I'm writing another episode, and I understand, as a rule of thumb, that one page of dialogue equals one minute of film. Can someone tell me if that's true, especially for a web series? Thanks.
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Is one page of script equal to one minute of film?
- Thread starter Aspiring Mogul
- Start date
I guess like any format, it depends on the ratio of action to speech, though the shorter the film, the greater effect that a speech or action heavy script will have on the page count. It's just a smaller field of data and therefore more susceptable to variation. Longer scripts can soak up the differences over the duration a bit better.
If your web series is speech-heavy then this will easily rack up the page count ratio. Conversely, an action script might barely need a page or 2 to fill 5-10 mins of film, yet require a large amount of storyboard work.
What sort of script is it that you're working on?
If your web series is speech-heavy then this will easily rack up the page count ratio. Conversely, an action script might barely need a page or 2 to fill 5-10 mins of film, yet require a large amount of storyboard work.
What sort of script is it that you're working on?
It's a sci-fi space opera. The sections I'm working on are speech heavy, and I don't care if it's one-minute per page or two minutes or whatever. I'm just trying to get a handle.
My plan is to draft the basic script, then get a scriptwriter or scriptdoctor to revise it. Of course, I'm getting the filming bug, so a table read or two is in the cards.
It is quite accurate over a standard 90 to 120 page script. It is not
page by page accurate. Five pages of dialogue delivered quickly in
the 1930's comedy style will not be five minutes of screen time.
The line "the epic battle ensues" will not last three seconds on
screen.
One great way to "get a handle" is to set a timer and read your
pages out loud. That will give you a reasonable approximation of
how long the scene will be. A dramatic, emotional three page
scene between two people will read longer than a three page
scene of the crew playing a game in the rec area. A tense, slow
building three page scene of the Captain leading his crew into a
dangerous situation will read longer than three pages of the crew
storming the enemy occupied bridge.
But over the course of the entire script you may find that the general
"rule" is accurate.
page by page accurate. Five pages of dialogue delivered quickly in
the 1930's comedy style will not be five minutes of screen time.
The line "the epic battle ensues" will not last three seconds on
screen.
One great way to "get a handle" is to set a timer and read your
pages out loud. That will give you a reasonable approximation of
how long the scene will be. A dramatic, emotional three page
scene between two people will read longer than a three page
scene of the crew playing a game in the rec area. A tense, slow
building three page scene of the Captain leading his crew into a
dangerous situation will read longer than three pages of the crew
storming the enemy occupied bridge.
But over the course of the entire script you may find that the general
"rule" is accurate.
You've pointed to the other problem I'm facing. I understand a half-hour show on TV would be 22 minutes plus ad time, and an hour-long episode would be 40 minutes or so. But I'm not sure what the standard would be on a web series - digging around, the standard seems to be 3-7 minutes.
That's what I've been thinking, except I was thinking of doing a dramatic table read - that was, in fact, the reason why I asked about those two scenes in the other thread, and, of course, with more people, I would be motivated to write more and complete the scenes. Would that be a better starting point? I've got quite a few scripts, and, like I've said, quite a bit of work has been done, but more brainstorming is needed.
So my pilot is either done or the first part of my pilot is done. If I was making a movie for theatrical release, it would be, I think a quarter done.
What's a 1930's comedy as opposed to "Three's Company"?
Well, it depends in part on where and how it's delivered. Youtube was the common medium and at one point would only allow 10 minutes. Now that's expanded to 15. And depending on your channel, it can be up to an 1.5 hrs. The same is true with Vimeo and other broadcast channels. How long your film/webseries can be is limited by your provider/host.
As to your original question, everyone has given you good advice. My experience is that the time per page is more or less asymptotic approaching one page per minute once you pass 25 pages. As a rough guide:
1-5 pages ~ 2-7 minutes
6-15 pages ~ 7-18 minutes
16-20 pages ~ 18-23 minutes
21 - 25 pages ~ 23 - 27 minutes
25 + pages ~ one page per minute
There is variability due to dialogue vs. action. However if you have a balanced page, it should be relatively close. Oddly, I also find that the number of scenes often equals the number of pages. Now by scenes, I don't mean different locations. Locations are re-used.
Equally useful, one page equals 2-3 hours of shooting which includes set up, the shoot of different angles and the take down. For intense shots, it may be 5 hrs. For lesser shoots, 2 hrs. So when I plan a shoot, I can estimate that a 15 page script will have a run time of about 17 minutes on screen. It will have about fifteen scenes and take about 30-40 hrs to shoot (three or four 10-hr days).
None of these is hard and fast but help in the production process to get a handle on how long you will need a location, planning for crew and cast, etc.
As to your original question, everyone has given you good advice. My experience is that the time per page is more or less asymptotic approaching one page per minute once you pass 25 pages. As a rough guide:
1-5 pages ~ 2-7 minutes
6-15 pages ~ 7-18 minutes
16-20 pages ~ 18-23 minutes
21 - 25 pages ~ 23 - 27 minutes
25 + pages ~ one page per minute
There is variability due to dialogue vs. action. However if you have a balanced page, it should be relatively close. Oddly, I also find that the number of scenes often equals the number of pages. Now by scenes, I don't mean different locations. Locations are re-used.
Equally useful, one page equals 2-3 hours of shooting which includes set up, the shoot of different angles and the take down. For intense shots, it may be 5 hrs. For lesser shoots, 2 hrs. So when I plan a shoot, I can estimate that a 15 page script will have a run time of about 17 minutes on screen. It will have about fifteen scenes and take about 30-40 hrs to shoot (three or four 10-hr days).
None of these is hard and fast but help in the production process to get a handle on how long you will need a location, planning for crew and cast, etc.
I'd say at this point that's the least of your concerns with something like a web series - the length should be determined by how long you can realistically hold your viewer's attention online. That's why you usually see numbers in the 3-5 minute range. You may be able to get away with longer as the series goes on and you build up an audience, but up front you want to make it easy for them to make the decision to watch, and to stick with it.
Here's an example from a well known classic, Howard Hawk's His Girl Friday:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loqDhn3mtW4
Rapid-fire dialogue, characters almost talking over one another at times - that's two full pages of dialogue in a minute worth of screen time. Here's a second example from the film:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1CQ8TAds04
That's about 6 pages of dialogue in two minutes. The shooting script is over 190 pages for a 90 minute film.
Something like 3's company is generally a much more relaxed pace - more room for the laugh track - so it's going to hew closer to the one page/one minute guideline.
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Thanks, IDOM. For what it's worth, I can never look at a Cary Grant movie without thinking of how he and Errol Flynn and Howard Hughes had their romantic escapades at the same time.