I just always wondered this about actors and actresses...?

Question

When you watch behind the scene stuff on dvds and the actors explain how they read the script and liked it... well wouldnt reading just the script be confusing like idk how to explain this question lol but like do they have a separate paper that actually tells them the story or do they just read the script...wouldnt it take forever to read the entire movie script not to mention really boring???o well if u know what mean plzz tell me

Answer 1

I enjoy reading scripts even more than books (which is a good thing in my line of work). I think because scripts (hopefully) move faster than books. Most movie scripts will be 90 to 120 pages - generally it's one page per minute of movie time. But the pages have a lot of white space on them, so it's less than reading a page in a book.

If you're an actress, you really need to read scripts so you can rely on your judgment too, and not just the judgment of your agent or manager.

If you haven't read a script, pick one up at the library (many scripts are made in book format for sales) or download one here:

http://www.script-o-rama.com/

http://www.imsdb.com/

http://www.simplyscripts.com/

I don't like to read scripts on my computer, only on paper, it's easier for me to get into them.

The scripts an actress gets probably have a treatment attached to them -- a brief synopsis of the script -- but it's really not necessary. It's better to read a script and then read the treatment to see if the script really conveyed what the writer thinks he was saying. (The treatment basically tells what the writer hopes or thinks he got across in the script.)

Answer 2

Reading a script is pretty much like reading a book. The only real difference is books usually have some type of narration explaining what's going on, how the characters are feeling, etc. and in a script it's all said in the dialogue.

Answer 3

A movie script is actually rather short.  It gives the dialog and the the rough action.  A typical movie script only runs about 50 pages or so.  Reading it would take about as much time as reading a short story.