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Midtown View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Midtown Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Jul 2007 at 10:03pm
Originally posted by DMC_2007 DMC_2007 wrote:

    
I am in around 11 pages, about 2200 (give or take words. I have some cleaning up to do.


I must be towards the high end of the words per page meter. I ended up at 15 pages / 3,442 words. Out of curiosity, I stripped out every single line of descriptive and ended up at 2,469 words. So, I'm averaging about 65 words of descriptive per page. Until I did an actual count, it felt pretty bare bones. Now, I'm wondering if I should try to get that down under 50 per page.
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mcornetto View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote mcornetto Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Jul 2007 at 12:34am
Originally posted by Midtown Midtown wrote:


I must be towards the high end of the words per page meter. I ended up at 15 pages / 3,442 words. Out of curiosity, I stripped out every single line of descriptive and ended up at 2,469 words. So, I'm averaging about 65 words of descriptive per page. Until I did an actual count, it felt pretty bare bones. Now, I'm wondering if I should try to get that down under 50 per page.

Isn't the screenwriting challenge enough for you?
     
I'll show you mine...              Heat 20 Comedy/A Chef   
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Joni B Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Jul 2007 at 2:36am
Per the official RULES: 10% weight to the logline and its level of intrigue and 90% to STORY (Writing, Originality, Character Development and Plot Development).
 
As long as you're in within 15 pages, I wouldn't get too bound up about word count. I'd just keep in mind some general veins of thought, such as:
 
- white space ---- we love white space. Avoid huge blocks of narrative or dialogue and ensure plenty of white space on the page
- any blocks of description of 3 lines or more, take a peek at as you may be able to cut it back
- avoid all -ly adverbs -- they alert to lazy writing. Just find better verbs
- think brevity at all times... if lines/scenes don't provide key info or move the story along and if you can cut without losing anything, cut...
 
Not sure any of that helps, but hey....
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HarlequinOfHate Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Jul 2007 at 4:56am
Originally posted by Joni B Joni B wrote:

Per the official RULES: 10% weight to the logline and its level of intrigue and 90% to STORY (Writing, Originality, Character Development and Plot Development).
 
As long as you're in within 15 pages, I wouldn't get too bound up about word count. I'd just keep in mind some general veins of thought, such as:
 
- white space ---- we love white space. Avoid huge blocks of narrative or dialogue and ensure plenty of white space on the page
- any blocks of description of 3 lines or more, take a peek at as you may be able to cut it back
- avoid all -ly adverbs -- they alert to lazy writing. Just find better verbs
- think brevity at all times... if lines/scenes don't provide key info or move the story along and if you can cut without losing anything, cut...
 
Not sure any of that helps, but hey....
 
 
I don't think that "-ly adverbs" necessarily suggest lazy writing, though I could in fact be the only one that feels this way. Wink
While I agree that it is indeed essential for the writer to be well versed in the English language, writing that comes off as pretensious, or too intellectually forced can immediately turn someone off of a script.
 
I was taught to only write what needs to be said, and ensure that the point you're trying to make is very clear.
To quote a former professor of mine, "The people that pay to see these films don't care if you own a thesaurus or not. All they care about is the quality of the content you provide them. If you can make them care about what happens in the next scene, then you've succeeded."
 
Maybe that's why I've never worked with a major studio, or had a salary of more than $20,000 on a film. Confused I want my tuition back!
 
 
~HoH~
"They're all afraid of you. Like they're afraid of me." - The Joker, 'Batman:Fading Smile'
Coming 2008...
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BarbaraFL View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote BarbaraFL Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Jul 2007 at 5:00am
Progress: I just read what's completed of my horror script - and it's a comedy. It is not scary at all. It reminds me of a MadTV spoof of a horror film.
 
Maybe THEY will buy it!
 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DMC_2007 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Jul 2007 at 5:17am
All of that helps.  I have some cutting to do for sure!!!  Thank you !
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DMC_2007 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Jul 2007 at 5:19am
You're tuition paid off.  Embarrassed
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Twysted Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Jul 2007 at 5:38am
Heat 28 - Mystery/Mistaken Identity for me.

Done, edited, edited again, polished, polished, polished, polished, polished again,and then finished and submitted last night.  (I have to continue working on my spec scripts!)  The hardest thing for me was the title and logline. 

Now I have to figure out how to create some sort of web page and post the pdf file so it opens when you click on the link - no idea how to do that...
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richke View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote richke Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Jul 2007 at 5:48am
I'm starting on my 3rd.....page  :)
Heat #18 - The Darkness Within   
http://www.richardthomaskeel.com/media/18_TheDarknessWithin.pdf
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote aurora68 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 18 Jul 2007 at 6:13am
Originally posted by Twysted Twysted wrote:

Heat 28 - Mystery/Mistaken Identity for me.Done, edited, edited again, polished, polished, polished, polished, polished again,and then finished and submitted last night.  (I have to continue working on my spec scripts!)  The hardest thing for me was the title and logline.  Now I have to figure out how to create some sort of web page and post the pdf file so it opens when you click on the link - no idea how to do that...


Try www.freewebs.com. If you set up an account, you can upload pdf files there, and then just post a link directly to the file. That's what we did last year and it worked like a charm.
    
Check out our script:
Au Jus
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