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How many scenes should a screenplay have?

Tagged: film, length, outlines, presentation, screenplay, screenwriting, script, scriptwriting, structure

There is no set number of scenes a movie should have. It’s tempting to say that a 120-page script at approximately 2 to 3 pages per scene should have 40 to 60 scenes. While not wrong, this is a gross generalization.

The better answer is that a screenplay should have as many scenes as are necessary to tell the story, but no more.

More from johnaugust.com

  • How long is a scene?
  • Script length
  • How to write a scene
  • Stressing over structure

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