I know I haven’t been posting about my writing recently, but that means I have been busy – Right? I feel I have been busy anyway. In this post, I will give you an update my screenwriting, final draft and the new semester.
I got Final Draft as my Christmas present in 2017 from my Dad. For my undergraduate final year, I am writing two scripts so this software is an amazing gift!
The Final Semester of 2018
This semester is my final semester of my BA course in Creative and Professional Writing. I have only returned this week and had one lecture in both Advanced Screenwriting and Focus on Writing for Responsibility.
Already, I have a feeling this semester and my modules are going to be good. The two modules seem to be able to be linked together really well and the introduction to both of them was interesting.I need to do a 3000 word case study for my Responsability module and don’t have an idea for it yet, but I am looking forward to it.
Obviously, I will be continuing my Independent Study and write another script for the 30-pages. A friend reminded me of the character CV that we learned in Writing for Screenwriting, so I am going to do that next.It’s going to be a lovely last semester.
Highs of Uni Life
Only issue at the minute is that we are in a tiny room for one of my modules. There’s about 20 of us and the room realistically can sit about 12. But the room will be sorted, we have a lecturer who is pretty quick on things like that.
DSA have also given me a new software for note taking called Audio Notetaker and a good quality mic. The quality of the mic is amazing. It has noise cancellation. So the mic changes the volume of the things that are quieter than the lecture. Things, such as people changing the pages of their notebook, are muted on playback.
The Audio Notetaker has 3 panels. In one I can use visuals, like the lecture slides. In another, I can take notes, and the third contains the audio. It helps me understand what happened in the four hours. I have learned auditory learning is not my best friend*
*2023 Edit: I have recently learned this is because of dyslexia.
University Campaign
I am also happy because a campaign that I lead for the last 18 months had gotten somewhere.
The University coffee shop closed at 5pm but students were still in class until 9pm. The campus shop sut at 4pm and it’s not food-safe to keep a sandwich in your bag for nearly three hours (break was around 7). I was able to get a trial for the drinks and nibbles to be served until 8pm. This unfortunately failed, BUT the campus now owns a student microwave.
This means that students no longer have to spend £10 on a subway because they have a lecture until 9pm. They can now warm up soup or other food from home.
Undergraduate Third Year and Final Draft
For my third year, I decided to write two screenplays. One of them would be an extract, and the other a full-length script. One of them is about the industrial revolution around Birmingham, UK. Certainly something I am well-placed to write about.
Birmingham and the surrounding cities (known as the Black Country) were at the heart of the revolution. I have enjoyed researching the topic and bringing the story to life. My character, Benjamin, finds himself working at a hamlet. Iron Wick follows his journey as he attempts to adapt to his changing world. I feel sorry for my protagonist, but he helped me shape the story in his own way. Characters come to life after awhile and the writer loses some control.
My other project, Going Down South is about a young woman who goes to university for the first time. She is disabled, from an underprivileged area and attempts to find out who she is through university experience. Mistakes are made as she navigates friendship.
Final Draft Screenwriting Features
There are a lot of screenwriting features with final draft. You’d expect there to be. It is a screenwriting software after all. This includes:
- The Beat Board
- Index Cards
- Split Panel
- Alternate Dialogue
- Reading Aloud using multiple voices.
I’ll admit, I didn’t know how to use it all at first, but I got the hang of it now.
Screenwriting Beat Board
A few months after getting the software, I discovered how to work the Beat Board. I have viewed it several times since I have gotten the software for Christmas but didn’t understand it. So I went back to Save The Cat book and looked at the chapter: Lets Beat it Out. This has helped remind me what a beat board is and how to create one offline.
Next, I watched a youtube video on how to use the Beat Board on Final Draft; since then I love the beat board. My script now has a story map. It shows my target (which is still set at 90 pages). Under several pages a little diamond telling me where a beat is. It has helped me get out of the writer’s block I received over the Christmas holidays. I feel that I am getting somewhere with my scripts and I know where I am taking them.
Index cards
The Index cards help me know what each scene consists of. It’s a quick glance of place in the narrative. For example, if I was looking for when two characters first met and I knew it was in the scene where one of them wonders into a cave, I could look for the index card. It would tell me the location of the scene and what happens in the scene. It saves a whole bunch of unnessesary scrolling.
Split Panels
The split panels are useful. Basically a split screen but within the app. I could look at both the index and the script, or the beat board and the index cards. Or the beat board and the script. I am hoping to bring my monitor to halls next week so that I have a bigger screen to work with, but I need to tidy up my room (and my desk) first.
Alternative Dialogue
The alternative dialogue feature allows me to try out multiple dialogue options within a scene by clicking a button. So if I have three ideas on how a character might respond, I can alternate them and see which works best. It’s a great little feature.
Reading Aloud
The software will also read your script to you, you can assign a character to a voice and the software will use that voice when the character is speaking. I love it because it takes away the robotic feel by having more than one voice and the instant switch between characters.
Continuing Screenwriting After University
After my Undergraduate, I plan on continuing my screenwriting journey through my Masters. There is a course run by Derby Writing for Performance and I am really looking forward to it.