So, I didn’t hit 90 pages. However, it’s not due to the script not being compressible enough like Epitaph. Instead, for as much as I took out, I also fixed some bad writing.
There is such a thing as “being too close” to art that you’re creating. You’ll rigidly stick to what your original vision because it means so much to you. This phenomenon is magnified when you base the story on your own life experiences. A lot of times, your life experiences aren’t that entertaining on their own, which is why people tend to embellish when they recount their life events. I think I was too focused on trying to make this script play out too closely to reality. And people don’t watch movies to see reality; they watch movies to see a heightened version of reality.
So, with all of that said, I needed to adjust the script with new dialog and shots that communicated an entertaining story to audiences instead of a narcissistic showcase of mundane events and esoteric conversations.
I think if I perform one more revision, I can chop out another 9 pages.
LIAM-46-99