Guide › Writing
Overview
The Overview is the film's identity card. It is the first page of the rail, and the title page of the Bible and of the exports.
The screenplay is written in Write; here, you sum it up.
Tutorial
On an example project, the Overview opens on the Tutorial panel: five missions to do on the project, ticked off by themselves each time you come back to the page, with "Go there" leading to the page where you do them. When all are done, the tutorial is complete and its achievement is added in Settings › General. The panel is turned off in Settings › Preferences ("Built-in tutorial"). The details: Tutorial.
The film
| Field | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Title | the film's title |
| Author, Director | the names that sign the film; authors are set in Settings › Project |
| Genres | three at most, taken from the conventions; a missing genre is added by typing it |
| Delivery format | the picture format: 4:3, 16:9, 1.85:1, 2.39:1…; a missing format is added by typing it |
| Intended running time | your target, in hours, minutes, seconds |
| Estimated running time | calculated by Gilgamesh, not editable |
| Logline | the hook, in one sentence (250 characters at most) |
| Summary | 500 characters at most |
The estimated running time
Depending on the setting in Settings › Project:
- Floor plan, otherwise screenplay (the default): the time played on the floor plan when a scene is played there, otherwise one screenplay page ≈ one minute;
- Screenplay only: always the estimate from page count.
The details: Running times.
Review
The Review, Cast list and Scenes panels unfold with a click on their title; they are folded when the page opens. The review examines the project each time the Overview opens and flags what is still missing or does not hold together: an empty title or logline, a scene with no location, no time, no text, a character mentioned but not cast, a shot with no duration, a prop never used, an empty summary…
- Red alerts are inconsistencies to fix, yellow ones are missing information.
- Tick or untick the families of alerts to show.
- Each alert leads to what it points out.
The full list: Project review.
Cast list and progress
The Overview also sums up the project: the characters by role (lead, supporting, extra, walk-on) and the scenes by status (Idea, To write, Prose, Broken down, Locked). "Open the sheets" leads to the characters.