I don't like the courier font at all.

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  • #16
    Re: I don't like the courier font at all.

    Originally posted by Sinnycal View Post
    That's not a very popular stance around here.
    I understand why. However, from the other perspective (i.e. the producer, exec or reader), how would everyone here like it if the font of Done Deal changed on a daily basis? Or your Google home page? Or your daily newspaper?

    If a big part of your job was reading script after script after script, you would have a bigger appreciation for having standards. The familiarity of the same font used in each script simply makes digesting the content easier. Period.
    NOTES / COVERAGE
    15,000+ Screenplays
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    • #17
      Re: I don't like the courier font at all.

      Originally posted by Jules View Post
      Wow, C.B.
      Wow, indeed! Thanks C.B.
      sigpic http://blip.fm/Peasblossom

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      • #18
        Re: I don't like the courier font at all.

        Jules and peasblossom may join my fan club.


        "The fact that you have seen professionals write poorly is no reason for you to imitate them." - ComicBent.

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        • #19
          Re: I don't like the courier font at all.

          You just have to suck it up, cuz that's the font you have to use. I've gotten so used to Courier that I've come to quite like it.

          Do use something other than Courier New and try using a magnified view. I always set FD to the highest zoom setting, which I think is 150%. Of course, my eyes suck, so I like my fonts to look large. I can't see as much on the screen at one time, but what I see is nice and big.
          "Your intuition knows what to write, so get out of the way.-
          ― Ray Bradbury

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          • #20
            Re: I don't like the courier font at all.

            I don't understand why anybody cares. Or would care. It's just a font. The words are what matter.

            And I also have never understood why someone would bitch about the job requirements. They want it in Courier, you give it to them in Courier. Again - it's just a font, and the words are what matter. If some job wants you to wear tan slacks, you wear tan slacks. Big deal.

            This is a *job* people - just like working at Burger King, only you can't sneak a fry now and then and the boss is probably the same age as at Burger King but maybe not as smart. He can still fire your ass, though.

            - Bill
            Free Script Tips:
            http://www.scriptsecrets.net

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            • #21
              Re: I don't like the courier font at all.

              Originally posted by vanpet View Post
              I work in europe and almost everybody uses Times New Roman from MS Word.

              And colored covers

              So maybe quit Hollywood and come here!
              Enjoy your government subsidies and low pay. Really, though, enjoy those government subsidies. /jealous

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              • #22
                Re: I don't like the courier font at all.

                Seriously, if fades into the background. So hard to focus on. I might try switching the page to black and the font to white. MS Dos styles. Maybe that would help.
                It's the eye of the Tiger, it's the thrill of the fight

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                • #23
                  Re: I don't like the courier font at all.

                  Originally posted by jcgary View Post
                  Enjoy your government subsidies and low pay. Really, though, enjoy those government subsidies. /jealous
                  it pays the film stock and DP. the rest of the crew is made of students and homeless people.

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                  • #24
                    Re: I don't like the courier font at all.

                    Actually I've been writing and sending out scripts for twenty years, and never used the courier font. On my old work processers not sure, but in past ten years I've been using new times roman, and been read probably over 300 times and never one time has any agent or producer complained about it. Even the rare few who optioned my scripts.

                    New report is that it uses less ink. Next time a producer gets back about my script I am gonna ask them if there is a rule of thumb still out there?

                    Snowman

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                    • #25
                      Re: I don't like the courier font at all.

                      Originally posted by Jules View Post
                      Why am I expected to write in this awful font?
                      You're not. You can write it an any font and size you desire (or at least any font you that your software supports).

                      Just wait until you're ready to start sending it out to people and then Ctrl + A the whole doc and change it to courier 12.

                      Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other threads to visit where I must make really obvious suggestions.
                      "Only nothing is impossible."
                      - Grant Morrison

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                      • #26
                        Re: I don't like the courier font at all.

                        This thread is scary to me -- no wonder there are so many firewalls in Hollywood that make it difficult if not impossible for new writers to get read by the few people that matter (as opposed to intern readers whose basic instinct is to pass on virtually everything because that's the safer route).
                        There aren't many rules in Hollywood. But Courier 12 (set at "Exactly 12 pt." line spacing) is one of them (its pitch is the basis for the "one page equals one minute of screen time" metric, which is the key).
                        Vary from it at your own peril!
                        P.S. And I find it hard to believe that any reputable agency would read a script in Times Roman -- especially multiple ones (per earlier post). MY first script was in TR and read by an A-list agent at a major agency. He read me the riot act for not being in Courier 12 -- said it branded me an obvious "amateur" for not knowing formatting. I never varied again.

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                        • #27
                          Re: I don't like the courier font at all.

                          jtwg50,

                          The "pitch" is actually the number of characters per horizontal inch. In Courier 12 point this translates to 10 characters per inch (the pitch is 10).

                          In actuality, the pitch is not really always exactly 10. FinalDraft, at least in Windows and with an HP-Laserjet, scrunches the point size down from about 12 to 11.6, with the result that the pitch is a fraction greater than 10. Single spacing on a typewriter (12 point, Pica) yielded 6 lines per inch. The paragraphs are really dense with that many lines per inch. In FinalDraft the use of a slightly smaller font size (and greater pitch) allows just a hair more white space between the lines while keeping the "six lines per inch" standard.

                          Note: The six lines per inch has to be measured from the baseline of line 1 to the baseline of line 7. (The bottom of the letter *a* in *lady* is the baseline, not the bottom of the *y*). I explain all of this in my essay, referenced above.

                          I have found with experimentation that allowing a little more white space between lines does not make much difference in number of pages, though it can make a huge difference if you do not control it. For example, Courier New, if used in FinalDraft, will default to a relatively large amount of white space between lines, and this causes a script to increase in length by at least 13 percent. Fortunately, you have some gross, though not fine, control over the line spacing in that program, and you can cause the number of extra pages to be minimal. If you use Courier New in FinalDraft, you can set the line spacing to *Tight*, and it works pretty well. I recommend just sticking with Courier Final Draft in that program.

                          Screenwriter 6 supplies its own Courier, which is a very nice font, and the program defaults to the standard 6 lines per inch. However, the current version of Screenwriter will substitute Type 1 Courier if you make a PDF with the built-in converter. The number of lines per inch remains unchanged (i.e., it is still six per inch).

                          EDIT TO ADD:

                          If a company agrees to read your script, I guess they will read it as long as it is in a standard font like Times. However, that is not the font that they want you to use, and everything will have to be converted later. So why use something that they do not want? Just stick with the standard, which is any Courier that displays well and prints well.

                          "The fact that you have seen professionals write poorly is no reason for you to imitate them." - ComicBent.

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                          • #28
                            Re: I don't like the courier font at all.

                            Originally posted by hscope View Post
                            I wonder if using the Wingdings font on my scripts has anything to do with me not selling them.
                            Wingdings never quite manages to deliver the goods.

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                            • #29
                              Re: I don't like the courier font at all.

                              Originally posted by Jules View Post
                              Why am I expected to write in this awful font? It's sterile. Void of character. And in FD it's really light and thin, I can hardly see it, makes writing difficult.
                              My main problem is that the font is so light it fades into the page, and bolding it looks smudged, if only it looked like it does in a pdf file. I might try movie magic to see if it's a little clearer.
                              The light, thin FD font is the reason why I switched to MM6. The font in MM is fantastic in comparison -- much darker and easier to read for me.

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                              • #30
                                Re: I don't like the courier font at all.

                                Originally posted by hscope View Post
                                I wonder if using the Wingdings font on my scripts has anything to do with me not selling them.

                                Haha...nice.

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