Words on the page

Do you use the "index card" method when preparing
to write a script and if so do you find that your screenplay fleshes out
in the same order as
you wrote it in the index cards?

–Ruble

For those who don’t know about index cards, it’s a technique a lot of screenwriters
use. Each scene or sequence is given its own card. Then the cards are laid
out, pinned up or otherwise arranged to figure out the best structure for the
movie.

While I always outline scripts, for me it’s 50/50 whether I use index cards
or not. For the CHARLIE’S ANGELS sequel they were a big help in pitching the
movie, partly because each card had funny stick figures (e.g. "Car Wash
Angels get the evidence"). I also used different colors for different
types of sequences: action was always on purple cards, while narrative was
blue. When you looked at the whole movie layed out on the table, it was easy
to see the pacing. In discussing an individual
scene, you could point at it.

For a lot of scripts, particularly those without action sequences, index cards
might be a waste of time. A better bet would be to write up an outline or a
treatment that lets you get a sense of the feel of the movie, not just the
big beats. Whatever technique you use, remember that scripts develop their
own logic. Use the cards or the outline as a map, not a Bible.

If you’re editing your own work, how do you stop yourself
from over-editing? To me, it seems like there becomes a point where the editing
is noticible in a negative way on the
screenplay.

–Zack Adcock

Editing is a big part of any writing, but it’s uniquely important in screenwriting,
where so few words have to stand for so much. The most important thing to keep
asking as you edit every word, line and scene is, "Do I need this?" or
more to put it more fully, "How important is this to the story I’m telling?" Often
whole scenes and sequences are felled this way, and it’s better (and cheaper)
to do this kind of work before you’ve spent millions of dollars to film it.

Where editing can go too far is in sacrificing tone or flavor (especially
humor) in service of story efficiency. Good writing has bumps and curves, and
not everything should flow in the fastest possible way. Screenwriting is like
any art that way: deciding what is too much and what is too little, in order
to know what is just right.

How do you (roughly) calculate the ratio of script length to screen time?
Would you use a different calculation for different genres?

–Rebecca

The very general rule is that a page in the script should equal a minute of screen time, which is one reason the industry has standardized around 12-point Courier for the font. Since most screenplays are around 120 pages, the movie should work out to be 120 minutes, or two hours, assuming every scene in the script makes it into the movie.

Of course, a page full of action would likely take longer than a minute, just as a page of rapid-fire dialogue would be a lot faster. That’s why before a movie goes into production, the script is often “timed” to estimate how long the movie will be, so the director and producers can plan accordingly.

A “script timer” is a professional reader who estimates how long each scene will play, and thus, the length of the overall movie. Generally, the script timer will take into account the director’s vision and style when timing the scenes; the David Lynch version of a scene would tend to run longer than the Michael Bay version.

Many script timers are in fact the script supervisors, who will be set during the entire production helping the director, actors and editors maintain continuity and catch mistakes. From the screenwriter’s perspective, this is one of the most important people on the set, since he or she always has the director’s ear, and will be the person correcting actors who mangle their lines.

I am writing a screenplay that has a court room sequence.
Since I find it hard to write lawyer lingo, I figured that I could write the
sequence in a
voice over and have the actors do their thing as I write it out or as the director
sees fit.

–Scott

I hate to burst your bubble, but those lengthy courtroom sequences every week
on "Law and Order" — the ones where Sam Waterston cleverly gets
the witness to screw up on the stand — someone actually has to write all of
those. Every word, every comma. Waterston is a talented actor, but he doesn’t
come up with a single thing he says. Neither does the director. It’s all in
the script, and it’s really, really hard to write.

The same holds true for every line spoken in every movie you’ve ever seen,
with the exception of a few improvised comedies and Dogma experiments.

If you find it impossibly difficult to write lawyer lingo, I can think of
a few options:

1. restructure the story so you don’t need the courtroom stuff
   at all,

2. get someone to help you, or
3. tell a different story, one without
   lawyers.