Scene To Page Ratio

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  • Scene To Page Ratio

    Anyone pay attention to this? And if so, your thoughts.
    "I ask every producer I meet if they need TV specs they say yeah. They all want a 40 inch display that's 1080p and 120Hz. So, I quit my job at the West Hollywood Best Buy."
    - Screenwriting Friend

  • #2
    Re: Scene To Page Ratio

    Novelists don't.
    Ron Aberdeen
    http://www.ronaberdeen.com/
    http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3609083/

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    • #3
      Re: Scene To Page Ratio

      Originally posted by roscoegino View Post
      Anyone pay attention to this?
      No. I didn't realize there was one.

      And if so, your thoughts.
      I think it's a case of worrying about the wrong things.

      It may be vaguely interesting as an academic distraction for script nerdists, but I've never heard a professional writer mention it. If anyone wanted a sense of what the standard industry STPR might be I'd suggest looking at 20 of their favorite produced scripts and gauging from that. But the risk with these sorts of discussions, of which there are many, is that they can deceive the unwary into thinking that they matter.

      FWIW the current industry standard STPR for scripts using Warner Bros format guildelines is in the range 0.87 to 2.41 with an aggregate typeface contingency discrepancy allowance of 2.6 percent.
      "Friends make the worst enemies." Frank Underwood

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      • #4
        Re: Scene To Page Ratio

        OP: You're creating an issue or consideration that does not exist. There is no such thing as a "scene to page ratio," nor is there any genuine rule about number of scenes. Just tell a story effectively. That's all that matters. I do, however, concur with David K that the aggregate typeface contingency discrepancy allowance of 2.6 percent must, must be adhered to. According to my sources at WB and the other major studios, that is the single most important differentiator between a real pro and an ignorant hack. Even McKee teaches that now.

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        • #5
          Re: Scene To Page Ratio

          Originally posted by roscoegino View Post
          Anyone pay attention to this? And if so, your thoughts.
          Nope, I don't pay attention to it, and neither does anyone I work with. When most of us read material for consideration, we're thinking about how compelling the story is, how engaging the characters are, maybe even how much it's going to cost to make it... there are a lot of considerations that go into a script when we read one, but a mathematical ratio of scenes to pages is not one of them.

          If we liked math, we wouldn't be working with screenplays.

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          • #6
            Re: Scene To Page Ratio

            Originally posted by roscoegino View Post
            Anyone pay attention to this? And if so, your thoughts.
            The only time I do is during the planning/outline stage.
            I plan 80 scenes and 120 pages. That's a 1 to 1.5 ratio. But once I actually start writing, I forget all about that. I have never completed a draft that was 80 scenes and/or 120 pages long.

            A thought: If you're ever considering that a scene might be too long, aren't you really thinking about the scene/page ratio?
            "I am the story itself; its source, its voice, its music."
            - Clive Barker, Galilee

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            • #7
              Re: Scene To Page Ratio

              No offence, but from the title of this thread alone I inferred that your problem is such: your filler scenes are too long and your important scenes too short.
              Cufk, Tish, Sips.

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              • #8
                Re: Scene To Page Ratio

                Just wondering.
                "I ask every producer I meet if they need TV specs they say yeah. They all want a 40 inch display that's 1080p and 120Hz. So, I quit my job at the West Hollywood Best Buy."
                - Screenwriting Friend

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                • #9
                  Re: Scene To Page Ratio

                  The only metric I consider, that even remotely resembles this, is when I capture my scene heading report (which in MSWord includes the page numbers) and dump it into Excel. I have a formula that shows the number of pages per scene. So, 0 is one page or less. No problem. But if I see 5-6 pages, I check the scene to see if there's too much going on in one location in that part of the script.

                  I rarely have to fix anything, because sometimes in the course of that story that's just the way it is. Anyway, most of the time during my writing I know when things are slowing down.

                  (Incidentally, the STPR can get thrown off if the director uses the "jittery camera" technique to simulate intensity or excitement. )

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                  • #10
                    Re: Scene To Page Ratio

                    Originally posted by TwoBrad Bradley View Post
                    A thought: If you're ever considering that a scene might be too long, aren't you really thinking about the scene/page ratio?
                    No. There are no Sabermetrics for screenwriting.

                    If a scene's too long, it's because it's slow. There are plenty of 8-10 page scenes that whiz by, and plenty of 2 page scenes that drag.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Scene To Page Ratio

                      Holy sh!t. I can't believe how many of you just curb-stomped roscoegino for asking a simple question.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Scene To Page Ratio

                        Believe.

                        I take the Simon Cowells seriously.
                        "I ask every producer I meet if they need TV specs they say yeah. They all want a 40 inch display that's 1080p and 120Hz. So, I quit my job at the West Hollywood Best Buy."
                        - Screenwriting Friend

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                        • #13
                          Re: Scene To Page Ratio

                          I don't worry about my scene to page ratio until I've first done a thorough check of word to line ratio. If there are too few words in a full line, I know I'm using too big of a vocabulary and the readers won't understand. I can't tell you how many times I've had to go back and find a much shorter, simpler word for antidisestablishmentarianism. But it's that extra bit of conscientiousness that results in a sale. At least I think it will if it ever happens.
                          "The Hollywood film business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." Hunter S Thompson

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                          • #14
                            Re: Scene To Page Ratio

                            Originally posted by cshel View Post
                            I don't worry about my scene to page ratio until I've first done a thorough check of word to line ratio. If there are too few words in a full line, I know I'm using too big of a vocabulary and the readers won't understand. I can't tell you how many times I've had to go back and find a much shorter, simpler word for antidisestablishmentarianism. But it's that extra bit of conscientiousness that results in a sale. At least I think it will if it ever happens.
                            There's always the punctuation tricks, including that new one that's used a lot when you're looking for a bit of bulk and ominous emphasis, such as:

                            Code:
                            [FONT="Courier New"]                              HOODLUM
                                                Listen.  You.   Put.  The.  Gems.  Down.[/FONT]
                            Which is 33% longer than "Listen you, put the gems down" Run up those page counts!

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                            • #15
                              Re: Scene To Page Ratio

                              Originally posted by Todd Karate View Post
                              No. There are no Sabermetrics for screenwriting.

                              If a scene's too long, it's because it's slow. There are plenty of 8-10 page scenes that whiz by, and plenty of 2 page scenes that drag.
                              You "paid attention" (as per the OP) to the scene/page ratio twice in that short little reply.

                              I think you're talking about the ratio of the number of scenes to the number of scenes that suck. (s/b be 1:0)
                              "I am the story itself; its source, its voice, its music."
                              - Clive Barker, Galilee

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