Major Project: Trimming the fat - Stage 1 of the rewrite

After a conversation with Aimee i came to realise i had given her the difficult task of casting 30 characters. After taking a look at the script through this lens i decided to see - if when i cut characters out would the story still make sense? If not Could main character have access to this information also and therefore be able to move the story along also?
With this is mind i went through the script with a tooth comb and highlighted anything i felt was vital - BLUE. I then used a different colour to highlight anything that was unneeded - PINK. I used another colour to show the bits i needed but could have another character say - YELLOW
 For example this is the first scene of the script:

Using this information, i began rewriting. This is the same scene but with the pink sections cut out, the yellow section is now said by Tom. 

I think by doing so it not only focus more on the characters that are important but realistically makes Aimees job a lot easier. Although the character, who's dialogue i deleted, is still in the show he is now more of a featured extra. I have done the same with another scene which i removed completely from the script and with that removed 5 characters from her casting list. 

http://www.movieoutline.com/screenwriting-blog/index.php/2011/08/dont-have-too-many-characters/

"Ask yourself, who is this person?  Why are they in this scene?  What do they contribute to the scene, protagonist/antagonist, plot and movie?  Are they merely a sounding board for you or your central characters? "

This quote is very similar to the thought process i took when scanning through the script. 

For example the character of the bar man - i loved my description of him - it was one of my favourite descriptions i'd written for character and because of that it held a little place in my heart. However when i asked myself these questions i realised he was mainly a vessel in which i was using to give the characters some information that they could know from elsewhere - he was to be axed. it was painful. but it was ultimately the right call. It also breathed new life into the script and left me with the interesting task of focusing in on each of the characters, and discovering what they might be doing if they weren't at the pub or playing football. Something that i will discuss in a separate post.