How many times have we used metaphors to try to understand the world of computers? We talk of “going” to a Web site, as if there were physical travel involved; we “attach” a file to an electronic-mail message, as if we were fastening it with a paper clip; we refer to numerical addresses on the World Wide Web as “sites,” as if they were actual places. Even the computer industry refers to us as “users,” a term all too frequently associated with drug addicts.
Whatever words we use, we are using new-media “tools” to create and manipulate digital files intended for older media. We use state-of-the-art programs like Microsoft Word 98 to create 10-line memos that might be developed faster and easier with typewriters; we use packages like FileMaker Pro to build massive databases of questionable worth that we wouldn’t bother with if constructing them on our PCs weren’t so easy.
Hollywood is an example of an industry that uses computers both in front of and behind the scenes (just don’t show us another morphing animation). The special effects in “Titanic” may have people oohing and aahing in theaters, but James Cameron’s script is so stuffed with cliches and awkward expositional dialogue that no special effect could rescue it.
Maybe Cameron should have tried using screenwriting software. The software, specialized word-processing packages that format writing in expected script formats, associates programs that are supposed to facilitate the creative process. I’ve previously written about similar products such as The Brain, Parts (chicago.tribune.com/tech/columns/article/0,1710,274,00.html) and (chicago.tribune.com/tech/columns/article/0,1710,278,00.html)
Screenwriting software, when it works, can show off a computer at its best. I’ve had excellent experiences with (www.screenplay.com) Movie Magic Screenwriter, a stand-alone package, and (www.warrenassoc.com) a set of macros for Word. After you’ve done the creative work, you can format a screenplay faster and more uniformly than you could by hand. It harnesses the processing power of a computer to focus on the boring parts of the screenwriting process. This way you can devote all your efforts to the real work. Isn’t that what computers are supposed to do, whatever metaphor we use to explain them?
Still, there remains no better organizing tool for structuring any big screenwriting project than a package of 5-by-7 index cards and several pencils with erasers. The enforced linearity of the conventional screenplay is antithetical to openended computer structure; if you think a PC will generate ideas for you, your problem might require visiting Lucy’s five-cent booth.
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Are you writing for the big screen on your little screen? We want to know (views@vineyard.com).
