The P3 Update Magazine Blog

By Gordon Meyer

P3GizmoGuy@gmail.com

I’ve been using Final Draft for over a decade now and was really looking forward to breaking in the new Version 8.  Is it in fact worth the $79 upgrade fee if you already have Version 7?   I’ll give it a qualified yes mainly because of what I consider to be a massive screw-up with one of the features I use fairly often.  But I’ll get into that later.  Let’s first look at highlights of the new features, beginning with Scene View.

One of the most powerful techniques professional screenwriters have used for decades has been to write scene descriptions on 3×5 cards that are then tacked onto a bulletin board so you can see the overall structure of your film at a glance – kind of like a storyboard without the illustrations.

Scene View is a cyber version of this system, which enables you to easily play musical chairs with the order of your scenes by simply dragging and dropping the scenes in outline form.  Then Final Draft automatically moves the actual pages around just the way you did your drag and drop.  Final Draft has three variations of this feature – Scene View, Index Cards and Scene Navigator.

For the first two versions you see both the scene heading and the first line or two of description or dialog.  Scene Navigator is much more Spartan in the info on display.  Although this is being touted as a new feature in FD 8, something very similar has been in Scriptware for over a decade.  Still, FD’s version is well executed and a very useful and welcome tool.

Unlike Scriptware, the Index Card feature does enable you to write a scene summary – much the same as you’d do on physical 3×5 cards. The Summary View allows you to enter ideas directly into the index card such as your basic outline, notes, sequence or act markers, comments, locations, blocking… anything you need to build and organize your story.  You can also color your Index Cards to help organize themes, character arcs, A and B stories, etc.

Another cool feature is FD’s Scene Properties Inspector which lets you track data specific to each scene in this new floating pallet such as the scene’s story beats that will eventually make up the action, characters and dialog of the scene.  Add and edit your scene’s title such as ‘Villain introduced’, and add color to the scene to help you track elements like storylines, character arcs, and material you need to get back to later.

Here’s the part I’m peeved about, though it’s not ultimately a deal breaker.  On earlier versions of FD, there was usually a button on the toolbar that in a single click enabled you to toggle from upper to lower case and vice versa.  I use this feature a lot because there are many times in the writing process when I change my mind about what I do and don’t want to emphasize in the script.

That button is missing from FD 8.  How could they?  I emailed FD tech support. Here’s their response:

“Due to an oversight, there is no Toggle Case icon in v.8. This will be remedied in the first update, scheduled for late summer 2009.

Despite missing the icon, the function actually does exist. On Windows, go to View > Toolbars and click on the Format toolbar. This will add a few formatting icons to your toolbar; the Strikethrough icon is actually the Toggle Case icon. If you choose to show the icon labels, you’ll find that the Strikethrough icon is even labeled Toggle Case.”

So the button can actually be installed, but it’s mislabeled and won’t be fixed until almost a year from now.  That’s a pretty sloppy snafu and slow fix in an otherwise really solid product if you ask me.  Still, since it gives me the functionality I want, as I said before, it’s not a deal breaker.   But I frankly expected better from Final Draft.

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By Gordon Meyer

P3GizmoGuy@gmail.com

The TV 3.0 Summit was one of the more interesting conferences I’ve attended recently.  Held strictly as a business conference, and a deliberately intimate one at that with probably less than 200 people in attendance, here the focus was on how technology affects content and vice versa. 

“TV Everywhere” was an oft repeated theme as panelists frequently talked about the evolution of traditional broadcast TV and how that content is increasingly available on more and more non-TV devices, especially computers, game consoles and smart phones and how this trend will continue to grow. 

I kept thinking about the recent WGA and SAG contract negotiations and both unions’ concerns about how soon “new media” will be the primary delivery conduit for first run content.  These technical discussions about the growing reality that viewers can more and more often watch their favorite TV shows wherever and whenever they want using mobile devices underscores the need to re-define how residuals are paid.

It was also interesting to note the projection that smartphone sales (Blackberry and iPhone type devices) are likely to exceed conventional cell phone sales within the next two years.  This is important because there’s going to be an equally exponentially growing market for content that you can watch on these video-enabled phones, whether it’s something re-purposed from other content or material made specifically for the wireless video market. 

Knowing that something you produce is going to be seen mostly on 3” handheld screens by people with short attention spans should most definitely influence how this content is produced.

Not surprisingly, 3D was also a big topic of discussion at the Summit and specifically the challenge of recreating the theatrical 3D experience in the home.  The current wave of interest in 3D in theatres and the success of movies like Disney/Pixar’s “UP” and the anticipated success of James Cameron’s “Avatar” have the industry drooling over potential increased profits from exploiting this technology.

Earlier this year when I interviewed director Peter Hyams for P3 Update, he told me he anticipated that Cameron’s film would do for 3D what “Star Wars” did for Dolby surround sound in making that technology the next “must have” part of the audience experience. 

Certainly the technology itself has come a long way over the decades.  But even on the theatrical side, there are still multiple 3D standards in both digital and film-based exhibition, which is confusing and expensive for exhibitors.  And when it comes to really good quality 3D in the home, the standards war is just as fractious.

Come January, several consumer electronics companies will be showcasing 3D ready plasma and LCD displays at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show.  But as we still lack industry standards for how to execute 3D images, it’s likely to take years before 3D becomes a common feature in home theatre systems.  Just like the high definition format wars, it will all come down to a combination of which gets the widest studio (and adult video) support even more than who delivers the most natural quality picture.

At the end of the two day conference, after all the talk about things like product integration, immersive technologies, digital delivery systems, new advertising and business models, it still came down to what smart people have known all along – it’s all about creating quality content that consumers become emotionally invested in watching.  Without that, everything else is academic.

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By Gordon Meyer

P3GizmoGuy@gmail.com

Since part of getting gigs in town is based on knowing what’s going on and who’s doing what, there are several online databases that any working professional should subscribe to.

Baseline Studio Systems’ (www.blssi.com) showbiz databases Film Tracker (www.filmtracker.com) and Studio System (www.studiosystem.com), are the Rolls Royces of showbiz databases both in terms of depth of content and pricing.

Studio System continuously tracks the status of thousands of projects in development, includes exceptionally comprehensive company and talent representation directories.  While much of this info is available on the less pricey Hollywood Creative Directory (www.HCDOnline.com) and IMDb Pro (http://pro.imdb.com) databases, you’ll often find info here not available on either of the other two, though to be fair, the reverse is also true.

A buddy of mine is a researcher for a major entertainment news organization who’s been using Studio System for years and he swears by it.  I’m just getting into it myself and like its depth of info, though am also a bit overwhelmed by some of the choices.  Fortunately Baseline is very good about providing both online tutorials and a real person to walk you through the system’s features so you can get the most out of what they offer.

Frankly as the Studio System is aimed at high level studio and network executives, the amount of info available there may be overkill for most below the line talent and indie producers.  Fortunately, their Film Tracker database will probably do the trick for a lot less moolah.  Film Tracker is basically a more streamlined version of the Studio System database with a focus on screen credits, representation info, feature and television project status and company rosters.

So if Film Tracker and Studio System are so comprehensive, why would you want to also subscribe to HCD Online and IMDb Pro?  Simple.  Because there’s always going to be info, especially contact info, that one of these databases will have that one or both of the others don’t.  Plus, on any given listing, one database may be more current than the others.  BTW, one of the things you pay for with Studio System/Film Tracker is the fact that each listing tells you at the bottom of the page when it was last updated. 

What can I tell you?  Knowledge is power.  Strategically used, these services can help you figure out who to pitch yourself and your projects to, what your pitching targets have done and often who to send flowers and chocolates to (their assistants, often listed by name) before or after the pitch.  Priceless.

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