Why are todays movies so long?

Sorry for the long quite spell. Between teaching the screenwriting class, working with my writing clients and life in general ( not to mention Blogger not letting me into my Blog!), it has been a busy spring.

But, really no excuse is a good excuse for not writing. Being a talented writer isn't much good if you don't sit down and write. So quit reading this and go write your story and then come back on your break (short break).

Took my son to see Spiderman 3 over the weekend and enjoyed it. I know some people are saying it's not as good as the last one and I could debate that, but I still think it was an entertaining movie. The film served it's purpose; entertain the audience and sell lots of tickets. Spiderman 3 did both very well.

My one minor quibble, is that the film ran longer than it needed to be and this may be why many people thought the second film was better (though it seemed long too, in my opinion). If the film had been cut a little tighter, I believe the story would have flowed much better, but as I said, the film was enjoyable and paves the way for Spiderman 4 in 2010.

Speaking of films that seem too long. Why does this happen? Usually this happens when the film makers try to cover too many characters or too many big action set pieces or just loose track of the central story.

I'm not putting all the blame on the screenwriter, but the writer must shoulder some of the blame. It is easy to say the producer, or director or the studio pressured the writer to pack the script with as much action and characters as possible. It happens and usually happens in big summer block buster movies. More is better, right? Not always, and usually not in a film that will be remember years later as a classic.

The writer has a responsibly to write an engaging story in a clear and concise way. Every act, scene, beat or word must either move the plot forward or reveal character and hopefully do both at the same time. If your scene doesn't do that, then is it necessary ? More than likely not.

But that A List actor wants a new scene and the script is perfect the way it is. You want to make the actor happy and the director and producer and studio. Write the scene, but create a scene that is revealing and moving. Write a scene that makes you wonder why you hadn't written that gem before. You can write a saleable script without being a sellout. But be economical in your writing. Short effective scenes are much better than longer scenes that lack focus.

The writers job is to be creative. Creative in your story and creative in how you handle story problems or on the set problems. You can have larger than life characters and epic stories without having two plus hour running times that have the audience looking at their watches instead of the movie screen.

And keeping with not writing bloated stories (or Blogs) I will end for the day. Hope you return soon. Thanks and keep writing.