Can Screenwriter Mimic and 'Interview' Format?

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drutgat
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Can Screenwriter Mimic and 'Interview' Format?

Postby drutgat » Feb 08, 2012 6:50 pm

Hi,
I'm wondering if Screenwriter can be formatted to mimic standard 'interview' format, in which the left-hand column/margin of the page contains the names of the people being interviewed, and the majority of the right-hand side of the page contains the dialogue that each interviewee says.

In other words, it would be like having a narrow left-hand column for the names, and a much wider right-hand column for the dialogue (sometimes, the form that this takes is a 'Q & A' format.

here's an example of what I'm talking about:
John: my name is John, and I play rhythm guitar.
Paul: my name is Paul, and I play the bass.
Ringo: my name is Ringo, and I play the drums.
George: my name is George, and I play lead guitar.

I have tried to set the elements in The Movie Magic Screenwriter 6 to mimic this kind of interview format, but I always run into the problem of the 'dialogue' portion starting on the line after the character name.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Many thanks,

drutgat.

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Chris Huntley
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Re: Can Screenwriter Mimic and 'Interview' Format?

Postby Chris Huntley » Feb 08, 2012 9:48 pm

Yes, Screenwriter supports that format. The template that comes preset with that format is the Radio Show template.

Here are the instructions that come with in the Instructional Templates folder version of the Radio Show template:


A) Using the Radio Show Format.
Alias Text
C: Commercial Break:
PT Program Time:
SP Sponsors:
Q Quantity:
EC End Cue:
ST Song Title:
ART Artist:CT Category:
SFX Sound Effect:
SEN Sound Effect Name:
LG Length:
INT: Introduction:
INS: Insert:
CC Closing Credits:

B) Use the above aliases to type in the titles of events that occur in your script. E.g. at the beginning of the line simply type C: then <space> to enter Commercial Break.

C) Entering the aliases for Commercial Break, Insert, Song Title and Introduction, will automatically place a single blank line (double space) before the line you are typing on. All other aliases will single space themselves after the previous line.

D) If you wish to adjust the aliases you can do so by going to Format > Edit User Lists. The aliases are in the Shots and Substitution Text lists.

E) To enter a Character Name hit Tab at the beginning of the line. Then hit Tab again to advance to Dialogue.
Chris Huntley
Write Brothers Inc.
http://dramatica.com/
http://screenplay.com/

drutgat
Published Writer
Posts: 51
Joined: Sep 12, 2010 1:40 pm

Re: Can Screenwriter Mimic and 'Interview' Format?

Postby drutgat » Feb 09, 2012 9:43 pm

Thanks very much, Chris.

Although I looked for template that could accommodate my needs, I obviously missed it!

And my needs are much more modest than using any of the instructions which you quoted above – I will only need the character names, and the ability to insert dialogue.

One thing that I forgot to ask is whether there is any way that I can set line numbers – is that possible?

Thanks very much, once again, Chris,

drutgat.

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Chris Huntley
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Re: Can Screenwriter Mimic and 'Interview' Format?

Postby Chris Huntley » Feb 10, 2012 9:18 pm

Unfortunately, Screenwriter does not do line numbering, only scene, shot, page and dialogue numbering (in animation scripts).
Chris Huntley
Write Brothers Inc.
http://dramatica.com/
http://screenplay.com/


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