The complete idiot's guide to screenwriting
Book - 2001
Saved in:
- Subjects
- Published
-
Indianapolis, Ind. :
Alpha
c2001.
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Physical Description
- xviii, 365 p. ; 23 cm
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN
- 9780028639444
- Part 1. The Evolution of Storytelling
- 1. History Lessons Make Better Writers
- Don't Miss the Myths: The Hero with a Thousand Faces
- The Greeks Made the Rules
- Aristotle and the Three-Act Structure
- Romans, Christians, and Italians
- Classic Stories Are Immortal
- Story and the Mind
- Hegel, Freud, Sex, and Stanislavski
- Carl Jung and the Symbolic World
- Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth
- 2. That Fellow Shakespeare
- Shakespeare in Love
- Using Shakespeare
- Shakespeare's Secret
- Pages from History
- The Screenplay's the Thing
- Shakespeare's Continuing Influence
- Stealing from Shakespeare
- Shakespear's Log Lines
- 3. Birth of the Movies
- The Worldwide Storytelling Tradition
- Influences of the Great Playwrights
- Authors from Centuries Past: The Great Storytellers
- European Originals: The Brothers Lumiere and Other Lights
- Thomas Edison and the Monopoly That Didn't Work
- A Place Called Hollywood: How Tinseltown Was Born
- 4. From Scenario to Screenplay
- The Scenarists: How Screenwriting Began
- Women Writers Ruled: Frances Marion and the Scenario Queens
- What the Transition to Sound Did
- Hollywood, the World, and Migrating Writers
- How Genres Evolved: What's a Screwball Comedy, Anyway?
- The Impact of 1939, Possibly Hollywood's Greatest Year
- 5. From the Big Screen to the Computer Screen
- Movies After World War II; the Whole World Changed
- How Television Transformed Hollywood
- I Love Lucy: The Power Shifter
- The Birth of the Antihero and the Death of Feel Good
- Hollywood Genres Don't Change, but the Outlet Does
- A Hollywood World in the Digital Age
- Part 2. What to Write
- 6. Sources for Movie Ideas That Will Sell
- Reading the Newspaper Like a Screenwriter
- Recycling Old Movies
- True Stories: How to Secure the Rights and Where to Sell Them
- How to Know If You're Original Idea Is Truly Original
- Movies to TV and Back Again to Movies
- Anything Males Eighteen to Thirty-Four Like
- 7. Movies Are Not Books or Plays
- Why You Don't Write a Screenplay Like a Stage Play
- What a Book Can Do That a Movie Cannot
- The Differences in Television and Movie Scripts
- Elements to Remember When Writing a Movie
- 8. What Your Audience Really Wants to See
- Sex and Violence Sell: What That Really Means
- Helping Your Viewer Escape from Reality
- Pick a Genre and Pick Success
- Writing for the Worldwide Audience
- The Kids Have It: Write with Children in Mind and Win
- 9. Defining Your Movie
- First, a Premise
- If You Want to Send a Message, Use E-Mail
- Outlines, Synopses, and Treatments
- High Concepts and Mixed Ideas
- The Log Line: The All-Important Twenty-Five Words or Less
- 10. What's Hot, What's Not, and What's in Your Heart
- Tastes Change with Generations
- What Goes Around Comes Back Around
- Different Strokes for Different Blokes: What They Like, Around the World
- Predicting the Future by Demographics
- Write What You Want to See on the Screen
- 11. Your Screenwriting Schedule and Why It Is Essential
- Getting It Done by Three-Page Scenes
- Setting Up a Schedule That Works
- Taking Your Schedule Seriously
- The Day You Become a Screenwriter
- Part 3. How to Write Your Screenplay
- 12. Preparing Your Outline and Reordering Scenes
- Sorting Out Your Premise
- Comparing Your Log Line to Other Movies
- The "Master Mind" Method
- The Beauty of the 3 [times] 5 Card
- Outlining by Three-Minute Scenes
- One-Sheets, Synopses, and Treatments
- Building the Perfect Blueprint
- 13. The All-Important First Ten Pages
- Back Story Is for the Writer, Not the Viewer
- The Life of a Script Reader and What It Means to You
- Opening Scenes We Don't Forget
- How the Digital Age Affects Screenplay Openings
- See If You Can Beat the Best
- 14. The Structure of Hollywood Movies
- Three Acts and Thousands of Years Later
- The Influence of the Myth Structure
- Syd Field's Paradigm
- New Approaches and Other Ideas
- The Ultimate Screenplay Design
- 15. Writing the Feature Film
- Making the Beginning, Middle, and End Work
- First Acts Don't Last Forever
- The Second Act Is the Movie
- Usually, the Second Act Most Needs Fixing
- Steven Spielberg's Second Acts
- The Midpoint and the Hero's Orientation
- The Short but Crucial Third Act
- Tag, You're a Denouement
- 16. The Screenplay, Step by Step
- The All-Important Initial Concept
- Giving Yourself the Proper Treatment
- Drafting Beats Dreaming
- The Importance of Being Formatted
- Winning the Daily Battle with the Hemingway Trick
- 17. The Rewrite Is the Secret
- Why First Drafts Are Drafty
- Scene Length and Readability
- Collaborators and Craft
- Who Should Read Your Script and Why
- The Difference Between a Rewrite and a Polish
- Resources for Better Rewriting
- 18. Polish Makes Perfect
- Why Studio Movies Have So Many Writers
- How Screen Credits Are Determined by the Writers Guild of America
- Dialogue Specialists, Purchased Scripts, and Other Tools
- How You Know When It's Ready
- Part 4. Post-Script Possibilities
- 19. What a Reading Can Show You
- The Theatrical Tradition in Hollywood
- How to Find Actors for a Reading
- Organizing a Reading That Works
- Writers Conferences and Other Irregularities
- 20. Why the Screenplay Is Merely a Blueprint
- What You Should Know About Movie Budgets
- How Your Cowboy Villain Became an English Terrorist
- Star Power Changes Screenplays
- How a Purchased Script Gets Read
- Script Resources That You Should Explore
- 21. The Real Role of the Screenwriter
- Writing for the Cineplex Patron
- Are Auteurs Dying in a Screenwriter Uprising?
- What Happens After a Script Is Bought
- How Hollywood Is Changing and What You Can Do to Help
- 22. Writing for Television
- The TV Movie and the Seven-Act Structure
- The TV Queue That Supposedly Doesn't Exist
- Plotting by Network
- A Long Form Is Not What You Fill Out to Sell a Miniseries
- If the Idea's That Good, Write a Book
- 23. Short Films and the Digital Age
- Blame It on MTV: How Short Films Affect Screenwriting
- Downloads and Debuts
- Short Film Format
- Everything You Need to Film Your Own Scripts
- Part 5. It's All in the Details
- 24. Sweating the Small Stuff
- Two Brads, Not Three
- Simple Is Elegant
- The Funky Font Don't Fly
- Shane Black and Other Quirky Perqs
- Hollywood and Ageism
- Persistence Makes Perfect
- 25. Fixing Amateur Technical Mistakes
- Flashbacks and Fools
- Don't You Just Love Watching People Talk on the Phone While They're Eating?
- Voiceovers as Sleep Aids
- Cute Is for Babies
- Who Needs Actors and Directors, Anyway?
- 26. The Mentor Merry-Go-Round
- The Galloping Gurus
- Book Writers and Real-Life Experience
- Sherwood Oaks Experimental College and Other Legitimate Resources
- "Words into Pictures" and the Writers Guild of America
- Film Festivals and Panels of Pundits
- Online Oracles and Internet Interpreters
- Schools and Other Institutions
- 27. The Truth About Selling Scripts
- How to Keep Your Query Letter out of the Round File and Your Project on Their Mind
- The Telephone as Weapon of Choice
- E-Mails and Other Specious Species
- The Gatekeepers Know All the Tricks: The Usual Channels Are There for a Reason
- How the Internet Is Changing the Access Codes
- Flesh-and-Blood Contacts Are Still the Most Sexy
- 28. Plotting Your Screenwriting Career
- When to Start Your Next Script
- Do You Need to Live in L.A.?
- The Big Picture Is Not Just a Movie
- The WGA Agent List and Agent Myths
- Somebody Who Knows Somebody--How It Usually Works
- Writer's Guide to Hollywood and Other Effective Post-Screenplay Resources
- Index