Shoot Review — Final Draft 7.0
Popular scriptwriting software makes formatting even easier.

Perhaps like many of you, I have a dream of one day writing a major motion picture or award-winning television movie. The Writers Guild of America, the main professional association for screenwriters, registers more than 15,000 feature film scripts annually — amazing when you consider that only a couple hundred films make it to local movie houses each year. Maybe reaching that level is just a dream, but with the new Final Draft 7.0 software my script can at least look professional.

Final Draft 7, the cross-platform scriptwriting software, automatically conforms scripts to industry formatting standards and offers many organizational features.

Before you can start any production, you need a good script. In professional film and video production the words and directions need to adhere to the format conventions of the industry. They say that content is king, but if your script is not properly formatted it will have a date with the circular file. For this reason, script formatting can be more important than the story itself.

Studios and production companies will look for any excuse to reject your creation. If your script is going to a corporate client, for example, the professionalism it conveys can suggest how professional your shoot will be. Modern scriptwriting software automatically helps format an industry-approved screenplay so writers can concentrate on substance. This industry-approved gloss looks good to everyone, not just film and television pros, and shows an attention to detail that can only increase your perceived value to potential clients.

Though not the only scripting application on the market, Final Draft is one of the most popular, with a Who's Who of the film and television industry touting its features. Final Draft 7.0, released at NAB 2004 by the company of the same name, advances the art form and goes beyond simple formatting and word processing. It makes the entire process of getting a script idea outlined, formatted, copyrighted, and submitted a whole lot easier. Besides easing the production of video, properly formatted scripts make it a whole lot easier to show the linkage between audio and video. Anyone who has tried to accomplish this with a standard word processing program knows how frustrating the process can be.

Final Draft is a bit like a word processor on steroids. It works on a Mac or PC, which is great if your writing team is cross-platform. Perhaps most importantly, the software automatically formats your script to industry standards for movie and television scripts.

But that's only where the fun begins. Final Draft has many other features for amateurs and pros alike. The software offers lots of script templates for television and film, with some actual professional scripts. There are also features that allow importing from other applications. I used embedded ScriptNotes like little Post-its. Index Card view breaks down scenes into traditional 3"×5" cards so you can see how the action flows. SmartType automatically fills in frequently used words, such as characters, scenes, locations, and other details, after you type one or two letters.

Final Draft 7 allows the simultaneous display of different screens (Panels) such as the actual script, notes and production schedule, and the Navigator, which allows you to get to a specific scene quickly.

The software also has production features that allow scene breakdowns for planning a shoot, character lists that track the appearances of each character, and the ability to collaborate with other scriptwriters via the Internet. Once your masterpiece is finished, print a hard copy or create a PDF — or use the unique Text to Speech feature and have QuickTime actually read the script back to you. Very cool! The new release of Final Draft adds even more to these features, but more on that in a minute.

I ran Final Draft 7.0 on two different computer systems: under Windows XP on a PC (an 800MHz P4) and under Mac OS X on a PowerBook (a 1GHz G4). Impressively, the program looked and acted nearly the same on both platforms — as did the scripts it generated. In this cross-platform world that's a wonderful thing.

The installations went off without a hitch. One CD-ROM carried both PC and Mac versions, and you are allowed to run it on two computers at one time. Activation requires a code number that's available 24/7 via phone or the Internet. The process is anonymous and takes only a few minutes. The program will run for 15 days without activation. Tech support is available 24/7, which is unusual and is great for those late-night writing sessions. You get 20 minutes of free support within 30 days after registration, but after that it's $2.50 a minute via a toll-free number. Look for more software companies to begin using both copy protection and paid support as economics and program theft demand it in today's marketplace. After this easy installation, I was ready to create a blockbuster within minutes.

The software comes with a well-written “Getting Started” manual, and the CD includes the full manual as a PDF file, a trailer for a scriptwriting workshop, and a demo version of Final Draft AV (a more video-centric version of the main program). I would have liked a primer on effective and creative scriptwriting, but at this price one can't have everything.

My first project in Final Draft 7.0 was a script for a 30-second PSA for the Hawaiian Music Arts Council, with five scenes and three main characters. Within an hour I had a properly formatted, completed script. Microsoft Word 6 would have take much longer in a truly manual process.

With some prior experience, I was able to pick up Final Draft 7.0 quickly and was comfortable by the end of the first day. Anyone who has not used a program like this before will experience a learning curve.

With Final Draft, scriptwriters can view much more than just their script. ScriptNotes can be embedded into the script like virtual Post-it notes, and the Index Card view breaks down scenes into 3"x5" cards.

The new version of the software adds lots of new features. Tagger allows the scriptwriter to tag various items and then print them as a list (a breakdown) for production planning and action. Think of it as an advanced to-do list. Being able to drag and drop elements was a time-saver. The new Panels feature allows the simultaneous display of different screens (Panels) such as the actual script, notes and production schedule, and the Navigator, which allows you to get to a specific scene quickly.

One of the best things about Final Draft 7.0 is ScriptCompare, which allows you to see exactly what changes have been made from one revision to another. When you have many different active versions, it can be really hard to keep it all straight. With multiple characters, numerous scenes, and tons of location details, there's a whole lot to keep track of. And maybe that's the best thing about Final Draft 7.0: It allows you to keep everything straight and simplifies a very complex and sometimes confusing environment.

This software is very solid and never crashed or hesitated. The good news is that now anyone can make a professional-looking script. The bad news: Anyone can make a professional-looking script! Final Draft's mega-marketing, with all of its Hollywood star endorsements, has given it a substantial edge over competitors. My fear is that this level of reach has encouraged the notion that almost anyone can write a screenplay. Anyone certainly can — just not necessarily a great one.

While Final Draft will let you write industry-compatible scripts more quickly and easily, it will not make you a better writer. But at under $250, Final Draft 7.0 can be an indispensable tool if you plan to write scripts regularly — be it for a low-budget video or your dream of a blockbuster movie. Your finished script may not be an award-winning masterpiece, but it will be formatted like one!