Trying out new technology

When contemplating the technology I should become familiar with and write a blog about, I think it would be a good idea to limit my explorations to technology that I can use in this project. 

Celtx
https://www.celtx.com/index.html

Celtx is a software program used for all phases of film production from script writing to story board creation so for this blog, I will elaborate about my attempts at using this program as I progress towards my final goal of creating a video about Alexander von Humboldt. 

In viewing tutorials about this software, https://vimeo.com/71971321 it seemed fairly intuitive to use. I read some reviews as well as people comparing it to other software. http://studios.amazon.com/discussions/TxALZLDFJWWB7U Final Draft is supposed to be the best software for screenplays. There seems to be issues with the formatting of screenplays such as margins and typeface which are supposed to be ways that a screenplay is categorized as written by an amateur or a pro. However, upon evaluation of how the two software programs actually function through tutorials, they have many of the same characteristics. As this screenplay is primarily for my project, I just need a program that will help keep my project organized, with many of the functions directed towards helping me organize how I am going to have the film progress from one scene to the next towards while telling a story.

I signed up for a Celtx trial and found it a little confusing at first. It took me a bit of trying out different tabs to find the one that I can begin with in writing a script. I like the fact that the software formats the different type of postings such as scene settings or character dialogue automatically. This subject is very complicated and I will not have enough time to create an elaborate enough film in the time that I have so I will work with what I can put together. 

I am also using Animoto to try out images in a video format. As this is a 

"video sketch or concept", I have not included names of the artists who created 

these works. In the final film there will be attributions. Most are created by 

Humboldt himself, Fredrick Church who was inspired by him, Friedrich Georg Weitsch 

and other artists. I used Beethoven's "Sonata for Piano No. 14" because 

it is from the period. I am not sure if I will use it in the final film. 

I feel it has the right mood but I don't know how the final film will 

work with narration and music.

    

I feel this will help me to visualize the final project. I actually do not like discussing projects I am working on due to the enormous number of people who tend to watch other people work so they can imitate their ideas and projects. I would prefer to show something when it is finished.

In my blog about writing the actual script, I will go into thoughts about this project. Success in writing a script pretty much depends on the material in the script and there is quite a bit of material which I hope that I can put together to create a compelling work that makes sense. I hope to use many quotes from the works of Alexander von Humboldt. He wrote many books and I really don't have time to read most of them before I come up with something that I can use so I will have to see how this goes.

After using this software for script writing, I have found the formatting fairly unreliable. The format changes in unpredictable ways so that there is really no way to predict how an entry I make using any specific category will actually remain formatted. As I am using this software for my own project and I am the only person working on, it probably does not matter. However, it has been frustrating to try to create a consistent document and have the margins constantly change.

References

Animoto website retrieved from https://animoto.com

Cartoon Smart, 2014, "Celtx Tutorial on Script Writing", Vimeo website retrieved from https://vimeo.com/71971321

Celtx website retrieved from https://www.celtx.com/a/ux/services

Friedlander, F.A., 2014 "Celx vs. Final Draft", The Commissary Forum, Amazon Studios, October 29, 2014 retrieved from http://studios.amazon.com/discussions/TxALZLDFJWWB7U