Learning Screenwriting with Final Draft 12

Course details

Writing scripts for the big or small screen is a dream for countless aspiring creatives. As communication has grown increasingly visual—and video technology has become increasingly accessible—the art and craft of screenwriting has found powerful additional uses in everything from politics to marketing to education. Final Draft 12 is a leader in the creation and revision of screenplays of all types, and is the go-to tool for novices and veteran screenwriters alike.

This step-by-step, interactive course gets aspiring screenwriters—or pros who haven’t yet used Final Draft—up to speed quickly. Highlighted are the latest cutting-edge features in version 12 that enable brainstorming, alternate versions of dialog, and more. Your guide, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Roger S.H. Schulman, also offers insider tips and tricks to save time and improve the quality of scripts, and a bonus chapter on using Final Draft Writer on iOS—to take scripts wherever inspiration strikes.

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Final draft is a screenwriting power tool
02 - What we will and won't be covering

1. What's with All the Formatting

03 - A brief history of screenwriting
04 - Basic elements
05 - Make formatting a tool, not an obstacle

2. Your Script's New Home

06 - Final Draft user interface
07 - Making the Toolbar your own

3. Starting a New Script

08 - Choosing a template
09 - Just beat it
10 - Be an outlier in outlining
11 - Index Card view
12 - Best practices

4. Faster Formatting Facilitates Finishing

13 - Say hello to your little friends
14 - Go To and Find
15 - Other keyboard shortcuts
16 - MORE, CONTINUED, and other frills
17 - Creating your own macros
18 - Format Assistant

5. Ahoy, Navigator

19 - Scenes Navigator and Scene view
20 - ScriptNotes Navigator
21 - Character Navigator

6. Revisions

22 - Track changes
23 - Alt Dialog
24 - Comparing two drafts
25 - Let's collab

7. Importing and Exporting

26 - What Final Draft can import
27 - Reformatting
28 - Exporting

8. Tips and Tricks

29 - Splitting the window
30 - Cheating
31 - Creating a spike file

9. Final Draft for iOS

32 - The Final Draft Mobile interface
33 - Importing and exporting in iOS
34 - Normal, Page - Two very different views
35 - Throwing a wrench into the works

Conclusion

36 - There s even more
37 - Goodbye and good luck