Final Draft

Well, I completed my final draft and submitted it this past Friday. It came out to about 93 pages. A little on the shorter end but a lot of it is action and it would play out longer than it is written. This term is starting to get busy and I need to turn my focus to my senior project now. For my own means, "Son of Liberty" is far from being done, but for the class I'm done. Regardless of how good or not it is, I've put in a lot of effort and I've still completed a feature length script.

Pacing

Right now one of my big concerns is the pacing of "Son of Liberty". I'm really satisfied with the way the beginning moves, especially the opening sequence. And I'm somewhat happy with my Act II pacing (note the somewhat). But the pacing of Act III makes it look like a Speed addict wrote it. So, what I've been doing is something I learned in Directing for the Screen.

When learning to analyze scripts, we broke down everything into beats. Obviously in screenwriting classes we learn to make beat sheets, but in the directing class we learned to take those beats and make blocks. I've been finding that breaking down my script into blocks helps sort out the pacing of everything. It makes it easier to see how long sequences are and if they are getting the amount of time they do or don't deserve. If anyone else is having pacing issues, try this out. It may help.

Rewriting and Proofreading

Up early today. A lot to get done and I have to catch an 8:00 Pm train back to Philly. Read through my entire script last night out loud. Much easier to catch spelling mistakes that way. I've found I don't catch them if I read the script to myself.

Obviously, reading dialogue out loud is important to make sure it flows or sounds right. If you don't do that already, you should start. But reading the entire script out loud just makes the editing process a ton easier. Catching things now I didn't catch before and probably should have.

Rewrites

So, I've been finding that it's easier for me to re-read and tear apart my script after I've printed it out. I can only look at a computer screen for so long. I like being able to take a hard copy with a red pen, sit down in a comfortable spot and just go to town. If you haven't tried it yet, you really should. It makes the rewriting process a lot easier.

CS Open, Round 2

Made it into Round 2 of the CS Open. We get the Round 2 premise tonight at 8:00PM and we have until Noon tomorrow. Guess we'll see what happens.

Screenwriting Contest, Round 1 Score

Just got my judge's score from the Screenwriting Expo CS Open: 91 out of 100. 23/25 for Structure, 22/25 for Dialogue, 23/25 for Style, and 23/25 for Originality. Judge's other comments: "You have a strong sense of stakes and action. Well done." But there was no mention of advancing to the next round or not. I guess that's a separate notification? Maybe? I'll be optimistic.

First Draft

Well put the bubbly on ice, I just finished my first draft. Okay, maybe that's a little extreme and by a little extreme I mean a lot. But I really did finish my first draft. Woo hoo! Sorry, I'm excited. You should be too. Just kidding, but not really.

Anyway, I am off to bed. Tomorrow will be a day of proofreading and Monday I will send it off to be torn to shreds. Yay for being ahead of schedule!