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Okay, so you have this great idea burning in your head and you want to start putting it down on paper. As you start you realize that you do not know the exact formats of a screenplay draft? That is where a lot of us find ourselves. Or maybe you just want to get past the tedium of STAGE LEFT and FADE LIGHT, then Movie Write Pro is for you.
I found this software not only reasonably priced (especially compared to competitors) but also very capable to complete an actual script. It even breaks down several key components like an outline, character list, and stats amongst others.
It is equally useful for the beginner as well as the consummate professional as it converts your ideas in an editor that is user friendly. The results are professional.
The tag line for this product is that MWP lets you concentrate on the story. I can only agree after using and buying this product.
You can even print a hard copy or convert to a Rich Text File (RTF) copy for export.
Click here for a review of Movie Writer Pro
- You can download here.
Free trial but only 24.95 to buy.
The next option in line runs about 70-80 dollars.
This program is such a great buy.
Back to Drama Tech 101
If you have read the Drama Elements Series: The Use of Soundtracks & The Use of Sound (parts I & II), then maybe you have considered or are already working with an audio editing program.
I would like to suggest a couple of programs that could assist you in editing audio to fit the needs of your production.
First of all, there is a Freeware program (yes, that is free folks!) called Audacity. It can be found here:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
This free program is workable and allows you to do simple editing on most audio tracks like WAV, mp3 and ogg vorbis formats. It however does not support wma or AAC (no iTunes stuff!)
What it will allow you to do is overdubs with a microphone though and that can be very useful for Drama aspects. Another great feature is that you can cut and paste with ease as well as mix multiple tracks of audio to create a “track” that is unique and tailored to meet your specific needs.
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Other options for software belong in the Magix line of products such as Audio Cleaning Lab, Music Maker and of course even the old reliable Movie Pro Edit series works well with audio.
Audio Cleaning Lab is a personal favorite for creating top quality tracks. It has all of the features as listed above plus surround sound (essentially Dolby Pro-Logic II), DVD-4-channel multitrack DVD-Audio with a sample rate of 96 kHz/24-bit. For comparison, a regular CD is is recorded with 16-bit. Sounds like too much tool? Consider this. It specializes in converting old audio from vinyl LP’s and “restoring” the sound with a vast array of filters from eliminating scratches, restoring a dull tape to a fresh sound, noise reduction, etc… It is well worth its current 39.99 price-tag.
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The next choice is Magix’s Music Maker (current version 12).
This is a unique program that utilizes less features as Audio Cleaning Lab but actually uses a better mix time-line template for ease of use. it is great for creating that special sound you need. You can even add video and has the same basic filters that Audio Cleaning Lab does to clean up and restore your sound. I think this program has the most flexibility to work with drama needs and your creation can be exported into different formats so that it can be easily used with a video production.
And there are my two cents on the subject.
Go back to Drama Tech 101 Outline here
The use of composition in a play may be arguable as falling more in the direction of art rather than something technical, however there is a well known “Rule of Thirds” that comes into play as a technical consideration regardless.
Whether you film, draw, photograph, prepare stage design or something similar, the rule of thirds will always add to your composition.
This is the rule of thirds:
Break an image, stage or shot down into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have 9 parts. Like so:
Then imagine those lines over the image you are trying to create like so:
Notice the placement of the picture’s object. It intersects on one of the crossing points. Doing this will make your shot not only more interesting but also give it a more professional appeal. Shot generally centered are considered poor and amateurish. Now start looking at all of your photos and any movie you may find to being noticing the placement of shots.
Try to use this theme in setting up stage design and filming.
Go back to Drama Tech 101 Outline here
Okay, so you don’t have a large budget for complex lightning systems?
But what you do have is electricity, a plug and a few lamps?
And you still want to put on a big production that has an edge of professionalism to it?
What to do, what to do? Can this be done?
I would say yes. Here is what I have found. Most churches have some kind of lighting system, whether it is ceiling lights or stage lights with switches. But what if you want to control lighting remotely and out of sight to set a mood for a play or a scene in a play? How do you do it?
The answer I have found is X-10. X-10 lighting controllers are an inexpensive alternative to professional expensive systems ranging in the thousands of dollars. The most expensive controller I use is 15.00.
X-10 works this way:
- a light source is plugged into an X-10 lamp module (approx. 15.00) and then into your socket or power strip.
- A remote control pad which runs about 7.99 is then plugged in within range of the light source (presumably back stage).
This allows someone back stage to control the lights by turning them off or on or dimming them according to need. While it does not allow one person to control from a master light board, it will save you a ton of money and allow you to have hidden access to lighting on stage.
Where to find X-10 products? I find them all on ebay.com to solve funds. There are InfraRed controllers (more expensive) and regular controllers which I use. They also have lamp plug in modules (for lights, dimming function) and appliance plug in modules (for appliances that have no need of dimming, like fog machines, etc….), as well as products to convert a light switch to remote control as well.
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Well, if you have read this far, you found out that I had a hard drive crash to the floor. That is the HD which contained all of my production files. I am having to start over from scratch since I was told the data is irretrievable.
I had to find another option.
On-line Data Storage: now this sound like my cup of tea. no hard drive to fall to the ground and crash, files are always backed up and retrievable.
I looked at Carbonite.com. Here for a free 30-Day trial, (no credit card needed, yeah!!!) I was able to see how the system worked.
You download the Carbonite program onto your computer and select which files you want to back up. From there it uploads them onto the Carbonite Hard Drive (on-line storage). I have been able to save excel spreadsheet, word docs, pictures, folders, videos, and mp3’s. I noticed it will not upload an WAV sound clips, so I had to convert them to MP3.
I can access these files at any time even restore them to mine or another computer is I have a system crash or purchase a new computer. Restore seems to be flawless, as it puts the file back in the exact same place where it was before.
The best part is that for what I understand to be 40-50 per year, you get unlimited storage space. That is a good deal.
Yet, even here there are things to consider. It takes a long time to upload files to the back up/on-line HD storage space. The initial can take up to two days to upload, however, it gets better from there once the initial is done.
No system files, extensions or application will uploaded to the Carbonite HD space since when they are restored they may be incompatible with a new operating system.
I think I have found my storage solution.
Back to Drama Tech 101.
Okay, so if you are like me you have great ideas and have done a great amount of work with your Church Dramas, and some of this is computer work. Your computer work could be in the electronic form of documents, scripts, practice schedules, pictures, videos, music, slide-shows, etc….
If you go as far as I have and CREATE your own visuals, and I emphasis this because it requires much more time and effort, then you definitely want to save your work.
One step further, if you ever plan to do this cantata again, and you do not want to re-CREATE everything you did, then you need to back up your work, especially if you only have 30GB hard drive installed on your computer. So what are your options?
Increase the internal hard drive? What and have to reload everything on your computer???? No, let us look at another option.
External media. 3.5″ Diskettes, ZIP Drives, Data CD’s, Data DVD’s & Data Double-Sided DVD’s:
- 3.5, ZIP Drives and Data CD’s simply don;t have enough space to save anything significant.
- Data DVD’s would just take too many to store one of my scenes left alone the whole production.
- Double-Sided Data DVD’s – recordable on both sides of the disc, still a shortage of storage for any medium to large production and you need a special DVD burner to do it.
I chose to back up my work on a 160GB Seagate USB External Hard-drive. This was a One-Touch Backup model (this is important later in our story). I bought it for 169.99 on sale which I thought was a good price at the time
And when the 160GB was close to being full, I found a Seagate FreeAgent 500GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive on sale for 139.99. That was an even better bargain because they run 179.99 now at Office Max. I found this to be my best option in storing all of production files. Lots of storage memory, using the USB 2.0 connection on my computer (faster than the original USB port) seemed to be the perfect solution for repeat use of my church productions.
That is until this happened:
Now I was looking for another option……and this is what I found that option to be: Drama Tech 101: Data Storage – Online Options
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