Posted on Monday 14 November 2005 - Popularity: unranked
I don’t work in the Film, TV or Theatre industry, but like so many other people, once in a while I have an amazing idea for a movie, just not the time or motivation to really start writing the script. Now I want to write a book someday as well, not that I will do that anytime soon, but unlike a novel, a movie script has to follow some extensive formatting rules, you can’t just start writing something in your own style and hope a movie studio would even read your script to start with. Scriptwriting is so specialized that obviously an application especially made for it would be extremely useful.
Celtx is such an application. It’s made for the professional in mind, but definitely very useful for a first time scriptwriter, too. The application is open source, so you don’t even have to pay a penny! Here’s a breakdown of the apps features:
- Scriptwriting: Celtx was designed to provide professional scriptwriters with an easier and more effective way to create and manage content. It provides standard industry script writing conventions in a clean, stable, and easy to use interface.
- Collaboration: All your Celtx project files are stored locally on your own PC. However, at your option, projects can also be simultaneously stored on a secure centralized server.
- Publish: Give yourself piece of mind and, at the same time, reduce your use of paper scripts, binders, photos and handwritten notes.
- Production Breakdown: Perform breakdowns by highlighting the text and assigning it to the appropriate department. Celtx uses industry-standard conventions according to Character, Extra, Location, Props, Set, Wardrobe, Camera, Lights and Sound.
- Production Database: Build a database of digital resources by adding text descriptions and multimedia content.
- Internet Aware: Celtx operates within a Web browser but acts like a client application. This enables the software to provide the best of both worlds - desktop behavior, including local file storage, coupled with Web browser intelligence.
- Platform Independence: Celtx is compatible on Mac, Windows, and Linux and allows for a collaborative environment where users can freely exchange information.
With Celtx you definitely have the right tool, now you just need some … ok, a lot of creativity and time and you could become the next Steven Spielberg.
Fredi
