Screenplay
T.J. Brumfield | Jul 19, 2009 Productivity
(16 votes, average: 2.94 out of 5)
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Black Mana Studios managed to find a worthwhile niche where no app currently existed and deliver a solid first offering in Screenplay. As the name suggests, Screenplay allows you to edit screenplays on your iPhone/iPod.
A writer on the go could simply jot down notes with the built-in notes app. If they have the new 3.0 software, they can also record voice memos. So where does this app fit in?
Screenplay allows you to properly format your screenplays easily, auto-complete character names, reorder scenes easily, and email your work.
Why would you buy a screen-writing app on your iPhone? Each writer is very different in how and where they write. Some write anywhere and everywhere with whatever tools are handy. Some want to jot down ideas the moment they pop in their heads. Some just want the easiest tool to properly format their script.
There are plenty of dedicated screenplay apps you can get on your computer, but few can compete with the price of this mobile app. Few are as convenient, as you don’t have to lug around your laptop, or boot it up to jot down a line of dialog.
The interface is very simplistic and intuitive. Once I insert a character name and hit return, it knows I’m going to be following it up with dialog for that character. If I want to insert something other than dialog, an insert button allows me to easily add in Action, Characters, Dialog, Transitions, Parentheticals, and New Scene Headers.
When I’ve written screenplays in the past, I’ve created style rules in Word and switched between them. I eventually moved to a template for OpenOffice (I’m a big fan of open-source software). Either way, I spend time at each step worrying about switching to the proper formating for what I’m doing. It makes it hard to write in a nice flow, especially dialog. I found adding dialog in Screenplay to be very easy.
In the scene header, I hit N, and it inserts Night. I type one letter of a character’s name, and it goes right for the auto-complete. I start the app up from my dash, and it zips back to the script and scene I left off on. The app may be spartan when it comes to features, but it doesn’t get in the way either. It just wants to enable you to write quickly.
Would I personally use this as my main writing tool? No, because I type so much slower on my iPhone. That being said, to each their own. Others may value the portable convenience and quick interface over the lack of a full-sized keyboard.
It would be nice if Black Mana Studios could integrate a voice memo feature. I’d like to record my thoughts and/or dialog, and then play it back as I type it out. I find it is crucial to speak dialog aloud. I can also write dialog more naturally if I’m simply speaking as opposed to hammering away at a keyboard (though I do spend a lot of time hammering away at a keyboard, if my review pace hasn’t made that abundantly clear).
Perhaps a text-to-voice feature that automatically reads dialog back to you might be nice, but I prefer to read my own dialog. If I can’t deliver it with the inflections I want, how will an actor be able to deliver it?
At $2.99, Screenplay costs less than your average mocha. If it allows you to preserve your brilliant thoughts in the mocha line, then the investment is well worth it. I’m not sure it is ready for everyday use as your main writing tool, but then again I wouldn’t be shocked to hear Diablo Cody is sitting down at said proverbial coffee shop cranking out her next screenplay on her iPhone.
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- I guess I'll have to start a script then.
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- I like that you can switch to landscape or portrait.
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- Everyone needs a character named Rumpe.
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- You can reorder scenes easily after the fact.
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- Easy formatting is what this app is all about.
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- I'm like a writer and stuff.
