Kind of a dump question. When outlining, the guru's say you should have like 40-50 "scenes" in your outline. But a film "scene" can be anything from a quick 10 second one to a 10 minute chase sequence. Is there a more reliable way to guesstimate how long the story will end up? When do you know you have enough story to sustain a feature?
-
Wondering which camera, gear, computer, or software to buy? Ask in our Gear Guide.
On outlining?
- Thread starter photon
- Start date
Short answer: A) No, there is not a more reliable way to guesstimate how long the story will end up.
A good beginning though is to learn proper spec script format, write it out, and see if it's under 90 pages or over 110/120. (Shorter is better than longer.)
Short answer: B) When you've studied (not the same as "appreciated") enough movies to know what scenes are filler and what are embellishments.
First - Tell the story you've got to tell.
No, wait. First, skip the 40-50 scenes rubbish. Just delete that from memory. Boop! Gone.
THEN - Tell the story you've got to tell - in spec screenplay format.
Third - is it short of 90pages? Then you gotta fill it up some more. Or, is it long of 110 pages? Then you gotta pare down the (likely descriptive action and banal dialog) blabbity-blab.
(Everyone wants to f#cking write casual conversation like Quentin-f#cking-Tarrantino.
)
Most folks come up short of 90 pages.
Understand how some film stories make attaining a relatively simple MacGuffin a ten-scene PITA just as time filler.
Some add in a tangent story that will collide and mingle with the primary story.
But you gotta quit looking at scenes as like money for a ferry ride.
"Oh! Oh! The ferry ride is 40 dollars/pounds/euros/rupes/pesos/denars/groats/whatever - AND I HAVE 40!"
Won't work that way.
You gotta look at the story as a funtional organism to assemble.
Gotta have bones, muscle, nervous system, respiratory, digestive, and other systems, gotta have skin, an environment, food source, cultural values, etc.
Do you build a mouse or a moose?
A good beginning though is to learn proper spec script format, write it out, and see if it's under 90 pages or over 110/120. (Shorter is better than longer.)
Short answer: B) When you've studied (not the same as "appreciated") enough movies to know what scenes are filler and what are embellishments.
First - Tell the story you've got to tell.
No, wait. First, skip the 40-50 scenes rubbish. Just delete that from memory. Boop! Gone.
THEN - Tell the story you've got to tell - in spec screenplay format.
Third - is it short of 90pages? Then you gotta fill it up some more. Or, is it long of 110 pages? Then you gotta pare down the (likely descriptive action and banal dialog) blabbity-blab.
(Everyone wants to f#cking write casual conversation like Quentin-f#cking-Tarrantino.
)Most folks come up short of 90 pages.
Understand how some film stories make attaining a relatively simple MacGuffin a ten-scene PITA just as time filler.
Some add in a tangent story that will collide and mingle with the primary story.
But you gotta quit looking at scenes as like money for a ferry ride.
"Oh! Oh! The ferry ride is 40 dollars/pounds/euros/rupes/pesos/denars/groats/whatever - AND I HAVE 40!"
Won't work that way.
You gotta look at the story as a funtional organism to assemble.
Gotta have bones, muscle, nervous system, respiratory, digestive, and other systems, gotta have skin, an environment, food source, cultural values, etc.
Do you build a mouse or a moose?
photon, there is no way to accurately calculate from an outline. Many use the *general* guide of 1 script page per minute, so get your outline in shape and write the script. Don't worry about script length on your first draft, write your heart out! Expect many revisions to bring it to a decent page length (as per rayw above) and keep your story intact.
Couple things that might help:
- Find a brutally honest reader for feedback, preferably one who's made film(s) from a script.
- You've probably read enough "how-to" books on screenwriting (I sure have), so throw them out the window, park your butt in a chair and do it.
Best of Luck!
kj
Couple things that might help:
- Find a brutally honest reader for feedback, preferably one who's made film(s) from a script.
- You've probably read enough "how-to" books on screenwriting (I sure have), so throw them out the window, park your butt in a chair and do it.
Best of Luck!
kj
(Everyone wants to f#cking write casual conversation like Quentin-f#cking-Tarrantino.
It drives me up the wall when people try to write witty ten minute dialogue sequences.
True, ten minutes is extreme, ....but does Tarantino hold some kind of special copyright on dialogue now or something? It seems like I see a growing number of people posting up anti-dialogue posts. As I recall, "The Godfather" had consistently long dialogue scenes. So did "Oceans 11", "No Country For Old Men", "Heat" and "Unforgiven".
In "Crimson Tide", Washington and Hackman spend scene after scene trying to establish who was the smarter man using extensive dialogue battles. What about Aniston vs. Vaughn in "The Break Up"? ...Dialogue ruled the set for 2.5 minutes! And to be truthful, I learned more about those two characters and was far more entertained in that 2.5 minutes of dialogue than all of the falling skyscrapers, super spaceships and amazing superhero powers found in "Superman Man of Steel" combined.
Let's face it. A verbal show down drenched in dialogue is a critical part of a good movie.
-Birdman
No, but there are many indie filmmakers that take inspiration from him, and try to write witty long dialogue scenes, often resulting in painful exposition. It's not necessary the length, but the style. His signature black humor and long talks about unrelated subjects or soon to matter subjects are BORING when people attempt to fit that style of writing into their own films. In the films listed above, the dialogue actually fit in the story and was equally balanced with interesting visual sequences. It wasn't 2-10 fast talking witty pop culture referencing jerks or criminals. Although I'm going to exclude Ocean's 11. That movie irritated me.
I don't like the examples listed. I thought The Breakup and Man of Steel had poor dialogue scenes. Horrible, at least to me. Quentin Tarantino actually wrote many dialogue scenes for Crimson Tide!
I disagree that verbal showdowns are necessary. I've seen plenty of good films told almost entirely without dialogue.