I started using the Celtx program in late 2005, I would guess, but I could be overshooting that a bit.  Back then, it was still very much in Beta and nothing but a glorified typewriter, but I have stuck with it and after it’s long awaited 1.0 release, the program has really come into its own as a sophisticated piece of screenwriting software and pre-production tool.  I stumbled across it when I got fed up with using the temperamental Microsoft Word but didn’t have enough money (I didn’t have any money, really) to go out and buy something like Final Draft.  Luckily, there is a group of unsung heroes out on the web that believe in Open Source Software, and that’s how I came to find Celtx. Yes, it is completely, and will always be, free.  I am not  going to do a full review here, maybe one day, but I do recommend the download.  Like I said, it free, and the interface is so simple that you will have yourself writing a screenplay, stageplay or anything in seconds after launching the program.¹  Not only is it great for writing, but the ladies and gents of Celtx have really worked hard to make it a complete pre-production planning tool as well.  It has script breakdown capabilities, calenders for planning, a storyboarding function and so much more.  If you got a few minutes I recommend the download to see what it has going on.

Also, another thing that the developers at Celtx have done is started releasing short films about filmmaking.  They have a channel over at Blip.tv  where they have started releasing quick little shorts titled “Motion Sketches” and I’ll give them credit, they relay a lot of easy to digest information in short amount of time.  I’ve only had time to look through a couple, but if you have any interest in filmmaking or how cinema is evolving, I would check them out.  The current one is about the role of the producer but their first episode is about how the definition of Cinema has changed over the last several years due to what is referred to as the “digital age.” 

I watched the first episode last night entitled “So this is Cinema?,” where the host, Mike Jones (who I will talk about later) starts off by telling us that Cinema is so much bigger than sitting in a big dark room. There is an old way of thinking that a writer writes and a director directs and a cinematographer… cinematograph-erises… but there is room for us writers to be better if we are educated about post production and if editors were educated about pre-production, and so on.  According to this sketch, 21st Century Cinema is about empowerment and being self-sufficient.  Software has started to be bundled together so that any filmmaker, at any level in their career, can start thinking about all the processes instead of just the one stage they’re on now and worry about the next step when they come to it… only Mike says it much better.  If you have five minutes check out the first Celtx episode here.  And if you have more time, visit the channel.

MIke Jones, who is heavily involved with Celtx development down here in Australia, also happens to be a friend and mentor of mine.  I am going to let you in on a little secret about Mike; he knows everything.  I am not lying here or exaggerating, ask him how to do anything and he can tell you.  It’s really shocking.  That aside, he is also a fellow geek, and has some great insights on cinema that you might not get from the more wanky variety of filmmakers  – what it is, where it came from, where it’s going, etc.  On his website he has written articles about Cinema as a Spatial artform, an audio AND visual artform and how the old way of “film” is dead.  Though he’s a little bit more in love with the digital age than I and I have some differing opinions on the validity of gaming and cell phones as legitimate forms of cinema delivery, his opinions are worth reading and I promise you you’ll learn something new with every article read. 

I will be adding Mike’s blog to my links as well, something I should have done sooner.

As for Wii Fit, it’s a disaster. I didn’t make my goal, so I have started a new one and of course have not exercised since. Sigh.