Tags & Entities
Tag props, costumes, VFX, and more for production breakdowns.
What Are Production Tags?
Production tags mark elements in your screenplay that production departments need to track — props, costumes, vehicles, stunts, visual effects, and more. This is the first step in creating a production breakdown, which is how film crews plan what they need for each scene.
For writers: Tagging is primarily a production tool, but writers can also use it to track important story elements across their script.
Opening the Tags Panel
Open the Tags panel from View > Tags.
Tag Categories
OpenDraft includes 18 built-in tag categories used in the film industry:
| Category | What to tag |
|---|---|
| Cast | Speaking roles |
| Extras | Background actors, crowds |
| Stunts | Fight scenes, falls, car chases |
| Vehicles | Cars, boats, planes mentioned in action |
| Props | Objects characters interact with |
| Special Effects | Practical effects (explosions, rain) |
| Costumes | Notable wardrobe items |
| Makeup/Hair | Special makeup, wigs, prosthetics |
| Animals | Live animals in scenes |
| Animal Handler | Scenes requiring animal wranglers |
| Music | Songs, score cues |
| Sound | Special sound effects or ambient requirements |
| Set Dressing | Furniture, decorations, set pieces |
| Greenery | Plants, trees, landscaping |
| Special Equipment | Cranes, dollies, special camera rigs |
| Security | Scenes requiring security personnel |
| Additional Labor | Extra crew needed |
| VFX | Visual effects to be added in post |
You can also create custom categories with your own name and color.
Understanding Entities
Tags in OpenDraft use an entity-based system. An entity is a reusable item — for example, "Sarah's Red Jacket" is a costume entity. You create the entity once, then tag every mention of it throughout your script.
Benefits of entities:
- Reusable — Create once, use in many scenes.
- Trackable — See every scene where an entity appears.
- Annotatable — Add notes to each entity (e.g., "Jacket must match scene 12 continuity").
Tagging Workflow
- Select text in your screenplay that represents a production element (e.g., "revolver" in an action line).
- Choose a category from the Tags panel (e.g., Props).
- Create or select an entity. If "Revolver" doesn't exist yet, create a new entity. If it does, select the existing one.
- The selected text is now tagged. It will be highlighted with the category's color when Tag Highlights are enabled.
Managing Tags
- View all occurrences: Click an entity in the Tags panel to see every place it appears in the script.
- Edit entity notes: Click the edit button on an entity to add detailed production notes.
- Tag highlights: Toggle via View > Tag Highlights to show or hide colored tag marks in the editor.
Final Draft Compatibility
Tags are compatible with Final Draft's TagData format. When you export to .fdx, tag categories and entities are preserved.