Module 3 · Lesson 4 of 6
Time your script and make it final.
The words you settle on are exactly what the voices will say. Time it now, with the pauses, and cut it to fit your length.
The steps
The words you settle on now are exactly what the voices will say. Nothing is added later.
So make your changes now. Once this module is done, the words stay as they are.
Time it
Open your phone’s stopwatch.
iPhone
Open Clock, then tap Stopwatch at the bottom.
Android
Open Clock, then tap Stopwatch.
Tap the start button. Read the whole script out loud at the speed you’d really talk.
Read the lines people say. For each action line, pause for as long as it would take to watch it happen.
A door slamming takes a second. Someone walking across a room takes three or four.
Stop the stopwatch after the last word. That’s how long your script runs.
Cut to fit
Longer than your film? Cut whole lines first, then single words.
Read it and time it again after every cut. Stop when it fits.
Write the final time at the top of your script, like “Time: 52 seconds.”
Your film
My FilmsFill it in here. It saves as you type, and later lessons use it.
Do this now
Time your script out loud with a stopwatch and cut it to fit your length.
Check yourself
- Did you time it out loud, with the pauses?
- Does it fit your length?
- Are you happy for every word to be said exactly as written?
If any answer is no, go back over the steps, or look below.
Stuck?
- It fits when I read fast, but not when I read slowly.
- Go by the slower time. Real scenes need pauses, and they always run longer than a quick read.
- I can’t find the stopwatch.
- It’s inside the Clock app. Open Clock and look along the bottom of the screen for Stopwatch.
- I don’t want to cut my favorite line.
- Cut a different line first. If it still doesn’t fit, save the favorite in a note called “Cut lines”. It may fit your next film.
Still stuck? Email info@bookwriter.vip and say which lesson you’re on. A person reads every message and writes back.