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Subscribe                 5 Ideas, 2 Comments, 3 Votes »

Content Cherry-Picking 

Posted by Stewart McKie 05/19/2008 12:00 AM PDT

You know how it is when you write a feature length screenplay: Your script is full of tasty morsels but you can't remember where they all are. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to flag all those bits of killer dialog, lean scene description, key scenes you would hate to lose?

Today's software doesn't do much to help you here but the simple addition of way to flag your script 'cherries' would be useful to find them/remind you of them later or to quickly zero in when pitching your script.

XML Schema for Screenplays 

Posted by Stewart McKie 05/19/2008 12:00 AM PDT

The idea of creating an XML schema for screenplays is not new. Many screenwriting packages currently store their data in XML or can export a script in an XML format. But these are proprietary formats not an agreed standard.

As screenwriting software proliferates, on the desktop and on the web, there is more need for a standard XML schema that can be used to easily move a screenplay from one package to another. Instead of the current text or RTF-based transfer, XML offers a much more reliable, versatile and extensible way to move your screenplay from one system to another.

What Happens Next? 

Posted by Stewart McKie 05/18/2008 12:00 AM PDT

The title of this ideablog is borrowed from the final sentence of Mark Norman's recent book "A History of Screenwriting". If you create or consume screenplays then this ideablog should be of interest to you.

An ideablog is a crowdsourcing application - it lives or dies by the quantity and quality of the ideas posted to it and the engagement that those ideas stimulate in the form of votes and/or comments. By participating you are taking part in a collaborative ideation community - your ideas belong to you but the community may help you to develop or clarify your idea.

Perhaps you have ideas about how a screenplay could be better written; how the current generation of screenwriting software could be improved; or how screenplay analysis can be improved. Whatever.

Screenwriting and the screenwriting process is only around a century old. In that time it has been subject to minimal innovation. But that's all about to change - or at least that's what I hope this ideablog will prove.

To take part you just need to post your ideas, comment and vote for other people's ideas and spread the word through your blogs and websites. If you think more idea categories are needed then post your suggestion under the category "Site Suggestions" so I can add the category.

CrowdSourcing