Writing
Writing in other languages
How the app's language decides which scene headings and transitions Calmly Script recognises, and how the words it prints when a speech runs over a page follow the screenplay's own language.
On this page
Fountain was written around English screenplays: a heading starts with
INT. or EXT., a transition ends in TO:. A Spanish script cuts with
CORTA A:, a German one opens a scene with AUSSEN.. Calmly Script knows
these words in the languages it is translated into, and it uses the
language the app is set to.
The app’s language decides
The language is in Settings › Language; the app restarts to change it. It is the same setting for the menus and for the screenplay: set the app to Spanish, and Spanish scene headings and transitions are recognised as you type, and when a file is opened.
English is always understood too, whatever the language, because scripts
mix: an English CUT TO: in a Spanish script is still a transition.
What you type
CORTA A:
EXT. MUELLE - NOCHEHow it prints
CORTA A:
EXT. MUELLE - NOCHE
Only the app’s language and English are used, not every language at once:
words such as FIN or FINE end a script in one language and are a name in
another.
What each language adds
| Language | Scene openers of its own | Some of its transitions |
|---|---|---|
| Spanish | none: the English ones | CORTA A:, FUNDIDO A NEGRO, FIN. |
| German | AUSSEN, AUẞEN, INNEN |
SCHNITT AUF:, ABBLENDE., ENDE. |
| French | INTÉRIEUR, EXTÉRIEUR |
COUPE À:, FONDU AU NOIR, FIN. |
| Italian | INTERNO, ESTERNO |
STACCO., DISSOLVENZA A NERO, FINE. |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | none: the English ones | CORTA PARA:, FUSÃO PARA:, FIM. |
The English openers (INT., EXT., EST., INT./EXT., I/E …) work in
every language. The rules are the ones in
How the editor decides: an opener in
capitals followed by a full stop, a space, a slash or a dash, and a phrase of
one or two words with its full stop or colon.
The same language gives autocomplete its
openers, transitions, times of day (NOCHE, NACHT, NUIT …) and
character extensions.
The title page understands every language
The keys of a title page are recognised in all the languages at once:
Title:, Título:, Titel:, Titre: and Titolo: all start one. A
title page travels with the file, and it should not stop being one because
the person who opens it has their app in another language.
The document type is the exception that goes the other way: Calmly Script
always writes it in English (Type: Stage Play), so it means the same thing
everywhere, and reads it in any language (Tipo:, Typ:).
(MORE) and (CONT’D)
When a speech runs over the end of a page, a printed screenplay says so: a line at the foot of the page, and a word after the name where the speech goes on. Calmly Script prints them in the language the screenplay is written in:
| Language | At the foot of the page | After the name |
|---|---|---|
| English | (MORE) |
(CONT'D) |
| Spanish | (SIGUE) |
(CONT.) |
| German | (MEHR) |
(FORTS.) |
| French | (SUITE) |
(SUITE) |
| Italian | (SEGUE) |
(CONT.) |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | (CONTINUA) |
(CONT.) |
Calmly Script tells the screenplay’s language from its own action and
dialogue, so a script in English prints (MORE) even with the app in
Spanish. A script only just begun does not say yet, and until it does the
app’s language is used.
To choose them yourself, for instance to keep the English words in a Spanish script as some productions do, use Settings › Printing › Language of (MORE) and (CONT'D): Automatic, from the screenplay, or one of the six languages.
That goes for the PDF, the preview, the Word document and the Final Draft file alike. You never type these words: they are added when the page is made, and are not in your file.