The Celtx Blog

"Needle" Named Celtx POW!

The last POW of 2007 is from Jason Daniels off Olathe, Kansas. Jason was kind enough to take time from his Xmas festivities to send us information about himself, his creative process and his project "Needle." It's about Hillary who hates Christmas in the Midwest and even though the holiday has passed, she can't quite escape it.

Jason tells us that he started acting in junior high and loved the creation process so much that he decided to pursue a career in filmmaking. However, as a film major at the University of Kansas, he was unable to get into the classes he wanted and got sidetracked into a Business Administration degree. Eventually, Jason settled into a career in IT as a project manager. But he couldn't leave his dream behind. He realized that managing a project and directing a movie were not that different and crafted some of his old ideas into several new scripts.

Jason has worked on many projects recently including a feature length thriller, a feature horror film ("Wormwood"), a dance themed script ("Take It 2 the Floor"), a horror short ("Time of Death" with writing partner Elizabeth Hamlett), dozens of short scripts, and on productions of other filmmakers as an extra and a crew member.

"Needle" is the next project that he plans to produce and it will star Jason and Elizabeth. The story itself comes from a prank that his brother played. We like to play practicle joke on each other in our family and this was a prank he played on his wife. Jason liked working on this script because it is a departure from the thriller and horror scripts that are his staple genre. Like Hillary in the story, the audience isn't in on the joke.

Jason felt that the best way to find stories he wanted to direct was to write them himself. He finds that writing about an experience or an event that he is not familiar with helps him feel that he has experienced it. He also likes to leave a lot to the audiences' imagination, believing that if you let the audience fill in gaps with their own ideas and thoughts; stories, people and events can be more personal and real for them.

Thanks for all of the great information Jason! Good luck on your production and have a great holiday!

Michelle and the C-Team.

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Ho Ho Ho!
and
Well, well, well...
Can you believe it?...

Here we are rolling up the carpet on another eventful year at Celtx. What with 5 version releases, lots of attention in the blogosphere, lotsa travel, one celtx wedding, and one incredibly handsome celtx baby, later... (and lots of other events in between), I'd say it was a year worth celebrating. So we're going to go kick back for the next week and do just that! :))) We 'will' be checking the forum from time to time to see who's being naughty or nice, so don't be getting too out of hand ;)

But before we head out we'd like to extend HUGE THANKS to YOU, the Celtx Community, and let you know how much we enjoy and appreciate your helpful and entertaining contributions to the forum, your continued and valuable feedback, outstanding support and heartfelt loyalty. We simply couldn't be doing our job without you.

Special Thanks to our own Hollywood stars and most prolific forum posters (in no particular order),... Sharkey, Comitar, shky, Jules, oddjob, jParris, doctorbob, Flyinhawaiian, nsfilms, lee85, zeller and KeithLoh (wherever you are)... While we're grabbing zzzzs up North...you guys keep the forum fires burning from various points around the world, and it's that close-knit globalism that I think is one of the coolest things about this place.

With v.1.0 around the corner, we anticipate an amazing 2008 with lots of surprises in store so we do hope you'll all stick around for the ride.

Until then...
Have fun!
Be safe!
and
Peace on Earth!!!

Happy Holidays Everybody!
xox

Sheila, Steve,Tony, Greg, Laurie, Chad, MJ and Mark

"The Hit" Named Celtx POW!

Check out this week's POW "The Hit" by Andrew Douglas Muir.

The story is a school project about a writer who is having difficulties finishing a script, so he enlists the aid of his main character hitman Herbert Harlow.

Interestingly, the writer in the script is also named Andrew and he is described as a 3rd year film student who wants to become a director. "Although other people tell him that he has some good ideas he does not believe it." Perhaps this is a true story? Well we like your ideas, Andrew! Keep up the good work!

Be sure to check out this project for its fun screenplay and storyboard. To see other work by Andrew, visit ROOM 3, also posted to Project Central!

Cheers,
Michelle & the C-Team.

Enter the FreshBrain Video Contest - "A Day in the Life of a FreshBrain"

What the heck is FreshBrain, you ask?

Recognizing a gap between the academic educational experience that school kids generally receive today and the ever important real world, hands-on learning opps, some folks over at SUN Microsystems took it upon themselves to help bridge that gap by creating FreshBrain.

Designed for kids 13 and up, this non-profit organization provides a safe online space where students can go and explore areas of business and technology to see if there's anything that really strikes their fancy, like web or graphic design, music, videos and filmmaking, game development, or even how to set up a small business, etc.

Students are offered the opportunity to learn the processes associated with creating a project or activity of their choice, either on their own or with others, and they get to do it with the use of Internet technologies like web conferencing, wikis and forums, etc. and with free development tools like Celtx. Participants also benefit from the expertise of assigned volunteer advisors to help guide them along, and at the end of it all, students receive a 'Certificate of Completion', and can get Letters of Reccommendaton that will make them eligible for scholarships - Pretty sweet.

With the official site scheduled for launch in January '08, the FreshBrain crew are generating interest, input and growth in their community by hosting some contests. The last 'Button & Icon contest' had a great response, as will The FreshBrain Video Contest which started Dec.6/07 and ends Jan.6/08

So consider yourself formally invited to participate and go check out the full list of rules here. And maybe,... just maybe... you'll find yourself with that shiny new Sony Handycam HDR-CX7!!

Have fun, and Good Luck to All!!

Sheila

Motion Sketches Ep3 - Aural Architecture - Writing for Sound

Episode 3 of the Celtx Motion Sketches series is hot off the press and I think it's the best episode yet. Mike Jones and Greg Dolgopolov have done a terrific job of effectively illustrating the importance of sound in the creation of visual mediums like filmmaking, game development, and machinima, etc.

So relax, sit back, get informed and get inspired...

And btw - that jiggy vibe you'll be bouncing to as you listen in, comes from Canadian artist, Brad Turcotte's open sourced Brad Sucks... great choice guys! - Sheila

Aural Architecture - Writing for Sound
"Cinema is an audio-visual experience and yet so often SOUND is not a part of the process of developing cinema. This episode looks at the importance of sound, writing sound and techniques for making the conception of sound a key part of your production process."

About CELTX Motion Sketches

Built around CELTX open-source software, Motion Sketches is an online video series that explores contemporary approaches to media production development. From the big screen to the mobile screen, from live-action to the virtual camera - Motion Sketches presents a range of highly practical perspectives on developing a media project from concept to production - screenplay, design, story, development and delivery.

The Digital Media Dude's 'Meet the Experts' podcast with Celtx CEO Mark Kennedy

Recently we were contacted by Marcelo Lewin, aka, The Digital Media Dude! Marcelo produces a popular video podcast directed at New Media Creators called Daily Tip Podcast which is currently on the iTunes Top 25 in Technology How-To.

Here Marcelo typically covers New Media Creation applications like Adobe CS3, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Lightroom, etc. and being a big fan and user of Celtx, he wanted to interview our CEO, Mark Kennedy for TDMD's first episode of 'Meet The Experts' podcast series. Naturally Mark agreed and below is your link to a really great interview.

The Digital Media Dude Meet The Experts in iTunes
Or you can download the file here.

But wait!... That's not all...
Marcelo also took the time to create TDMD Daily Tip Podcast #25 - Celtx - Creating A Script Breakdown Report. Is that wicked or what?

So many, many thanks to you, Marcelo... You're a real pro and we wish you all the best as 'THE' Dude,... of Digital Media!

Cheers!

Sheila et al

New Version Release - Celtx v.0.997 - Upgrade Now!

Attention Shoppers!!

We've squashed a few more bugs with this release, two that were annoying and the third, a Microsoft related issue, that was causing problems for some Windows users.

We recommend everyone upgrade, so head on over to the site and DOWNLOAD your preferred language in Windows, Mac or Linux.

If you experience any difficulties, feel free to give us a holler on the Forum.

Merry Christmas!
She-la and The C-Team

0.997 RELEASE NOTES:
Tabs Bug
An improvement to the Celtx code allows more tabs to be opened at once. No more spinning wheels.

AV Time Out Bug
The time out bug experienced when using the AV editor has been fixed.

Windows File Corruption Bug
We've changed the way Celtx saves a file to avoid running in to a Microsoft caused issue with files getting locked during the save process. This fix will also create a recovery file in your project to provide further data protection.

0.996 Release Notes (November 13, 2007)

0.995 Release Notes (September 13, 2007)

The 16th Annual Ashland New Plays Festival - Submission Deadline Jan. 15, 2008

Attention all Playwrights!

Looking for an opportunity to put your talents to the test?
Well there are interesting things happening in Ashland, Oregon that may be of interest to you, so READ ON...

ArtWork Enterprises has been around since 1991 and produces three events annually. This organization is all about helping playwrights, seeking to assist their process by giving them more opportunities to hear their words presented by experienced actors standing in front of a live audience.

In October 2008, ArtWork Enterprises will present the 16th Annual Ashland New Plays Festival (ANPF). Scripts must be submitted by January 15th along with a $15.(US) submission fee. The winners each receive $500, plus a hosted week in Ashland, OR - Home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF), the largest and oldest festival of its kind in the United States.

Interested Playwrights should consult the web site's "Submissions" section for the 2008 FESTIVAL GUIDELINES, or send an email to info@AshlandNewPlays.org.

Other fun and creative events presented by Artwork Enterprises include the 2nd Annual 24/7 Project slated for Jan14/08, and The 10-Minute Plays Festival. So if you're in the neighborhood, check them out and get involved.

Cheers,
Sheila

Mike Jones Talks Celtx with LA Screenwriter - Podcast Interview

At the recent Creative Screenwriting Expo in Los Angeles, Screenwriter, Military Technical Advisor and Podcaster, John Lovett of LA Screenwriter conducted a podcast interview with Mike Jones in which they discuss screenwriting, pre-production and the integrated approach of Celtx. Interesting and informative as always... So DOWNLOAD and have a listen.

Many Thanks to both John and Mike for their keen interest in helping to spread the Celtx word :)

(Oh, and btw - a little correction...CELTX actually stands for Crew, Equipment, Location, Talent and XML ;-)

Cheers
She-la

"Take It to the Dance Floor" Named Celtx POW!

"On the dance floor, there's no place to hide."

Originally created for Script Frenzy, Take It To The Dance Floor, was created by writer Anne Ramos.

"Script Frenzy is an international script-writing competition which began June 2007 where in participants attempted to write a full-length screenplay or stage play in a single month. The competition was organized by The Office of Letters and Light, the nonprofit organization behind NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month.

In this script, revenge looks sweet to Charisma Dalisay when she finds out a childhood tormentor is teaching her to dance. Her friends have even put their money on that sweet revenge, having had their own share of experiences with the guy. What happens when she falls for him in the process? In the end, is revenge sweet enough that she'll risk losing something real?

Check out this project for it's script, proposed soundtrack, and fun dance numbers.

Keep up the good work Anne!

Cheers,
Michelle and the C-Team.