Write it. Plan it. Shoot it.
Your first film
starts here.
Take One takes a film from the first idea to the last shot. Write the screenplay, plan every shot, and learn each craft at the moment you need it. Made for phones and small cameras.
Your films are private until you choose to share them.
One film, five stages
From the idea to the last shot
- 1
Story
Find the idea. Shape the beats. Build the people.
- 2
Script
Write in plain text. The page formats itself.
- 3
Breakdown
Every location, read straight off your script.
- 4
Shots
Plan each shot and see the frame before you shoot.
- 5
Shoot
Tick shots off. Watch the running time add up.
The script
Write in plain text. Get a real screenplay.
Type a scene heading, a name, a line. Take One lays the page out in standard screenplay form as you go: Courier, proper margins, a page a minute. Nothing to learn but the writing.
- Opens and saves Fountain, the format other screenwriting apps read
- Imports a script you already have, from text or PDF
- Exports a PDF with a title page and page numbers
- Counts pages, minutes and words as you write
The shots
See the shot before you shoot it.
Answer four questions for each shot: how much of the person, who is in the frame, where the camera sits, and whether it moves. Place your cast and props on a small stage and Take One draws the frame.
- Ready-made shot sets for ten kinds of scene
- A storyboard of the whole film, drawn for you
- Warns you when a shot crosses the line or an eyeline points the wrong way
- Running time for every scene, from the lengths of its shots
The library
Learn each craft as you need it
11 chapters on writing, 8 story frameworks, 10 chapters on shooting and 10 shot sets for real scenes. Every tool links to its chapter, and every chapter ends in the tool. Free to read, no account needed.
The idea
A film starts as a thought you can say out loud. Find that sentence before you write a page.
Shot sizes
How much of the person the frame holds, from the widest to the tightest.
Light
One window, one lamp and one white sheet.
Two people talking
Two characters, one place, a conversation that carries the scene.
Your language
Write in the language your characters speak.
Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, English, or all of them in one scene. Take One sets Devanagari with the spacing it needs, marks character names in bold where a script has no capitals, and prints it all correctly.
Questions
Before you start
Do I need to know how to write a screenplay?
No. The library starts from the idea and takes you to the page, one short chapter at a time. The tool formats the script for you, so you only think about the story.
Do I need a real camera?
No. Take One is written for phones and small cameras. The advice on lenses, light and sound assumes that is what you have.
Who can see my film?
Only you, until you share it. You can invite people to read or to edit, one film at a time.
Can I bring in a script I already wrote?
Yes. Paste it, or upload a Fountain file, a text file or a PDF. You see a preview before anything is saved.
Can I get my work out again?
Always. Download the script as a PDF or as a Fountain file that other screenwriting apps open, and the shot list as text or a spreadsheet.
Can I work with other people?
Yes. Create a company, share its invite code, and add people to a film as readers or editors. Notes stay pinned to the lines they are about.