We know that opening scenes are important to grab your audience from the start, but not every movie can have an explosion or a thrilling chase right at the start. That's why some stories take a bit to get going. But how long is too long for things to happen in a story? Recently, filmmaker/author Shane Stanley sat down with Film Courage to talk about a rule he thinks screenwriters should follow. Stanley says writers have just 11 minutes to tell the audience everything they need to know to enjoy the story. Check out the video from Film Courage and let's talk after the jump. What is the 11-Minute Rule of Screenwriting? If you want my opinion, there's only one rule in all of the medium of writing, and that's if you plant it, pay it off. Still, I think Stanley has an interesting point here. The first 11 minutes of your movie say a lot to the audience. Usually, they give us the character, show us who they are in their element, and give us the genre. The basic 11-minute rule is that you need to show all your cards in the first 11 minutes, otherwise people won't care and they'll turn off or stop reading whatever you sent them. I think this often gets people to start fast, and not start smart. Instead, I would posit that the only thing you have to worry about in the first 11 pages is to not be boring. I like...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Friday, 3 May, 2024