steve lasky

CONNECTIONS

iPad replaces paper on film set

I just finished working with my friend and director Curtis Graham on a film titled "The Investigator". During week one of the shoot the Wardrobe Designer Dana Campbell, noticed my old script bag on set and commented that she hadn't seen one like that in a very long time. I've been dragging that bag and all the paper it contains from set to set for years but Dana's comment made me realize it was time for a change. With a little effort I was able to replace that pile of paper with a slim iPad that contained everything I needed for a day of shooting and could do a whole lot more than that old bag. In the coming days i'll describe exactly how I made the move to an all digital workflow.

Using iPad on a commercial shoot

I recently worked on a group of commercials for Tampa Agency, Shirley Hutchinson Creativeworks.
This was the first opportunity I have had to integrate the iPad version of Circus Ponies Notebook app into a production workflow. In spite of having successfully used the desktop version of Notebook on past commercial projects, (it's ability to quickly publish to the web all sorts of production information is a big plus) I found using iPad is not quite ideal yet. I'm convinced though that an iPad type device will become an essential tool for directors, script supervisors and 1st ADs on set. Being able to port Movie Magic Scheduling docs to a tablet would be a big plus.

Markdown instead of HTML

I've discovered an option to including html tags in my text. I know I may be late to the party but I'm really enjoying using Markdown syntax as developed by John Gruber.

Markdown is a quick and easy way to add tags that convert easily to some of the most common html instructions. If you are not familiar with Markdown, I suggest you take a look at John's site Daring Fireball.

One of the reasons Markdown has become so useful is an iPad app called MarkdownNote created by coding robots. This is a great little writing app that makes using Markdown syntax a breeze. MarkdownNote includes hot keys for many common actions on top of the iPad keyboard.