It’s been two years since I stowed the Morgan Freeman narration and leaped the Grand Canon separating screenplays and novels. I do however keep an eye on the future of animation software. I recently tested Plotagon with a scene from my “Newfie, Come Home!” script … which can be viewed here.
The folks at Plotagon say that within five years their animations will be realistic. The technology is impressive, so much so that you can’t help but wonder what’s in store for authors and screenwriters.
I see a day within the next ten years where — much like the app craze where every computer geek was holed up writing apps for our phones — hordes of writers will get busy adapting novels to screenplay format allowing the animation software to take the story from page to video.
What would this mean? Actors images and voices would need to be licensed. The end-user would chose the story they want to see, select the actor for each character and hit play. A percentage of the viewer’s payment for the movie would go back to the actors. The new “B” movie list might include actors and famous people that have passed away more that 70 years ago, thus placing their image and voice in the non-costly ‘public domain.’ In the next few years, W.C. Fields, Al Capone, Babe Ruth, Gandhi, Al Jolson and George Orwell will join that domain. Imagine the possibilities.
J.K. Rowling is one step ahead of us writers. Her “Cursed Child” is ready to roll out already as a script. Take heart. The rest of us may not have to wait to be best-selling authors to see our works on the screen. The animation technology is a hungry machine and we have so many great stories ready for it to digest.
David Belisle 