Making the 82 Minute Limit

The full reading revealed that we are still short of the 82 minute threshold that separates a "short" from a feature-length film. Dennis, Director, pointed out a hole in our schedule where we have Maria, Tony and Jean for a short shoot in the restaurant and then nothing for the rest of the day. He wanted four or five new pages to shoot in that spot.

Transitioning from production mode (lining up locations, contracts, lawyers, financing, etc.) back to creative mode (choosing themes, writing dialog, ensuring I wasn't screwing things up) was tough. I'm going through the same emotional stuff I was when I produced the play under the $2000 New York State Grant. I like writing the stuff better than managing and administering the production process. Film is much more "industrial" than the stage, so there are more elements to coordinate. It's good I have Dennis and Tom to help me keep everything organized.

When I did re-enter creative mode--about two days of cogitating on it--I focused on two areas that have appeared weak to me: 1) the second scene with Maria and Ron seemed to need more after the transition from Dewitt's phone call to Ron's conversion to a good patient, and 2) there seemed to be need for resolution  between Maria and Tony about his efforts to get her a date and also her views on Tony's romance with Jean.

I was able to write a new scene (unfortunately another restaurant meal scene) with Tony and Maria worth about 3 pages, and I extended the Maria/Ron scene by having her actually examine him. I got a physicians' assistant abdominal exam procedure from St. Francis University via Google. It was very detailed, I integrated the action and dialog for it into the script and it added about two pages.

The Tony/Maria scene I wrote as light-hearted, bantering conflict--hopefully funny. At that point, both Tony and Maria have love in their lives, so I don't think they would have a heavy argument.

I think we now have the 82 minutes we need.