Movie Outline Screenwriting Blog

December 15, 2021 (London, UK) – UK technology company Nuvotech has lanuched its inaugural Script Studio^® 2022 Feature Screenwriting Contest in the hope of discovering new international screenwriting talent.

In partnership with Nuvotech’s online creative writing services portal “Hollywood Script Express” and experienced industry professionals, the screenplay contest intends to offer emerging screenwriters with unique voices and original ideas an opportunity to get their script in front of agents, managers, producers and development execs.

This year’s total prize fund of $10,000 in cash and prizes will be distributed among the top 5 scripts in 7 genres, with genre category winners receiving $500 cash and the Grand Prize Winner walking away with $2,500 cash in total. A “Guaranteed Option” prize will also be offered to one or more scripts.

“We’ve been planning this venture for some time”, said Ben Gardner, Contest Coordinator“… and are all thrilled to be launching a brand new screenwriting competition. Our annual feature contest aims to highlight the best international writing talent, circulate and promote the winning scripts to our industry partners and raise the profile of their writers. We have lined up some fantastic judges with years of industry experience and will be expanding our jury as the competition progresses.”

7 Genre Categories:

• Action/Adventure
• Comedy
• Drama
• Sci-Fi/Fantasy
• Thriller/Horror
• Animation/Family
• Historical/Biopic

The Early Deadline is January 15, 2022.

To learn more or enter click here

About Nuvotech

Nuvotech is a software and web services company based in London, England founded in 1999 by produced screenwriter Dan Bronzite to offer innovative software and services for the creative writing industry. Its most recognized brands are Script Studio, a cross-platform creative writing application, and Hollywood Script Express a script coverage, editing, copying & delivery service in Los Angeles.

4 December, 2012 (London, UK) — UK technology company Nuvotech today launched six new movie Reference Plugins for its popular screenwriting software Movie Outline 3.

New Plugins

• Iron Man (2008) Fantasy Action-Thriller
• The Sixth Sense (1999) Supernatural Thriller
• Ocean’s Eleven (2001) Crime Thriller
• The Fugitive (1993) Action-Thriller
• Wall Street (1987) Crime Drama
• The Incredibles (2004) Animated Adventure

“The unique selling point of Movie Outline and its appeal to writers from novice to pro is that it was created and continues to be developed from a writer’s perspective” explains Dan Bronzite — produced screenwriter, director and Nuvotech CEO. “The software allows you to build your story and script beat by beat, and this ability to compare your own narrative with scene-by-scene outlines & analyses of box office hits is a key feature of its innovative design.”

Reference Plugins included for free in Movie Outline 3

About Reference Plugins

Different movie genres require different amounts of steps. Dramas are typically around 35-40 steps because they usually have longer scenes than Thrillers, Comedies and Action and Adventure movies which are normally around 45 steps with more action and less dialogue. To help plan your project, Movie Outline allows you to simultaneously refer to produced feature film outlines and gauge the progress of your own story in contrast to the most successful Hollywood movies. By comparing your own character arcs, escalating conflicts, plot points and three act structure with the pros, you’ll be able to amend mistakes in your own pacing and successfully produce a well-structured screen story!

*Please Note: Plugins are scene-by-scene outlines & analyses of movies but do not contain the original screenplays.

Price & Availability

New plugins can only be purchased via Movie Outline 3’s integrated purchase wizard which allows you to buy securely from within the application and then have your plugins automatically downloaded and installed into your Reference Library.

To buy select “Buy Reference Plugins” from the Movie Outline 3 Help Menu.

Price Per Plugin: $9.95

Click here to buy Movie Outline 3 from our secure online store.

About Movie Outline

Movie Outline is innovative script formatting and screenplay development software for both the novice and professional screenwriter which uses the simple technique of step-outlining to build your story, characters and screenplay scene by scene, allowing you to focus on each key event of your script without losing sight of the bigger picture.

About Nuvotech

Nuvotech is a software and Web 2.0 services company based in London, England. It was founded in 1999 by produced screenwriter and director Dan Bronzite to publish innovative software and services for the creative industry. Its most recognized brands are Movie Outline a cross-platform screenplay development application and Hollywood Script Express a script copying and delivery service in Los Angeles.

Sometimes as writers we get so caught up with developing the crucial elements of a screenplay such as character arcs, plot logic, theme, structure and snappy dialogue that we forget how important it is to write effective scene to scene transitions.  Of course, you don’t want this kind of thing to hinder your creative flow but at some point, perhaps the day after writing a scene, or during the first rewrite, I encourage you to pay attention to this stylistic aspect of your screenplay.

You have probably read books or articles in which many screenwriting professionals recommend that you do not include camera directions and musical choices in your script, and for the most part this is true, they should be left for the director, but I do think that sometimes it is acceptable to include these stylistic elements in your script because they help to set the scene, evoke an emotion and reveal your screenwriter’s voice.

Writing an effective scene to scene transition can help crank up the pace or even provide a subtle subtext through sound and visuals that enhance a piece of dramatic script writing.

An example would be these two scenarios:

a)    A husband and wife argue at home late at night.  The wife ends the row by slamming the bathroom door shut.  We then cut to the next day and a wide shot of a car factory, within which is the husband, hard at work on the production line.

This example tells the story but how about this alternative:

b)    Cut from the door slam to a close-up of a hammer hitting a piece of metal.  We then reveal the husband working in a car factory pounding a car door.

The second scenario tells the same story but adds impact through the use of transition and carries the undertone of frustration from the end of one scene through to the beginning of another, suggesting that the argument, while over, is not forgotten and is still playing on the husband’s mind.  Visually it is also more powerful.

Be innovative with your scene transitions. Dissolve from a ticking clock in one location to a broken clock in another.  Cut from a burglar getting away to a barking dog chasing a ball.  But remember, don’t get carried away and overuse these stylistic choices because if you try to be too clever with every transition they will start to stick out like a sore thumb and cumulatively have a negative affect on your screenplay. In short, pay attention to detail. This may just be the icing on the cake but is important none the less.

Whether it’s a daily routine of meals, a weekly routine of phone calls, or going to your typical vacation destination, we are all creatures of habit, some more than others.  We create comfort zones in our everyday lives, sometimes for fear of change and other times simply because we no what we like and we want an easy life.

This is also true for screenwriting.  We may start out not knowing what kind of writers we are and what stories we want to tell and then discover our own voice, style and preferences along the way.  Or we may know right from the get-go that we love thrillers and only want to right for this genre.  Whichever camp you fall into habit can prove to be a good thing and a bad thing.  Just because you like one kind of genre, doesn’t mean you won’t be good at writing another.  Similarly, just because you THINK you’re good at writing one type of story, doesn’t mean you won’t be better at writing a different kind.

Script writing should be viewed as another form of exercise – so long as we overlook the fact that we’re normally slouched in a chair in front of the computer during most of the process. Sometimes it’s good to stretch your creative muscles, try new things and experiment.  But stay off the drugs!  Seriously though, writers become lazy, writing what they know and not pushing themselves to be innovative except within the constraints of their chosen genre.  Instead, you should constantly challenge yourself and throw yourself in at the deep end once in a while.

If you enjoy writing horrors, why not have a stab (pardon the pun) at writing a comedy?  Who knows, it may produce a great script.  Or, you may find out that you do have a good sensibility for humorous scenes but not enough for creating a full script in the genre.  If that is the case, at least you know your boundaries and you may even be able to apply some of the lessons learned to your regular script and write a comedy horror.

Try to imagine your story as a visual landscape and keep it interesting.  If you’re always writing similar stories and characters, expand your palette.  Add more color.  Mix up your ingredients and make full use of your cinematic canvas.  The process will at the very least teach you things about your approach to screenwriting and the experience will always help you no matter what kind of story you tell.  Sometimes the lessons we learn through life are never immediately apparent but ultimately influence us in one way or another – screenwriting is no different.

Screenwriters, novice and pro, will inevitably have their own contrasting methodologies for writing a screenplay and you will often hear conflicting rules to adhere to from prominent screenwriting gurus on how to write a script.

So what is the best way to write your movie?

Should you plan every minute detail or simply unlock your mind to a cinematic stream of consciousness and go with the flow?

Well, I would suggest the answer is both!

When I first started out as a screenwriter I would get an idea for a story or sometimes simply the opening scene, a great ending or even a cool set-piece somewhere in the middle of act two and then jump into the script.  I wouldn’t even use a computer but instead write it all down with a pen on a lined pad.  In fact, I wrote my first ever script that way and it was optioned and while it never got produced it did prove to be a great writing sample and clinched my first spec sale and multiple assignments.

Since my first script I have written many without a coherent plan and many with a fully-structured outline – so what have I learned from the experience?  Well, “free-form” script writing typically means many more rewrites because these scripts inevitably need a lot of editing to cut out the flab, and a lot more scene shuffling, because the scene to scene plot progression and character development was not planned at the beginning.  And with the outlined projects?  They of course still require rewrites, but much fewer and the central storyline and character journeys in these screenplays were always much clearer from the start which meant that theme could be expressed through dialogue, action and visuals more instinctively.

With all these lessons learned, and after many development meetings where I had to present my ideas for rewrites, I ultimately invented my own screenwriting software Movie Outline specifically for screenwriters to outline a story before diving head first into a screenplay.  I discovered that free-form screenplay writing without following a proper structure sometimes pays off, and other times it doesn’t.  I also learned that you can still free-form your script during the story planning stage and the scene writing stage and it’s just as satisfying and rewarding.

Outlining and structuring my story is now instinctual for me as a screenwriter and it has made me a better writer.  It has also made developing a script with producers, directors and executives a much easier process, especially when you are trying to communicate your ideas for project changes.  So now, even if I get a great idea for a movie and want to start writing I don’t immediately leap into the script, I let the idea gestate and then start planning the story.  Sometimes I may write a scene if I have to get it out of my head and then plot where that scene can take me but I’ve managed to strike a balance between creativity and methodology and this is the key.. for me.

My advice for first-time screenwriters who are about to launch into their first screenplay is try to find your own balance between free-form writing and a structured approach.  I do recommend outlining your story first but try not to initially get too caught up on the “three-act” blueprint, any particular structural paradigm or too much detail. Allow your story and ideas to flow and then go back to what you’ve written and change it around if necessary.  Cut scenes out, combine scenes, clearly define your act breaks and don’t let formulas hinder your creative juices on the first pass.

This initial process helps you discover your own voice and style, and trust me, it’s better to write something crap on a blank page rather than stare at it all day or plan, plan, plan – sometimes used as an excuse by writers to procrastinate. As you become more accustomed to the screenwriting process, outlining and structuring will become second nature and crucially you will be able identify flaws in your script during the planning stage rather than waiting for someone to point it out to you at the end.

Ladies and Gentlemen, fellow hubbers, I’m proud to admit that I’ve just finished my first screenplay.

My third, actually, but with the others I gave up at around page 40 and dumped them in the ‘What was I thinking?’ folder back in the darkest recesses of my laptop.

So what made the difference this time? I can honestly say (and they’re not paying me) that it was Movie Outline Scriptwriting Software, a new-on-the-block screenwriting software system that helps you to build your screenplay step by step.

How is Movie Outline different?

The other screenwriting software systems format your work, so that your dialogue and direction come out in the standard industry format which ensures the felling of a good number trees. Movie Outline does this too, but it does so much more besides…

Click here to read the full review.

How often in life do you meet someone that is flawless?  Conversely, how often do you meet someone that does not have a single good bone in their body?  Never.  It’s impossible.  We human beings are very complex creatures and that’s what makes us so fascinating.  And that’s also what makes good movie characters so interesting.

We, as an audience, or as a reader, are usually not drawn to flat, two-dimensional characters that do what they say they’ll do and practice what they preach.  Most of us try to be good people and do good things but we all have flaws – it’s human nature.  Sometimes our own selfishness, jealousy, preconceptions and prejudice creep into our words and actions and it doesn’t make us bad people.. just human.

The same should be applied to the characters we create in our screenplays and novels. These people may inhabit an imaginary world but that world usually reflects our own, even if it is set on another planet, often there is a common thread of humanity that runs through the narrative.  If there wasn’t then we would find it extremely hard to identify with anyone or anything and the movie wouldn’t engage us on any level.

So the next time you sit down in front of your computer and fire up your screenwriting software, think about your central characters and their psychological make-up.  What makes them tick?  What are their hang-ups?  Are they coffee addicts?  Are they gym freaks?  Do any of their hobbies take over their lives to such a degree that they alienate friends and family?  Do they have bad habits?  Do they lie or cheat?  Do they drink or smoke?  Do they gamble or steal?  It doesn’t have to be a big flaw, even a small flaw can make a character appear more three-dimensional.

The other great thing about introducing flaws, even if they are just for you to know as the writer, is that they give you the opportunity to create comedy and conflict.  And if you use these flaws when developing your character arcs they will subtly influence character actions and their dialogue.  Sometimes creating a backstory for your character can help when deciding on a flaw because it gives you a sound logical reason for their behaviour and choices.

For instance, say your hero was bullied as a kid.  Maybe he was always picked on at the same place, and thus the image of this place was then burned into his/her memory and associated with bad things.  The place could be anywhere.. a hot dog stand, a library, a swimming pool.  The point is, as an adult (in your movie), this character can then have a hang up about eating fast food, reading books, or going swimming.  The hang up could be that he/she comfort eats hot dogs when he/she gets depressed, or throws up if he/she smells fast food.  He/she may have a bizarre hatred for book readers and book clubs, or read so much that he/she doesn’t have a social life.

And remember, the same principle can be used in reverse when writing your antagonist or one of his/her henchman.  Maybe your baddie kills people without a thought but has a love for flowers or pets.  Maybe he/she has a penchant for blades and making people bleed but when he accidentally knocks over a young school girl in his car, he feels bad and takes her to the hosipital and waits by her bedside.  It’s all about layers. Obviously, certain genres require an absolute “baddie” but even then it’s far more interesting to shape your characters using many contradictory layers.  Make them ambiguous in intent so the audience are constantly reassessing their motives and objectives.

In your everyday life, do you sit in one spot and talk to everybody you meet in that same place?  Okay, maybe you do but unless that’s the point of the story you’re writing it’s basically not gonna be the most interesting thing to watch.

When an audience invests their time in a movie they do so to escape and be entertained and part of the way an audience is entertained is by the way you structure your story and develop your characters. Locations are key to character development fro screenwriters because they tell us a lot about a character without words.  They educate us visually about how they live, their habits, where they work, what kind of people they work with and what they experience in their world.

So with that in mind, make sure you use the locations in your screenplay to develop your characters but also use your locations as a means of story progression and pace.

Pace?  What do you mean, “pace”?  I hear you ask.

Well, it’s simple really.  You ever watched a movie where there’s a big tense scene with two people arguing loudly for about five minutes?  And then one of the characters goes outside just to get away from the conflict?  Well, that’s a change of location.  And depending on your choice of location, it may change the pace of your movie and your audience’s engagement.

If the character slams the door and goes into his/her room, well, it’s a pretty static choice of location but it may be the best choice for your character and the story.  If however the character kicks the front door open and bursts outside into the rain then maybe sits alone in the woods while he/she gets drenched.. that’s something different.  Your character could also jump in his/her car and screech off down the road.

Each decision you make about location has an impact on the way the audience will react and the emotions they will feel.  In fact, using the “driving away in the car” as an example, sometimes this actually has a direct impact on an audience, especially if the argument we talked about happened at night and then we cut to the next morning as your character drives off somewhere to get away from it all.  This sometimes causes individuals in an audience to shuffle in their seats, since they subconsciously feel the story is progressing and it’s time to get themselves ready for the next chapter.

So if you find yourself writing your scenes based in the same place then take my word for it, the audience WILL get bored, especially if it’s just “talking heads” — two characters chatting with no action.  Why not try transferring that conversation to a swimming pool while your characters are doing laps?  Or in a moving bus or even on an escalator in a shopping mall.  Use the location as a device in your screenwriting and if you do it cleverly, nobody will ever know what you are up to!

Nothing in life is easy, so why should “movie life” be any different?  Whether you are writing a drama based on true life events or a science fiction movie set on a distant planet, normally there is a common thread – characters.  An audience has to identify with your characters in order to empathize with their plight and have an interest and emotional connection with their stories.

So making your characters real is important.  And equally as important is making the situations they are in realistic.  That’s why introducing conflict is critical to writing a screenplay.  If your characters say, do or get what they want without any obstacles then it will not reflect real life and as such you will lose your audience.

Whether it’s a psychological obstacle or a physical one, make sure your protagonist’s journey isn’t simple.  If they’re hungry and drive to the store for food, make the cops stop them for speeding or give them a flat tire.  If they ask someone out on a date, make that someone already have a partner.  If they want to say “I love you”, give them a reason for holding back and make the fact that they don’t say it at that particular time cause problems in their relationship.

Apart from drawing your audience into the story, using conflict also makes it more rewarding for your characters and the audience when the hero does finally get the girl or save the planet from imminent destruction.  Having said that, don’t go overboard and make absolutely everything a battle of words or actions.  Pick your fights and choose wisely otherwise it will feel equally unrealistic.

And a final point: ensure that some of the conflict you introduce works on the scene level with nothing to do with the over-arching story or theme — such as your hero having a bad day and waking up the next morning to find out he/she has run out of coffee — and also on the story and character development level, i.e. your hero is wounded in a fight scene making it harder for him to face the villain in the final showdown.

Script writing is a creative process and while you may not like the idea of analyzing your work, sometimes it is good to step back from your story and take a look at the narrative’s event to event causality so as to ensure it is believable and engaging.

February 11, 2011  (London, UK) — UK technology company Nuvotech, known for its professional screenwriting software Movie Outline^® and innovative cloud service for script copying and shipping Hollywood Script Express, today announced the availability of the much anticipated boxed version of its popular cross-platform creative writing package Script It!^™ for Mac and PC.

This retail ready update also includes three scene by scene story breakdowns and analyses of Hollywood blockbusters Ghost, Spider-Man and Scream, and will be available both as a download and through retail stores and dot coms across North America, and – as a result of a new distribution deal – now also in the UK.

“Script It! was developed to help writers of any discipline organize their ideas and plan their story with ease, whether it be a novel, screenplay, stage play, pitch or presentation ”, commented Dan Bronzite, CEO of Nuvotech. “While designed for the formats of stage and screen, the software is extremely versatile and the tools included will aid any kind of creative writing.”

Key Features

• Fully integrated step-outlining and scene organization
• Industry standard script formatting with auto-pagination and auto-complete
• Script writing glossary with over 250 filmmaking terms and definitions
• Character name generator categorized by origin, gender and meaning
• Includes scene by scene story and analysis of Ghost, Spider-Man and Scream
• Scratch Pad to manage script snippets, research, character notes and plot ideas.

View features comparison between Script It! and Movie Outline 3 and download a free trial.

Educational Solutions

Script It! is ideal for students learning screenwriting because of its intuitive and structured approach to story development, which can easily be tailored into modules for teaching. The software is already being adopted by schools and universities, and Nuvotech strongly support this through affordable academic pricing for individual licenses and multiple seats for writing labs.

“Script It! helps you organize your thoughts and build your story and screenplay beat by beat, making the process of writing a script less daunting and more intuitive, especially for first-timers learning the craft.”

–- Professor Richard Walter, Chairman of the UCLA Screenwriting Program.

Pricing & Availability

Script It! is currently available from Nuvotech’s online software store, and will roll out across major retail and independent resellers over the coming months. The suggested retail price is $79.95.

About Nuvotech

Nuvotech Limited is a software and Web 2.0 services company based in London, England. It was founded in 1999 by produced screenwriter and director Dan Bronzite to publish innovative software and services for the creative industry. Its most recognized brands are Movie Outline a cross-platform screenplay development application and Hollywood Script Express a script copying, copyright and delivery service in Los Angeles.