The Celtx Blog

Jordan Faris's 'The Haarken Elect' wins the Celtx POW!

Banished from Their World. Exiled to Earth. Reborn As Champions.

EXT.: NIGHT ON A DISTANT WORLD---MOONLESS, COLD. VAST RANGES OF SLOPING DUNES, DIMLY LIT BY CRISS-CROSSING STREAMS OF LIGHT FROM LOW-FLYING PATROL VESSELS.

THIS IS HAARKEN.

Beautifully written and illustrated by Jordan Faris, this week's POW 'The Haarken Elect' was originally prepared in screenplay format and currently serves as "a working schematic for a comic book, graphic novel or young adult science fantasy screenplay."

The first chapter,The Fate of the Excludants, is dynamic, exciting and a pleasure to read, as Faris's mastery of the English language combined with astute attention to detail engages the reader right away. As a 'Grafictioneer', Jordan's other artistic talents are apparent when viewing his illustrations and detailed descriptions of the story's characters as they immediately aid the viewer in establishing a distinct personality for each one. (I, myself am especially partial to Whither and Venable.)

Jordan says he plans to restructure the work in Celtx's new comic format soon, and will use that as a blueprint for comic book work that he hopes to show at the San Diego Comic Con this July.

To find out more about the talented Jordan Faris, and what inspires him and ideas like 'THe Haarken Elect', please read on....

"My background isn't rooted to one place: I was born in Manhattan, raised in Michigan, we moved to Mexico (Michoacán and Tijuana) then pulled a U-turn and ended up in Southern California.  My mom was an art teacher---there was always literature, art and music as a constant in our home. I am an illustrator and writer, a grafictioneer. I have served as playwright-in-residence for Mascara Magica, a groundbreaking multicultural theater project in Southern California.  My poetry has has been published in Slipstream, The Wormwood Review, Xib, Puck, The Quarterly and others. I am currently developing projects in the graphic fiction genres. In my wayward youth, I was singer/lyricist in four original music bands during the better part of a decade.
 
The Haarken Elect is my attempt to recreate the sense of involvement I felt when I was first discovering comics.  My main goal is to try to create a world that is engaging, yet not so convoluted or dark that it shuts out the younger audience demographic.  I'm trying to construct a universe where questions of moral relativism, ends justifying means and other conflicts of conscience can be addressed without the editorial politics of extremism.  Mostly, I want to create an adventure you can enjoy as just a good story, or as a parable of our time, take your pick. This first draft has been fun...now to put it down graphically on paper, or pixels...the next step is to commit to it visually, tighten up the action, streamline the dialogue.
 
Celtx, in many ways, prompted The Haarken Elect's current form. How?  Originally, I had a decent rough draft, some model sheets for the characters and a few stray background ideas. When I was looking at possible screenwriting software (Final Draft, of course, Movie Magic and Mindstar's Cinergy were tools I'd heard of), I googled the phrase open source scriptwriting software; Celtx was the first result that came back. After downloading (preparing to be disappointed, a veteran of open source alpha-stage burn) I was struck by the ease of navigation and its uniquely intuitive interface. It felt familiar yet new, like any habit-altering experience should.  I didn't think a whole lot about it...from the first time I saw the splash page with its Project of the Week, I was hooked.  I just started writing (Celtx guided me gently with its Tab: Parenthetical, Enter: Character prompts) and when I'd get stuck, I'd play with the format tools, and that simple exercise would make me see things in a new way and get back on track.  For those who argue that no scriptwriting program can impact your creative edge, I can only say: Download Celtx, settle in for the ride; then we'll talk."

You tell 'em, Jordan!
And All the Best at Comic Con.

Sheila and The C-Team

To enjoy more of Jordan's work, check out his web sites at VANDERWOLFF GRAFICTION and WANDERING WOLF.

Pixel Head Networks features Celtx v1.0 as Digital Media Quick Tip #43!

The wonderful Mr. Marcelo Lewin, Founder and CEO of Pixel Head Networks prepared this very thorough and easy to follow podcast / screencast of the new features in Celtx version 1.0. So click on over to DIGITAL MEDIA QUICK TIP #43, and stay tuned for more Celtx feature tips in future PHN episodes :)

Many Thanks, Marcelo!

Love,
The C-Team

About Pixel Heads Network
Pixel Heads Network is dedicated to providing the best shows for digital media creators to entertain you, inform you and teach you in the areas of web, video, digital photography, podcasting, blogging and eMarketing.

Celtx a free and open source software for developing eLearning Storyboards

In this informative blog post from Belgium-based IGNATIA WEBS - ELEARNING TECHTALES WITH SOCIAL MEDIA IN LOW RESOURCE AND MOBILE SETTINGS, the Celtx Storyboard feature receives special attention as an e-Learning development tool. Check it out here.
- Sheila

Btw - One correction to note is that Celtx is licensed under the CePL license, not under a CC license as indicated in the article.

Introducing... Celtx version One Dot... Ooooh Yeah!!!

1 Million Downloads - 340 Thousand Messages - 250 Thousand Users - 50 Thousand Forum Posts - 2 Thousand Bugs Squashed - 18 Version Releases - 8 Team Celtx - 4 Years in the Making - 2 Babies Born - One Celtx 1.0

DEDICATION

The Celtx Team dedicates this 1.0 release to our late friend, colleague, and former Celtx Team Member, Michelle Jackson.

RESOURCES
Video Overview
Filmmaker, Professor and uber Celtx user, Mike Jones, has made a short, 6 minute video summarizing the new features in 1.0.

Screencasts
As always, we’ve added new screencasts for the popular Video Feature Tours explaining the new features in 1.0.

DOWNLOAD CELTX v.1.0 HERE

KEY NEW FEATURES
Scheduling Enhancements
Catalogs
Sidebars
Storyboard Enhancements
Adapt To
Scene Navigator Toggle
Comic Book Template
Changes to HTML Forms
iPhone UI for Celtx Scripts

SCHEDULING ENHANCEMENTS
We have made substantial changes to the “just in time” Scheduling module. You can now generate standard Scheduling Reports that will include all the information added during the Breakdown process, like Characters, Actors, Locations and Props.

>Start & End Shoot Date
Select your Start and End Dates for your shoot to create a professional Schedule for your media production.

>Calendar View
You can review and print your Schedule in either a week or month calendar view.

>Shoot Days
A Report can be generated for each Shoot day, detailing all the production requirements added during the breakdown process.

>Call Sheet
Generate an industry standard Call Sheet for each day of your Production.

>Scene Summary
Replacing the awkward strip board, the Scene Summary Report will tell you what Scenes have been Scheduled, Unscheduled or Completed.

CATALOGS
Catalogs are a database view of all the information in your Project. The Catalogs will automatically track and organize all of your Production information. Mark-ups conducted through the Sidebar will get added to the Catalog.

There are three types of Catalogs:
>Master Catalog
The Master Catalog is automatically included in each Project. It will contain all the Production information from every department. The Production Forms can be edited, sorted and searched.

>Sub-Catalogs
You can also add Production Department specific Catalogs, like for Props or Set Design or Wardrobe. These Sub-Catalogs will automatically track any Production item tagged as belonging to that Department.

>Manual Catalog
You can also add a Manual Catalog to your Project. You can then add any Production Item to the Manual Catalog by dragging the Production Item from the Master Cat or Sub-Cat to the Manual Cat.

CREW FORM
Crew Forms can be used to keep track of people working on the Project. The Forms can be tagged to a Scene so that the Crew information is added to the Scheduling Module helping you to keep track of what and who is needed on a particular shooting day.

SIDEBARS
We re-invented the Sidebar, adding three tabs, one each for Notes, Media and Production Items:
>Notes
These should prove handy for the writers, allowing for a much easier process of adding and reviewing Notes. The Notes in the Sidebar will not auto-sync to whatever Scene the cursor is placed in.

>Media
Any Media can be added to your Script – pictures, video or sounds files – using the new Sidebar. Similar to Notes, the Media displaying in the Sidebar will automatically sync to whatever Scene the Cursor is place in.

>Production Items
We simplified the process of breaking down a script by streamlining the Sidebar. Breaking down your script will go much faster, Production Item Tab in the Sidebar allowing for rapid categorization and tagging. Production Items added in the Sidebar will get automatically added to the Master Catalog (any corresponding Sub-Catalog)

STORYBOARD ENHANCEMENTS
There are a slew of new features and improvements made to the Storyboard Module.
Generally, we have tried to better integrate the Storyboard with a Script and provide better navigation and support for Media.

>Thumbnails of Images
Celtx now auto generates thumbnails of any image added to the Storyboard, providing a much better look for reviewing and printing.

>Standard Scrollbar
We got this figured out at last, adding a standard scrollbar to the Storyboard.
          
>Aspect Ratio
The Aspect Ratio of any added image is now maintained in the Storyboard.

>Keyboard Shortcuts
The Storyboard now supports normal cursor behaviour, with the arrow keys, space bar, etc. all behaving normally.

>Shot Type
Every image added to the Storyboard can be given a shot tag (eg. Close Up, Wide, etc.)

>Column Layouts
You can view and print your Storyboard in a 1, 2 or 3 column format.
                        
>Script to Storyboard
The Add Item feature now allows you to select a specific script when adding a Storyboard. The Storyboard will be integrated with that selected script, the Scenes in the Script and Sequences in the Storyboard syncing with each other.

ADAPT TO OPTION
Simple to use, this powerful new feature will allow you to adapt any script in to any other kind of Celtx supported script format. Turn a Screenplay in to a Stageplay, or a Stageplay in to a Comic or an AV project in to a Radioplay all in one click.
Context click a script in the Project Library to access the Adapt To feature and select what kind of Script you want to turn it in to.

SCENE NAVIGATOR TOGGLE - Use Index Card Titles / Scene Headings
Alternative Scene Headings in the Index Cards can now be viewed in the Scene Navigator. This will allow you to more easily identify and tell the difference between two scenes  whose slug line is identical.

COMIC BOOK TEMPLATE
The new Comic Template provides support for all the standard comic elements:
Page, Panel, Caption, Bubble Type, and Bubble

Use the Typeset feature to generate a Panel List Report.

iPHONE INTERFACE
We added a new iPhone optimized interface for accessing your Projects on the Celtx Server. Named ‘My Celtx’ you can use this new iPhone interface to review your scripts remotely.
Access 'My Celtx' at http://pc.celtx.com/mobile
We will be adding additional features to this iPhone interface over the coming months.

CHANGES TO HTML FORMS
>We made a number of changes to the Production Items and Story Development Forms.

>A new Crew Form was added to help keep track of the who when producing your Project
          
>Regular users will also notice that many of the Forms now auto-populate to include a list of the scenes that a person, Character or Production item is used in.

>Character Forms can now be tagged with a specific Actor Form. This will help you organize your Production and the new Scheduling Features will keep track of what Actors are needed on what days based on the role they are playing.

HOUSE KEEPING
Two items worth mentioning here:

One is that we have made many bug fixes to 1.0, the two most important of which are both related to the Save issue some people were experiencing. The second relates to the Celtx interface.

>As to the Save issue, third party sweep and clean applications will no longer interfere with the Celtx save process. We have also solved what is known as the ‘double opening’ problem by getting Celtx to ignore any second attempt to open a Project that is already opened.

>As to the Celtx interface, we’ve made a few changes, mostly subtle. If you’re looking for the Scratchpad feature, it is now accessed through a sub-Tab at the bottom of the editor.

And that’s it!

We really hope you like this milestone release. A HUGE THANKS to everyone for all the support over the years, the feedback, the bug testing, the many kind words and compliments. We quite obviously could not have done it with out you.

Warm Regards,

The Celtx Team
Mark, Chad, Greg, Tony, Steve, Laurie, and Sheila

Estee Williams' "How The Story Goes" wins Celtx Project of the Week!

"Kate, an indie Hollywood screenwriter, refuses the offer of a major studio to write a romantic comedy because she is morally opposed to the genre…until she meets the down-to-earth actor Michael who just may be her very own leading man."

That's the logline to this week's POW, a fun romantic comedy entitled How The Story Goes by writer and project creator Estee Williams.

If you hang around Project Central at all then you're probably familiar with Estee's work already because she frequently reached out to the community seeking feedback and suggestions in an effort to perfect this script. Looks like that effort proved useful as the positive and constructive comments came rolling in. Estee worked on the fixes and the end result was a tight, well written script that was both entertaining and a joy to read, and the added location shots helped the viewer achieve a true sense of the world in which her main characters live.

Estee was pretty tickled when I contacted her about winning the POW. Here are a few things she had to say about herself, her work, Celtx and its community

About Estee Williams
"I was born in SanFrancisco, California, raised in Beaufort, South Carolina and live in Evansville, Indiana. I am a high school math teacher who happens to rank writing as my favorite hobby. I started writing episodic online stories with my best friend as a way to continue a favorite show that got cancelled (okay, let’s just be blunt...we wrote “fanfic”). That website, WhoSaidItsOver is still up and I still plan on adding to it in the future. From that, I started wanting to work on my own original ideas...which is when I began writing screenplays."

The Project
"My role in How the Story Goes is writer. Period. Because I see this as a mainstream American feature (though some have disagreed with me), I am currently in the process of trying to sell it. Anyone buying? Just kidding. Seriously, though, I’ve taken a few film classes and had friends go through film school, but I don’t have the means or talent for producing my work so my goal is to get someone else to make it."

"The idea for this work came from a few different places. I’ve always loved romantic comedies: Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, French Kiss, While You Were Sleeping, She’s All That, Serendipity, One Fine Day, The Holiday...just to name a few. So my tendency when it comes to writing is to go in that general direction, though some would point out that I have a lot of romance and a little bit of comedy, which I would agree with. I also happen to adore Kevin Williamson. I love his witty Dawson’s Creek dialog, but I particularly enjoy the movie Scream. The thing about Scream, though? I didn’t want to see it. I hated “scary movies.” I had this Friday the 13th game for Nintendo where you had to protect campers from a knife-wielding Jason. Hated it. Then , when I was a freshman in high school, a friend dragged me to see Scream. I loved it. The self-reference. The way it blatantly laid out the genre while also existing within the boundaries of that genre. It’s just so darn smart. And it made me love scary movies because I was able to appreciate them with a certain level of sophistication and understanding that I never had before. I even signed up for the class “History of Horror Film” in college. All because of Kevin Williamson and Scream."

"So. I got the idea to fuse the genre I naturally love most (romantic comedy) with the elements of Scream that forced me to love it (self-reference). I started researching romantic comedies to understand some of the key elements because I wanted them to be both referenced and utilized in my screenplay. I don’t know if I fully achieved my goal, but I got feedback from someone once that said he didn’t particularly like romantic comedy, but he liked my screenplay. Talk about full circle, right?"

The Community
"I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read my work and give me feedback. I try to take suggestions and use them to improve my work, and I think I’ve been able to do that. Without Celtx, the forum and Project Central, I would be the only person influencing my work...and that just wouldn’t cut it. I wish I was as knowledgeable and helpful and some of the regular posters/reviewers so I could help other new writers the way this community has helped me. Thank you guys so much!"

Celtx
"I had a PC for forever. I had a program that a friend of mine got when she took a screenwriting class that I’d used to write the beginning of the screenplay. When my boyfriend and I switched to Macs, I was left with just a hard copy of my unfinished screenplay and no program to use to write the rest. We searched around on the web for Mac compatible, free writing programs...and Celtx came up. I was happy to have any program, but when I started playing around with all the features, I was shocked to have something of such high quality available for free. I’ve never used other high-end writing programs so I can’t compare, but I love Celtx and have never wanted the program to do something that it couldn’t. Celtx rocks!

Oh, and I retyped my original screenplay into Celtx, which I thought was going to be a horrible and tedious process. It actually allowed me to make some really great edits while learning to use the program. Not so bad after all."

So if there are any interested buyers out there, leave a comment on Estee's PC web page. I'm sure she'll get back to you lickety-split.
Congratulations and Good Luck, Estee!
from
Sheila and The C-Team