Consider pacing when writing your movie?

[NoTalentAssClown]

I met a rather big-headed, pretentious writer last night who was blabbering away like he invented screenwriting, and I actually listened. He was a huge bullsh*tter, but he said that when I get more "advanced", I will learn how to work with pacing as I write. This is still bothering me...

I admit I do not think about pacing at all when I write, but isn't pacing more of a directing or editing thing?

I really don't need another thing to worry about as I write. Do y'all think about or integrate pacing when you're writing your screenplay? If so, how?

 

[Eric Boellner]

Absolutely. A friend of mine often sends me short stories (literary, not screenplays), which I line-edit for her and send back (usually my notes double the page count of the document <grin>).

One of the big things I mentioned to her in one short story was that there needed to be a moment of "downtime" between two climactic events. She had both the events in there, and they were both fantastic, but the impact was lessened because they were too close together.

In fact, in the feature Crime Drama script I'm writing right now, I'm about halfway through and I really wanted a supporting character to kill someone in a very dramatic scene. But I can't. Not because it doesn't fit his character or his story, simply because I can't have that climactic of an event at this point in the script. The script is built as a slow build to a sudden snap, at which point it becomes violent and climactic. And I can't have the impact of that snap (which takes place in the main character's arc) weakened by having the supporting character snap too early. They have to be close together, so that the one closely foreshadows the other and doesn't negate it.

So yes, pacing is definitely something to think about. It's not something to worry about though. Just watch a good film (I suggest Road to Perdition or something similar, as it is a great example of pacing) three or four times. After the third or fourth time, you'll begin to notice things. If you watch it with a stop-watch and jot down the major beats, you'll get a good sense of the pacing of the film, and it's not something you always have to consciously apply to your own writing. I try to, but I write differently than most people, and don't necessarily recommend all of my writing habits for others. <grin>

If you're writing in a specific genre, try to watch a lot of good films from that genre (preferably films that are recent/semi-recent and have done well, either in terms of box office or critical acclaim). Pacing is mostly intuitive and you pick it up more and more with each film you watch.

Michael

 

[vcassel]

I really don't need another thing to worry about as I write.

No one does. That's why you just let it all spill out on the first draft. The other drafts should be done with some sort of preconceived accomplishment in mind. Usually, my second draft is my structure or 'pacing' draft, though I think of structure differently than a lot of newer writers do. To me it's synonymous with pacing and represents the emotional and action roller-coaster ride of the story's events. Every story demands a different structure/pacing. Then I move on with other drafts focusing on other story aspects. I even do a budget draft (which usually ends up opening a can of worms). I top it all off with a grammar/formatting pass through.

 

[clang]

Yes, you do need to consider pacing. Sure, the director and editor will fine tune pacing, but what you wrote is their starting point. And in fact well before a film is shot, various people will have already gone through the script with a Big Red Pen looking for things they don't like, including pacing. If aliens land and enslave the earth on page 1-3 of your brilliant script but then page 4-45 consist of characters clipping their toenails and discussing the weather, then someone's going to complain about pacing and start crossing out scenes- or more likely stop reading the script.

That doesn't mean a script has to be non-stop action (even a 'non-stop action film' has some quiet scenes), and you don't need to worry about 'thrills per page' as you write - the final film will certainly pace certain scenes differently than you intended, and differently from their script page number. But as a writer (in any medium), you do need to keep a general eye on pace, so that the reader doesn't feel rushed or dragging at the wrong times.

 

[NoTalentAssClown]

Thanks yall... for making me realize I do consider pacing when I write. I misinterpreted the meaning of pacing as a writer.