RESIDUALS
Payments made to a film or television writer when his or her work is sold to another venue, such as a feature film sold on DVD, or a network television episode shown in syndication. These fees are negotiated and collected on behalf of the writer by the Writers Guild of America.
New comment spam blocker
Over the weekend, the site got hit by more than 130 comment spams. These are junk messages added to the comment sections of individual articles, usually consisting of links to off-shore gambling, viagra and vioxx. Spammers use automated scripts to leave the same message on article after article, site after site. It’s hard to say whether they actually intend to sell products, or if their goal is simply to annoy.
[WordPress](http://wordpress.org), the system that powers this site, is pretty good at flagging potential comment spam so that it doesn’t show up for readers, but that still leaves me to go through and clean it up. So on Sunday I implemented a new passphrase system that should hopefully stem the tide of comment spam, without being too onerous for actual readers.
Now, when you try to post a comment, you’ll be asked to type in a certain word from a given phrase. If it matches, your comment is posted. If not, your comment is ignored.
The system is not terribly sophisticated, and a devoted spammer could probably code around it in half an hour. But I suspect it wouldn’t be worth the time or trouble. Here’s hoping, anyway.
Let me know if you run into any trouble with the new comment system.
Good “Choose or Lose” spot
I haven’t written at all about the upcoming election, for two main reasons. First, a sizable percentage of readers live outside the United States. Second, it’s none of my damn business who you want to vote for.
I have definite opinions about the candidates and issues, but this site is about writing and filmmaking. Most of the writing and filmmaking associated with this campaign season has been tedious, dishonest and unworthy of any discussion. But this MTV Choose or Lose spot that does well on both fronts. (**Update March 2011:** I can’t find a good link for this video anymore.)
It’s written by Taras Wayner and directed by Josh Miller. Whether or not you agree with its message, admire it for its simplicity. While it has really good production values, it’s basically something any reader could do at home with a DV camera. It gets its impact through good writing, straightforward direction and a solid performance.
Page count and tight formatting
I have a question regarding page count. I have a screenplay that I’ve completed, which is about 135 pages or so. I brought it down from 143, but I keep hearing about this magic number of 120 pages, and how that’s what Hollywood looks for. I know my story is tight; it’s now to a point where it’s sacrificing what I set out to do.
I’ve actually used the “tight” page layout option in Final Draft to get it down to 125 pages. My question is: Is this something that is easy to spot, or considered bad? Personally I can’t tell very easily that it’s formatted tighter?
And as an aside…any chance of getting my short film mentioned on the site? It’s called [“this moment”](http://www.dimeworth.com) and screened at Sundance this year, as part of Kevin Spacey’s triggerstreet online festival top ten.
— Ayz
I’ve plugged your film, so let’s get to your question.
Yes, everyone can tell when you use the “tight” setting on Final Draft. Yes, it’s cheating. While I know some people who use it, I personally recommend against it. In typographic terms, “tight” reduces the leading between lines, which makes your script fractionally more difficult to read. Anything that makes the reader more likely to give up rather than finish your script is a Bad Thing.
So don’t do it.
I’ve crossed the 120-page barrier on many occasions, and the world hasn’t come crashing down on my head. But 135 is really long. While you may think you’ve trimmed out all the fat, you haven’t. How can I be so sure, without having read your script?
1. This is one of your first scripts, and first scripts are always fat.
2. Please flip to page 73. If you had to cut this scene, would the entire movie fall apart? No. You’d write around it. So cut it and deal with the absence. Repeat as needed.
3. Your short film is good, but it too has fat. If each of the setups were half as long, the film would be more effective.
In case you’re wondering, real working screenwriters do worry about page count and such. I was on a panel last week with [Terry Rossio](http://imdb.com/name/nm0744429/), where we both talked about going through the script page by page, killing off [widows and orphans](http://www.creativepro.com/story/feature/14089.html).