POV length ??

avid-dreamer

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Me again!!!
OK. The Screenwriter's Bible states that paragraphs should be limited to no more than 4 lines. My question is:
If you are writing someone's POV and it extends over 4 lines would you guys split it or just keep it all together?

EXAMPLE: (Description taken from Indiana Jones)

HIS POV: Looming above him are three figures. Two are HOVITOS WARRIORS in full battle paint and loin cloths. They carry long blow guns.

The man in the center draws Indy's attention. He is a tall, impressive white man, dressed in full safari outfit including pith helmet. His name is EMILE BELLOQ. His face is thin, powerful; his eyes hypnotic; his smile charming, yet lethal. His French-accented speech is deep, mellifluous, wonderful.


Back beyond Belloq and his two escorts, thirty more Hovitos Warriors hover at the edge of the trees.


OR


HIS POV: Looming above him are three figures. Two are HOVITOS WARRIORS in full battle paint and loin cloths. They carry long blow guns. But the man in the center draws Indy's attention. He is a tall, impressive white man, dressed in full safari outfit including pith helmet. His name is EMILE BELLOQ. His face is thin, powerful; his eyes hypnotic; his smile charming, yet lethal. His heavily French-accented speech is deep, mellifluous, wonderful. Back beyond Belloq and his two escorts, thirty more Hovitos Warriors hover at the edge of the trees.


Thanks for the help!!!
 

NikeeGoddess

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break it up like the first example. anytime you want the camera to focus on a new subject -- paragraph break.

but i don't know why you don't just trust the Bible. so much insecurity... you need to get over that if you ever want to be confident enough to sell.
 

avid-dreamer

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It's not that I'm insecure. If I read one thing in a book and see something else in actual screenplays(especially ones that were successful , example: LOTR) then I need to question it.

I'm a novice and therefore do not have that little voice in my head saying: "oh, that's a shooting script" or "oh, it's written that way because the writer is paid to write the script."

So, as I've said before in many of my posts, if don't know or if I'm not sure about something, I'm going to ask.

As for the example I posted, it was written the second way in the actual script. I was just wondering if there was a difference between the way one would write a character's POV and the way regular action should be written. The Bible doesn't specify.
Thanks for the response!!
 
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NikeeGoddess

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for action scriptwriting advice you should visit http://www.scriptsecrets.net - check out the daily tips, the messageboard where bill martell will answer your questions, and he has an extensive library of scripts on his site as well.
 

DeaconBlu

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>>anytime you want the camera to focus on a new subject -- paragraph break.<<

That's what I've always thought too. If you found it some other way in a script then you have to consider two things: This guy is a pro and he breaks rules that a novice shouldn't, or the way it's printed was a publisher saving paper.

Or both.