Hello all,
Greetings from London!
I'm currently working on my second feature-length screenplay, and i'm currently at 30 pages/7,500 words, and it's only the story introduction.
Based on the amount of story left to tell, I picture this screenplay coming out quite long.
To my fellow writers- should I stick to my guns and keep it how originally intended? Or cut it down to the 120 page mark?
I know some of the most successful movies have quite long screenplays..
Brandon
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I’ve heard a lot of different things, but with the two I’ve written so far I’ve kept the page count at 112 and 116.
The longer screenplays that get sold tend to come from the more experienced people (your Christopher Nolan’s and your Martin scorcese’s)
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If you're already a successful, established writer and writing "Gone with the Wind" or "Dances with Wolves", type it as long as you'd like. If not and you're new at this, keep it to 120 pages or the first impression a producer will get of your script is "newbie amateur".
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You haven’t finished yet. Cross that bridge when you come to it.
If you are dialogue heavy your page count will be higher. That is just a function of the format.
Plus you have many rewrites ahead of you. I guarantee you will find dead scenes that need removal.
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Brandon- who is your team? Up The Villa. Write anything and everything for a first draft. Then mold it from the eyes of a producer and get Ockham's Razor out. Each re-write will get you closer. It may take years! Worry about page count later... Good luck. Cheers, AM
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You want a max of 110 pages.
Did you outline? Did you include page count in your outline?
How many screenplays have you read? Over a dozen?
My advice: Grab your 3 favorite movies on Blu-ray or DVD or whatever. Take a lined pad of paper. Watch the movies and write down every scene. And what the film's running time is when the scene begins. Now you will know how many scenes you need and have an idea of how long your scenes should be. Now re-outline your script with potential page numbers built into the outline.
Oscar nominated screenwriter Paul Schrader outlines this way and never goes over the page number for when that scene is - script conforms to outline, period.
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You touch on word count - screenwriters generally don't go there, that's more for novelist. In today's world a tightly scripted story, worthy of production is about 100 pages plus/minus a few. It's gonna total out between 19K to 20K words mol. At 7,500 words on 30 pages (250 per page) your script is obese. Trim the fat - each page ought to be a shade under 200 words. Action heavy scenes and dialogue heavy scenes very a little in word density. These are all basic generalities. Write tight!
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First off, go write the script you want to. If it comes in at 150 pages, no problem. You will learn writing by rewriting. So combine, condense, and cut, and write lean. The page count will drop quickly. Storytelling is a craft, an art and a skill.
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If I'm 30 minutes into a movie (ie 30 pages) and you're still introducing the story, I'm changing the channel. This may be my lack of attention span. But I like Lindbergh E Hollingsworth 's and Doug Nelson 's advice.
My advice is to grab a notepad (you know those old-fashioned relics that are typically paired with a pen or a pencil) and watch a movie similar to what you're aiming for. Watch the clock and make notes of where that story is at X amount of minutes. This might give you an idea of the flow you should aim for. Best of luck!
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I agree with WM. You're not writing a novel. Also, with 7500 words by page 30, it sounds like you're probably heavy on narrative. Marketable scripts should have a lot of white space. Endeavor to be economic. My latest screenplay is 106 pages and 16,638 words.