Overcoming a ‘short but dense’ script?
I’m working on a surreal horror filmscript, but after putting it into standard format it’s only about 52 pages.
It’s quite dense as a story, has a lot of intentionally ‘slow’ scenes, and is spinning a few plates at once. I think it could reach 80 to 90 minutes easily, but stretching the scenes to that length just to meet the page count I feel would break up the pacing like crazy.
I don’t think I could add another twenty odd pages of fluff or new scenes without it becoming bloated and unwieldy.
What would you guys recommend? Do I do single-line action lines? Do I put in extra scenes anyways despite how it might impact the current balance? Do I keep it as-is?
My biggest issue is that it’s preventing me from submitting it to contests, and the fear that people will discard it just because ‘too short’ and won’t read it.