Windows tutorials › Story and Beat Board
Story and Beat BoardBuild a screenplay from the Beat Board
Turn your scene cards into screenplay scenes, after checking the order and headings.
Before you start
- The Beat Board has scene cards. Each card you build needs a scene heading.
Steps
If the board has no scene cards, click Build Screenplay and read the message.
The dialog says There are no Scene Cards in the active Beat Board yet. Add Scene Cards to Acts or Sequences first. Only Close is offered.
Click Build Screenplay in the toolbar.
The dialog is titled Build Screenplay from Beat Board and says Preview the order before anything is created. A table lists each card in board order with its position, its place in the story, its heading and an Include tick. Parking Lot cards are left out. Under HOW TO USE THE CARD DESCRIPTION choose Use as a scene planning note (default), which keeps the description as a note outside the printed script, or Insert as temporary action text, which adds editable text you rewrite. Under DESTINATION choose where the scenes go. The footer counts the cards, for example 6 of 6 cards will be built.
To build only one or a few cards, right-click them and choose Convert to Screenplay Scene.
The same dialog opens with only those cards ticked.
If a card has no heading, type one in its Heading box or click Leave out.
A warning says 1 card has no valid scene heading. Add a heading (for example INT. POLICE STATION - NIGHT) or leave the card out. OpenFrame never makes up a heading. The row shows Heading needed. The footer says how many need a heading, and Build Screenplay stays unavailable until none do.
If the project already has a screenplay, choose New Draft in the existing screenplay.
A line explains: the new draft is added and the current draft is untouched. Building again never overwrites a screenplay. With more than one screenplay, a list lets you pick which one.
Or choose Build a new screenplay document and type a Title of the new screenplay.
This makes a separate screenplay alongside the current one, with its own drafts. The existing screenplay is not changed.
If the title is already used, read the message.
The box turns red and says Another screenplay already has this title. Choose a different title.
Click Build Screenplay.
A message says Built the draft name with the number of scenes, with Undo, and the Screenplay opens at the first new scene. Cancel closes the dialog and creates nothing.
What you get
A new draft or a new screenplay holds your scenes in Beat Board order.
Watch out for
- Nothing is created until you click Build Screenplay in the dialog.
- Cards need a valid scene heading, such as INT. POLICE STATION - NIGHT. Add it in the card drawer or in the dialog.