How long should your script be - everyone asks!

EACH PAGE of a script roughly translates to a FULL MINUTE of screen time. If you’re writing a comedy, you’ll aim for 90 pages of screenplay. Dramas tend to weigh in at about 110-120 minutes on screen, which translates to 110 to 120 pages of script.

Now let’s talk about scenes. Scenes are tiny little portions of a film that usually happen in one place and divulge a particular piece of information critical to our story.

MONSTERS, INC opens in a child’s bedroom. Then the view expands out till we see we’re not actually in a child’s room at all but in an audition space. (That’s comedy for you! Set your viewers up to think they’re inhabiting one world and then BAM, pull the rug out from under them).

Within moments, we meet the monster that’s auditioning, then the others waiting their turn, and finally the head monster, Waternoose. This scene from opening to close is about 2.5 minutes. It contains much of the information we need to understand Sully and Mike's world.

It is followed by 30 other scenes, all roughly 2.5 to 3 minutes long. Like beads on a necklace, the writer strings each scene onto the storyline to create the entire movie.

 

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