Mike Jones Digital Basin
cinematic media rinse cycle

Celtx, production, and re-defining WYSIWYG

Make no mistake, Celtx is the most forward thinking and dynamic production software tool available. That's a big call to make but I have no hesitation whatsoever in doing so. Its not just what Celtx does, but rather the conceptual princples that Celtx embraces that make it such an exciting and forward-thinking tool.



I've written about Celtx as a screenwriting and production management tool before on DMN (part 1 and part2 here) and now with a new release available one that greatly expands the functionality as well as its broad conceptual approach, there's even more to love - not least of all that its open-source and free to use!

A plethora of new features makes Celtx easily now the most comprehensive tool of its kind on the market. This new version introduces an AV two-column scripting system, structure formatting for radio and podcast scripts, double sided scene card view with colour coding and a comprehensive calender production management system with drag and drop functionality (drop a scene from the script onto calender to schedule the shoot and automatically generate call and production info). This of course all in tandem with the existing feature set offering a complete database reporting and management system for cast, set, props, locations and every other possible requirement of production, character and plot development tools and a highly effective mark-up and script annotation system.

Whilst the Celtx folks have obviously been busy expanding the range of features and moving Celtx ever closer to being a total and integrated environment for all forms of cinematic media production, they have also taken a much more interesting and bold conceptual step forward in the engine room of Celtx...

The governing paradigm by which the tasks of 'Word Processing' and 'Writing' have been performed on computer since Microsoft and Apple bought into the Xerox developed WIMP (Windows, Icons, Mouse, Pointer) concept, has been WYSIWYG  - What You See Is What You Get. The WYSIWYG idea is incredibly simple - that a document on screen is as it will appear on paper. Computers did not start out with a WYSIWYG approach but we have subsequently been immersed so long in this idea that its arguably difficult to perceive of an alternative.

But is WYSIWYG the only way to write? The only way to construct a document in the digital age? Are there alternatives? Are their inherent problems with the WYSIWYG paradigm? (interesting little article here about WYSIWYG)

The issue is that, particularly in the context of writing, WYSIWYG essentially relegates the Computer to the role of glorified Typewriter - a binary simulator of the typing process - of directly imprinting letter characters in-situ of their viewing. Whilst this might be viably functional there are also strong arguments to suggest that the concept of WYSIWYG falls far short of what the computer and the digital platform is capable of and that non-WYSIWYG models might actually provide far greater scope than the distinctly limiting 'typewriter' mindset.

It is into this conceptual framework that Celtx has stepped with infinitely more bold, forward and progressive thinking than most software developers will ever muster. This new version of Celtx embraces a system of non-WYSIWYG writing and formatting layout known as LaTeX. Unlike common prose writing, all forms of writing for audio-visual mediums (screenplays, AV, treatments, radioplays, stageplays etc) demand a visual structure and layout that is highly specific and geared directly towards pragmatic and logistical demands of production. Here Celtx's new LaTeX-based layout feature known as Typeset offers significant benefit over a traditional WYSIWYG model.

Typeset works by allowing you to write in a fluid manner that has an internal logic geared to the writing itself, and then use Typeset to automatically layout what you have written into the desired format more geared for viewing and production. The difference is that Celtx, using the Typeset system, recognizes that a one-size fits all approach can be inefficient and dysfunctional. Whats required for reading and production application of a script is fundamentally different, and even at odds with, the mode most efficient for the writing itself.

The advantage of this Typeset system in Celtx is most evident in the creation of AV Two-Column scripts common for documentary, TV, and news journalism production. The concept of an AV script is separate descriptions for the visual and aural elements displayed side-by-side in matched columns. The problem with creating an AV script is that while the two column format is very efficient to read its very inefficient to write, relying on tables, fields and often manual alignment of 'Aural' and 'Visual' related text.

In Celtx, using Typeset, the process is greatly simplified and moreover geared towards a fluidity of writing - more time writing and less time making things look right. In Script view the writer can write in a simple top-down process sequentially describing visual action and aural dialogue; not unlike a traditional screenplay. Then with a click of a tab button Celtx Typesets the work into a perfectly formatted AV two-column script - correctly aligned, spaced and presented.

At a broader level what this approach does is provide a writing environment that is focused on the task of 'writing', on flow of ideas and not broken by the demands of production layout - horses for courses and a recognition that what's good for the reader is not necessarily good for the writer. Moreover what the LaTeX/Typeset method drives at is a broader way of perceiving writing in a digital environment that moves us beyond the glorified typewriter.

Theres no doubt that after decades of WYSIWYG saturation the idea of writing in one mode and viewing/reading in another may take some getting used to for many screenwriters but it doesn't take too much effort to perceive the potential benefits the change in perspective opens up once you get used to it.

Celtx is, somewhat ironically, an extremely rare software tool in that is completely 'of the digital age' fully embracing the Digital environment and cognizant of what separates it from analogue processes. Celtx isn't a binary paper simulator, it doesn't simply replicate old processes on-screen; Celtx pro-actively reconsiders production processes themselves. It prompts creators to re-think the traditional divisions in production development and engage a new and integrated mode of thinking about cinematic form. Screenwriting tools for formatting and creating a screenplay are common but a tool like Celtx, one that brings together creative and logistical elements to create an holistic production development and management system, is a unique rarity.

Oh yeah, and did i mention it was free...?

By way of disclosure, I should state I am currently engaged by Celtx to produce a series of videos on screenwriting and pre-production, but this association came about only after I contacted Celtx to declare my enthusiasm for the tool and offer my assistance to help develop it - also long after I first started using and writing about Celtx. And since Celtx is open source and free i can hardly be accused of trying to  'sell' it. :)  Try it foryourself. Once you've seen the light of how efficient, flexible and forward-thinking a creative software tool can be you'll never go back or look at software the same way again.... Instead, you'll also be asking yourself Why the hell you shelled out hundreds of dollars for Final Draft....?!

Posted at 01:00AM Sep 14, 2007 by Mike Jones in general  |  Comments[5]