What is a screenwriting program? The answer seems so obvious, it must be a trick question, right?
Not trick. Just tricky.
Truth is, every company that makes a screenwriting program makes it up as it goes along. Each separate bunch of geeks (known in taxonomy as a “beanie of geeks”) decides which section of the scriptwriting pipeline its software is going to comprise. As a result, some begin as early as the brainstorming process -- say, including a “name bank” applet to help you decide what to call your characters. Others reach as far as the process of selling your finished script, allowing you to make lists of possible customers and track their interest in your project. With so much diddling around the periphery, you might suppose the basic mechanics of digital scriptwriting have more or less been perfected.
Not so.
Indeed, what one might assume is the minimum requirement -- enabling you to compose a screenplay without the program crashing -- seems to be beyond the ability of some beanies. I’ve used many a famous, best-selling scriptwriting package only to be stupefied by how often they crash, and how often management sends a hastily-written patch down the Internet.
That’s the first thing I like about the newest version of Movie Magic Screenwriter, handsomely named “6.” (The previous version was called 2000, but never fear, the Movie Magic folks have not taken 1,994 steps backward.) If it’s not rock solid, it’s at least hard as a development executive’s head. I’ve been involved in the beta-testing process for months, and I’m impressed how far the code has come.
Putting Screenwriter in first gear is almost as easy as it can be. You start the program and are presented with a blank page surrounded by a top toolbar (Save, Undo, Cut, Paste, blah blah blah), another tiny toolbar crawling up the right vertical of the window (script elements: Scene Heading, Character Name, Dialog, and so on), and a status bar across the bottom, sprouting a few buttons of its own for good measure. The interface could be cleaner, but it’s not intrusive. And pretty soon (especially if you feel like reading the manual) you realize just how easy Screenwriter makes the mechanics of the job, so you can concentrate on the clever dialog.
The program recognizes scene headings as you type them, so a simple INT. or EXT. and you’re already in the correct margins, and all caps. And Screenwriter remembers your scene headings, so the next time you start to type the same one, up it pops, ready to be inserted. Ditto with character names, transitions, shots, etc.
If you prefer, typing your script can be as simple as using two keys. The tab key cycles through script elements -- character name, dialog, action, etc. -- and the return key implements.
To be fair, all of this is nothing any competent screenwriting program doesn’t do. In fact, the tab-return paradigm was invented, I believe, by Scriptware, and every major program has adopted it.
The difference is, Screenwriter does it reliably. You can use Screenwriter 6 for the same reason you might buy a Toyota over a Land Rover: it will actually get you to your destination. No worries. But Screenwriter 6 is no Toyota. Click the leftmost button on the bottom toolbar and you’ll realize that you’re behind the wheel of a Lexus. A panel appears to the left of your script, complete with its own toolbar, called the NaviDoc. (Try it: sit tall in your chair, point at an imaginary helm and intone, “Ensign? Deploy the NaviDoc.” Makes you feel captainy all over.)
The NaviDoc can display any of four different views of your screenplay:
- A list of bookmarks you create, enabling you to jump to any desired spot with one click.
- A list of notes (like electronic Post-Its) that you’ve scattered throughout your screenplay, reminding you to do things like, “Make ending gooder.”
- A list of your scenes -- interactive, so clicking on any scene heading takes you to that scene.
- An outline of your script.
Screenwriter allows you to write your entire outline (assuming you’re one of those namby-pambies who bother with outlines) within the screenwriting program. You can define an almost limitless number of levels, call each level whatever you wish, define a different font and color for each level -- in fact, do everything all but the most sophisticated standalone outliner programs can do.
If you’re big on outlines (like me), this is digital heaven. Not only is your outline Laurel to your script’s Hardy, side-by-side at all times, but it’s fully integrated with your script. Have an outline level appear directly above its relevant dialog. Or not. Click on an outline element to take you the relevant section in your screenplay. Or not. Drag your outline levels to reorder them and your script follows suit. Or not.
It’s those “or nots” that are the paramount and unique strength of Screenwriter 6. If you’re a pro, it’s a pleasure having so many options so easily accessed.
Take the time to get to know Screenwriter. Start with a casual chat, maybe dinner, before you turn out the lights and have it glow at you in the dead of night -- and you’ll be rewarded with a program so configurable, it’s almost like it was written just for you.
If you’re just starting out, Screenwriter 6 might be overkill. But if that’s case, any other major screenwriting package is just as much too much. And if you’re going to spend around $150 or more on any screenwriting software, it may as well be on the best. (If you need or want to spend less, consider the Word add-ons or even some freeware available on the ‘net.)
What’s wrong with Screenwriter 6? As I mentioned, its many features are not as cleanly organized as they might be. And if aesthetics matter (they do to me), you’re looking at the Miss Congeniality of the pageant, not Miss America.
Let me switch back to the Lexus metaphor. Screenwriter 6 won’t turn heads. The valet won’t leave it in front of the restaurant when you hand him the keys. But halfway down the highway, when the seat-massager kicks in, the heads-up display tells you to avoid that deer in the road, and a glance at the speedo tells you you’re going eighty and didn’t even realize it, you’ll decide the money was well spent.
There’s a lot more to Screenwriter, or any other script-processing package. Questions? Answers? Gift certificates? Feel free to click on “comment” below and leave your tracks in my mud.
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