First time screenwriter: is 90 pages okay?

[Lord Garth]

You might want to split that in half. That's a four-hour film you're looking at.

I also recommend using Final Draft software for writing or formatting a script.

 

[Rush Limborg]

^Well, it's in Times New Roman format, with MS Word. (I'm "roughing" it, as it were.) Perhaps when I format it properly, it'll be whittled down.

And a lot of the scenes, as I said, are dialogue-rich, with short lines. I'm pretty sure that, due to that, the ratio has more than one page per minute, for much of it.

 

[Trekker4747]

I'd recommend trimming it down to make it as tight and efficient as possible. Unless you plan on financing and producing it yourself I don't think any studio/producer would look at a near 300-page script and think it's worth buying. You have to look at it from their point of view that a long script that'd produce a 3-hour long movie would be hard to market and it'd be harder for it to make its money back. (Longer run time means fewer showings per day.)

Making it tighter would also show any prospective buyer that you're not only a capable screenwriter but an efficient one. Show that you can say what you need to say in one page rather than two.

But, again, this may be all moot if you plan on making it yourself and that, again, most big-time studios only "buy scripts" to get writers who're capable with little intention in ever producing the script they bought.

 

[Rush Limborg]

It's probably going to be an indie--in fact, it's almost a given. But length or not--my reason for saying that is: I want it to be done with my specific vision in mind.

I don't want to go through what Quentin did with Natural Born Killers.

Still, again--I'm pretty sure a lot of the excessive length is due to it not being written in the "proper" format.

 

[Trekker4747]

It's probably going to be an indie--in fact, it's almost a given. But length or not--my reason for saying that is: I want it to be done with my specific vision in mind.

I don't want to go through what Quentin did with Natural Born Killers.

Still, again--I'm pretty sure a lot of the excessive length is due to it not being written in the "proper" format.

Most likely and if you're not going to try and sell it to a studio or use it as an example you're familiar with the proper format there's no need to put it in the proper format.

 

[Professor Zoom]

^Well, it's in Times New Roman format, with MS Word. (I'm "roughing" it, as it were.) Perhaps when I format it properly, it'll be whittled down.

And a lot of the scenes, as I said, are dialogue-rich, with short lines. I'm pretty sure that, due to that, the ratio has more than one page per minute, for much of it.

Unless the dialogue is a simple short sentence, 237 pages is a REALLY REALLY long script. No matter your formatting.

I would suggest getting some friends together and read it out loud. You'll get a much better sense of how long it is.

 

[Rush Limborg]

^Well, it's in Times New Roman format, with MS Word. (I'm "roughing" it, as it were.) Perhaps when I format it properly, it'll be whittled down.

And a lot of the scenes, as I said, are dialogue-rich, with short lines. I'm pretty sure that, due to that, the ratio has more than one page per minute, for much of it.

Unless the dialogue is a simple short sentence, 237 pages is a REALLY REALLY long script. No matter your formatting.

There are a lot of short sentences.

I would suggest getting some friends together and read it out loud. You'll get a much better sense of how long it is.

Thank you, I just might.

 

[Maurice]

Typical feature film screenplays run anywhere from 80–130 pages, with the assumption that the typical film runs about a minute per page. Over 120 starts to look long. Too much under 90 might look short. And no one's going to touch a 150+ page screenplay from an unknown.

As above, register it with the WGA. The WGA can't help you if you're not a member, but having it on file can help you prove your case if anyone ever (unlikely) stole it.

You probably know this, but don't put in scene numbers. That's the mark of a rank amateur, because the scene numbers are added by the production company/studio when the script is broken down by them.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

May I highly recommend Celtx for scriptwriting. It's a great program, it's FREE and you can collaborate on line if you need to.

https://www.celtx.com/

 

[Professor Zoom]

^Well, it's in Times New Roman format, with MS Word. (I'm "roughing" it, as it were.) Perhaps when I format it properly, it'll be whittled down.

And a lot of the scenes, as I said, are dialogue-rich, with short lines. I'm pretty sure that, due to that, the ratio has more than one page per minute, for much of it.

Unless the dialogue is a simple short sentence, 237 pages is a REALLY REALLY long script. No matter your formatting.

There are a lot of short sentences.

At 273, there must be. You really should read it out loud, that many short sentences can also get exhausting to the ear.

May I highly recommend Celtx for scriptwriting. It's a great program, it's FREE and you can collaborate on line if you need to.

https://www.celtx.com/

There's also www.rawscripts.com It's an on line only program, also free. I have it with my Chrome browser. But I pretty much just use Final Draft. There's also a company called Fade In Pro if you were looking to buy something. It's cheaper than Final Draft but is just as good I think.

But, as stated, there are free options.

 

[sojourner]

It's 237 pages of "Did not!" "Did too!".

 

[Trekker4747]

Unless the dialogue is a simple short sentence, 237 pages is a REALLY REALLY long script. No matter your formatting.

There are a lot of short sentences.

At 273, there must be. You really should read it out loud, that many short sentences can also get exhausting to the ear.

May I highly recommend Celtx for scriptwriting. It's a great program, it's FREE and you can collaborate on line if you need to.

https://www.celtx.com/

There's also www.rawscripts.com It's an on line only program, also free. I have it with my Chrome browser. But I pretty much just use Final Draft. There's also a company called Fade In Pro if you were looking to buy something. It's cheaper than Final Draft but is just as good I think.

But, as stated, there are free options.

There's also instructions out there in how to format Microsoft Word to type in screenplay format using macros for the various screenplay elements.

 

[Rush Limborg]

It's 237 pages of "Did not!" "Did too!".

Well, think this exchange in The Big Sleep, with Humphrey Bogart:

"Is that any of your business?"

"I could make it my business."

"I could make you business mine."

"You wouldn't like it; the pay's too small."


It's basically a hard-boiled, pulp-fiction tale. The lines often consist of one...line on the page, apiece. That can be significantly longer than "Did not! Did too!" etc.--but still "lean", in conjunction with the "hard-boiled" style.

There are, however, longer lines--like someone said, there is variation; not for effect, per se--but natural "flow".




EDIT: Come to think of it--and the only reason I forgot this is because I'm so used to using this--the screenplay is double-spaced. When I single-space it, it becomes 129 pages.

 

[Rush Limborg]

There's also www.rawscripts.com It's an on line only program, also free. I have it with my Chrome browser. But I pretty much just use Final Draft. There's also a company called Fade In Pro if you were looking to buy something. It's cheaper than Final Draft but is just as good I think.

But, as stated, there are free options.

There's also instructions out there in how to format Microsoft Word to type in screenplay format using macros for the various screenplay elements.

Indeed? I'll check that out, then!

 

[Professor Zoom]

EDIT: Come to think of it--and the only reason I forgot this is because I'm so used to using this--the screenplay is double-spaced. When I single-space it, it becomes 129 pages.

Yeah. That's much more reasonable. Screenplays aren't double spaced.

 

[Rush Limborg]

Phew! That's a relief....

 

[Trekker4747]

There's also www.rawscripts.com It's an on line only program, also free. I have it with my Chrome browser. But I pretty much just use Final Draft. There's also a company called Fade In Pro if you were looking to buy something. It's cheaper than Final Draft but is just as good I think.

But, as stated, there are free options.

There's also instructions out there in how to format Microsoft Word to type in screenplay format using macros for the various screenplay elements.

Indeed? I'll check that out, then!

Here it is:

PART 1:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypF3rI3Eifg[/yt]

PART 2:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwCklHKshBE[/yt]