u/ACubeInABox

Hey, y'all! After some very excellent recommendations, I started using the Fade In program to format my scripts correctly and I've really been enjoying it! It's super easy to use and very intuitive! I was wondering if buying the full software is worth it, and if it's seen as uncouth to not use Final Draft (Heaven knows the industry can be snobby). Just wanted to gather some thoughts as to where I should be placing my bets.

Hey, y'all! After some very excellent recommendations, I started using the Fade In program to format my scripts correctly and I've really been enjoying it! It's super easy to use and very intuitive! I was wondering if buying the full software is worth it, and if it's seen as uncouth to not use Final Draft (Heaven knows the industry can be snobby). Just wanted to gather some thoughts as to where I should be placing my bets.

So I just barely finished my first screenplay (Yay)! I'm currently in the process of gathering feedback from my personal friends and acquaintances (local theater directors, my high school drama teacher, my pickiest friend studying writing, my little sister, etc).

After gathering their feedback, I was thinking about submitting the script to the BL websites and festivals to get more "industry" feedback (and also for poops and giggles). I'm testing the waters for studying writing in college, and this seems like a good place to start.

The problem, and my question to you today, is that I wrote the script using the only formatting I'm natively familiar with, which is that of one-act plays. How essential is proper formatting and centered text? I downloaded a font extension and stuff, but it would just take a looooot of editing, and the remastered script would probably be around 160 pages based on what I've seen (it's not necessarily long, just a comedy with lots of back-and-forth).

I'd hate to start submitting it and only get notes on proper formatting and editing, so I'm totally willing to go through and change it! I just want to know the most important rules for screenwriting + formatting. How important is listing specific camera angles? What's the space indentation for the lines of dialogue? (It looks like three-ish clicks of the tab key). Why are certain words randomly all-caps as if the sitting president of the U.S. wrote them? etc.

So, my friend and I arranged to hang out this Monday for May the 4th, but I was thinking about doing a switch-and-bait and watching Star Trek instead. It's been a hot minute since I've seen the original movies, would Wrath of Khan make sense for someone who has never seen the original series? My friend doesn't know anything about Star Trek.

If not, I was thinking the Kelvin timeline and watching the '09 flick. Any thoughts/feedback would be super helpful!