It never ceases to boggle my mind why it's so difficult to find the proper size brads if you live outside of Los Angeles. When I completed my first script while living in Florida, I eagerly ran down to my local Staples to buy brads. I couldn't wait to finally fasten my masterpiece together just like how Hollywood prefers it. My script will finally look like...well, a script.
I froze with confusion when I got to the fasteners section of the store. There was a wide selection of brads to choose from. Like an idiot, I completely forgot what size I needed to get. And I didn't have my script with me to test them out. All I remembered was the brads were suppose to have been made from Chicago or had the word "Chicago" in its name, but then I second-guessed myself and didn't know if those were the ones I had to get or the ones I had to avoid. So I bought every single size, 5 in all.
I got home and fastened my pages together. I held the script in my hands. This is what a screenplay is suppose to look like! But there was something not right about it. The brads were too short and when I flipped to the third act, the pages fell apart. So I refastened it with a different kind. Now the the brads were too long. I twisted the ends of them, bent them down like I was creating modern art. It looked awful. I cut the ends of them off, but that left what remained of the brads too sharp for reading comfort.
I went through my how-to-write-a-screenplay books and one told me not to use the Chicago screws while another told me it's okay to use them.
http://www.writersstore.com/images/supplies/597b.jpg
<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Chicago Post Fasteners<!--EZCODE BOLD END--> -- <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> A two part screw which is often used to hold pages of a picture album.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->
Ultimately, I learned it is NOT proper to use the Chicago fasteners. But what all the books did agree on was that a script is best held together with Brads 1 1/4 inches long. Exactly the kind that I didn't have.
http://www.writersstore.com/images/supplies/596b.jpg
<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Acco Brass Fasteners #5 - 1 1/4"<!--EZCODE BOLD END--> -- <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Round headed, flat sided metal nails with a shaft that splits to be bent wide open.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->
So I went to every office supply and printing shop in town. They didn't have brads 1 1/4 size (as pictured above). I was heart-broken. My masterpiece looks less than perfect and I couldn't do a damn thing about it.
It wasn't until I moved to Los Angeles was I pleasently surprised to find the perfect size brads in every store I went to. 1 1/4 size brads grow on trees here. But wait -- what is this I discovered? I had some scripts printed up at a copy store on Sunset and Ogden and the clerk bound my script with brads and these weird looking things called WASHERS.
http://www.writersstore.com/images/supplies/599b.jpg
<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Round-head solid brass washers<!--EZCODE BOLD END--> -- <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> They provide a secure â€-sandwichâ€TM effect that minimizes the stress exerted on brad bound documents.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->
I love washers. When people send me scripts, I tell them don't send them without washers. It just makes for a more comfortable read and makes it easier to travel with scripts without worrying about the pages falling apart. But there's a debate whether industry readers like them because it makes it that much more difficult to copy your script. I personally say go with the washers. Taking them off isn't that hard to do. I think most people appreciate them and no one is going to pass on your script because it was bound with washers.
I wasn't connected to the internet when I started writing scripts. But you lucky bastards are. So if you can't find the proper brads in your hometown, you can go to www.writersstore.com. They sell a pack of 100 brads for $7.95.
If you don't need 100 brads, you can go to www.baumgartens.com . They sell a pack of 24 brads for $1.65. Just like the pic below indicates...
http://www.baumgartens.com/product/j...ansBlister.jpg
Now here's an age-old question that's been debated ever since Plato visited Syracuse, the chief city of Greek Sicily, to serve as tutor for the new king, Dionysius: <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Two brads or three?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->
In Woody Allen's most recent film, HOLLYWOOD ENDING, the opening scene has several studio execs standing around in an office and talking. On the desk (prominently in the foreground) is a pile of scripts -- and to my shock and horror -- they all had three brads fastening them. I love Woody Allen and his films. I've seen them all several times and proudly display his DVDs in my collection. But the man's been accussed of "living in his own world" and his films becoming too "insular." I use to disregard those critics and pundits when they said that. Now I have to agree with them.
Dear Woody,
Please get out more. It's two brads. Not three.
Sincerely,
CRASH
I froze with confusion when I got to the fasteners section of the store. There was a wide selection of brads to choose from. Like an idiot, I completely forgot what size I needed to get. And I didn't have my script with me to test them out. All I remembered was the brads were suppose to have been made from Chicago or had the word "Chicago" in its name, but then I second-guessed myself and didn't know if those were the ones I had to get or the ones I had to avoid. So I bought every single size, 5 in all.
I got home and fastened my pages together. I held the script in my hands. This is what a screenplay is suppose to look like! But there was something not right about it. The brads were too short and when I flipped to the third act, the pages fell apart. So I refastened it with a different kind. Now the the brads were too long. I twisted the ends of them, bent them down like I was creating modern art. It looked awful. I cut the ends of them off, but that left what remained of the brads too sharp for reading comfort.
I went through my how-to-write-a-screenplay books and one told me not to use the Chicago screws while another told me it's okay to use them.
http://www.writersstore.com/images/supplies/597b.jpg
<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Chicago Post Fasteners<!--EZCODE BOLD END--> -- <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> A two part screw which is often used to hold pages of a picture album.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->
Ultimately, I learned it is NOT proper to use the Chicago fasteners. But what all the books did agree on was that a script is best held together with Brads 1 1/4 inches long. Exactly the kind that I didn't have.
http://www.writersstore.com/images/supplies/596b.jpg
<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Acco Brass Fasteners #5 - 1 1/4"<!--EZCODE BOLD END--> -- <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Round headed, flat sided metal nails with a shaft that splits to be bent wide open.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->
So I went to every office supply and printing shop in town. They didn't have brads 1 1/4 size (as pictured above). I was heart-broken. My masterpiece looks less than perfect and I couldn't do a damn thing about it.
It wasn't until I moved to Los Angeles was I pleasently surprised to find the perfect size brads in every store I went to. 1 1/4 size brads grow on trees here. But wait -- what is this I discovered? I had some scripts printed up at a copy store on Sunset and Ogden and the clerk bound my script with brads and these weird looking things called WASHERS.
http://www.writersstore.com/images/supplies/599b.jpg
<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Round-head solid brass washers<!--EZCODE BOLD END--> -- <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> They provide a secure â€-sandwichâ€TM effect that minimizes the stress exerted on brad bound documents.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->
I love washers. When people send me scripts, I tell them don't send them without washers. It just makes for a more comfortable read and makes it easier to travel with scripts without worrying about the pages falling apart. But there's a debate whether industry readers like them because it makes it that much more difficult to copy your script. I personally say go with the washers. Taking them off isn't that hard to do. I think most people appreciate them and no one is going to pass on your script because it was bound with washers.
I wasn't connected to the internet when I started writing scripts. But you lucky bastards are. So if you can't find the proper brads in your hometown, you can go to www.writersstore.com. They sell a pack of 100 brads for $7.95.
If you don't need 100 brads, you can go to www.baumgartens.com . They sell a pack of 24 brads for $1.65. Just like the pic below indicates...
http://www.baumgartens.com/product/j...ansBlister.jpg
Now here's an age-old question that's been debated ever since Plato visited Syracuse, the chief city of Greek Sicily, to serve as tutor for the new king, Dionysius: <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Two brads or three?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->
In Woody Allen's most recent film, HOLLYWOOD ENDING, the opening scene has several studio execs standing around in an office and talking. On the desk (prominently in the foreground) is a pile of scripts -- and to my shock and horror -- they all had three brads fastening them. I love Woody Allen and his films. I've seen them all several times and proudly display his DVDs in my collection. But the man's been accussed of "living in his own world" and his films becoming too "insular." I use to disregard those critics and pundits when they said that. Now I have to agree with them.
Dear Woody,
Please get out more. It's two brads. Not three.
Sincerely,
CRASH
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