Stylesheets - screenplays - print vs. screen

Author

screenplays - print vs. screen

David J Patrick

2004-06-21, 4:39 am

On Sun, 20 Jun 2004 22:51:41 -0700, Wolfgang Wildeblood wrote:

> You go about it (screen and print formatting) two different
> ways.
>
> To achieve this in print you measure the size of the paper, deduct the
> margins, then divide by 60 to get the font-size that results in 60
> characters per line. Then set a line-height that results in 25 lines
> per page.

The cardinal rule of screenplay output is Courier 12pt. Knowing this,
would the page not be best defined in points ?
>
> But to get the same formatting on screen (i.e. line breaks in the same
> places), you simply specify directly that you want 60 characters per
> line.

...or whatever each element definition calls for.. which is most often
described in inches from a margin.

>
> p {
> width: 60em !important;
> margin: auto;
> }
> }
> That's all there is to it; as usual for screen, no mention of font-size
> at all. So the stylesheet just looks something like:
>
> @media print, projection, screen {
> * {
> font-family: "Courier New", monospace !important; line-height: 2;
> }
> }
> }
> @media print {
> * { font-size: 12pt /* or whatever */ !important;
> }
> }
> @media projection, screen {
> p {
> width: 60em !important;
> margin: auto;
> }
> }

And if I wanted to have TWO screen layouts (one rigid and one readable)
could I add

@media screen rigid {
* {font size: 12/1 !important;
}

Do you agree that the @page spec (and associated break & number rules) are
too unsupported to use ?

thanks Wolfgang,
djp

Wolfgang Wildeblood

2004-06-22, 7:14 am

David J Patrick <davidjpatrick@sympatico.ca> wrote:

> On Sun, 20 Jun 2004 22:51:41 -0700, Wolfgang Wildeblood wrote:
>
>
> The cardinal rule of screenplay output is Courier 12pt. Knowing this,
> would the page not be best defined in points ?

I was using an example I was familiar with - the manuscript format
uses 1500 characters per page. That's neither here nor there, the
process is the same. You set your stylesheet for print by the
traditional required parameters, whatever they may be. Then you print
out a page and count the number of characters in a line.

For the screen stylesheet you work in character widths, which as we
have now established are 3/5em. The result will be the line breaks in
the same place on screen as they are when printed.

>
> ..or whatever each element definition calls for.. which is most often
> described in inches from a margin.

Not on screen. Do your margin in inches for print, then count how many
characters across the page that results in. For screen use "padding"
not "margin" or "text-indent", and set in ems. The result will be the
same layout on screen as the printed page.

/* That should have said 36em for my example */
[color=darkred]
>
> And if I wanted to have TWO screen layouts (one rigid and one readable)
> could I add
>
> @media screen rigid {
> * {font size: 12/1 !important;
> }

No. That's what the projection media type is for. Read my other post,
and quit messing with the subject line will ya?

> Do you agree that the @page spec (and associated break & number rules) are
> too unsupported to use ?

Yes, no, maybe. Forget about numbering. Page break is useful but not
reliable.

> thanks Wolfgang,

Hmm.