I’ve heard it said time and again how great it is that Script Supervisors “have our back” on set. But this story demonstrates that in spades! Script Supervisor Emma Danoff’s time-stamped set photos save the day for “City of Lies” star Johnny Depp!
Read to full story HERE!
Since I began training for this role, I have experimented with several different digital tools and spoken with a good number of script supervisors who are currently using the various apps and hardware. I have also created my own templates using various spreadsheets and word processing programs.
The general consensus is: Shooting digital has made our work more demanding and the digital products available aren’t as helpful as I had thought they would be. Ultimately, we need something which will help us organize our notes and tracking information efficiently because the more we write down, the less we have to remember!
The most common software currently used seems to be ScriptE. 
It is available for both Microsoft machines and Apple iPad; however, the iPad app has many more options and functionalities, which really forces one to purchase an iPad and Apple pencil in order to fully benefit from using ScriptE. I resist this, because I don’t like being forced to buy anything and would honestly prefer to continue using my laptop.
On that note, there are productions which will not even hire you, if you do not use ScriptE.
Right now, I prefer using my own paper forms and report templates, using my clipboard and binder to keep everything organized with me on set. I can send my photos from camera or smart phone to my laptop using bluetooth tech and from there email whatever the office needs.
When you have ScriptE on an iPad Pro with Apple pencil and use a PDF editor, you’re essentially using pen and paper on a much more expensive digital set up. But if you don’t have these digital tools, you could lose your job. Apparently, it’s the producers who are asking for the technology; true to our modern times, they think that access to these programs make a good script supervisor.
I maintain that if you can’t do the job ‘old school,’ you don’t know what you’re doing, you don’t understand what to put into the software to begin with. And if tech fails you (as it is wont to do), you’re screwed.
Conclusion: I know how to use ScriptE, but I prefer using the tools I have: paper, pen, smart phone, and laptop.
Here is a list of some other useful digital tools.
