is under a pretext. She will be resisting her attraction to Seymour (the Call to Adventure) until the second half of Act Two, when she explicitly suggests to Seymour she could move in (an Approach to the Inmost Cave).

At the end of Act Two, Enid goes through the crisis of losing both Becky and Seymour. The truth about her cruel joke on Seymour has to come out (an Ordeal, both for Enid and Seymour) before she is ready to move on.

I’m not sure if Enid’s visit to the hospital should be seen as the end of Act Two or the first scene of Act Three. Because the scene can be experienced as Enid’s redemption (the victim of her joke she calls now her hero) and she is finally honest about her feelings, I decided to put it in Act Two.

The scenes printed in blue represent the comic book source material that is – almost verbatim – included in the film. It shows how this is more than just an adaptation. It is almost entirely an original story, inspired by the characters created in the comic.

ACT ONE

SEQUENCE A: Life after Graduation

00.00 Panning across rear windows, against 50’s music.
02.30 Eccentric Enid, in her room, is dancing to the music.
03.00 Student graduation speeches; Enid &Rebecca roll eyes.
04.00 Gossiping outside school.
05.00 Enid & Rebecca in bar, making fun of un-cool girl.
06.00 Todd, making fun of the two girls.
07.30 Dennis, dork – not seeing him again: depressing.
08.00 Enid at breakfast with dad: an icon of boredom.
09.00 Enid & Becky at diner making fun, follow old ‘satanists’.
10.30 Wowsville, 50’s diner; Weird Al serves.
11.30 Personals ‘striking blonde’: plan for joke.


SEQUENCE B: A Cruel Joke

12.00 At Enid’s: calling the number, date at Wowsville.
14.00 Annoying Josh at the store, Doug interferes.
15.30 Please, Josh, give us a ride.
16.00 Driving with Josh.
16.30 Rebecca about Al “I want to make love to him.”
17.00 Seymour walks in, has vanilla milkshake.
18.00 Seymour leaves, cruel joke
18.30 Seymour’s near-accident; following; E. feels sympathy.

ACT TWO

SEQUENCE C: Getting closer to Seymour

19.30 Art class;teacher announces community show.
21.00 Looking for flat, stalking Seymour, check his mail.
21.30 Garage sale; Seymour sells record. E.’s impressed.
24.00 Diner, E.: he’s almost cool. Un-cool friend: “funky”.
26.00 Enid dyes hair green, father enters. Rebecca watching.
26.30 Let’s go hassle Josh. Old man Norman at bus stop.
27.30 Josh is not home; Enid’s note: “You are gay.”
28.30 Johnny (magazine shop) provokes “punk rock is over!”
30.00 Enid plays Seymour’s record on repeat.
32.00 Seymour shows her the original 78.

SEQUENCE D: A Challenge for Enid

33.00 Art Class: politically correct art in ‘higher category’.
35.30 Jamie @ Masterpiece Video, 8 1/2, go to surprise party.
36.30 Seymour’s Record Party: loser cracks on to Rebecca.
39.30 Enid in his record room, to Seymour: “You’re cool.”
40.30 I am your personal Dating Service.
42.00 Seymour’s type? Introduce him to Josh; he is shocked.
42.30 Taking S. to Anthony’s Adult: having fun, cat mask.
44.00 Becca’s at work, sick of losers; E.’s job? working on it.
45.30 Dad & Maxine: to bed early – art class for retards.

SEQUENCE E: Enid and Seymour have things in common

46.30 Art class – controversial imagery!
48.00 At diner, invited to band performance, Enid jealous
49.30 In car w/ Seymour; about music, misanthrope
50.30 Bands perform; Enid pushes S. to date; ruins it
53.30 Driving back; can’t relate to 99% of humanity
54.00 At Seymour’s, the story of Coon. Can I borrow?

SEQUENCE F: Things change when Seymour has a date

56.30 Takes Coon to class
58.30 Candy counter, turning customers away
60.00 Fired after one day? Some ideas for money.
61.30 Yard sale. Not selling. Forgot birthday cake.
62.00 Birthday, tells S. about Josh obsession.
63.30 Voice mail from redhead, Enid pushes to call.
64.30 Shopping w/ Becky, who’s sick of Seymour.
66.00 Dana visits Seymour; Enid reads.
67.00 D. & S. dancing; D. wants to see art movie.
68.30 Enid jealous, calls Becky, doesn’t want to see her.
70.00 Seymour; “Dana works out”. Dana arrives.
71.30 Enid almost ruins it, claims she hooked them up.

SEQUENCE G: Lots of offers but no friends.

72.30 Art Class: scholarship offered.
73.30 Dad has job for Enid, she is not interested.
74.30 Art Exhibition: critics hate Coon.
75.30 Seymour doesn’t show because of Dana.
77.30 With Norman on bench. Leaving town.
78.30 Fighting with Becky over flat, they split.

79.30 Dad says Maxine will move in.

SEQUENCE H: Enid wants to move in. With anybody.

80.30 Art Academy: no passing grade, no scholarship.
81.30 To Seymour: move in with you. Don’t you like me?
85.00 Post-coital; Seymour about moving in. Sleeping.
86.00 Seymour wakes up, Enid is gone.
86.30 Seymour goes to break up with Dana.
87.30 Maxine acts like mother; Seymour msg: moving in.
88.30 to Becky: I really want to move in with you.

ACT THREE

SEQUENCE I: Losing it all. A confession

89.30 Seymour alone, calls Enid, no answer.
90.00 Boss calls Seymour: Coon art in newspaper.
90.30 Becky’s new place.
91.30 Enid is packing.
93.00 Becky tells Seymour about Enid’s blind date joke.
94.30 Seymour threatens Josh, Doug: citizen’s arrest.
95.30 Enid visits Seymour in hospital: You’re my hero.

SEQUENCE J: Different paths

97.30 Enid & Becky on bench, reconciling.
99.00 Norman’s bus arrives.
100.0 Seymour with shrink, mother waits outside.
101.0 Enid on bench.

Karel FG Segers

Karel Segers wrote his first produced screenplay at age 17. Today he is a story analyst with experience in acquisition, development and production. He has trained students worldwide, and worked with half a dozen Academy Award nominees. Karel speaks more European languages than he has fingers on his left hand, which he is still trying to find a use for in his hometown of Sydney, Australia. The languages, not the fingers.

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