Intro to Directing

Getting Started

Welcome to the Beginner course for learning how to direct stories in donacode! Donacode is the code language that is custom built for creating stories on the Episode app. Depending on how advanced the directing in a story is, donacode is like a mixture of playwright, straightforward commands, and numerical positioning. But don't it intimidate you! Once you've learned the basics, you'll be making beautiful stories in no time.

Cinematic vs. Spotlight

If you're an avid reader of Episode, you've probably noticed that most of the stories on our app are in a format that we call 'cinematic'. In addition to cinematic, we also have a format called 'spotlight'. The key difference between cinematic and spotlight format is that the characters' full bodies are shown in cinematic, while characters are confined to containers in spotlight.

You are free to use either spotlight or cinematic, based off of your preference. Spotlight is great for creating stories quickly since a lot of the visuals on screen are already defaulted. The main focus with donacoding in spotlight is writing the dialogue and narration. Cinematic is great for creating visually satisfying stories, having control over every visual component on screen. However, this does not limit the dialogue and narration. Cinematic can have both great story and a wonderful cinematic experience.

Conclusion

• There are two main formats to direct in: Cinematic and Spotlight

• Spotlight is quicker to direct in, and displays characters sliding in and out in boxes

• Cinematic is more popular in stories, and displays the full bodies of characters, allowing them to do more things on screen

Throughout the Beginner course, you'll learn the basics of directing in donacode in spotlight and cinematic formats. You'll also learn the basics of our portal and how to navigate it. The goal is to give you all the knowledge to help you write and direct your own full stories by the end!

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