Guide › Practical recipes

Prepare a screenplay for import

Gilgamesh reads screenplays written to the convention of screenwriting software. A few touch-ups before importing save you redoing everything afterwards.

The checklist

1. One heading per scene, alone on its line, in capitals, its parts separated by a dash:

   INT. APARTMENT - KITCHEN - NIGHT EXT. STATION - PLATFORM 3 - DAY - FLASHBACK

2. The character's name in capitals, alone on its line, above their dialogue.

3. Always the same name for the same character: "THE KING" and "KING" would make two characters.
4. The times (DAY, NIGHT, DAWN…) at the end of the heading. A time that is not in your conventions (EVENING, LATER…): add it first in Settings › Conventions › Time of the action, or choose it by hand afterwards.
5. A PDF that contains text, not a scanned image: if you can select the words in your PDF reader, it works. Better still: an .fdx, a .docx or a .fountain.

Import

1. Script Library › type the project's name › "Create and import a screenplay…".
2. Choose or drop the file.
3. Read the report: each scene with its location, its time and its characters, new or already there.
4. Correct from the report:
   • a sub-location that is actually a time: touch it ("Is this sub-location a time?");
   • a word taken for a character (THE END, INSERT…): touch it ("Not a character?").
5. "Import": the project opens in Share.

Cancelling creates nothing.

After the import

• What comes before the first heading (title page, synopsis) is set aside: copy it into the Overview or Notes.
• Overview › Review flags what is still missing: a scene with no location or no time.

All the rules: Import a screenplay.