Cast Size Q. - for Film this time

[socalwriter1]

This relates to the question in the TV section and the response by N.G.

I have MANY minor characters (waitresses, people in parks, etc.) with a few lines and are basically in only one or two scenes. I am assuming then my film would shout "expensive to make?" As minor as those characters are, cutting them out would require significant re-tooling of the script but if that is what it would take to make them acceptable from a business standpoint, then I'll do it.

[EnterUserNameHere]

As long as you're not going overboard, worry about it when you have producers telling you what they need you to do to make budget.

You can worry about how much elements cost all day, and still have more things to cut. In the end, you can cut out entire scenes in restaurants and parks, because they can't afford the extras.

Just try to keep in line with what you see in movies. Not everybody in every scene talks, but one or two here and there won't be a deal breaker.

[FADE IN]

Originally Posted by socalwriter1

This relates to the question in the TV section and the response by N.G.

I have MANY minor characters (waitresses, people in parks, etc.) with a few lines and are basically in only one or two scenes. I am assuming then my film would shout "expensive to make?" As minor as those characters are, cutting them out would require significant re-tooling of the script but if that is what it would take to make them acceptable from a business standpoint, then I'll do it.

One of a screenwriter's duties is to write his picture using the least possible number of bit players he can manage whilst still writing a feature film. A review may be in order, look at every bit part and see if what they do and the role they play can't be done in some fashion that doesn't require an actor or may not require dialogue. Every movie has bit parts, they're unavoidable. The key is the number, its obviously got to be moderate. The kind of story involved will be the driver, but in most cases a writer can keep the number sufficiently low.

I write in every one that pops up in the course of doing a first draft but as I do additional drafts to develop the piece I look for ways to get rif of as many as possible, knowing in front I'll never get it down to zero. Most features have casts in the 35-40 range, of whom about ten are the principles and supporting cast. The rest are bit players, one scene, six lines, two scenes ten lines, or less.

My writing software produces a report that gives some data on the cast. Here's part one of these reports from a script of mine:

Speaking Roles: 53
Scenes: 185
Words: 22.0KB

Dialogue Words 10,827 49%
Action Words 9,388 43%
Other Words 1,740 8%

SCENES
Average length: 109 words Longest: 662 words

Words Scenes % Words Scenes %
---------------------------- --------------------
0- 49 89 48.1% 450-499 0 0.0%
50- 99 27 14.6% 500-549 0 0.0%
100-149 18 9.7% 550-599 2 1.1%
150-199 18 9.7% 600-649 0 0.0%
200-249 10 5.4% 650-699 1 0.5%
250-299 6 3.2%
300-349 5 2.7%
350-399 8 4.3%
400-449 1 0.5%

Average speakers per scene: 1.2
Most: 4

Scenes with...
0 speakers 84 45.4% |***************
1 speaker 14 7.6% |**
2 speakers 58 1.4% |**********
3 speakers 26 14.1% |****
4 speakers 3 1.6%
|
SPEAKING ROLES

Average speaking scenes per character: 2.6

Speakers appearing in...
1 scene 28 52.8% |*****************
2 scenes 10 18.9% |******
3 scenes 4 7.5% |**
4 scenes 3 5.7% |*
5 scenes 2 3.8% |*
6 scenes 0 0.0% |
7 scenes 0 0.0% |
8 scenes 1 1.9% |
9 scenes 0 0.0% |
>9 scenes 5 9.4% |***

You can see here that of the 53 members of the cast in total (speaking parts), twenty-eight of them appear in one scene and one only, they are the bit parts. There are five characters who appear in nine scene or more, they are the principles. Five characters appear in in four of five scenes, they'd be the roles involved with subplots.

I don't like have 53 in the cast. I much prefer that it be 40 or even 35 but I've whacked this thing down about as low as I think it oughta go. If a producer were to tell me it had to be reduce to 40 ... I'd find a way to get that done, or die trying.

One positive note repoprted here is that 84 scenes of the total 185 scenes have no dialogue, they are visual scenes, which means that 45% of this script is visual, at least in terms of scene counts.

Another positive note is that 75% of scenes are written in 149 words or less, which I think means it should be a fast read.

I think a writer really has to scrub hard on bit parts and discover all the ways there are to cover their parts that don't require a speaking part. The last thing you want to have happen is some producer pointing out six easy ways you could get rid of 8 bit parts. It is incumbent upon a writer to find those "easy ways" before the script ever lands in the hands of a producer.

[NikeeGoddess]

You can see here that of the 53 members of the cast in total (speaking parts), twenty-eight of them appear in one scene and one only, they are the bit parts.

FADE - you should cut out that one scene and then regenerate the data report.
it still seems like you have a huge cast even after you eliminate those 28. but i'm thinking how easy it must be for a producer to do the same reports when you send it to them via email. and lead actors probably know to do this just to make sure they have more speaking lines, more scenes, more interactions, etc... than everyone else.

[FADE IN]

Originally Posted by NikeeGoddess

FADE - you should cut out that one scene and then regenerate the data report.
it still seems like you have a huge cast even after you eliminate those 28. but i'm thinking how easy it must be for a producer to do the same reports when you send it to them via email. and lead actors probably know to do this just to make sure they have more speaking lines, more scenes, more interactions, etc... than everyone else.

I neglected to mention that this picture is a 2:20 epic, and that's the reason why its cast ran up to 53. It's not really out of touch with the kind of movie it is. It is out of touch with what a more normal 1:40 feature would be and that's what I've written ... 'till this baby came along.

Still, I am doing a review to cut as many of those 28 as I can, and likely I'll get half of them out of there. That would bring the total down to 39, a much more tolerable number.

I'm not sure of FD or MovieMagic and some of the other programs produce reports like this, which came out of Sophocles. I suppose they must feature something like it. But I send PDFs to d-people and agents, not native Sophocles files, so all those actors are stuck because you can't open a PDF in a screenwriting program! Ha, ha, ha.

Cheers!