Script breakdown question!

[Them1tch]

Sciptwriters, over-rated....wot are you on sunny jim!!?

without us guys you wouldn'y have a feckin thing to shoot.

Yes all that ext/int shit does matter, writing 1 page to equal 1 minute does matter as does correct format. If you take your job/hobby seriously then you will do it the right way cus when you break into the big time (which we all will of course) you will be doing it the right way.

If you ever want to show a producer a showreel of your work and hand him a scrappy piece of paper with a few notes on it that say "script" across the top, then more fool you.

Must stop Ranting

Paul
"don't hit actors, it fucks continuity"

[Chance1234]

second themitch,


also properly formated script helps aid the breakdown of the script , which in turns helps schedule

what you do is when you breakdown your script you look at your INT/Day and your Night/EXT etc etc and you assign them each a different colour, then you arrange your scenes by location , then by your colours and hey presto you have a schedule. and for timing of your schedule, after you have your shot list, each shot takes apx. 1/2 hour so you can work out how many days you got to have your crew and cast etc etc etc

[Mr. Drunk]

1 page of script = 1 minute of screen time = bad generalization.

It is perfectly possible to estimate the film's runtime while writing a script, like "I want a 90 minute movie", or a "150 minute movie", or something, but there is basically no way to tell how long a film will run until editing is finished.

Examples:

CLERKS (1994, Kevin Smith film):
Script - 164 pages
Runtime - 92 minutes

ERASERHEAD (1977, David Lynch film):
Script - 20 pages
Runtime - 91 minutes

Now, here's a really good example:

FANDO Y LIS (1967, Alejandro Jodorowsky film):
Script - 1 page (yes, one page long)
Runtime - 93 minutes

[KingDan]

I found that (if you have enought ime, and the script is short enough) if you sit down and read the script and SEE the movie in your head in real movie time with a stop watch, then you'll have actual time.

Also, if you want to trust the minute/page thing, put some beats in the pages and space out the paragraphs.

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Behind the lens -KINGDAN

[marti-c]

Hi
just like to agree with chance and themitch on this one. The format that you arrange and set out the script has already been invented and it is up to us to learn it and stick by the industry standard.

I always remember a quote that one of my old time lecturers would say......." dont try and invent the wheel......its already been invented"

I think it is up to all of us to constantly push the filmmaking/programme making art up onto another level and possibly the digital age is allowing us to do that, but we have to know the basics and build on them first.

marti