scripter

A good looking LaTeX script/screenplay compiler

What does this do?

There's a nice screenplay LaTeX package but using it iss not particularly convenient, as the code gets quite verbose.

Instead let's use an ad-hoc minimal script language and transpile to TeX.

The rules of the language

• Whitespace at beginning and end of lines are ignored
• Lines with only whitespace in them are ignored
• The first line is the title
• The second line is the author(s)
• Lines beginning with INT. or EXT. are treated as sluglines, what comes after INT. and EXT. is free-form
• Lines with : in them are split using this character and it's assumed that generates two parts. The first is the character that's speaking, the second is what's being said.
• Other lines are treated as description

Example

Input:

The Alienant, version 1
Firstname Lastname

INT. SPACE STATION

Dark corridor. Something lurks in the shadows.

EXT. MILITARY BASE -- DAY

COLONEL SMITH smokes a cigarette. Looks up as CAPTAIN PARKER approaches.

	SMITH: So, it's begun.
	PARKER: Yes, it has.
	SMITH: I was afraid it'd come to this.

TeX output:

\documentclass{screenplay}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[polish]{babel}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\title{The Alienant, version 1}
\author{Firstname Lastname}
\begin{document}
\coverpage
\fadein

\intslug{SPACE STATION}
Dark corridor. Something lurks in the shadows.

\extslug{MILITARY BASE -- DAY}
COLONEL SMITH smokes a cigarette. Looks up as CAPTAIN PARKER approaches.
\begin{dialogue}{SMITH}So, it's begun.\end{dialogue}
\begin{dialogue}{PARKER}Yes, it has.\end{dialogue}
\begin{dialogue}{SMITH}I was afraid it'd come to this.\end{dialogue}

\theend
\end{document}