Corona Said I Could Ask! Margins A LITTLE off...

[WildChild]

Hello. Again. This will inevitably be a stupid question, so indulge me or scream at me all you want.

I read margins should be 1.5" and 1.0".

I've also read if it's a little off, don't worry about it - if everything looks okay and centered they won't be concentrating on that.

My margins are 1.0"(left) and 1.0", so that's 1/2 inch off...since I'm not using screenwriting software I will have to reset the tabs and go back and tab over and fix every single character and dialogue line in a 120 pg screenplay. I don't have the time, I have to print this out and send it to a competition.

It looks fine...will they notice? I'll be using the 1.5" after this fiasco.

Okay no more questions for at least another week. I promise. :bounce:

[Jcorona]

Another week? Bullsh1t. Please keep asking, Wild.

Corona

[WildChild]

Another week? Bullsh1t. Please keep asking, Wild.

Corona

Ha ha. I have a feeling I'll be voted off the island soon. :rolleyes:

My b.f. just said that only very superficial women would care about half an inch, but I don't think he's talking about screenwriting...

[Jcorona]

Ha ha. I have a feeling I'll be voted off the island soon. :rolleyes:

My b.f. just said that only very superficial women would care about half an inch, but I'm not sure if he's talking about screenwriting...

Dump your boyfriend by email right now and hook up with one of these fine screenwriting gentlemens around here. They know all about margins. Please visit The Men's Room in One-On-One and take your pick.

I can tell you got your eyes set on me but I'm unavailable, sorry . . . don't cry.

My margins are about an inch and a half from the left to my action lines and about an inch from the right when I print to paper. That's just me, though.

Corona

[WildChild]

Dump your boyfriend by email right now and hook up with one of these fine screenwriting gentlemens around here. They know all about margins. Please visit The Men's Room in One-On-One and take your pick.

I can tell you got your eyes set on me but I'm unavailable, sorry . . . don't cry.

My margins are an inch and 3/4 from the left to my action lines and 7/8 of an inch from the right when I print to paper. That's just me, though.

Corona

I guess if I visit The Men's Room I could find out all about inches.

You're unavailable? Damn! :p

[Jcorona]

You're unavailable? Damn! :p

I can only imagine your pain . . . please stop crying.

Corona

[WildChild]

I can only imagine your pain . . . please stop crying.

Corona

I'm quivering with rage. CAN'T STOP SOBBING! Have...to...work...

[Ravenlocks]

My margins are 1.0"(left) and 1.0", so that's 1/2 inch off...since I'm not using screenwriting software I will have to reset the tabs and go back and tab over and fix every single character and dialogue line in a 120 pg screenplay. I don't have the time, I have to print this out and send it to a competition.

Yes, they will very likely notice. I would. Also, if the margins are half an inch shorter than they're supposed to be, the actual page count (with correct margins) will be longer than 120. So not only will they probably notice, but they may assume you adjusted the margins so the page count would look shorter than it really is. Then you'll look like a cheat. Probably not the best impression to give.

What software are you using? If it's Word, you should have it set up using styles. Then you'd just have to change the margin, adjust each style, and the program should fix the rest for you. If you're using Word and you're not using styles, you should probably learn how to use them.

And one final thought: If you don't have the time to make your script presentable, why should anybody take the time to read it? Just sayin'. :D

[scripttoolbox]

WildChild,

Ravenlocks makes an excellent point. Script formatting rules are extremely strict for a reason. Keeping margins, spacing, fonts and general formatting to a strict set of rules ensures that 1 page of screenplay will equal 1 minute of film time. This assumption is necessary for people who budget films. If they can't adequately guess-timate how long the movie will be on screen, then no one will read it in the first place, because it's too much trouble to figure out how much it will cost to make. And why should they? After all, you could have much more easily fixed the margins.

But none of that really matters, because it sounds like you have more work to do than simply fixing margins. If you have a 120-page screenplay with margins a full 1/2" less than they should be...sounds to me like your screenplay isn't finished after all. You've got some trimming to do.

Troy

[WildChild]

OH FRIGGIT! I won't finish in time anyway today.

Thanks for the advice, Raven & Scripttool. I guess half an inch does make a difference. I'll fix it this weekend, trim more description. I didn't know word had "styles," I'll check it out.

I've always thought it was 1", that's what they said in school a while back. And I sent the screenplay out this way to some competitions last year, got into some semi-finals and a good review from Bluecat.

I'LL FIX IT ANYWAY! Thanks everyone...

[WildChild]

I just looked, I just realized my left margin is actually 1/2"

Close enough?

[ComicBent]

Well, now that all the bawdiness is over ... :)

Wildchild, if you are using Word, you can use styles and you won't have all of that "tabbing over" mess.

If you are interested, I have a Word 2003 template that I developed. It is simple to use. Just send me a PM if you need help or want the template. I can send it to you or tell you how to download it. There is also an excellent template available for download from the BBC, but it is a little scary-looking.

[12916studios]

WildChild...

First off, I'm available. Just thought I'd mention that.

And secondly, I feel your page-count pain. My first draft for Forest of Glass was a whopping (yes, I am typing this right) 229 pages. I'm trying to cut it down to a very exact and very arbitrary 142. That's 87 pages. Yes, you read that right too.

So believe me, I know how hard it is. I've only been able to cut 20 pages and am a little over halfway through. The key is to be VERY VERY objective in what you are cutting. Look at it as an outsider. Are those extra 8 words REALLY necessary? If not...chop them.

It's not easy, I know. I am fairly certain I will be in physical pain once I finally near 142...but it is doable.

[WildChild]

Well, now that all the bawdiness is over ... :)

Wildchild, if you are using Word, you can use styles and you won't have all of that "tabbing over" mess.

If you are interested, I have a Word 2003 template that I developed. It is simple to use. Just send me a PM if you need help or want the template. I can send it to you or tell you how to download it. There is also an excellent template available for download from the BBC, but it is a little scary-looking.

Thanks, Comic, I'll send you a PM. I've tried Celtex but it didn't work for me. The thing is I can't use the screenwriting software where you hit "action", "character," etc. It slows down my writing and I like to barf out a lot of stuff and tab it later. I also type out down notes and research as I write. And use different colors for different reasons. Word sounds like it can do that?

p.s. 1.2" left margin should be okay to send out, shouldn't it? I did the page setup to 1.5" to see what it looked like and the page count didn't change....

[WildChild]

WildChild...

First off, I'm available. Just thought I'd mention that.

And secondly, I feel your page-count pain. My first draft for Forest of Glass was a whopping (yes, I am typing this right) 229 pages. I'm trying to cut it down to a very exact and very arbitrary 142. That's 87 pages. Yes, you read that right too.

So believe me, I know how hard it is. I've only been able to cut 20 pages and am a little over halfway through. The key is to be VERY VERY objective in what you are cutting. Look at it as an outsider. Are those extra 8 words REALLY necessary? If not...chop them.

It's not easy, I know. I am fairly certain I will be in physical pain once I finally near 142...but it is doable.


Dear 12196, I just dumped my boyfriend over email. Where do you live, when can I move in? I can give you $50/month to help out with utilities and I don't clean or cook. I'll need money for transportation. Oh I have 5 cats. I'm so excited about this new relationship! :D

WOW, 229 pages! That is a lot of cutting. Have you thought of making it into a novel as well? Thanks for the advice, I'm trimming the fat off this thing...

[Mark Twain Weck]

The one-and-a-half inch left margin is so that when brads are inserted and the script is opened partway, everything on the page still looks centered.

That's for the paper version (which you're hoping it will be one day).

It's one of those (there's a reason why it is) industry standards.

[WildChild]

The one-and-a-half inch left margin is so that when brads are inserted and the script is opened partway, everything on the page still looks centered.

That's for the paper version (which you're hoping it will be one day).

It's one of those (there's a reason why it is) industry standards.


It's 1.2" and it looks centered after it's bradded and all that...oh heck...I'm gonna reformat the thing this weekend...

[scripttoolbox]

Not sure how styles work in Word. I know that if you do a search in its help contents for "screenplay" you'll likely be able to download some sample screenplay pages that have the styles included. How to upload those styles to your document, I don't know.

However, if you DO look at that document, pay NO attention to the way things are written (parentheticals, action/direction, sluglines) it is pretty much all wrong.

[WildChild]

Not sure how styles work in Word. I know that if you do a search in its help contents for "screenplay" you'll likely be able to download some sample screenplay pages that have the styles included. How to upload those styles to your document, I don't know.

However, if you DO look at that document, pay NO attention to the way things are written (parentheticals, action/direction, sluglines) it is pretty much all wrong.

Okay, I'll check it out...:D