Processing scripts with MS Access

Processing scripts with MS Access

With Microsoft Access you can separate between the elements of the script: characters, dialogs, actions, titles, headings, parenthesis etc., and process each element separately.

If you write your headings right (INTERIOR. PLACE-TIME) you can easily make a list of your locations and times.

You can print for each actor his own dialog.

You can measure the actual length of the script by copying the dialogs to Microsoft Word, counting the words with the statistics tool, and dividing the result by 180, which is the rate of words one can say in a minute.

Here is the basic table for THROUGH THE SMOKED GLASS:


scId	scContent	scNotes	sceneNumber
1	1. Opening	Title	1
2	Titles and then the V.O. run over changing images of spring sun rays flickering through a sooted-glass. The hypnotizing changing of the colors creates harmonious orgy of light and shade.	Action	1
3	LEA (V.O.)	Character	1
4	For my dreams I was real. For my time I was afraid. For myself I was a riddle: Who am I when I'm dead?	Dialog	1
5	We shattered God's kingdom for the first time since Babylon and there was no flood. There are no coincidences in God's Garden, nothing occurs without reason. True, I took part in horrendous acts, but they will lead, in a few generations, to a completely different faith. People will live, for the first time, without religion - not knowing whom to thank…	Dialog	1
6	INTERIOR. BUSK, LEA'S BEDROOM – SPRING NIGHT.	Heading	1

And here is the query about characters which is based on this table:


scContent	Count Char
FRANK	139
NACHMAN	98
LEA (V.O.)	56
LEA	20
MORDECAI	20
BISHOP	13
DEMBOWSKI	11
LEIB	10
NATHAN	10
INTERROGATOR	7
MENDEL	6
SCHORR	6
UNCLE	6
MONK	5
BELIEVERS	3
MESSIAH	3
NATHAN (The blind man)	3
PEARL	3
PROSTITUTE	3
AUNT	2
CHILDREN	2
HIRSH	2
LEA )V.O.ׁ(	2
MISHKA	2
RABBI RAPAPORT	2

1. Take all the headings of your script and copy them to MS Word.

2. Replace space marks with paragraph marks.

3. You get a long list of all the words in your headings.

4. Import them back to MS Access table.

5. Make a query, with that same field of heading-words twice.

6. Make the second field count the first.

7.You get the sum of your INTERIOR, EXTERIOR, Places, Parts of day/

seasons etc. on the fly.

Like this:


HeadingWords	Count HeadingWords
INTERIOR	56
DAY	37
EXTERIOR	36
ROOM	25
THE	23
IN	21
NIGHT	20
OF	15
MORNING	10
FRANK'S	8
SPRING	7
HALL	7
PALACE	6
AFTERNOON	6
A	6
PRISON	6
HOUSE	6
YARD	6
LEA'S	5
MONASTERY	5
WINTER	5
SYNAGOGUE	5
EVENING	4

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