Horror Script Length?

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  • #16
    Re: Horror Script Length?

    Originally posted by AaronB
    I guess "lots of white" means "lots of dialogue," because dialogue is the script element that leaves the most white space? .
    It means brevity of action-writing. No loooooooong monologues. No dense paragraphs or -god forbid- multiple consecutive dense paragraphs. Not necessarily more dialogue, just, well... plenty of white space. Lean and mean.

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    • #17
      Re: Horror Script Length?

      Look, it's just another example that when you submit a screenplay, make sure it looks like a screenplay. I'd imagine that 90% of all horrible scripts share lengthy black prose as a common fault. Don't do that.
      "This is insane, he has space dimentia" - a line from Armageddon

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      • #18
        Re: Horror Script Length?

        Originally posted by Joe Unidos
        I will say for me when I was a reader (and for everyone I know that is a reader), they still have to read the whole thing to fill out their coverage paperwork. It's very very detailed at some companies. They may rush through it, they may hate having to read it -but readers that hit that last step you listed aren't readers for very long.

        Course all that, including the last point, certainly does apply for everyone above the reader.
        Thanks for that Joe. When it gets to the reader it's already gone through some significant hoops right?
        "This is insane, he has space dimentia" - a line from Armageddon

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        • #19
          Re: Horror Script Length?

          Ok so 89 pages would be ok? Like I said itâ€TMs still rough so I could go back and add a little here or there to flesh out some background folks...



          On a side note, Is it hard to sell low budget horror?

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          • #20
            Re: Horror Script Length?

            Originally posted by Big Adam
            Thanks for that Joe. When it gets to the reader it's already gone through some significant hoops right?
            Well, sort of. It's already gone through one hoop, getting requested or submitted by someone with sufficient stroke, but the real hoops are yet to come. It's basically only the first real step.

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            • #21
              Re: Horror Script Length?

              Originally posted by Slappynipsy
              On a side note, Is it hard to sell low budget horror?
              Keeping in mind that "easy" in this context is relative, I'd say it may be "easier" to sell than some other genres but it also (generally) is not going to pay you enough to quit your day job and some of these houses are all about the deferred payment.

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              • #22
                Re: Horror Script Length?

                Originally posted by Slappynipsy
                Ok so 89 pages would be ok? Like I said itâ€TMs still rough so I could go back and add a little here or there to flesh out some background folks...
                You know, this may sound anal but if this were my script, I'd find a way to make it 90 pages. If 90 is considered the minimum by many (and it is), I would find a way to squeeze in a few lines to get it to 90...
                "This is insane, he has space dimentia" - a line from Armageddon

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                • #23
                  Re: Horror Script Length?

                  Originally posted by Big Adam
                  You know, this may sound anal but if this were my script, I'd find a way to make it 90 pages. If 90 is considered the minimum by many (and it is), I would find a way to squeeze in a few lines to get it to 90...
                  I would too, but I was afraid of coming off as too anal and crazy. I don't even like 90 --it looks like a target that might have filler. Honestly, I would get it to 92. Sounds crazy? Maybe it is, but that's what I'd do. I always suspect target-number page-lengths are tweaked and prefer a more organic 92 or 108.

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                  • #24
                    Re: Horror Script Length?

                    "If your script is 89 pages and good, then don't add anything to make it 99 pages. That's stupid."


                    Well, of course, but how many 89 page scripts have you read that were really good? i know I haven't. I wasn't implying that the guy should show horn in another 10 pages or anything, just that in my experience, scripts that are shorter in pages usually aren't as layered and dimensional as they could be.

                    That's just my experience though.

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                    • #25
                      Re: Horror Script Length?

                      ( NOTE: this doesn't apply to the original poster, I haven't read the script)

                      The idea being an 89 page newbie screenplay is probably a bloated 65 page screenplay, and isn't really a feature-length screenplay at all. That I agree with, in principle.

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                      • #26
                        Re: Horror Script Length?

                        Originally posted by sasqits
                        All in all, I wouldn't rush to send out your script. Live with it a while and see if you can't improve it some, regardless of whether the improvements increase your page count.
                        Oh I wasn't planning on sending it out any time soon, I literally just finished running through it a 2nd time and was going in to spruce it up a little and thought, hey 89 is a little short isnâ€TMt it? So I thought Iâ€TMd ask where to aim it towards.



                        Another dumb question, how short does a first draft need to be to have you say â€hmm I donâ€TMt think I can make this into a full length script… there isnâ€TMt enough to go onâ€? I had a sci-fi idea but when I finished the first draft it was only 40 pages and I thought, even though its sparse on details thatâ€TMs just not enough to go on…was a right? Because damn it I really liked that idea.

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                        • #27
                          Re: Horror Script Length?

                          God, I feel sorry for script readers. Honestly, I do.

                          I am sure that a short script (judged by weight, appearance) must give a momentary surge of delight through a reader's heart. At least the misery will be only 93 pages instead of 113!!! Thank you, God!

                          But, setting all of those considerations aside, remember that a 113-page script may be very good. Maybe it has a few scenes that could be cut out, condensed, or incorporated into other scenes; maybe some description of action needs to be abbreviated. In other words, a 113-page script may turn out to be a really great 103-page script.

                          However, a typical nonprofessional script that starts out at 90 pages will almost certainly be a "shorter" script than 90 pages. It is shorter because, by the time you get all the extraneous material out, the "real" script is 80 pages.

                          The biggest problem that I see in scripts is that they just do not have enough story. There is not enough twisting and turning in the plot; and subplots are often just nonexistent. And in a whole load of extraneous action, lots of parentheticals, and some superfluous, dull conversational exchanges ... and a 90-page script is suddenly a 75-page script.

                          My take on all of this is: Write a good, tight script of 100-110 pages. With some cuts or additions, that length fits just about any genre.

                          Yes, I am really ComicBent. I can't hide any longer.

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                          • #28
                            Re: Horror Script Length?

                            Very well said RR. 90 pages from a professional screenwriter will bring smiles of joy, newbie screenwriter? not so much...
                            "This is insane, he has space dimentia" - a line from Armageddon

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                            • #29
                              Re: Horror Script Length?

                              It also depends on the genre. I am writing a thriller, which I hope to be around the early 90 pages mark. For a thriller 90 minutes of faced paced action is more than enough, a drama would no dounbt be longer.

                              It's all been said throughout this thread, but don't add 10 pages of waffle to hit that magic number, because 10 minutes or 1 or 2 scenes can lose the audience for just a moment, and sometimes that moment is long enough.

                              I watched Sin City last night and enjoyed it, but there was about 10 minutes where I looked at my watch, thinking this movie is dragging a little, and it took away from the experience.

                              Tell your story in as many pages as it takes within reason.

                              TT
                              I wanna tell you about the time I almost died....

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                              • #30
                                Re: Horror Script Length?

                                I'd second this. It's possible for an 89 page script to be too long just as it is possible for a 100 page script to be too short.

                                Without knowing if the script is any good yet, page-length considerations are secondary to the actual quality of the writing.

                                Originally posted by Biohazard View Post
                                If your script is 89 pages and good, then don't add anything to make it 99 pages. That's stupid.

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