7 replies to this topic

[thealtruismsociety]

I created my project file, didn't even take away the default text but. My name, script name etc doesn't go on every page like on a novel?

Edit: Also 100 pages, NaNoWriMo had a goal of 50k but that was really kinda low end for a novel. Is it the same with a script? How many pages is a standard hour and a half movie script?

[Steve]

thealtruismsociety, on Mar 17 2010, 08:05 PM, said:

I created my project file, didn't even take away the default text but. My name, script name etc doesn't go on every page like on a novel?

A "spec" script like the one your writing either has no header or a right-aligned page number followed by a period on every page but the first.

thealtruismsociety, on Mar 17 2010, 08:05 PM, said:

Edit: Also 100 pages, NaNoWriMo had a goal of 50k but that was really kinda low end for a novel. Is it the same with a script? How many pages is a standard hour and a half movie script?

100 pages is a little light, but only by 10 or so. The rule of thumb is that a pages is about a minute of screen time, so 120 pages is about 120 minutes.

-Steve

[thealtruismsociety]

Steve, on Mar 17 2010, 11:13 PM, said:

A "spec" script like the one your writing either has no header or a right-aligned page number followed by a period on every page but the first.



100 pages is a little light, but only by 10 or so. The rule of thumb is that a pages is about a minute of screen time, so 120 pages is about 120 minutes.

-Steve

I guess I can ask about cover pages and all that after the script is done and fully edited to perfection.

[Thoth]

thealtruismsociety, on Mar 17 2010, 11:05 PM, said:

I created my project file, didn't even take away the default text but. My name, script name etc doesn't go on every page like on a novel?

Technically no. This is a spec script. A reading script that gets bound (eventually).

thealtruismsociety, on Mar 17 2010, 11:05 PM, said:

Edit: Also 100 pages, NaNoWriMo had a goal of 50k but that was really kinda low end for a novel. Is it the same with a script? How many pages is a standard hour and a half movie script?

I actually collected a few movie scripts. (Weird, I know.)
Gone With The Wind (1939, a 238 minute movie) had a 221-page script.
Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983, a 134 minute movie) had a 110-page script.
Star Wars has a higher time/page ratio because the short Action descriptions describe a whole lot of action.
So, while ~120 pages is normal enough for a movie, the number of pages can translate into very different movie lengths.

I hope I cleared that all up for ya.
- Thoth.

[Steve]

Thoth, on Mar 17 2010, 08:34 PM, said:

So, while ~120 pages is normal enough for a movie, the number of pages can translate into very different movie lengths.

Quite right. And then there is the issue of lines per page, which makes estimation even more tricky.

-Steve

[Thoth]

Steve, on Mar 17 2010, 11:39 PM, said:

Quite right. And then there is the issue of lines per page, which makes estimation even more tricky.

Interesting article. Thanks Steve.
But since lines per page vary, could a 100-page screenplay be rejected by Script Frenzy's robot alien page counters as too short?
Concerned.
- Thoth.

[thealtruismsociety]

I like how I only need 3.3 pages a day to make this, hehe. Alot more forgiving than NaNoWriMo.

[Steve]

thealtruismsociety, on Mar 18 2010, 07:54 AM, said:

I like how I only need 3.3 pages a day to make this, hehe. Alot more forgiving than NaNoWriMo.

It is. I like it because you can spend more time on story and dialog.

-Steve