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Script
Templates
Any
kind of script has to be correctly formatted. Using a template for
Word or specialist formatting software that includes its own word
processor can greatly speed up the script writing process. There
are plenty of basic, free templates available as well as products
such as Final Draft which serve the professional end of the market.
Free
templates from the BBC
The BBC has some free
script templates you can download and use in Word to ensure
correct formatting. The templates are OK, but I've used them and
found them to be a little temperamental. Plus their layouts are
sometimes a little odd and are not correct for the entire broadcast
industry.
Free
screenplay template from Microsoft
Microsoft offers a free download of a screenplay
template, designed for use with Microsoft Word 97 or newer.
ScreenForge
This is a nifty little package created by Apotheosis Pictures Productions,
an independent film production company. It's free to use for a 45
day trial period, and is designed to offer the familiar functionality
of Word whilst creating Hollywood style screenplays. Download
ScreenForge.
Mac
templates
This screenplay
template for the Apple Mac runs with Microsoft Word (5.0 or
greater), Nisus (3.0 or greater), Write Now (3.0 or greater), Mariner
Write (1.4 or greater), and MacWrite Pro (feature-film format only).
The download is free.
Final
Draft
I switched to Final Draft for script writing and found it to
be much better than the BBC templates and a couple of other independent
programmes I've tried. Final Draft 6 was solid and reliable, and
then I upgraded to Final Draft 7. The initial release of version
7 was full of bugs and was unusable. As you'll see if you look at
online reviews, the company quickly released bug-fix editions and
they've got it all straightened out now. I initially contacted them
and complained and they were very open about the problems and were
working hard to fix all the issues. So now I can be comfortable
in recommending Final Draft 7 to any script writers. This really
is the professional software you need - just make sure you download
all available updates after you install it to make sure it runs
reliably. It doesn't get any better than this. There are templates
for screenplays and television sitcoms, and it has some cool features
like the ability to create PDFs of your scripts and a useful facility
for reading the script aloud using different computer-generated
voices for the various characters. You can even produce reports
that show the dialogue spoken by just one character, which is handy
for checking the frequency of catchphrases and consistency in dialogue.
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