The Celtx Blog

Introducing Ernesto Castro's first short film, 'Karma Kills' - Created with Celtx

Recently we received a heartfelt email from student filmmaker, Ernesto Castro.

I want to tell you guys that this software is amazing and I truly from the bottom of my heart appreciate it so much that i have this in my arsenal.  It has made my life as a student filmmaker so much more easy and more professional.  - Thank you,

Ernesto Castro

Ernesto had just completed his first short film entitled, 'Karma Kills' which was created in part with Celtx. Ernesto did a terrific job playing the demanding roles of Writer /Director /Producer in this suspense filled drama that will definitely make you think twice before committing an innocent act of kindness! We hope you enjoy...

About Ernesto Castro:

My name is Ernie Castro and I'm 28 years old.  I'm a film student at Riverside Community College in Riverside, CA.  I was a student at Tufts University in Medford, MA when I decided to to leave school and come back to California to pursue a career in the film industry.

The idea for Karma Kills came to me when I was at a gas station one day and this attractive lady was asking for directions to a pay phone.  There wasn't one around so I offered her my cell.  As much as I wanted to be polite and didn't want to eaves drop I couldn't help it.  The conversation was pretty mundane but I thought the entire situation was interesting.  I thought of the story and the rest is on YouTube.  It's pretty interesting where inspiration comes from.  I'm reading a book called "The Portable Film School" by D.B. Gilles in which the author writes how sometimes you may have a good story but you don't have a good film.  This is a great example of that.

Currently I'm working on my next short and I might be over reaching but if you don't reach for the stars you'll never get to the clouds, right.  My next short is a twenty minute musical with original music.  We'll see how it works out.

I would like to thank the Celtx team for creating such a fantastic piece of software.  It's so powerful and easy to use and none of my projects would be possible without it.

KARMA KILLS

Warmest greetings from Istanbul.

Do you have a dream of filming in an exotic locale? Tarkan Elbingil, Executive Producer at Touchwood Film & Entertainment, got in touch recently to let us know about their new website - http://www.touchwood.com.tr/english.php - set up to promote film production in Turkey. They even give preference to projects submitted in .celtx format. Check them out!

 

Celtx kicks off 2010 with v.2.7 release - Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2010, Everyone!

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed great times with family and friends. Before taking our wee break the Celtx Elves worked many long hours preparing another release in hope that the shiny new Celtx v.2.7 would be ready in time to help you kick off a creative and productive new year.

And we're happy to say, mission accomplished!.. Check out the Release Notes below, and as always, your Celtx software is free to download. So head to the website and unwrap your Celtx v.2.7 now! And while you're there be sure to check out the Sketch tool's Art Pack Collection too!

Enjoy! ... & Happy New Year!

Sheila & The C-Team

Celtx v. 2.7

RELEASE NOTES 

Sketch Tool

Improved Cut, Copy and Paste
Better support for cut/copy/paste within a sketch and between sketches.
Cut/copy/paste individual and multiple images

Multiple Object Selection (Image Groupings)
Select and group multiple items in a sketch
Move cut/copy/paste the group as a single item

More Layers and More Control over Layers
Raise and Lower items over multiple layers
Lower to bottom/top of stack 

Colour Added
Support for coloured lines and colour fill of objects
Support for coloured text

Enhanced Text
Font face
Font size
Bold, italic, underline

Cursor Context
Arrow in selection mode
Crosshair in draw mode
Text cursor in text entry mode

Sketch Palette (sidebar) Persistence

The Palette sidebar will 'remember' the state of opened/closed folders.

TYPESET

BBC Format Improvements
Added BBC Audio Play format
Supports Scene Style and Cue Style


BUG FIXES

Storyboard
Fixed issue with storyboard images displaying in the wrong order.

Sketch Display Bug
Fixed issue with print of sketch causing items on far right of canvas to temporarily disappear.

Index Card Bug
Fixed bug where a user will select an index card, but another card is deleted.

Happy Holidays! - Love, Celtx!

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Woosh!!... What the heck happened to 2009? Hard to believe she's almost over! In this final week we just wanted to let you know that while the Team will be off enjoying the festivities of the season, we promise not to stray too far and will be checking in on the forums, so any issues or concerns that may arise will be addressed in a timely and oh, so merry fashion .

And once again, on behalf of the Team, I'd like to take this opportunity to extend enormous and special Thanks to our favourite Honorary Forum Moderators, Sharkey, ntay and vedus hate. These fellas continue to do an amazing job volunteering their time and knowledge, and offering enthusiastic support to the ever growing Celtx community. Your efforts are appreciated, guys, and it's such a pleasure to have you on board.

And of course, HUGE THANKS to you... ALL of our many valued forum members who together, keep this very special place so vibrant and engaged. In fact, you're all so great that we have a special treat in store upon our return in January... so be sure to tune in .

From our families to yours, we wish you all a safe and joy-filled holiday and look forward to serving you in 2010.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
xoxo
The Celtx Team - Sheila, Steve, Tony, Greg, Laurie, Chad and Mark

New Celtx Add-ons - 'Special Equipment' & 'Arrow' Art Packs now available!

Attention Shoppers!

The utility of the Celtx Sketch Tool has just been enhanced with the addition of two handy new Art Packs!

Use the 'Special Equipment' and 'Arrows' packs to create lighting setups, production diagrams and documents in advance, and save valuable crew time on shoot days later.

Purchase these (Art Packs IV & V), or the 'Full Bundle' now, and save 25%! For details, see screenshot samples below, and check out the Celtx ToolBox.

Enjoy! And Happy Holidaze!

Your pals at Celtx HQ

Special Equipment (Art Pack IV):

 

Arrows (Art Pack V):

'The Mercury Men' - Writer / Director, Chris Preksta talks about Storyboarding with Celtx

Check out this great example of how some of our talented users apply Celtx to storyboarding. Here Writer /Director, Chris Preksta discusses his storyboard process in the making of the 'original episodic web serial, 'The Mercury Men'.

CHRIS PREKSTA - Writer/Director
Chris is best known as the writer/director of the Captain Blasto web series, for which he was nominated for two Streamy Awards.  His short concept film The Mercury Men (filmed prior to the series) was featured at San Diego Comic Con (2008), the Brainwash Movie Festival (awarded Best Film, 2008), and the Action on Film Festival (awarded Best Science Fiction Film & Best Visual Effects, 2008). He was also a top three finalist at the Tribeca Film Festival Nintendo Showcase for his short film The Nintendo Office.

Synapse to Screen 1.0 Pre-production Tools Conference

Planning on attending the upcoming 10th annual Santa Fe Film Festival this year?  Then be sure to check out the two-day Synapse to Screen 1.0 Pre-production Tools Conference. 

Running this Thursday and Friday, December 3rd and 4th, the conference promises to cover all things pre-production, with panels, demonstrations, and lectures, including techniques and modern tools used in brainstorming & mind-mapping, outlining, plot & character development, screenwriting, storyboarding, budgeting, production reports, and scheduling a movie.

The organizers are planning a live event with audience interaction and podcasts made available after the event. The first day deals with the writer-oriented aspects of pre-production, and the second day addresses the aspects more related to taking the script from page to screen.

Most interesting of all (well, to us here at Celtx HQ anyhow ;) is the focus of the conference is on the tools and their uses, and not the concept of story and the art of screenwriting, with Celtx one of the many tools sure to be discussed.

So if you happen to be in Santa Fe, or on your way, be sure to check it out!

Laurie & the gang at Celtx HQ

New Celtx New Goodness - Mike Jones Reviews v2.5

Mike Jones sheds a shiny light on Celtx v2.5. Check out his review here.

Many Thanks, Mr. Jones

The Celtx Team

Sixth Borough Screenwriting Competition - $11,000 Grand Prize!

Attention writers!

Are you working on a script that you'd love to see made into a 1 to 2 million dollar feature in the next year?  Then you should definitely take a look into the new Sixth Borough Screenwriting Competition.

Founder Roger Crandell got in touch recently to let us know us about the competition and ask if we could help get the word out.  So, without further ado, here's some of what you might like to know:

- The Grand Prize: $1,000 in cash, and a $10,000+ offer for your script to be made into a 1 to 2 million dollar feature film.

- Screenplays will be given fair, thoughtful consideration by one of Sixth Borough's experienced script readers, and every writer receives a written analysis of his or her script. They've posted a sample script analysis to give you an idea of what you can expect to receive.

- The entry fee is $50 per screenplay (enter 'celtx' in the promo box and SAVE $10), and there is no limit to the number of screenplays you may submit.  

- Screenplays can be submitted in PDF or .celtx format

Full details, rules and guidelines, and a FAQ are available on the competition website.

Go check it out!

Laurie & the gang at Celtx HQ

Celtx point release, version 2.5.1!

This release addresses a few bugs found since the release of 2.5.

It's now available from our site.

BUGS ADDRESSED IN 2.5.1 

1. Windows crashes when canceling add image dialog. If you cancel the add image dialog when adding an image using the media sidebar or a catalog form Celtx crashes. (Windows only)

2. Using Print Preview disables all subtabs. Once you have select print preview the subtabs are no longer responsive. You have to close and re-open the application to fix this problem. (Windows and Linux)

3. Windows registry not updated correctly for NEW Celtx installations. The windows installer doesn't correctly register the celtxs protocol for new installs. This would prevent first time Celtx user from installing addons and open projects from the studio. (Windows only)

Please update to Celtx 2.5.1 to address the issues outlined above.

Cheers,

Steve Pick
celtx.com