Also as a formal chair of the DGA AD/UPM Committee have been charged with discovering the page count history and relevance to appropriately breaking down scene, scheduling and budgeting screenplays. In providing some brief perspective: Historically movies were originally dominated with writers from the NY theatrical play scene so thus they were aligned structurally with acts and timing to reflect the stage story telling that audiences were accustomed too early last century. Most plays were timed to accommodate the train schedule to enable patrons to catch the the last available departure at around 10 PM so 7-8 PM scene one beginning would enable a timely curtain call if the play ran 90 min to 2 hrs which initially instilled the pattern. The 1-min to 1 page ratio rule was more invented for TV series programing because of their tight adherence to advertising time allocation then was later adopted to film scheduling by ADs/UPMs who worked in both mediums. Rather than "cheating" using a lazy 1:1 page ratio for page count per day, a more effective method would be to schedule by daily scene count. Unfortunately,because of time contraints for delivery, very few UPMs and ADs take time to analyze each scene in 3 dimensional detail to achieve that accurate goal.
Always enjoy your insights Stephen because of their because of both their zeitgeist germane appeal and your researched presentation of detailed depth. Thanks again for your valuable contributions to the integrity of the industry.
It's sheer serendipty to come across this article since I've been reading a lot of scripts lately, and was recently wondering about the difference between first the submitted drafts (that likely trigger the page count response) versus shooting scripts. Anyway, do you think the "first submitted draft" has any bearing on the analysis vs. one that's more of a shooting script or an award submission (e.g. "for your consideration"?
Btw, at the risk of dating myself by using old terminology, I've heard this particular pontification since time immemorial, but have always treated it as a "thumbrule" and not a law by any stretch of the imagination. Like every rule actually.
Greetings Stephen,
Also as a formal chair of the DGA AD/UPM Committee have been charged with discovering the page count history and relevance to appropriately breaking down scene, scheduling and budgeting screenplays. In providing some brief perspective: Historically movies were originally dominated with writers from the NY theatrical play scene so thus they were aligned structurally with acts and timing to reflect the stage story telling that audiences were accustomed too early last century. Most plays were timed to accommodate the train schedule to enable patrons to catch the the last available departure at around 10 PM so 7-8 PM scene one beginning would enable a timely curtain call if the play ran 90 min to 2 hrs which initially instilled the pattern. The 1-min to 1 page ratio rule was more invented for TV series programing because of their tight adherence to advertising time allocation then was later adopted to film scheduling by ADs/UPMs who worked in both mediums. Rather than "cheating" using a lazy 1:1 page ratio for page count per day, a more effective method would be to schedule by daily scene count. Unfortunately,because of time contraints for delivery, very few UPMs and ADs take time to analyze each scene in 3 dimensional detail to achieve that accurate goal.
Always enjoy your insights Stephen because of their because of both their zeitgeist germane appeal and your researched presentation of detailed depth. Thanks again for your valuable contributions to the integrity of the industry.
This is a fantastic analysis.
It's sheer serendipty to come across this article since I've been reading a lot of scripts lately, and was recently wondering about the difference between first the submitted drafts (that likely trigger the page count response) versus shooting scripts. Anyway, do you think the "first submitted draft" has any bearing on the analysis vs. one that's more of a shooting script or an award submission (e.g. "for your consideration"?
Btw, at the risk of dating myself by using old terminology, I've heard this particular pontification since time immemorial, but have always treated it as a "thumbrule" and not a law by any stretch of the imagination. Like every rule actually.
~Cheers.