length of script

[Synthia]

Re: length of script

Yes, you'll have to trim it more. After taking out everything that's redundant, you have to start cutting into actual things.

You've only got 10 percent to trim.

First, I'm assuming you're not wasting any space with unneccessary CONTINUEDs or CUT TO:s. Then take every three-line action line and rewrite it leaner at two lines. Then look at EVERY scene and see if you can get in one line later and get out one line earlier. Then create a second version without ANY parantheticals (wrylies) and determine which ones -- and only which ones are essential. Then rank your scenes in order of importance to your story's spine -- climax, inciting incident, first-act break, etc. Then start cutting from the bottom and see what you've got. Readers (and audiences) are smart when it comes to filling in missing scenes, you don't need to show them EVERYTHING.

Be sure you save what you've cut, it might be you need to lose entire subplots in subsequent rewrites and will want to pepper back in some of what you've trimmed.

But you've got to be ruthless. Your story will benefit.

Damn, you're good.! I'm cutting and pasting this in my SAVE file.

[Revisionist]

Re: length of script

Just don't trim too much off your eleven inches...

And that is great advice by Pull Back. I cut it out too because it just seems so much easier having it laid out like that right in front of you than remembering a step by step process later.

[tabula rasa]

Re: length of script

Well, if you have a scene that goes on for ten pages where they shoot their way into a prison and liberate a jailed tyrant ... maybe replace it with a scene of a man and a woman having amazing sex for 30 seconds and then he stops and she says "what's wrong, baby?" and he says "Nuthin'" and she says "damn you, I've given you everything and still you're a mystery!"

And he turns to her and sez: "Jeezus. Okay. Once I shot my way into a prison and liberated a tyrant."

Everybody's got skeletons in their closet. Everybody's got coat hangers in the closet too. You don't gotta show everything in the movie.

[bed-and-bones]

Re: length of script

What about scripts that are too short? Cronenberg made 'Crash' work with only 56 pages. The majority of Ingmar Bergman's scripts were also short.

I am well into the second (development) act of my script and I'm only on page 30.

[WritersBlock2010]

Re: length of script

What about scripts that are too short? Cronenberg made 'Crash' work with only 56 pages. The majority of Ingmar Bergman's scripts were also short.

I am well into the second (development) act of my script and I'm only on page 30.

If it is too short, more than likely you are telling more than showing.

Not everything has to be 120 pages, or even 100 pages depending on the genre (animated kids movies are usually 69-79 minutes long). However, if your project is not intended as a short then there is still more story to SHOW literally and tell figuratively, IMO.

[writerman]

Re: length of script

The Bourne Identity was 96 pages. It's a great read.
It's all in the execution.

[ComicBent]

Re: length of script

I hate varying page counts when I work with different programs. The same script I have is 102 pages in ScriptThing. 110 in Final Draft. And 135 in Word. It chokes me, especially in Word when someone requests it as an .rtf. Thank God I bought Final Draft so I can just .pdf everthing now.

You cannot get the pages to be exactly the same when going from one program to another (at least you cannot do it easily), but you can avoid big differences like 102 pages vs. 135 pages.

You just have to know how to use the programs.

For one thing, the font needs to be the same one.

Then, in Word you need to reset your line spacing to 12.1 points to approximate what you get in, say, Final Draft or Movie Magic Screenwriter.

Also, you have to watch things like how widows and orphans (lines at the end or start of a page) are handled.

[Revisionist]

Re: length of script

Thanks, amigo. And here I didn't even think of messing with the Word format. I'll know for next time.

[ckilaru]

Re: length of script

My script started at 180 pages and now I tightened it to 128. You'll be amazed on what you can remove.