SEX! Just to grab your attention, but is 90 pages too short for a drama?

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  • SEX! Just to grab your attention, but is 90 pages too short for a drama?

    Well, is it?

    I'm looking at a 94-page drama that I'm just about to finish. Oh, who am I kidding, it's gonna be 92 pages. Can people think of 90-minute dramas that work? Not drama-comedies or drama-thrillers, but just dramas.

  • #2
    Re: SEX! Just to grab your attention, but is 90 pages too short for a drama?

    I've seen dramas that short, but they usually feel a bit light. You're most likely to find them in the indie world with films like Pieces of April (80 minutes) or Unknown Soldier (78 minutes). Maybe your answer is in your subject line ... you should add lots and lots of sex. That should give you an extra 2 minutes per sex scene if they're filmed in real time.
    http://confoundedfilms.com

    http://www.myspace.com/confoundedfilms

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    • #3
      Re: SEX! Just to grab your attention, but is 90 pages too short for a drama?

      you can add 35 seconds for each money shot. but that's a different genre, isn't it?

      90 minutes is a bit light for a drama, and you may leave your audience feeling unsatisfied. But hey, if the story is 90 minutes long, it's only that long.

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      • #4
        Re: SEX! Just to grab your attention, but is 90 pages too short for a drama?

        The Squid and The Whale is 81 minutes long.

        /eagerly awaits Hairy's return to this thread
        I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

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        • #5
          Re: SEX! Just to grab your attention, but is 90 pages too short for a drama?

          I'd suggest explore the plots and sub-plots you already have, perhaps expand on them or add another plot or twist, but only if it fits the story and adds something to it. Don't do it for the sake of making it longer.
          Writer / Director available for your project.

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          • #6
            Re: SEX! Just to grab your attention, but is 90 pages too short for a drama?

            In my opinion (not worth much), 92 pages would be fine IF the script were really tight.

            But it won't be. Unfortunately, most spec scripts by wannabes have a considerable amount of bloat. Too much description, too much exposition, too many "acting notes" in the action, too many lines taken up by unnecessary parentheticals, too much talkiness that goes nowhere. Figure on 5-10 percent being crap that could be cut or incorporated. So about 7.5 percent is dross, and about 92.5 percent is good.

            120 pages x 92.5 percent = 111 pages.

            92 pages x 92.5 percent = 85 pages.

            My advice: Don't worry if the script is a little long. But let it "ripen" in a drawer somewhere (or on the hard drive, nowadays ) and then go back to it with a fresh mind and cut out the crap.

            "The fact that you have seen professionals write poorly is no reason for you to imitate them." - ComicBent.

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            • #7
              Re: SEX! Just to grab your attention, but is 90 pages too short for a drama?

              Originally posted by Rex V
              The Squid and The Whale is 81 minutes long.

              /eagerly awaits Hairy's return to this thread
              That was a comedy.

              Rex.

              You.

              Bastard.
              http://confoundedfilms.com

              http://www.myspace.com/confoundedfilms

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              • #8
                Re: SEX! Just to grab your attention, but is 90 pages too short for a drama?

                A couple of dramas I worked on were between 88-95 pages. You have to allow for actors to chew up screen time as the "reflect, ponder, brood" over their problems.

                That being said you have to make sure the you just don't write "John ponders past events".

                I have been told by readers, actors, producers that thisis a time when you can throw in a sentence that eludes to a feeling. Try an place it with an action (something visual) that also states your case.

                "John readies the coffee maker as usual. But, it's not as usual. He fumbles trying to seperate the filters. He spills the coffee beans... and sweeps the mess onto the floor in frustration. He wonders how he could have saved Jenny."

                This is just a thrown together example and gives the actor a thought to play with.

                Goog luck with your writing.

                Doug Raine

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                • #9
                  Re: SEX! Just to grab your attention, but is 90 pages too short for a drama?

                  That was a comedy.
                  I saw it as more of a Quirky Indie Drama.

                  Or comedy-drama. Or dramedy.

                  Or all three

                  Or none of the above.

                  (Or, wait, aren't those all the same thing?)

                  /smears semen on computer screen
                  I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

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                  • #10
                    Re: SEX! Just to grab your attention, but is 90 pages too short for a drama?

                    Yeah, 92 isn't too short if the script is perfect.

                    But if the script were perfect, you wouldn't be on a message board asking this question.

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                    • #11
                      Re: SEX! Just to grab your attention, but is 90 pages too short for a drama?

                      /smears semen on computer screen[/quote]

                      Oh man, now that's a sticky.

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