Establishing Page 2

'I have put establishing shots in at each new location and put them in as separate scenes. I know that hour long scripts are supposed to be between 60-70 pages long, but I'm worried that I will go over this as around 10 pages may be made up of establishing shots.'

This is probably not a good idea though. We don;lt need to see that it is the exterior to a law firm to know oince inside that it is a law firm. Let the action dialoue do that, likewise pub etc. To reiterate only do it if you need to do it to tell the story.

The Establishing shot's were really just in the first 20 pages. There is four characters and we see them in their homes, and I felt it was important to show the diffrence in their homes, what style they are, what sort of surroundungs they are in etc, to show how diffrent they are what sort of area's they come from. It is all set in the one town as well, so there are no sunrises over the Isle of Sky unfortunatley.
My main concern was that I want it to look as professional as possible. I have been so used to writing sketches and I am still young so I want the script to look like it has been written by someone that knows what they are doing, rather than someone pretending as I fear that is how it may look at the moment.

Write it in film script format so that you don't have a page for every scene. And if you do have an establishing shot, put something happening in it or something funny that differentiates the different sort of houses and you should be fine. Think of a narrative for these establishing shots in and of themselves if you are determined to keep them.

Quote: MrKirk @ October 21 2009, 3:07 PM BST

The Establishing shot's were really just in the first 20 pages. There is four characters and we see them in their homes, and I felt it was important to show the diffrence in their homes, what style they are, what sort of surroundungs they are in etc, to show how diffrent they are what sort of area's they come from. It is all set in the one town as well, so there are no sunrises over the Isle of Sky unfortunatley.
My main concern was that I want it to look as professional as possible. I have been so used to writing sketches and I am still young so I want the script to look like it has been written by someone that knows what they are doing, rather than someone pretending as I fear that is how it may look at the moment.

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Mr Kirk, in the above passage, your spelling is fairly poor: diffrent? surroundungs? *snigger*

If you want to be treated in the same capacity as a respected professional, you must iron out these basic mistakes. 'Start as you mean to go on', kind of thing.

Part of your job as a writer is to be succinct.
With reference to the different surroundings your characters inhabit, if you really need to tell us, make it snappy - ideally referencing things we're already familiar with - ie "classic student squat", "up-market loft apartment", " Mrs Bouquet would be at home here".
The reader will paint their own picture - you just have to point them in the right direction.

Good luck.

To be perfectly honest I don't double check what I write in a forum. I am far more careful when I'm working on a script... And spell check helps me out a lot as well.

Quote: MrKirk @ October 21 2009, 5:32 PM BST

To be perfectly honest I don't double check what I write in a forum.

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You should, though, really. Otherwise it can sometimes seem a little disrespectful. It's a pain checking work, but we are trying to help you, after all. And - when all is said and done - a passage of text without spelling mistakes, is a lot easier to read.