whats this in scriptwriting

[ad2478]

Hi i was reading an old post where i saw this written by clive

Does the script have a 2:1 action to dialogue ratio?

can any one tell me what does this mean????

 

[indietalk]

2:1 100%:50%

 

[VPTurner]

66 2/3% action and 33 1/3% dialogue, or twice the amount of action than dialogue, or "2x=y" where "x" = dialogue and "y" = action...

Clear as mud?

This is partially what readers are looking for with the "fan test" where they start at the back of the script and fan through the pages to the front. If it fails the fan test, it may not even get read. This is yet another aspect of looking professional as mentioned in another thread.

 

[Jijenji]

Hi i was reading an old post where i saw this written by clive

can any one tell me what does this mean????

Just what indietalk and vp said. Basically, you don't want talking heads in a movie.

Talking heads are for stageplays. In a movie, people should be doing something. So if someone flips through a screenplay and often sees several pages in a row with only dialogue, they will quickly realize the writer really doesn't know what he or she is doing.

 

[ad2478]

respected indietalk , indietalk , Jijenji

thanks a lot for guiding me about this. i didnt knew this important rule.i was a little confused when i saw this statment.