Be the next Steven Spielberg with Celtx

Suppose you are an aspiring director and you’re looking to write a screenplay, create a storyboard, and even schedule days to shoot scenes.  Right off the bat, you might use various programs like iCal, Photoshop, and Final Draft.  There are many disadvantages of this, the primary being that all these applications exist separately.  If you’re looking for the simplest and most compact application that merges all of these tools and more, Celtx is the program to use.

Celtx has many features that make this application very appealing and worth downloading.  First off, with this application, you can choose from a list containing several project templates, whether its movie, a play, or a comic book.  This is significant because when you select a particular template, Celtx will automatically know what style and format you have to use in order to create a storyboard or a screenplay.  For instance, when you open up the film template, Celtx will know that you need to title scenes and note certain camera shots when you write your script.  On the other hand, if you want to use the theater template, Celtx will set up your screenplay in such a way that you can divide the play into acts and scenes, and you can also indicate certain stage directions.

A second feature about this application that appealed to me is how the program organizes everything into one window.  As mentioned previously, without this program, it’s likely that you’ll have multiple applications open to conduct different tasks.  Clearly, the goal when Celtx was created to create an application that revolved around efficiency and accuracy, but at the same-time, it’s simple and compact.  In fact, Celtx uses a very similar tabs system that Firefox; I think this is pretty stellar, since Celtx wants to adapt a modern look to attract professional and aspiring film-makers.

Finally, the storyboard feature is something that certainly stands out.  Many film-makers know that the pre-filming process requires the creation of a storyboard to know exactly how directors want cameras to shoot scenes.  Yet, to do this, it requires drawing simple illustrations of the scenes on index cards or on a poster board.  The bottom line is that by doing this, it means that you have to lug this extra items from place to place.  With Celtx, this isn’t a problem.  You can still animate a scene on paper, but you can scan it into your computer and upload it as an image on your storyboard.  From there, you can title the scene, indicate how you want the camera to shoot the scene (ex. extreme close-up, slow pan-out), and write what will happen in the scene.  This is impressive, given that this is an upgrade from actual storyboards to digital storyboards.

After testing this application out, I was very impressed with it.  I almost regret not having this application sooner because back in high school, I wrote, directed, and produced a homemade film for my film class, but I used a program called Final Draft.  The problem with Final Draft is that you have to pay for it after your trial-period is up.  If you use the program during the trial period, you can’t exceed 10 pages and there’s a very annoying watermark when you print the script.  Also, I drew a full-fledged storyboard on oak-tag paper and I kept my scheduling via e-mail or a journal.  With Celtx, I could’ve written past 10 pages if I wanted to with no watermark, I could’ve scanned my storyboard images to make a storyboard, and I could’ve noted my days to shoot in Celtx’s calendar.

To wrap-up, Celtx is free for download on their website.  Overall, this is a very useful and fantastic application.  Every film-maker, whether you are already one or you want to be one, should be aware of this application.  At last, you can begin your movie career with such a simple and enjoyable application.