I think this may have been the first thing I've read about the number of scenes in a movie that makes any sort of sense.

I write fiction as well, and I've never seen in a fiction-writing book or on a fiction-writing forum anything that lays out the number of chapters a novel should have. So, I was always a bit confused about these "rules" dictating the number of scenes.

Great, great post, Scott.

I'm with Alissa and Joshua, great thought provoking post for screenwriters, Scott. What are you, some kinda teacher or somethin'?!

- E. (smiley face) C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

I would like to add that "talky" scenes obveously bloat the average. Would be very interested to see how Quintin Tarantino's scripts do per scene average, as opposed to something of the ilk of an action film like "10,000 B.C." which has very little dialog.

Great post.

You addresses the importance to know the difference between beats/plot points and scenes.

I've never thought about the number of scenes I need, only to get them as short as possible (depending on mood and theme ans such).

I was never completely sold on Snyder's method b/c 1) I find his "Beat Sheet" confusing & filled with gaps... 2) I don't entirely get this 40 beats/scene cards thing when it's paired with the 15 beats.

Modern movies have way more than 40scenes. But I think he says in his book this is a starting number & you can add more as you go. But then why start with 40? It just seems like an arbitrary number he made up.

And the board & index card method pre-dates Snyder's book by many many yrs. I 1st used it in 1992.

Like Scott writes, every movie is different. The number of scenes depends on the story.

A good way to see if you're in the ballpark is to look at a few scripts of popular movies that are in your genre, and count the scenes.

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Thanks!!! Greatly appreciate the explanation! That has helped me a lot. Am still not sure if the Major Plot Points "ARE" scenes (on average) or not, but I did get answers to a few more questions I didn't even know I had.

a little late to this but, having just come across it looking for information re: "number of scenes in a screenplay," i have to say thank you, scott, for the post. i've been talking lately to too many people who seem to place format (and such) above story, seemingly more impressed by a clean-looking page - not to devalue the purpose of a clean-looking page - than a Good Story Well Told.

from the heart, not the manual.

@bob: I got your comment in my email. Going to use it and my original post for a Thursday update because you bring up an important issue.

Your Narrative Throughline is a god send. I'm starting to develop some ideas into functioning screenplays (to sell or produce myself) and while I understood (and had even just done a plot point outline that closely resembled yours) plot points and flow of story, you document makes it that much clearer and able to communicate (as I may be working with others on these screenplays).

Thank you so much!!! I wish I could flattr you (flattr.com, check it out!!!).

@Jack: There is much more to Narrative Throughline which I get into through my Screenwriting Master Class Core I and Core II courses on structure and character. You can find out more here.

Don't know about hard and fast rules but here are three action movies: Taken--43 scenes, Salt--37 scenes, and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol-51 scenes.

Devil Wears Prada--49, Crazy Stupid Love--48, Bridesmaids---45, Safe House--43 ... Seems like action flicks stay close to 40 and more talky comedies are closer to 50.