Script Editing

So it's been a couple of months, I have been working on the 'Two Blokes in a Room' project, mainly trying to get the page count down from 15 to 10 pages. The film is structured as a briefing between two secret government types, with flash-cuts giving glimpses of the events they are discussing.

Main problem I am having is that I just can't seem to find a satisfying way to cut it down, I don't want it to run more than 10mins when finished, I don't think the web audience will stick around for that long, and i'm using the standard 'filmfestival' rules for length.

The fact is, i'm too close to the script, I don't want to lose any of my dialogue, and I don't want the story to be misconstrued, so as usual, i'm trying to cover all the bases and explain everything.

I need to reduce the sheer amount of talking. There are probably plenty of areas where I can show instead of tell, I just need to be able to look at it objectively.

So, I've got a couple of different writer friends looking at the script. Only snag is how long they are taking. I want to shoot this before christmas, and that means being ready within the next month.

I also need to get out and shoot some test footage for the flash cut sequences, which will be short shots, many of them requiring cg effects. I need elements like forensics photographs, bullet riddled buses, spent bullet casings and so on, all of which will need to be photoshopped.

Instead of doing that today, I'm distracted with another ongoing project, an homage to the classic sci-fi movies of the late seventies and early eighties, and a remake/sequel to a 25min Sci-Fi horror epic I made during my college days.

I guess it's easier to stay in the office and work alone on an effects shot, than it is to go out into the chilly autumn afternoon to shoot test footage. I need to work on ridding myself of that tendancy for procrastination more! Time to get ON with it.