screenplay template

[julio]

i'd love to have atlantis include a screenplay template.

[Robert]

i'd love to have atlantis include a screenplay template.

Greetings--
Here are a few topical pages:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/script ... mats.shtml
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/section/0% ... %2C00.html
http://forum.onestopenglish.com/
http://www.lib.umd.edu/ETC/ReadingRoom/ ... ionAG.html
http://www.davidappleyard.com/english/punctuation.htm
http://www.englishclub.com/index.htm

--
Cheers
Robert

[Guest]

Hi Julio,
It does have that template.
http://www.atlantiswordprocessor.com/en/downloads.htm
There is a documents template.zip you can download and it is in one of those.

[julio]

a missed understanding...i am a writer and i am already familiar with screenplay format...by template, i meant automatic keys for dialogue and location...

the format provided in the zip file has some of that, but in a limited fashion...

in any case, thank you for your help. i appreciate it.

[Andremusic]

But there must be a way to assign keys to Dialoge etc in Atlantis, is there? Anybody?

André

[Andremusic]

btw, I put a screenplay template there myself and the hotkeys are easily to change in whatever you desire.

[Andremusic]

However... sorry that I write and comment on myself so often... but what about the idea of having an option to put Atlantis into a screenplay mode? Like right now, you hit the cntrl button twice and all the buttons on the menu are changing. Isn't it possible to do this and getting in Screenplay mode in which some keys have different functions according to screenplay writig? Is this a difficult thing to program?

André

[admin]

Atlantis does not have a "screenplay writing" mode. Actually I do not even understand what do you mean by this mode (what this mode is supposed to do, and why the related operations cannot be performed in the normal mode).

[Andremusic]

A screenplay writing mode could contain the icons in the menubar for dialoge, sceneheading etc, plus it could go from scene heading to action, from,action to character and from character to dialoge with the use of the returnkey only, just as it works in a screenwriting program. Also, there could be options as scene renumbering, and al those other things that programs like Final Draft f.e. has. why not buy a real screenwriting prog, could be the question... well, because it would be great to have all those options in one nice wordprocessor.

Anyway... just a suggestion,

[admin]

Of course, this forum section is meant for suggestions.

[Guest]

A dedicated screenplay writer is probably a better idea than
simply a template for an existing word processor. There are
enough differences between the two to warrant a whole
seperate product.

A screenplay writer (Final Draft, a retail item, is a good example)
allows a script to be typed in, and knows where to indent each line
(usually) automatically, depending on whether it's a LOCATION,
ACTION, CHARACTER, or DIALOG, as seen in this example:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
INT. PROGRAMMING LAB - DAY
Bob and Tony are working on a new project.

BOB
This new screenplay software is
going to blow everyone away.

TONY
Hollywood, here we come!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a LOCATION line, the next line is typically an ACTION line;
after a CHARACTER name, the following line would be usually be
DIALOG; and so on.

Plus, a list of already used LOCATIONs and CHARACTERs will be kept,
allowing the user to quickly reselect it from a list, saving extra typing.

Like I said above, a good scriptwriter program is a bit different than
simply using a template trying to mimic the behavior. A number of the
features have to be built into the software. Perhaps it would be a good
project for some software engineers out there to pursue. An Atlantis
type of program, but for screenwriting instead of word processing.

Just my two cents (which I now need to use my old 37-cent stamps)

[Andremusic]

that's what I was talking about, I still think it would be nice to have a side option or writing mode or how this is called, in which Atlantis turns into a good screenplay writing program. It is possible to do it with templates, yes, but a pro screenplay program checks all kinds of things in the script, something a template can't do ( I think).

There is a free program called celtx, but it would be nice if all the writing could be done in one single program and really, Atlantis is one of the best I ever worked with!

André

[Andremusic]

What about this:
Is it possible to give the tabkey an extra option? When used in screenplaymode (this mode has ofcourse to be made first...), the tab key jumps with every press of the button between the different settings that are used in a screenplay. So with a press the tab goes to the Character name, with a next press of the tab key, the cursor goes to the dialoge position, with the next press it goes to the parenthetical position etc. Ofcourse with all the correct format,: the Charactername must be in Capitals.

Is this an option that would be possible to include?

only brainstorming...

André

[Petar Petrenko]

You can find the solution of your problem in Paragraph Style / Next Style option. When you define a new style you can also define which style to follow after you press <ENTER>. You can also asign a hot key.

[Andremusic]

Hi Petar,
yes, I know about that. But I think it would be much more elegant when it would be built in Atlantis, so there would not be a need to make those adjustments every time when I install it again. Also, I don't always want that order after pressing the enter key, I would like to be able to browse through all the settings I need during the writing of the screenplay with the tab key only.

[Petar Petrenko]

Hi André,
Sorry that I can't help you about Atlantis, because my Evaluation copy of it has just expired, and I can't send money to them because I don't have a credit card.
I can only say that I wrote thousands of pages by changing paragraph styles (and text styles) by using hot keys in QuarkXPress and Papyrus, and there was no problems at all. I think that it will not be too complicated to you learning a few keystrokes more to navigate through the styles and to define the exact paragraph style settings to match your work.

[Petar Petrenko]

If I only had Atlantis, you could send me few paragraphs (or pages) of your work to me to define the paragraph styles and send it back to you. I don't think it would be complicated at all.

[Andremusic]

I made a very good style template myself, and it works perfectly. I asigned keys to every function I need for the screenplay. But I am still trying to say that it would be nice if this little option would be built into Atlantis itself. But for the moment I am not working on a screenplay, only novels, and for that Atlantis is the best tool I ever worked with. My second novel is going to be released soon and I am working on my third right now, and all of this is happening in Atlantis!