5 pages to go!

So for the past week and a half (although it feels like three months) I've been getting in from work and pretty much getting straight into the Hit the Big Time script until about two in the morning. And now I'm about 5 pages from the end. I really, badly wanted to finish it last night but there comes a point late in the evening beyond which everything you write is just terrible, and I was way beyond that point as it was. My main worry is the pacing. It's going to come in under 120 pages which is the recommended max for any script, but the pacing is going to be very uneven. The first 60 pages were full of long, meandering scences where I was getting to know the characters and enjoying the dialogue. The second half is made up of loads of very brief scenes packed full of plot where I was desperately trying to get it finished within a reasonable page count. So it's going to need evening out on the second draft, but for now I just need to concentrate on finishing it.

Yesterday I had the morning off work as we had people coming round to our flat to inspect our leaky ceiling (don't worry, I am going somewhere with this) and actually got to spend a good couple of hours writing in the morning. I know that doesn't sound very exciting, but its nice to get a taste of what it would be like doing this full time. And I got a call from JC about the script when I was actually working on the script at the time. Normally I speak to producers on my lunch break at work and have to get my head out of office mode and into writing mode, which normally fails miserably and I end up just mumbling incoherently. Anyway, I think writing full time is a few years off yet so I shouldn't get too excited, although taking the odd half day off definitely helped me get a bit more work done. Besides, I'd have to change the blog's name if I wrote during the day.

Anyway, apparently they've had a few technical problems on the Hit the Big Time short, mainly as a result of it being filmed in the US and edited over here. There's the usual PAL/NTSC stresses and apparently some of the footage never made it over here and they're trying to trace it. They've also had a few editors quit because they got some paid work elsewhere - always a problem at this level. It sounds like the worst of it is over and the film will be finished, it just may not be ready for Cannes which is annoying. Still, that's not for me to worry about and at least it gives me more time to develop the script before they need to show it to people.

I've also been informed that the final cut of Ten Dead Men was sent off to the States yesterday which is reassuring. I'm recording the commentary with Phil and Ross tomorrow so should know more then.