Re: How can screenwriters control pace? Any thoughts on unintentional slowness?
Well yeah, of course. "Pulp Fiction" is one of my favorite movies and its major beats don't hit any typical times. There are always exceptions. But this was advice being given to someone who hasn't broken into the industry who asked for "specific techniques". Not general, heard-it-before advice. Specific techniques.
Once again, I think the intent behind my original post is being exaggerated/twisted to make some righteously indignant point about formula. I said in that very post that "these aren't hard-and-fast rules I follow, just general guidelines that help keep me alert." That part has conveniently been ignored. Thus, I would never say that a script can't be/wasn't successful because its midpoint didin't land exactly on page 55. I think most writers who read what I wrote understand that, the same way the 3-act model serves as a general guideline to help maintain a strong structure, the same way what I described was meant to serve as a general guideline to help maintain strong pacing, which as Cyfress indicated, can be very difficult to keep track of. "Gut feeling" may sound cool to say, but it doesn't always work so easily for some people.
There's nothing wrong with people buying STC. It's a beginner's tool which I found very useful for my first couple of screenplays. Over time, reading more screenplays and getting feedback on my own, I learned how to play with the guidelines to make my stories more fresh and interesting. As I'm sure, many people do. This railing against beginner's tools (usually by pros who've already broken in) has become a bit predictable. It's fine to say don't be a slave to the formulas or rules, but to trash these tools completely when they do provide some value is going a bit overboard.
Originally posted by JeffLowell
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Originally posted by JeffLowell
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Originally posted by JeffLowell
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