Movie Magic Screenwriter 2000

Wordsmithing Movie Magic With your PC

By Jim Bray

One of the best script writing software applications has a new name and look.

Movie Magic Screenwriter 2000, nee ScriptThing, is to screen and stage writing as a word processor is to regular written work, in that it takes the tedious drudgery out of crafting your Oscar-winner.

You see, there are particular formats used for screenplays, teleplays, and stage plays and if you don't want the "suits" to write you off as a hopeless amateur you need to follow their conventions. After all, these are busy people who have certain needs in a script, and it's your job as a professional writer to ensure you meet them.

Hence Movie Magic Screenwriter 2000 and its competitors. The product (CD-ROM for Windows and Macintosh) sells for $229 and, besides the software, comes with a thick user's manual (though it isn't actually aimed at thick users), an informative "Very Important Pamphlet" of frequently asked questions, and a hundred index cards you can use for printing out your screenplay scene by scene.

The makers of Movie Magic Screenwriter have a rather paranoid (but probably justified) desire to prevent their work from being pirated, and this means you have to go through a bit of rigmarole getting the software installed and registered: you have to either insert the CD every time you launch the program or log onto the company's Web site to register it. This isn't too unusual, except that with the second method you're only given three validations so if you reformat your hard drive periodically you'll lose validations if you don't remember to uninstall the program first.

It's a bit of a pain but, what can you do. In the age of Napster, anti-piracy schemes are sure to flourish.

The installation is simple and the program is very easy to use, especially if you're already familiar with word processors. The big difference is this product's specific emphasis on script formatting and management.

Movie Magic's ease of use starts with your typing of the inevitable words "FADE IN," whereupon a little box pops up offering you choices of shot type: Interior, Exterior, point of view, etc. Not only that, but the software almost seems a step ahead of you. If you type "int." or "ext." on a blank line, for example, Screenwriter hops immediately into Scene Heading mode, shifting to upper case for you.

If you want to insert a transition or a particular shot all you have to do is type it onto a blank line, and the software reformats it automatically. As hinted at above, the software also usually knows what comes next - so once you've created a transition it knows a scene heading should follow and sets itself up for such. It's so intuitive it's almost scary.

There's much more: hitting the "Tab" key zips the cursor to the proper point at which you should insert a Character Name. Screenwriter also remembers character names for you, so on subsequent uses all you do it type the first letter of that name and a little box pops up with all the names starting with that letter.

After typing or selecting the character's name, a press of the "Enter" key takes you into dialogue mode; a second press puts you into the proper format for typing action.

Naturally, you can also do such mundane word processing things as dragging and dropping text.

A real bonus is that the software actually keeps track of everything for you, so you can go back later and print out lists of sets and/or characters and even link storyboards or mark the dialogue of one particular character. You can also compare different drafts, register your script online, and even use Screenwriter's built in speech to text engine to assign robotic voices to read your script back to you.

Hey, it may be the closest you ever get to seeing it actually performed!

There are plenty of other tools in the package, including a "Tricks of the Trade" section, modules on budgeting and scheduling, and a wide variety of sample scripts for real TV shows. It also offers file compatibility with numerous word processors.

Screenwriter 2000 won't make you a writer, or get your script sold, but it'll help you make your creation as good and as marketable as it can be. And that's a big leg up!

Jim Bray's technology columns are distributed by the TechnoFILE and Mochila Syndicates. Copyright Jim Bray.

Tell us at TechnoFile what YOU think