If you are one of this talented few, script formatting applications like Celtx, Movie Magic and Final Draft are great productivity tools. These take the hassle out of capitalising, indenting and laying out a script in the format demanded by the Hollywood movie moguls.

They also remember the names of your characters and scene locations. They’ll check your spelling, allow you to classify and rearrange scenes, and produce shooting scripts and script reports for your production team.

Final Draft has fought its way to the top in the screenplay formatting wars. If you believe the hype, it is “used by 95% of film and television productions.”

But for most of us, writing a screenplay begins long before we sit down at the keyboard with that real or virtual clean sheet in front of us. If you follow The Story Department’s advice, and have visited Logline It, you know the drill. You will have refined your logline, described the inciting incident, and developed a 3-act structure. You will have laid out the main beats and arcs and possibly covered your wall with scrawled library cards before you type EXT.

There are a few computer applications that can help you with this early stage. Pre-scripting is by definition a messy job with lots of redundancy.

Final Draft 10 aims to pull the whole process together into a single software package. (Declaration of interest: I’ve been a voluntary beta tester on Final Draft 10 for the past 18 months, but I have no financial interest in the software.)

In this review I’ll assume that the script formatting aspect of Final Draft needs no explanation or comment. I’ll confine myself to the meta-script aspects and the new and improved pre-scripting tools.

NAVIGATOR

This tabbed panel is not new — it’s been part of Final Draft for the past 3-4 versions at least, but its utility has been improved.

If you’re already using Final Draft you’ll be familiar with how use it to jump to, drag, rearrange and colour-code scenes. You know how to keep track of characters and define their arcs; and add script notes.

Now the Navigator is linked to The Story Map, which multiplies its usefulness.

STORY MAP

While the Navigator provides a running overview of your screenplay as you are writing it, the Story Map is an omnipresent, interactive view of your story.

It is a horizontal bar at the top of the window, providing an overview of your script at a glance.

Before you begin, you set a target length in pages, define Structure Points (eg. acts, mid-point) and add Beats. These become page targets in the Story Map. You can, of course, drag these targets around, add new points or erase them at will.

As you write new scenes, they appear in the Story Map along with any colours you added in the Navigator. Double clicking on a scene in the Map takes you to that scene in the script. You can zoom in to examine your scene sequence, or zoom out for a birds-eye view of your screenplay.

BEAT BOARD

The Beat Board is the most obvious new feature in Final Draft 10. It’s your pin board, where you scribble on virtual library cards and drag them around until they make sense.

The Board is totally free format, equally useful for brainstorming, structuring and making notes. Double click anywhere on the board to create a card, then change its size and colour and location and drag it into position.

What you put on these virtual cards is up to you: ideas, notes, character sketches, scene descriptions, “beats,” reminders, phone numbers, shopping lists…

I’ve never been an enthusiastic user of library cards and preferred Scrivener to structure my story. However, I’ve become a fan of the Beat Board for this visual process of brainstorming, rearranging, refining and editing.

It is instinctive and almost infinitely flexible. I’d appreciate more colours and a “snap to grid” option, though. Maybe that is my OCD speaking. And I’d like to be able to add hyperlinks and images, but maybe these will come in later versions.

(NB. The Beat Board is not related to the Index Cards view, which has been an option under the VIEW menu since Version 1.)

SPLIT

In Final Draft 9, you had the ability to split the screen vertically or horizontally, but now you can drag your Beats directly into your screenplay from the Split view.

ALT DIALOGUE

Now here’s a handy feature: say you can’t decide whether a character is a Yank or an Aussie; whether he says “Wassup dude?” or “G’day mate?”

This handy refinement enables you to include any number of alternatives.

Just click on the small “+” beside the line and type in the Yank/Aussie lines.

Both alternatives remain in the screenplay until you decide which market you are selling to.

COLLABORATION

I’ve been collaborating on a script with a writer in the USA. We used to email copies back and forth and mark our contributions and changes using Script Notes and colours.

With FD10 and Skype it’s as though we are sitting side-by-side. It’s as simple as clicking “Collaborate”, obtaining a Session ID Number and Skyping (or emailing) the number to him. He clicks Collaborate and enters the ID Number and my script appears on his computer.

We pass Control back and forward and any changes one of us makes, the other sees in real time. You can communicate interactively using text or speech, though we prefer to run a Skype session beside it. It’s as painless as your bandwidth allows.

Unfortunately, the Beat Board, Splits and several other new features are greyed out in Collaboration mode. I hope they are going to be included in versions 10+.

OTHER IMPROVEMENTS

There are a lot of smaller improvements in Version 10, too. You’ll find more scene numbering options, header and footer improvements, revision versions. A long-overdue improvement is in the Dictionaries: Australian English works at last and I’ve tried it with French and German. And here’s a neat trick: when I’m collaborating with my American colleague, his spell-checker reads US English and mine is Australian English.

WORTH THE PRICE?

If you’re a serious scriptwriter, Final Draft 8 or 9 were always worth the investment. MacOS and Windows Final Draft documents are interchangeable and it delivers a script that won’t be rejected on formatting grounds by those picky Hollywood producers’ assistants. There are now Final Draft apps for iPhone and iPad, for both reading (free) and writing (US$10). So you can take it anywhere.

Let’s face it, Final Draft 10 is an investment, whether you are buying it or upgrading. If you’re not being paid for scriptwriting, perhaps stick with Celtx (free) and library cards for a while. When you’re ready to step into the bear pit, download the Free Trial from finaldraft.com, and explore the introduction screens and videos.

If you think it’s for you, check this site for the best price!

FINAL DRAFT 10: FINAL THOUGHTS

Final Draft 10 is a new ball game, with useful, powerful and stable pre-scripting tools and the best collaboration feature on the market.

There are a few options that I hope appear in 10.1: more colours and a snap-to-grid in the Beat Board. Equally useful would be hyperlinks, and the ability to past graphics. Extending the collaboration capability to the Beat Board will double its usefulness.

-Ian Hart

Ian Hart

Ian Hart is a freelance writer and director.

peacemountain.com.au

by Dave Trendall

Does sexy equal practical?

The number of word processors out there is countless. With most doing similar things, why should we even consider getting something different; or even crazier… pay for it?

One piece of software that has mountains of users who often describe it as ‘sexy’, is Scrivener. I was interested to see why, and if, it was good for writing. Sexy is one thing but does it actually stand up to a long term relationship… and is it really worth paying for?

Pros of the Processor

Getting inside a writer’s mind can be a treacherous minefield, a forest of ideas where trees are mangled and roads lead nowhere. When starting out on a project there are avenues to explore, ideas to grapple with. Where to start?

Scrivener really understands the writers mind as it is logically laid out but doesn’t tie you down to any format like most other software does – what it does do is encourage flexibility.

Scrivener really understands the writers mind

Research and organisation are key in writing your magnus opus and to have access to the mind maps and scribblings in a click can make this process easier. Most processors or text editors will have you open 3… 4… 5… different windows as you begin minimising, maximising, moving and closing windows, trying to access those hard-to-find character bios and scene ideas.

All the ideas you put on your scratch pad and other documents can be a daunting and complicated excercise in organisational dilligence but on Scrivener you have everything you need on show with easy access.

Organisation

On the right of the interface you have the inspector, on the left you have the binder which has all your files and character notes displayed just one click away. On the right, the inspector which shows the synopsis, step outline, ideas or comments. In the centre is a clear writing part.

You can also build collections for each project which is a great help. Despite the neatness of it all and the ability to minimize these collections, there’s a lot of info on display and it can look a little busy, so what if you just want to write?

The full screen function allows you to have the page, a photo of that lovely deserted island in the background and nothing else, which helps you focus on the task in hand and not on toolbars, configurations and statistics. It’s a nice touch and the simplicity is refreshing.

What if you just want to write?

The program comes with a plethora of options so you can adapt it to your liking. F or example you may want the blank page to fade down, change the paper width or change the paper position. It’s all about adapting to your needs.

The final stage!

Something that Scrivener has, is the ability to export your script/novel onto an ebook for kindle, epub, Word or even Final Draft among others. This motivational and inspirational tool brings you one step closer to self-publishing or selling and getting it out there. It is mostly geared toward novel or non-fiction/research writers however the impetus and injection of ‘reality’ and coming face to face with a realistic ‘published’ finish piece is quite the motivation!

It is also possible to sync the scribblings from write room, index card and simpletext for iphone/itouch or Ipad. This is for the Mac only, however the windows beta version is soon to catch up in this respect.

This motivational and inspirational tool brings you
one step closer to self-publishing or selling

Index card features

An excellent interface that really is second to none in terms of pure chic: the corkboard interface has clear index card features for you to design your plots and characters in a great, organised and colourful fashion.

It’s not just the je-ne-sais-quoi, but the ease of use and detail you can put into it is a great attribute. It allows you to brainstorm in order for you to really nut out the structure and outline before going to work on the screenplay.

An excellent interface that really is second to none

You can also use the cards as scene ideas, change the font and change the colour to indicate theme or concept. It is gorgeous and makes the writing thoroughly enjoyable – it’s nice to have a different view with the corkboard that really makes you feel you’re in the planning room.

I am a lover of index cards – this is so close to the real thing that you can almost smell the paper and feel the cork. The other processors look and feel like a computer – this doesn’t.

This is so close to the real thing
that you can almost smell the paper
and feel the cork.

Feedback/forums/support

It’s options are a burden and a blessing. Really, it’s like a brain… complicated yet fascinating, or a complicated enigmatic character: hard to decipher. There are numerous options and drop down menus to explore and you sometimes feel like you just don’t get it, but then, suddenly, it all makes perfect sense and you feel quite enamoured with yourself for doing so darn well.

What is important in such software is the technical support, and it is excellent. I’ve never really had the support in terms of software like this before. On the website there are video tutorials, that are simple and easy to understand, as well as a fully detailed manual that could provide a few nights of scintillating bedtime reading… If that’s your thing. The forum is also full of hints, tips and tricks.

I’ve never really had the support
in terms of software like this before.

So many options, but are they all useful? There are numerous configurations to behold and wonder at and it’s well worth trying to get to know them all to make it exactly to your liking.

Cons

What I found problematic however, was in transferring documents onto scrivener, particularly screenplays. When I tried to import scripts from two different screenwriting programmes the alignment, fonts and formatting were all over the place and it took time to get it back to normal.

Although you may find ways around this problem – a ‘how to’ video tutorial and extensive information on exporting and importing will help – it was a time-consuming process and an extensive lesson in jargon. Other users have noted it is difficult to use with blogs and can be a lavishly laborious process to export certain documents onto, or out of, Scrivener.

it is difficult to use with blogs and can be
a lavishly laborious process
to export certain documents

The corkboard is lovely, sexy even, though it’s not the most important thing for writing. There are feasts of different views and colours to change this to that and put that in a drop down menu while you tweak this and paste this into that folder… I confused myself when operating it and getting to know it.

It’s nice to have a software that is as complex as it is interesting. And that’s interesting in a good way but is it too much for what is essentially a virtual binder, paper with pen?

Added to this, index cards themselves are available on other programme, such as Celtx, for a smidgeon of the price.

A fast car is good driving

You will get what you paid for with Scrivener and understanding just what it can do will take an enjoyable or frustrating amount of time, depending on whether you like getting to know the options or just want to get writing.

No doubt this is a great piece of software. It’s a neat looking, intuitive programme which has everything you need right in front of you, for you to use at your disposal. It’s perfect for writing and particularly organising thoughts ideas and structuring them into a coherent order.

Then, after having sussed out this little gem, you can start the marriage with a day of getting to know each other, to start afresh and forget what had gone before. Word? Who was that flash in the pan?

Some may argue If you need to go from A to B do you really need a Dodge viper with extra torque, whatever you decide, it certainly looks nice in your garage and feels great when you’re in the driving seat.

-Dave Trendall

My name is David Trendall and I am from the land of Braveheart. I studied Film and Television in Wales and it was there I found a love and passion for writing scripts. Since then I have written four screenplays and many short films. I hope to reach 10 within the next 5 years and am continuing to write and hone my skills in screenwriting and story structure. And yes I do like Braveheart.

In our series about screenwriting software, the people behind some of the leading titles contribute to this blog.

Our guest this week is Dan Bronzite, CEO of Movie Outline.

Is there a right or wrong way to write a screenplay?
Is one piece of software better than another?

The answers to both of these common questions are purely subjective. Of course, I think Movie Outline is far superior to Final Draft and Movie Magic – not just because I designed it but because, from my perspective as a working screenwriter, it ticks more of the boxes for story development than our competition. But that doesn’t mean what works for me will work for somebody else.

Every writer has their own method. Some may grab a pen and pad (as I used to do when I started out), others may type FADE IN on their favorite word processor and bash out a full script without any kind of planning. And hey, if it works, then great! Who am I, or indeed, who is anybody to tell you how to work or what tools to use?

There is no right or wrong way that applies to everyone. There are only common methodologies and structural roadmaps that tend to come up again and again when you analyze successful movie narratives. I bet if you asked the writers of two box office smashes that both followed the “Hero’s Journey” paradigm about their writing process, you would find that they constructed the script in very different ways.

So how do I work? My first task, once I’ve got that killer idea, is to create a step outline. This is something I never used to do. My old method was writing a script on a pad, then copying it all into an archaic word processor and formatting it with macros. Jesus, it took a long time. But funnily enough, the process had its advantages. The time it took me to type it all out and format it correctly helped me revise the prose and dialogue (sometimes the structure, but not often) and mould it into a better rough first draft. That said, I wouldn’t go back and do it that way again, I now just make sure I give myself plenty of time to think over anything I’ve written.

A step outline ultimately saves me a hell of a lot of time in the rewriting stage but more importantly, it helps me focus theme, create three-dimensional characters and tighten story structure from the get go.

Originally I would only write a treatment as a selling document (something to give to producers to get interest and financing for a script) and I would only outline when developing rewrites with producers and directors. I initially didn’t like the process because I felt it hindered my creative flow. I was eager to write. I just wanted to flush everything out of my brain onto paper, not plan scenes. But in time I have learned to embrace the process and now actually find it helps my creative flow.

The trick with a step outline is simple: keep it short and succinct. Just write each step in one or two paragraphs then roll on to the next one. If you have ideas for dialogue or character development then note them down but don’t get too caught up in the details. Once you’ve got your basic step to step plan then you can go back in and re-jig the order, add some scenes, delete some scenes, work on the characterization and ensure your theme is strong, clear and intrinsically gluing everything else together.

The process doesn’t normally take me too long and by the end of it I have a ten to twelve page document in front of me that is ready for transformation into a proper screenplay. For this I used to use Final Draft, which was good for formatting but didn’t do anything else that I needed. It had production features but this was no use without a production deal. What I needed was an outliner, but unfortunately there wasn’t anything around specific to screenwriting.

That’s when Movie Outline was conceived.

Since 2004 the product has developed from a simple step-outliner into a professional screenplay development package, and it is continually evolving. I am extremely excited about its future and love the fact that a community is now growing around it all over the world. The best part is the constructive feedback we receive. Movie Outline users really seem to have taken to the concept of the software and are effectively shaping its future development.

For me the software fulfills my screenwriting needs and suits my own writing methodology which, as mentioned, has also evolved over time. It allows me to write how I want without forcing rigid rules upon me. It has many features, but unlike some other structuring and story development tools, they do not take a Masters in Science to understand and are customizable.

A good example is Movie Outline’s Character Profile Wizard, a feature that allows you to asks a series of probing “interview style” questions to your characters and define their relationships with other characters in the story. You can also answer four key questions for each character for each step of your outline. But that’s the thing… you don’t have to. And if you do want to flesh out your characters with these tools then you can do it at any stage: before your outline, while writing your first draft script or even during re-writes.

Movie Outline also comes with twelve step by step breakdowns and analyses of successful Hollywood movies that allow you to simultaneously view the progression of your own story’s narrative with that of films in the same genre. This helps you identify pacing problems (especially through the FeelFactor graphs) and in conjunction with the software’s structuring and dialogue isolation tools can certainly help you craft a more rounded and professional screenplay.

That said, let me be clear: there is no quick fix for a broken script. It’s still down to you to work out why your script or scene or piece of dialogue doesn’t work. Sometimes you can follow all the so-called “rules” and still not get it right and in these instances the only solution is usually a combination of time, unbiased feedback and your own objective analysis… which is always the hardest part.

-Dan Bronzite
Dan Bronzite is a produced screenwriter and creator of the popular scriptwriting software Movie Outline 3. His company has also just launched Hollywood Script Express, an online script submission service for out-of-state and overseas writers.

Cleo Mees

Cleo Mees is a Sydney-based writer, filmmaker and dancer. With a background across several disciplines, her interest is in finding out how these different disciplines can intersect and inform each other.

What I had read was a great short novel. Brilliant prose, lively detail and sharp dialogue. But the story didn’t work because we would not care for the protagonist. This is a typical mistake: confusing a good script with a good story. Beware of the ‘good read’. Or as my best friend Chris always says: “Armaggedon was a good read too.” In the case of this Australian hopeful, the story was told from a protagonist without any clear objective. Ironically, a character close to the protagonist would have much better fitted that role without the need to significantly change the premise.

The joy of the ‘good read’ is truly a danger and one of many reasons why you don’t rely on friends for script feedback, even if they work in the film industry. I have heard of aspiring screenwriters asking advice from assistant directors, decorators production managers. Although like everybody in our industry, these people SHOULD have a notion, in reality they hardly ever do. (As a matter of fact, a lot of decision-makers don’t have a clue either.I could give you a recent example of a script where even the writer admitted ‘there was no story’. Still he got the money to develop it. Develop what? The novel? I won’t name the example or I would be dead. Fact is that the writer in question ironises about this reality when he says that

“to get your hands on delicious development money you don’t have to have a great script, it only has to be a little ‘better’ than the norm. And if you can do that with no story…good times.”

THE WISE AND THE NOT SO WISE

As somebody who takes the craft very seriously, I’m sometimes frustrated to see how people who should know better send out confusing messages. Now take this quote, which I found on a web site claiming to give story advice and tips to writers:

“As for the content of your screenplay; structure counts, usually. Have a clear Act I, II, and III. Try to hook the reader on the first page! Make the first five (or ten pages at most) be Act I, wherein you introduce all the main characters and show the reader the who, what, where, when and why of your story. Notice that I said SHOW. Telling is not so good. Film is a visual medium and you should actually be writing a FILM, not a script. Act II is the rest of the story, where you build on what you started, and it climaxes at the clear end of Act II. Act III should be five or ten (max) pages, where all loose ends are tied up and all conflicts are resolved.”

I must admit I had never heard of the Ten Minutes First Act. And the second act being “where you build on what you started“. How can you be more vague? You know what is REALLY frightening? The person talking is the director of an internationally renowned film festival. And as for: “structure counts, usually”… The festival director is probably hoping of getting the new KOYAANISQATSI.

Let me counterbalance the nonsense with a solid quote from Chris Vogler, the man behind The Writer’s Journey. This time not about the ‘big structure’ or the Journey Stages but about scenes:

“A scene is a business deal. It may not involve money but it will always involve some change in the contract between characters or in the balance of power. It’s a transaction, in which two or more people enter with one kind of deal between them, and negotiate or battle until a new deal has been cut, at which point the scene should end. It could be the reversal of a power structure. The underdog seizes power by blackmail. Or it could be the forging of a new alliance or enmity. Two people who hated each other make a new deal to work together in a threatening situation. A boy asks a girl out and she accepts or rejects his offer. Two gangsters make an alliance to rub out a rival. A mob forces a sheriff to turn a man over for lynching. The meat of the scene is the negotiation to arrive at the new deal, and when the deal is cut, the scene is over, period. “

THE POWER OF A PARADIGM SHIFT

Years ago a good friend returned from L.A. where he had attended a much hyped screenwriting seminar. The speaker made a point by asking the room who would visualise the scenes while writing. I agreed with my friend’s astonishment when he reported that only half of the writers raised their hands. What were the others thinking? What idiots to believe you can actually write movies without thinking visually???

I have come to fundamentally change my view on this. Did Alan Ball necessarily think visually when he wrote SIX FEET UNDER? Or AMERICAN BEAUTY? The last boasts wonderfully visual scenes but most of the script’s power lies entirely not on its visual level. We do indeed need visible elements to show character subtext, but not necessarily a visual context. Think about CRASH or more recently THE LIVES OF OTHERS. On what level do these movies make an impact?

Whether a movie works or not, is decided on an entirely different, almost abstract and non-visual level. Until a late draft, a screenwriter doesn’t always need to visualise. And you can take this right through to very visual action flicks such as DIE HARD, THE FUGITIVE or even SPIDER-MAN. Visual elements such as setting, time of day, camera angles etc. could have been easily replaced without really changing the story. They might have even worked without the eye candy but they surely wouldn’t have without the character drama underneath.

Recently I was recommended THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE. Early in the book Stephen Covey speaks about the Paradigm Shift. (Beware: this Paradigm has nothing to do with Syd Field.) It’s about looking at something from a specific angle and (not) seeing what others see. I found this concept very similar to reading text vs. reading subtext. I had been reading screenplays on the surface for years before it most literally ‘clicked’ in my head; it felt as if a ‘sixth sense’ had switched on, as if I was suddenly reading with an infrared eye.

Switching on the understanding of this subtextual level is a skill writers, just like producers or directors, need to develop before they can become successful. It is just as essential as switching on your desk light at night to read.

THE LOGLINE

“A logline is a one-sentence summary of your script. It’s the short blurb in TV guides that tells you what a movie is about and helps you decide if you’re interested in seeing it. It’s the grabber that excites your interest.” (-Scriptologis.Com)

.

The logline shouldn’t be confused with the tagline (marketing one-liner for the poster) or even slugline (“EXT. KAREL’S OFFICE – DAY”).

Once I believed you can only write your story’s logline when you have finished your script and even the one page synopsis. Until then, it may not even be clear what the story is about.

Here are a few good reasons why you should start thinking of the logline earlier. First of all: a good logline is a good indication that you have a story. If after a few drafts you still can’t find a logline that captures what your movie is about, you really need to think hard about the story again. Secondly: it will become an essential selling tool for your script. A strong logline will give you the confidence that you have a story: you’ll be able to pitch it with passion! In both senses the logline does pretty much what I promote about the synopsis in my consultancy services: it helps you improve AND sell the story. All that with the economy of one simple sentence.

I am currently working as a consultant on an amazing high concept story with some major story issues. It is always nerve-wrecking having to break the news that to unleash its potential, a story needs to be significantly reworked. But when I found out the writer had already written a logline expressing exactly what I believed the story should deliver, I sighed: we were on the same wavelength.

The moment you find a logline expressing your intentions, you have found an invaluable tool to stay on track. It could be the road map saving you from disaster. If the logline is selling and you stay true to it during the writing of the draft, chances are you will have a selling story.

THE $5 SCRIPT SOFTWARE: ASHAMPOO’S TEXTMAKER:

I recently had a computer scare when it looked my four year old laptop was about to die. That would have been a disaster in a few ways, not the least because I recently bought a – legitimate – OEM version of Office Standard. I lose my laptop, I lose that.

No wonder I was interested when recently I received an offer to an elegant software program called ‘Textmaker’, which does everything I use MS Word for. Only for $4.99 only. And legitimate. If you are looking for a good quality text processor, which is BTW faster than MS Word and whose license won’t expire if your computer dies, have a look here:

https://www.ashampoo.com

I believe the offers on these newsletters remain open for at least 1 purchase per customer.

BEATS VS. TURNING POINTS

While working on a step outline with one of my clients, it bothered me a number of scenes ended in the exact same way: the protagonist would respond to a situation by rejection or reluctance to respond.

None of these scenes really ended in a plot point, there was no hook nor change to the story’s direction. So I didn’t find the scenes’ ending strong enough and almost suggested to cut them altogether. Still, the point the writer was trying to make about the protagonist was a valid one: it gave us important information we would need later in the story.

The solution we came up with: keep the protagonist’s reaction as a scene beat but work towards a stronger scene ending by creating a new plot point for each in order to turn the scene, create anticipation and propel it into the next one. Not an easy task but ultimately better than cutting.

THE QUIZ

As part of a Google Adwords campaign I’ve created a quiz about the craft and – to a lesser extent – history of screenwriting. If one or two questions are a matter of opinion rather than fact, you will find the answers in The Story Dept. Twenty challenges, definitely not for beginners (and neither is this blog, apparently) but essential knowledge for whomever is serious about the craft. Anyway, if you consider yourself an expert, or at least intermediate level writer, you shouldn’t be intimidated. Click through until the very end of the quiz and you’ll land back on the OZZYWOOD web site after seeing all the right answers. Have fun!

https://ozzywood.com/quiz

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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Otherwise, here are some tips to save you the money and frustration I sacrificed on my way to stardom.

Being a decent citizen, I buy after I try. So I replaced my “trial” version of Final Draft with a legit copy, hoping the bugs would go. It turned out to be the equivalent of going to see THE DA VINCI CODE in the cinema. I felt I had been caught in the trap of some excellent marketing. But what should you expect from a screenwriting package? Let’s put things in perspective.

The last time I checked, Final Draft cost AUD$569, or roughly the same as the entire Microsoft Office Suite. All that, while some simple MS Word macros or style sheets can achieve what Final Draft does? Plus: you have the wildest flexibility in terms of backups, tracking changes, spell-checking, saving online etc. If you don’t have MS Office or you hate Bill G.: OpenOffice. Free.

If you’re really dying to part with your money on a script package, explore Movie Magic Screenwriter (formerly: Screenwriter 2000). Cheaper than Final Draft and better value for money in my view.

But why pay if your writing isn’t earning you any money (yet)? No, I’m not referring to BitTorrent here. A new, totaly FREE piece of software is called Celtx. Still in its infancy but growing rapidly, with a smart development team behind it and community-oriented.

Celtx intends to go a lot further than just the screenwriting bits: it aims at becoming the central command post for your film’s entire project management. If they manage to stay afloat, it may well become a filmmakers’ software of choice.

Now, if you believe that any of the above will help you writing better scripts, you have fallen prey to the Film Industry’s Greatest Con. These are all just word processors with serious formatting limitations. Jazzed-down versions of MS Word if you wish.

Here is my advice for the cash-poor: don’t spend a cent on script formatting and save your money for software that helps you with the hard work. Instead labour on the story using Dramatica Pro, John Truby’s Blockbuster, Movie Outline or Powerstructure.

I used to use the last one, as it distinguishes itself from the others in pretty much the same way MM Screenwriter does among the script software. Powerstructure has immense flexibility, allows you to write full scenes, just one liners, or whatever in between you feel comfortable with.

You can customise it to your own favourite structure, be it three acts, sequences or Vogler’s THE HERO’S JOURNEY, then export directly to a text file or into whatever script software you use. If you’re a member of that circle of writers who first write their entire first draft before starting to outline, you can import your existing script to reshape its structure. Admitted, I’ve had a few quirks doing that but the PS support team helped me out.

Powerstructure makes a lot of sense, as it works in the way most movie decision makers think. It is being distributed by the wonderful guys at WriteBrain, where you can download a trial version.

Even better than burning your money on software: give it to a human story/script editor who could really make a difference for you. ;-)

DVD COMMENTARY: McCABE AND MRS MILLER

I found a downright great commentary on this unsung masterpiece by writer/director Robert Altman, in which Warren Beatty opens a whorehouse in the Old West.

Although thirty-five years old, this movie could be seen today alongside the razorsharp doco THE CORPORATION and – to a lesser extent – AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH. It ultimately tackles corporatisation and if you wish globalisation within the genre of the western. And as the commentary puts it: Altman won’t give you a John Wayne type of Western hero. No. Warren Beatty’s protagonist will shoot you in the back if his life depends on it.

The voice recording of this commentary track is so crystal clear you can literally hear producer David Foster’s watch ticking in the background as he explains why every man and his dog in Hollywood wants to work with this director. I agree: Altman has a vision and integrity that is so rare you won’t even find it with masters like Scorsese. Unlike the latter, Altman will NEVER make ‘one for the Studio’.

My favourite bits are the account of Leonard Cohen’s musical collaboration, Altman’s hilarious tirade about western’s big hats and the master’s view on dialogue:

“The dialogue in these kinds of films […] is part of the character […]. It is not the words that are important. […] That’s too related to theater, where you […] advance plot with the words. When you have close-ups of people and faces […], it’s just better that the words come from the moment or from the actors themselves.”

Altman makes this statement in the context of Beatty’s soliloquies in the film. He asked Beatty to mumble to himself inaudibly before actually delivering the crucial lines in soliloquy. As a result, the audience is used to the character talking to himself in a more or less natural way. And here is the mark of a good commentary: the director sharing with us his struggles to make the movie work.

DVD COMMENTARY: ANTZ

Recently I consulted to a team of comedy writers, which was a completely new and refreshing experience to me. As I’m not a comedy expert, I focused on the (lack of) drama in the script and afterwards the writers were happy enough about the outcome to hire me again for a look at the next stage.

Comedies that don’t work often still work on the scene level but they have issues with the overall story arc. Situations and dialogue may be absolutely hilarious. If there’s no dramatic undercurrent, the audience WILL switch off.

I found a quote on the commentary of ANTZ that makes the exact same point about the input from Jeffrey Katzenberg (photo), who was uncredited producer (and the “K” in Dreamworks SKG):

“We added a lot of comedy kind of after the fact. It’s one of the things that Jeffrey Katzenberg really pushes hard: get the drama to work because if you’re rely on the comedy, you’re gonna loose the audience’s interest in the characters. So sure enough we really focused on the drama and afterwards we […] ended up upping just the silliness of it, the humor of it.”

This charming animation, in which Woody Allen voices the neuroses of the ant “Z”, dates from the turbulent days when Dreamworks went head to head with Disney’s A BUG’S LIFE. Ironically it was Katzenberg who had sealed the deal between Pixar and Disney.

Directors Johnson and Darnell don’t deliver by far the cutthroat commentary we’re used to hear from the Pixar guys, but they do give some insight in their struggles during the development. Notably their work on the character of Princess Bala (Sharon Stone) and her relationship with the protagonist are interesting from a story point of view.

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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