follis@marlin.UUCP (01/01/86)
A few weeks ago, I requested information about a script formatting program using nroff. The response was underwhelming, I received one request for a summary of the information which I had obtained. Since I had a need for such a program I started to work on it and the following sample text is the result. Jane Zeer of the Computer Science Corporation here at N.O.S.C. was invaluable in advising on the capabilities of the -me macro of the nroff processor. The script format turned out to be a compromise between the single column script of the theatrical style and the double column of the industrial format. It works satisfactorally and is easy to modify as desires change. Its features include auto scene numbering, page numbering, dating the various revisions and scenes will not be broken at page breaks. The following is the result of [% nroff -me -Tlpr header-script] ------------------sample text---------------------- (lines deleted) NEW TITLE HERE FR-LRO-##### for CLIENT NAME HERE of Naval Ocean Systems Center Code ### By WRITER NAME HERE SCRIPT VERSION Printed on 11/26/85 (end of title page and start of formatted script pages) NEW TITLE HERE (lines deleted) (1) From here on out it is your show! Precede the narration with a .SC on a separate line and precede the action description with a .AC, also on a separate line. The final line of this file must be: .)b This is the body of the narration for the first scene. The narration is placed in this portion of the scene description and should be double spaced for ease of reading. This is the scene description, called by the command .AC for action. this is the area in which the the action of the scene is described. It should be single spaced and indented to the middle of the page. (2) The use of the .AC is optional and is needed only if there are action directions or other comments which need to be separated from the narration. (3) Narration per se, is not necessary. The .SC command alone will provide the sequential scene number. (4) The first step necessary is to copy the header file to a file which you will edit to create your script text file. Pick a filename which is descriptive of the project and can reflect the various versions of your modifications. % cp header-script filename 11/26/85 Page 1 ------------------end of sample text------------------------- The following is the header file which created the sample text. -----------------------cut here--------------------- .po 0.5i .ll 6.5i .he ''NEW TITLE HERE'' .fo '\n(mo/\n(dy/\n(yr''Page %' .tp \"This is the start of the title page. .sp 2i .(l C NEW TITLE HERE FR-LRO-##### .sp 3 for CLIENT NAME HERE of Naval Ocean Systems Center Code ### .sp By WRITER NAME HERE .sp 3 SCRIPT VERSION .sp 2 Printed on \n(mo/\n(dy/\n(yr .)l .bp .na \"This is the start of the script formatting sect. .nh .de AC .nr ii 3i \"This changes the indent for the action .ls 1 .ip \"This calls a block-indented paragraph .. .de SC .)b .(b L F .na .nh .nr ii 5 \"This changes the indent back .ls 2 .np .. .(b L F .SC From here on out it is your show! Precede the narration with a .SC on a separate line and precede the action description with a .AC, also on a separate line. The final line of this file must be: ".)b". The narration is placed in this portion of the scene description and is double spaced for ease of reading. .AC This is the scene description, called by the command .AC for action. this is the area in which the the action of the scene is described. It should be single spaced and indented to the middle of the page. .SC The use of the .AC is optional and is needed only if there are action directions or other comments which need to be separated from the narration. .SC .AC Narration per se, is not necessary. The .SC command alone will provide the sequential scene number. .SC The first step necessary is to copy the header file to a file which you will edit to create your script text file. Pick a filename which is descriptive of the project and can reflect the various versions of your modifications. .AC % cp header-script filename .SC The next step is to edit the new file. Use any editor, but you must first remove all these instructional examples and then replace the CAPITALIZED WORDS with your specific information. If you are using the vi editor, these example lines can be deleted by this command. .AC :44,$-1d .SC The final thing which must be done is to format the script using the -me macro of the nroff processor. The following syntax will format the script and send it back to you. .AC % nroff -Tlpr -me filename .SC An alternative to this process is to save the formatted script in a file which is ready for printing. Use a .p following the filename to indicate that it is ready for printing. .AC % nroff -me filename > filename.p .SC This is the narration for the last scene. Note that the new script material must start with a .(b L F and the last line of the file must be .)b .)b ----------------------cut here------------------------ I trust that this is not too naive for the USENET, but I thought that it would be of some value to writers working on film and video scripts. ####%# ihnp4 \ # # akgua >!sdcsvax!noscvax!follis ( p q ) decvax / \ /\ / dcdwest / follis@nosc @\ -- /@ ucbvax / May your paths be continuous @@@@@@ Stan Follis