Download or read book On Story Screenwriters and Their Craft written by Barbara Morgan and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2013-10-15 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduction / by Barbara Morgan -- 1. Inspiration. A conversation with Randall Wallace -- 2. Story. What makes a great story : a conversation with Bill Wittliff ; Steven Zaillian on where the story originates ; Peter Hedges on crafting story ; Lawrence Kasdan on story and theme -- 3. Process. A conversation with John Lee Hancock ; Sacha Gervasi on getting started ; The basics with Nicholas Kazan ; Advice from Bill Wittliff ; Anne Rapp's writing routine ; Caroline Thompson's writing process ; Lawrence Kasdan on the challenges of writing -- 4. Structure. Structure and format : a conversation with Frank Pierson, Whit Stillman, Robin Swicord, and Nicholas Kazan ; Caroline Thompson on structure ; Lawrence Kasdan on the rules of script formatting ; Visual storytelling : a conversation with John August, John Lee Hancock, and Randall Wallace -- 5. Character and dialogue. Building characters and mapping their journeys : a conversation with Lawrence Kasdan and Anne Rapp ; Nicholas Kazan on writing characters ; Crafting characters : a conversation with Lawrence Kasdan ; Dialogue and finding the voice : a conversation with John August and John Lee Hancock -- 6. Rewritng. Writer's block : a conversation with Bud Shrake and Bill Wittliff ; Bill Wittliff on when to let something go ; Steven Zaillian on defining scenes : what to keep in, what to leave out ; Anne Rapp on keeping writing fresh ; Nicholas Kazan's rewriting process ; On rewriting : a conversation with Daniel Petrie Jr., Peter Hedges, and Sacha Gervasi ; Lawrence Kasdan on how to know when you're done -- 7. Collaboration. A conversation with Steven Zaillian ; Peter Hedges on collaborating ; Lawrence Kasdan on writing with a partner ; Randall Wallace on working with other writers -- 8. Go forth.

Download or read book What s the Story The Director Meets Their Screenplay written by Peter Markham and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-09-07 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A structured perspective on the crucial interface of director and screenplay, this book encompasses twenty-two seminal aspects of the approach to story and script that a director needs to understand before embarking on all other facets of the director’s craft. Drawing on seventeen years of teaching filmmaking at a graduate level and on his prior career as a director and in production at the BBC, Markham shows how the filmmaker can apply rigorous analysis of the elements of dramatic narrative in a screenplay to their creative vision, whether of a short or feature, TV episode or season. Combining examination of such fundamental topics as story, premise, theme, genre, world and setting, tone, structure, and key images with the introduction of less familiar concepts such as cultural, social, and moral canvas, narrative point of view, and the journey of the audience, What’s The Story? The Director Meets Their Screenplay applies the insights of each chapter to a case study—the screenplay of the short film Contrapelo, nominated for the Jury Award at Tribeca in 2014. This book is an essential resource for any aspiring director who wants to understand exactly how to approach a screenplay in order to get the very best from it, and an invaluable resource for any filmmaker who wants to understand the important creative interplay between the director and screenplay in bringing a story to life.

Download or read book Aristotle s Poetics for Screenwriters written by Michael Tierno and published by Hachette+ORM. This book was released on 2012-10-30 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An insightful how-to guide for writing screenplays that uses Aristotle's great work as a guide. Long considered the bible for storytellers, Aristotle's Poetics is a fixture of college courses on everything from fiction writing to dramatic theory. Now Michael Tierno shows how this great work can be an invaluable resource to screenwriters or anyone interested in studying plot structure. In carefully organized chapters, Tierno breaks down the fundamentals of screenwriting, highlighting particular aspects of Aristotle's work. Then, using examples from some of the best movies ever made, he demonstrates how to apply these ancient insights to modern-day screenwriting. This user-friendly guide covers a multitude of topics, from plotting and subplotting to dialogue and dramatic unity. Writing in a highly readable, informal tone, Tierno makes Aristotle's monumental work accessible to beginners and pros alike in areas such as screenwriting, film theory, fiction, and playwriting.

Download or read book Rapid Story Development written by Jeff Lyons and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-09-16 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a unique approach to storytelling, connecting the Enneagram system with classic story principles of character development, plot, and story structure to provide a seven-step methodology to achieve rapid story development. Using the nine core personality styles underlying all human thought, feeling, and action, it provides the tools needed to understand and leverage the Enneagram-Story Connection for writing success. Author Jeff Lyons starts with the basics of the Enneagram system and builds with how to discover and design the critical story structure components of any story, featuring supporting examples of the Enneagram-Story Connection in practice across film, literature and TV. Readers will learn the fundamentals of the Enneagram system and how to utilize it to create multidimensional characters, master premise line development, maintain narrative drive, and create antagonists that are perfectly designed to challenge your protagonist in a way that goes beyond surface action to reveal the dramatic core of any story. Lyons explores the use of the Enneagram as a tool not only for character development, but for story development itself. This is the ideal text for intermediate and advanced level screenwriting and creative writing students, as well as professional screenwriters and novelists looking to get more from their writing process and story structure.

Download or read book Screenwriting is Storytelling written by Kate Wright and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2004-10-05 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While most screenwriting books focus on format and structure, Kate Wright explains how to put story at the center of a screenplay. A compelling story, complete with intriguing characters and situations created with these screenwriting tricks of the trade can become a box office blockbuster film. Screenwriters will learn: - Developing themes within the plot - Using structure to define the story - Creating memorable characters - Establishing moral dilemmas and conflicts - Achieving classic elements of storytelling in a three-act dramatic structure - Mastering different genres

Download or read book The Complete Idiot s Guide to Screenwriting written by Skip Press and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2000 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides advice for aspiring screenwriters on how to write scripts for television and motion pictures, including what topics are popular, how to rework scenes, and how to sell screenplays in Hollywood.

Download or read book Story Maps written by Daniel P. Calvisi and published by ACT Four Screenplays. This book was released on 2011-05-16 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Learn the secrets to writing a GREAT screenplay from a major movie studio Story Analyst who will show you how to BLOW AWAY THE READER! Master the structure and principles used by 95% of commercial movies. This is not a formula or just another structure paradigm -- it is the view from behind the desk of the people evaluating your screenplay, what they want to read and what they will buy. With all the competition in the Hollywood marketplace, your script can't just be good, it must be GREAT.

Download or read book Writing in Pictures written by Joseph McBride and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2012-02-28 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Writing in Pictures is a refreshingly practical and entertaining guide to screenwriting that provides what is lacking in most such books: a clear, step-by-step demonstration of how to write a screenplay. Seasoned screenwriter and writing teacher Joseph McBride breaks down the process into a series of easy, approachable tasks, focusing on literary adaptation as the best way to learn the basics and avoiding the usual formulaic approach. With its wealth of useful tips, along with colorful insights from master screenwriters past and present, this book is invaluable for anyone who wants to learn the craft of screen storytelling. CONTENTS Introduction: Who Needs Another Book on Screenwriting? Part I: Storytelling 1: So Why Write Screenplays? 2: What Is Screenwriting? 3: Stories: What They Are and How to Find Them 4: Ten Tips for the Road Ahead Part II: Adaptation 5: Breaking the Back of the Book: or, The Art of Adaptation STEP 1: THE STORY OUTLINE 6: Research and Development STEP 2: THE ADAPTATION OUTLINE 7: The Elements of Screenwriting STEP 3: THE CHARACTER BIOGRAPHY 8: Exploring Your Story and How to Tell It STEP 4: THE TREATMENT Part III: Production 9: Who Needs Formatting? 10: Actors Are Your Medium 11: Dialogue as Action STEP 5: THE STEP OUTLINE 12: The Final Script 13: Epilogue: Breaking into Professional Filmmaking Appendix A: The Basic Steps in the Screenwriting Process Appendix B: “To Build A Fire” by Jack London Selected Bibliography Acknowledgments Index

Download or read book The Nutshell Technique written by Jill Chamberlain and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2016-03-01 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Veteran script consultant Jill Chamberlain discovered in her work that an astounding 99 percent of first-time screenwriters don’t know how to tell a story. These writers may know how to format a script, write snappy dialogue, and set a scene. They may have interesting characters and perhaps some clever plot devices. But, invariably, while they may have the kernel of a good idea for a screenplay, they fail to tell a story. What the 99 percent do instead is present a situation. In order to explain the difference, Chamberlain created the Nutshell Technique, a method whereby writers identify eight dynamic, interconnected elements that are required to successfully tell a story. Now, for the first time, Chamberlain presents her unique method in book form with The Nutshell Technique: Crack the Secret of Successful Screenwriting. Using easy-to-follow diagrams (“nutshells”), she thoroughly explains how the Nutshell Technique can make or break a film script. Chamberlain takes readers step-by-step through thirty classic and contemporary movies, showing how such dissimilar screenplays as Casablanca, Chinatown, Pulp Fiction, The Usual Suspects, Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, Silver Linings Playbook, and Argo all have the same system working behind the scenes, and she teaches readers exactly how to apply these principles to their own screenwriting. Learn the Nutshell Technique, and you’ll discover how to turn a mere situation into a truly compelling screenplay story.

Download or read book The Science of Storytelling written by Will Storr and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2020-03-10 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The compelling, groundbreaking guide to creative writing that reveals how the brain responds to storytelling Stories shape who we are. They drive us to act out our dreams and ambitions and mold our beliefs. Storytelling is an essential part of what makes us human. So, how do master storytellers compel us? In The Science of Storytelling, award-winning writer and acclaimed teacher of creative writing Will Storr applies dazzling psychological research and cutting-edge neuroscience to our myths and archetypes to show how we can write better stories, revealing, among other things, how storytellers—and also our brains—create worlds by being attuned to moments of unexpected change. Will Storr’s superbly chosen examples range from Harry Potter to Jane Austen to Alice Walker, Greek drama to Russian novels to Native American folk tales, King Lear to Breaking Bad to children’s stories. With sections such as “The Dramatic Question,” “Creating a World,” and “Plot, Endings, and Meaning,” as well as a practical, step-by-step appendix dedicated to “The Sacred Flaw Approach,” The Science of Storytelling reveals just what makes stories work, placing it alongside such creative writing classics as John Yorke’s Into the Woods: A Five-Act Journey into Story and Lajos Egri’s The Art of Dramatic Writing. Enlightening and empowering, The Science of Storytelling is destined to become an invaluable resource for writers of all stripes, whether novelist, screenwriter, playwright, or writer of creative or traditional nonfiction.

Download or read book Screenwriters written by Helena Lumme and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on their major photo exhibits at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy of Motion Picture of Arts and Sciences, award-winning authors Lumme and Manninen reveal the hidden talents behind Hollywood's most famous films. Forty-eight leading screenwriters are introduced in brilliant portrait photography and their own revealing words. Form Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard), Ernest Lehman (North by Northwest), and Robert Towne (The Firm) to Oliver Stone (Platoon), Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle), Richard La Gravanese (Beloved) and Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List), 18 Academy Award winners and another 18 nominees are featured among the remarkable color and black-and-white portraits.

Download or read book Storytelling for Writers and Screenwriters written by Emanuele M. Barboni Dalla Costa and published by EBC Edizioni. This book was released on 2022-02-27 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Storytelling for Writers and Screenwriters A guided journey towards creating compelling stories If you have always dreamt of writing a book or a screenplay that captures the audience’s attention and leaves them eager to discover what will happen next, then “Storytelling for Writers and Screenwriters” is the treasure map for you. Create captivating stories from beginning to end Have you ever wondered what the secrets behind great stories are? How are they structured to trap the reader or viewer in an emotional whirlwind? This book will unveil the mysteries of the art of storytelling and guide you step by step in creating a solid foundation like bedrock on which your story can bloom into something truly engaging. Follow narrative archetypes The famous “hero’s journey” is one of the most powerful and effective narrative patterns. You will learn how to use this archetypal framework to construct a thrilling plot full of suspense and unexpected twists and turns. Your readers or viewers will be spellbound, their hearts racing as they delve deeper into the world you’ve created. Bring your characters to life Protagonists, antagonists, and even secondary characters are crucial for the success of your story. You will learn techniques to deeply and emotionally characterize each individual character, making them vibrant, jumping off the page like living beings. Your readers or viewers will fall in love with them, feeling as though they are accompanying them on their extraordinary journeys. A book for every type of story No matter what genre or idea underlies your story, this manual is flexible and adaptable to any narrative context. Whether you want to write a breathtaking thriller that leaves readers gasping for breath, a passionate romance that sets hearts ablaze with desire, or an epic fantasy tale that transports readers to fantastical realms beyond imagination, you will find the right tools to create an indelible masterpiece. Finish your book or screenplay The skeleton is the backbone on which to build an engaging narration. With “Storytelling for Writers and Screenwriters,” you will learn how to breathe life into your story, crafting a captivating journey that will leave readers or viewers yearning for more.

Download or read book Save the Cat written by Blake Snyder and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This ultimate insider's guide reveals the secrets that none dare admit, told by a show biz veteran who's proven that you can sell your script if you can save the cat!

Download or read book Story written by Robert McKee and published by Methuen Publishing. This book was released on 1999-01 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In Story screenwriting guru Robert McKee presents his powerful and much sought-after knowledge in a comprehensive guide to the essentials of screenwriting and storytelling." -- Methuen.

Download or read book Into the Woods written by John Yorke and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2014-05-29 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An analysis of the fundamental narrative structure, why it works, the meanings of stories, and why we tell them in the first place. The idea of Into the Woods is not to supplant works by Aristotle, Lajos Egri, Robert McKee, David Mamet, or any other writers of guides for screenwriters and playwrights, but to pick up on their cues and take the reader on a historical, philosophical, scientific, and psychological journey to the heart of all storytelling. In this exciting and wholly original book, John Yorke not only shows that there is truly a unifying shape to narrative—one that echoes the great fairytale journey into the woods, and one, like any great art, that comes from deep within—he explains why, too. With examples ranging from The Godfather to True Detective, Mad Men to Macbeth, and fairy tales to Forbrydelsen (The Killing), Yorke utilizes Shakespearean five-act structure as a key to analyzing all storytelling in all narrative forms, from film and television to theatre and novel-writing—a big step from the usual three-act approach. Into the Woods: A Five-Act Journey into Story is destined to sit alongside David Mamet’s Three Uses of the Knife, Robert McKee’s Story, Syd Field’s Screenplay, and Lajos Egri’s The Art of Dramatic Writing as one of the most original, useful, and inspiring books ever on dramatic writing. Praise for Into the Woods “Love storytelling? You need this inspiring book. John Yorke dissects the structure of stories with a joyous enthusiasm allied to precise, encyclopedic knowledge. Guaranteed to send you back to your writing desk with newfound excitement and drive.” —Chris Chibnall, creator/writer, Broadchurch and Gracepoint “Outrageously good and by far and away the best book of its kind I’ve ever read. I recognized so much truth in it. But more than that, I learned a great deal. Time and again, Yorke articulates things I’ve always felt but have never been able to describe. . . . This is a love story to story—erudite, witty and full of practical magic. I struggle to think of the writer who wouldn’t benefit from reading it—even if they don’t notice because they’re too busy enjoying every page.” —Neil Cross, creator/writer, Luther and Crossbones “Part ‘how-to’ manual, part ‘why-to’ celebration, Into the Woods is a wide-reaching and infectiously passionate exploration of storytelling in all its guises . . . exciting and thought-provoking.” —Emma Frost, screenwriter, The White Queen and Shameless

Download or read book The Anatomy of Story written by John Truby and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2008-10-14 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Truby is one of the most respected and sought-after story consultants in the film industry, and his students have gone on to pen some of Hollywood's most successful films, including Sleepless in Seattle, Scream, and Shrek. The Anatomy of Story is his long-awaited first book, and it shares all of his secrets for writing a compelling script. Based on the lessons in his award-winning class, Great Screenwriting, The Anatomy of Story draws on a broad range of philosophy and mythology, offering fresh techniques and insightful anecdotes alongside Truby's own unique approach for how to build an effective, multifaceted narrative. Truby's method for constructing a story is at once insightful and practical, focusing on the hero's moral and emotional growth. As a result, writers will dig deep within and explore their own values and worldviews in order to create an effective story. Writers will come away with an extremely precise set of tools to work with—specific, useful techniques to make the audience care about their characters, and that make their characters grow in meaningful ways. They will construct a surprising plot that is unique to their particular concept, and they will learn how to express a moral vision that can genuinely move an audience. The foundations of story that Truby lays out are so fundamental they are applicable—and essential—to all writers, from novelists and short-story writers to journalists, memoirists, and writers of narrative non-fiction.

Download or read book Transcultural Screenwriting written by Carmen Sofia Brenes and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2017-05-11 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world in which we live and work today has created new working conditions where storytellers, screenwriters and filmmakers collaborate with colleagues from other countries and cultures. This involves new challenges regarding the practice of transcultural screenwriting and the study of writing screenplays in a multi-cultural environment. Globalisation and its imperatives have seen the film co-production emerge as a means of sharing production costs and creating stories that reach transnational audiences. Transcultural Screenwriting: Telling Stories for a Global World provides an interdisciplinary approach to the study of screenwriting as a creative process by integrating the fields of film and TV production studies, screenwriting studies, narrative studies, rhetorics, transnational cinema studies, and intercultural communication studies. The book applies the emerging theoretical lens of ‘transcultural studies’ to open new perspectives in the debate around notions of transnationalism, imperialism and globalisation, particularly in the screenwriting context, and to build stronger links across academic disciplines. This volume combines methods for studying, as well as methods for doing. It draws on case studies and testimonials from writers from all over the globe including South America, Europe and Asia. Transcultural Screenwriting: Telling Stories for a Global World is characterised by its scope, broad relevance, and emphasis on key aspects of screenwriting in an international environment.