Lions Gate using Kindles as Script Readers

daffy4u · 09-01-2009, 11:35 AM

Quote:

The Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) Kindle has landed a hot new role in Hollywood as a script-reading device. At Lions Gate Entertainment, instead of lugging around briefcases and satchels stuffed with 150-page scripts, some personnel are now reading scripts on their Kindles.

Executives, top script readers, and producers are among the lucky ones getting Kindles from Lions Gate's IT department, with many more employees hoping to eventually get them, said CIO Leo Collins in an interview. "We're getting heart wrenching requests almost hourly," Collins said.

Quote:

Now production assistants are sending .PDFs of scripts in attachments directly to registered Kindle users' email addresses that are set up through Amazon. There are fewer steps required to open an attachment on the Kindle compared with a laptop, making it as easy to read as a paper version.

Those reading scripts can also make notations about them on their Kindles. "The Kindle completely transforms the whole experience,"

I have experimented several times here on MobileRead in trying to create a decent looking rendering of a script on both my Kindle 1 and Kindle 2. I have generated samples that are readable (with PDFRead and Savory) but not the norm. Since the assistants are having PDFs converted through Amazon, the results will not look anything like a normal script page but it seems acceptable since the scripts can be distributed easily and annotated.

I do see a lot of Kindles on set (only one Sony 700 so far).

zelda_pinwheel · 09-02-2009, 07:37 AM

hm, that's interesting. i recently read an article about html vs. xml called "unwebbable" talking about why "not every “document” can be a “web page.”" it specifically mentioned scripts / screenplays as classic examples of documents which have specific formatting requirements which don't translate well to html (characters, dialogue, stage directions, and also approximate time represented by one page of a screenplay), although xml would be able to handle them. i would have thought some of the same layout problems (if not the syntactic markup ones) would apply to a (non-pdf) ebook format, although i suppose in some situations they wouldn't matter as much.

daffy4u · 09-02-2009, 09:52 AM

My guess is that if you just want to *read* the script, you can get used to the freaking formatting and it will be serviceable. Beyond that, a paper version will be needed.

There is a tradition of changing the color of the script as it is updated. Sometimes the whole thing will change colors and other times just the changed pages. It is possible to have a script with several different color pages. That will not come across in e-ink as it works today (PixelQi screens could be the way to go).

Abecedary · 09-02-2009, 10:08 AM

"Sorry everyone. I forgot to recharge my script last night."

Slite · 09-02-2009, 10:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abecedary

"Sorry everyone. I forgot to recharge my script last night."

Hehehe, I hope they were issued with wallchargers

zelda_pinwheel · 09-02-2009, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daffy4u

My guess is that if you just want to *read* the script, you can get used to the freaking formatting and it will be serviceable. Beyond that, a paper version will be needed.

good point. just for reading, i suppose any format is fine, really.

Quote:

There is a tradition of changing the color of the script as it is updated. Sometimes the whole thing will change colors and other times just the changed pages. It is possible to have a script with several different color pages. That will not come across in e-ink as it works today (PixelQi screens could be the way to go).

ah yes, that's another detail, which i didn't know about. i suppose they could put the new text in bold or something, while waiting for colour screens...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abecedary

"Sorry everyone. I forgot to recharge my script last night."

yeah, i don't think even xml can help with that.

yagiz · 09-02-2009, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

about html vs. xml

It's a bit silly to compare HTML and XML. Just to be more precise, well formed and valid HTML would be XHTML, which is XML. And XML transformation (on the fly or not) using XSLT has been used for a long time to generate various UI versions of the same data.

zelda_pinwheel · 09-02-2009, 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yagiz

It's a bit silly to compare HTML and XML. Just to be more precise, well formed and valid HTML would be XHTML, which is XML. And XML transformation (on the fly or not) using XSLT has been used for a long time to generate various UI versions of the same data.

well, the article is really more about web pages than ebooks (in fact it's not at all about ebooks...) and is concerned with good semantics. it is true that (especially on the web) even valid xhtml doesn't necessarily mean semantically-rich code.

susan_cassidy · 09-02-2009, 01:30 PM

XML is more a way of marking up the various parts of the document. It says nothing about how to display it. That requires a separate rendering engine, and something like XSLT to say what gets translated into what presentation.

I don't know why HTML wouldn't work, as long as a decent set of CSS was supported in the presentation engine. That is the difficulty.

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09-02-2009, 07:37 AM	#2
zelda_pinwheel zeldinha zippy zeldissima Posts: 27,827 Karma: 921169 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Paris, France Device: eb1150 & is that a nook in her pocket, or she just happy to see you?	hm, that's interesting. i recently read an article about html vs. xml called "unwebbable" talking about why "not every “document” can be a “web page.”" it specifically mentioned scripts / screenplays as classic examples of documents which have specific formatting requirements which don't translate well to html (characters, dialogue, stage directions, and also approximate time represented by one page of a screenplay), although xml would be able to handle them. i would have thought some of the same layout problems (if not the syntactic markup ones) would apply to a (non-pdf) ebook format, although i suppose in some situations they wouldn't matter as much.

09-02-2009, 09:52 AM	#3
daffy4u I'm Super Kindle-icious Posts: 6,734 Karma: 2434103 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia Device: KDXG, KT, Oasis	My guess is that if you just want to read the script, you can get used to the freaking formatting and it will be serviceable. Beyond that, a paper version will be needed. There is a tradition of changing the color of the script as it is updated. Sometimes the whole thing will change colors and other times just the changed pages. It is possible to have a script with several different color pages. That will not come across in e-ink as it works today (PixelQi screens could be the way to go).

09-02-2009, 10:08 AM	#4
Abecedary Exwyzeeologist Posts: 535 Karma: 3261 Join Date: Jun 2009 Device: :PRS-505::iPod touch:	"Sorry everyone. I forgot to recharge my script last night."

09-02-2009, 01:30 PM	#9
susan_cassidy Wizard Posts: 2,251 Karma: 3720310 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: USA Device: Kindle, iPad (not used much for reading)	XML is more a way of marking up the various parts of the document. It says nothing about how to display it. That requires a separate rendering engine, and something like XSLT to say what gets translated into what presentation. I don't know why HTML wouldn't work, as long as a decent set of CSS was supported in the presentation engine. That is the difficulty.

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