Final Draft 6

Over the past several years, Final Draft and a handful of other programs have solved the major formatting issues required for an industry-approved screenplay. Most of the latest advances go beyond formatting and make the entire process of getting a script outlined, formatted, copyrighted, and sold a bit easier.

Final Draft is currently the market leader in the script-formatting field with second place going to Movie Magic. Version 6.0 adds a few tweaks to the core formatting but mainly adds lots of extras that make a screenwriter's life simpler. If you are an experienced screenwriter, these add-ons may be less interesting than for writers entering the field. However, if only one or two of the new features improves some repetitive part of the writing process, then they're worth the price of admission.

The core of any script-formatting program is the degree to which it automates the highly structured and repetitive elements such as Headers (INT, EXT), Transitions (DISSOLVE TO, CUT TO), character names, parenthetical description, dialog, and action. Because these elements tend to fall into a specific order, you can use the command key to advance from one element to the next, and FD takes care of capitalization, placement, and spacing. The Return and Tab keys can also be used to achieve the same results with fewer keystrokes. These are features offered by all script-formatting products. Final Draft, however, offers SmartType, a new feature that expands on Character Matching from the previous version of FD. Character Matching allows the writer to type the first letter of a character's name and FD automatically adds the remaining letters of the name. SmartType does this with characters and all the other elements required for screenplay. While these new time-saving features are great, you still have to memorize them and learn a few simple keystrokes and rules to really use them efficiently.

Final Draft still boasts the best spell checker and thesaurus of the several other formatting products I have owned. Questionable spelling is underlined in red as you type. There is also a database of 90,000 names to help you christen your characters. FD always had a search function, but this was improved in 5.0 by adding a more robust Find and Replace in a floating palette.

My favorite feature from 5.0 is Script Notes because creative writing for most of us is really about rewriting. Script Notes provides digital Post-its that float in their own windows on any page you place them. You can copy parts of your script directly into a note or copy a dialog or some other snippet from the Script Note to the actual script. Version 6.0 adds the ability to color markers and increases the size of the Script Notes window. Before Script Notes, I added commentary by printing out a script and writing in the margins. While seeing printed copy is still necessary from time to time, Script Notes helps me organize versions and ideas more efficiently. I have also found it much easier to store and keep track of versions of a script in the computer rather than cataloging a dozen or more hard copies marked up with a red pen.

Another very practical feature from Version 5.0 that aids rewriting is the Script Navigator. FD has basically folded in a 3x5 stand-alone product for formatting and printing index cards, the industry-standard way to view scenes on a corkboard. The time-honored process involves writing one scene per 3*5 index card with a brief description. Even though 120 cards in four or five rows may fill up a wall, it lets the writer understand the flow of action and three acts in a comprehensive way that is impossible to see in a screenplay. Typical refinements include colored index cards to denote specific characters or time of day. FD now allows these cards to be created and displayed right on the computer or printed out for creative wallpapering. Script Navigator also allows the writer to print out a sequential list of scenes with accompanying action.
All writers generate versions of their work as they refine a story, but working screenwriters are frequently subjected to a development process of endless rewrites to please a parade of studio folk. Many times, elements are removed and then put back again only to be removed and reinserted again and again. To help with the confusion of what belongs where, FD has added Script Compare, a tool that dynamically compares two versions of the script paragraph by paragraph. This is called version tracking in digital animation facilities, and it's absolutely essential in maintaining your sanity. Consider that Francis Ford Coppola is said to have had more than 50 versions of The Cotton Club script.
By far the most unique feature in Final Draft is Script Reader. This innovation uses text-to-speech technology to actually read your script aloud using QuickTime's voice samples. You just select a section of script by highlighting it and hit Play. Unfortunately, QuickTime offers no way to import your own voices. Using Script Reader, “Are you talking to me?” takes on new meaning, and while I found this feature a bit silly, in an odd way it is useful. At one level it's discouraging to hear your dialog badly performed because text-to-speech algorithms provide no more inflection than an answering machine. So while pacing and the logic of your dialog are discernable, the emotional content is eliminated. Still, this is the future (sigh), and at some point it will be possible to sample favorite actors from DVDs — copyright issues aside — so that you can “cast” your digitally staged reading. Any chance at even moderately emotional readings are probably years away, but the Final Draft repertory company is a novel and amusing concept. I'm seriously considering staged readings of great play excerpts on my website powered by FD as a conceptual online installation.

Final Draft 6.0 has improved the Script Reports that first appeared in version 5.0, allowing elements in the script, including scenes, characters, locations, and even Script Notes, to be listed and printed. A Character Report, for instance, lets you identify how many times a character appears in the script and on what pages. Version 6.0 has improved the sorting capabilities of Final Draft so that you can easily organize lots of information for breakdowns and budgeting.
While they're not exactly major features, Final Draft includes several practical goodies on the installation CD. Version 5.0 provided the specific formats for 50 recent television series including Ally McBeal, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and X-Files, and version 6.0 has added even more templates, including plays and international formats. This is important because in television each program has its own idiosyncratic formatting requirements. While it has been said that content is king, there are so many scripts being written today that studios are looking for any excuse to send you, the vassals, away. Even slight variation from formatting orthodoxy is grounds for rejection. (This from an industry that regularly puts out and pays for extremely substandard, and worse, derivative fiction.) Perhaps a database of dialog clichés would be helpful — as long as it's not sold as a source for new material.

Final Draft supplies features useful to newer writers such as sample query letters and a direct connection to online help, but the downloadable player that allows producers, directors, and agents to read a script online without owning a copy of Final Draft is essential. For writers with partners, FD offers CollaboWriter, a feature that permits writers to share their work in realtime over the Internet.

When it's time to print, Version 6.0 has added a powerful tool called Format Assistant. In short, this is a mine-sweeping function that searches for inconsistencies such as missing dialog, uneven spacing, and other problems that don't turn up until you've run through a few inkjet cartridges and a ream of paper. And when you finally have the script in hand, you can take advantage of a new relationship between the Writers Guild of America and Final Draft. Basically, this boils down to online registration since the WGA now recognizes and accepts scripts in the FD format, as of Spring 2002.

In previous versions of Final Draft, file conversion was good, but not absolutely seamless. Final Draft can convert 4.0 scripts automatically, but earlier versions of the script have to pass through a converter program that comes with the program. This is relatively painless, but still an extra step. I have had good luck converting Word documents to FD, but there have been some hitches. Final Draft has to guess what each element is (Character, Dialog, and Header), and this takes a bit of coaxing. Again, this is a relatively minor extra step. Version 6.0 eliminates any remaining compatibility problems by letting users save a script to Adobe's PDF format. This nearly ubiquitous file type allows just about anyone to open your script.

Overall, Final Draft is an excellent program that has served me well for several years. While other script programs I have used certainly format the script properly and offer similar features, Final Draft leads the way in the innovation department. It remains the best product of its type for new and seasoned screenwriters.

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