Description
Return story-to-screen time compression.
Story planning separates the order of telling from fictional chronology, continuity records and practical writing budgets. Explicit labels, counts and invented calendar rules can make a local convention consistent without deciding narrative quality or inferring facts from manuscript prose.
Return story-to-screen time compression.
When to use this tool
Use Screenplay Montage Time Compression Term when checking a supplied story-continuity, chronology, calendar or drafting-budget convention.
How to use the tool and how it works
- Enter storySeconds, screenSeconds. Use the units and conventions below.
- Run the tool. Correct any format, range, or cross-field input error before interpreting the output.
- Read compressionFactor, omittedSeconds. Use the output convention below.
Return story-to-screen time compression. Require storySeconds >= 0 and screenSeconds > 0; compressionFactor = story/screen, omittedSeconds = story-screen.1
| Input field | Meaning and units | Accepted input |
|---|---|---|
| storySeconds | Story Seconds | Required. Finite number; minimum 0. |
| screenSeconds | Screen Seconds | Required. Finite number; strictly above 0. |
| Output field | Interpretation | Returned shape |
|---|---|---|
| compressionFactor | Compression Factor | Required. Finite number. |
| omittedSeconds | storySeconds-screenSeconds; can be negative when screen time expands the story interval. | Required. Finite number. |
{
"input": {
"storySeconds": 3600,
"screenSeconds": 60
},
"output": {
"compressionFactor": 60,
"omittedSeconds": 3540
}
}Limitations and assumptions
- Negative omitted time is retained for expansion; this is a supplied duration ratio rather than interpretation of an actual scene.
- Inputs must satisfy both the field types and the cross-field conditions above. Invalid input causes an error; a successful false flag or documented placeholder is a different result.
- Numeric calculations use binary floating point unless exact decimal-integer arithmetic is explicitly stated. No hidden measurement tolerance or decimal rounding is added; nonfinite or out-of-contract results are rejected. Numeric signed-zero results are exported as zero.
Alternative or Complementary methods
Use the manuscript, scene outline and the chosen style/calendar policy for a complete editorial review; interpret numerical budgets in their narrative context.
References
Similar or alternative tools
- Story Time Jump Age Residual
Compare a character's age change with a story time jump.
- Scene Present Time Reference Gap
Return three signed narrative time offsets.