One
of my favorite features in this software - and one that
every writer on the planet should have access to - is
the Name Bank. This feature contains 3,900 male names,
4,950 female names, and 22,000 family names, all arranged
in alphabetical order. All the user has to do is find
the name they like, and the software will automatically
insert it into the script. It also gives you the option
to create a list of your favorite names, as well as to
add new ones to the list. As anyone who's ever tried to
write a story knows, coming up with the right name for
your characters can be next to impossible - not mention
mean the difference between a dud and a hit. And this
element of the software is far more convenient than the
random-phonebook-page method. Also, if you happen to be
looking through the name bank later on in your writing
process and discover the perfect name for the overbearing
mother-in-law character, the Search menu contains a function
that will allow you to easily change a character's name
- a much more reliable process than Word's find and replace
feature.
Also,
for those who want to do other things than just write
screenplays, Movie Magic comes with templates of
several other different script formats as well. They include
stage play, sitcom, radio show, video game, comic book,
and even has resources for those who just want to write
a novel. This is actually quite helpful for screenwriters,
as I've discovered that one of the easiest way to write
a screenplay is first to write the novel - that way you've
already written the story and only have to cut it down
a bit and re-format the document to make it into a screenplay.
Or perhaps you'll decide halfway through that your screenplay
will fit better as a sitcom or a miniseries - in which
case you'll only need to transfer it to the sitcom template
and reformat it, rather than having to start all over
again at the beginning. Or maybe you'll get really lucky
and a studio will want your screenplay to be turned into
a video game to promote the upcoming movie - in which
case you may be able to convince them to let you write
the script, which will mean a larger royalty check in
the end.
But
perhaps the most impressive feature in Movie Magic
is that of the read script function. The software contains
an artificial intelligence program that will read your
script aloud, and you can even assign different voices
to your main characters. 
Unfortunately,
there's not much variety, giving you only two distinct
male and female voices, in addition to the standard robotic
sound, but the quality is impressive. Of course, it still
sounds like your computer is reading to you, but the software
is able to recognize and pronounce quite a few large words,
and sometimes it manages to sound almost human. And if
it does mispronounce something, the user has the option
to correct it. This function is great for a completed
or nearly-completed script, since the writer has usually
been engrossed in it for so long that he or she won't
even recognize mistakes. All one has to do is assign voices
to your main characters, press play, then sit back with
your martini and listen. It's the next-best - and far
cheaper - thing than hiring a troupe of starving actors
to do the reading for you. At least the computer won't
raid your refrigerator.
