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A comprehensive guide to writing screenplays by an experienced screenwriter and a respected writing teacher. Along with sections on the sreenwriter's craft, basic storytelling, and the parts and objectives of a screenplay, the book is distinguished by detailed analyses of sixteen successful films' screenplays, including the likes of E.T., Some Like It Hot, North by Northwest, Citizen Kane, and Annie Hall.
Book Description
In The Tools of Screenwriting, David Howard and Edward Mabley illuminate the essential elements of cinematic storytelling, and reveal the central principles that all good screenplays share. The authors address questions of dramatic structure, plot, dialogue, character development, setting, imagery, and other crucial topics as they apply to the special art of filmmaking.Howard and Mabley also demonstrate how, on a practical level, the tools of screenwriting work in sixteen notable films, including Citizen Cane, E.T., One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Rashomon, The Godfather, North by Northwest, Chinatown, and sex, lies, and videotape.
Customer Reviews:
Verbose but thoughtful advice.......2007-01-10
Nothing new here and it is wordy. You should read it carefully, underliner in hand, to mark fishing grounds worth remembering.
Good if you've never written anything ever before.......2006-05-10
If you have never written anything, in any genre, in any format, then this book would be an excellent tool to help develop your writing skills. However, as a book on screenwriting, this book gives the very basic of basics. That is, to sum up 97 pages of text, you need to have characters, a plot, conflict, a resolution. Oh, yeah, and it all has to make sense.
Each concept is "delved" into in about two to three pages. Most of this, however, is just primer to the Analysis Section in the back of the book, where the writer now explains how all those elements take place in various movies he considers Good.
Not a great book.
Comprehensive and Practical.......2004-09-29
I think this book stands out from others in the heap of books on screenwriting in at least two salient aspects.
First, it does a fairly good job of defining the terms being used. There is great confusion in screenwriting terminology; different authors have differing definitions for commonly used terms -- or none at all. They just throw out terms as if the reader already knows what it means or the meaning is so intuitively obvious it doesn't need definition. Or they define the term vaguely and apply it inconsistently so it seems to mean one thing in one paragraph, and then something else in another. Terms do need clarification and authors need to be consistent.
Second, whereas some authors emphasize a particular element or technique as a sin qua non -- if not the sin qua non for creating a marketable manuscript -- this book discusses all the basics with no particular emphasis or preference for one.
After surveying the basics, the authors apply their analytical schema to 14 notable films from various genres including The GodFather, Rashomon, Annie Hall, sex lies and videotape and Hamlet. Though I don't always agree as to how they apply their schema, it's a practical schema.
An indispensable Tool........2001-12-14
I can't praise enough this book. The First section explain the Basic about Storytelling, the Second section expose The Screenwriting Tools, the Third Section from the page 100 to the end provide an Analyses of 16 Films using the following tools/elements:
Protagonist and Objective, Conflict, Obstacles, Premise and Opening, Main tension, Culmination and Resolution, Theme, Unity, Exposition, Characterization, Development of the History, Dramatic Irony, Preparation and Aftermath, Planting and Payoff, Plausibility, Action and Activity, Dialogue, Visuals, Dramatic Scenes.
My conclusions:
1) The information is clear and concise explaining the essential elements of a script
2) The Analyses Section provides examples in depth
3) The book is cheap
Is a favorite between my 12 books about Writing, you can't go wrong with this bok even if you are a Pro because the analyses of the films provide you a comparative of the central principles of a good movie.
Masterful! Brilliant! Amazing!.......1999-07-22
Forget all of the other books out there...or, buy the other books, but make this one first on your list. Howard and Mabley are both accomplished professional writers and they know their tools of the craft, which they now share with you. This book succeeds immensely simply because it lists the elements of a screenplay and tells how each is best used and why. It has all of the basic elements: Dialogue, Dramatic Irony, etc. But ever heard of "Preparation and Aftermath", "Future and Advertising", "Planting and Payoff", or "Plausibility"? If not, then learn how to include them in YOUR screenplay to make it better, more exciting, and more fulfilling in a dramatic and universal way. Absolutely the best book on screenwriting. Period. Buy it now. I have read it a countless number of times and each time I learn something new or it spurs my imagination to create something new in the world of my screenplay. Please do yourself a favor and get a hold of this book. A masterpiece of screenplay instruction.
Book Description
Providing the most thorough coverage available in one volume, this comprehensive, broadly based collection offers a wide variety of selections in four major genres, and also includes a section on film. Each of the five sections contains a detailed critical introduction to each form, brief biographies of the authors, and a clear, concise editorial apparatus. Updated and revised throughout, the new Fourth Edition adds essays by Margaret Mead, Russell Baker, Joan Didion, Annie Dillard, and Alice Walker; fiction by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ursula K. LeGuin, Anton Chekov, James Joyce, Katherine Mansfield, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Alice Walker, Louise Erdrich, Donald Barthelme, and James McPherson; poems by John Donne, Robert Browning, Walt Whitman, Edwin Arlington Robinson, e.e. cummings, Langston Hughes, W.H. Auden, Philip Levine, and Louise Gluck; and plays by August Wilson, Marsha Norman, Wendy Wasserstein, and Vaclav Havel. The chapter devoted to film examines the relation of film to literature and gives the complete screenplay for Citizen Kane plus close analysis of a scene from the film. With its innovative structure, comprehensive coverage, and insightful and stimulating presentation of all kinds of literature, this is an anthology readers will turn to again and again.
Customer Reviews:
An excellent guide for writers........1999-08-31
Although the title would seem to aim this book at a specialized market, this is in fact an excellent guide for writers in all markets. The theme of the book is that a well-written story will be much easier to sell than a poorly written one. The majority of the book is devoted to guidelines for plot and character development in the context of the specialized requirements of film and television. Many of the directions in the book are applicable to writing aimed at a wide variety of markets. There are several useful examples of actual scripts and other industry-specific forms that serve as bluprints for the aspiring film and television writer. There are also examples of synopsis and treatments as they are used in the industry. The second half of the book is devoted to the mechanics of the visual entertainment industry and how the script and writer fit in. The appendices deal with the Writers Guild and include an agency list. This book is a must-have for the aspiring film and television writer.
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Birefringent Thin Films and Polarizing Elements
Ian J. Hodgkinson , and
Qi-Hong Wu
Manufacturer: World Scientific Publishing Company
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ASIN: 9810229062 |
Book Description
This resource is the most in-depth scholarly resource available on Danny Elfman. It integrates a careful study of Elfman's scoring technique with a detailed analysis of the film itself.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent read for Elfman fans.......2005-07-21
I bought the score to Batman when it came out in 1989, and consequently decided that I wanted to do music for film. When I saw that this book was available, I immediately wanted to get it. It's extremely in depth, looking at every angle of the score, it's relationship with the film, the cultural significance of both the film and the score, the orchestration, the overall thematic elements, etc. I can only imagine how many times the author must have seen the film. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Amazon.com
For many first-time screenwriters, the most daunting aspect of getting underway is learning the proper format. Paul Argentini lends a helping hand with Elements of Style for Screenwriters. It's a good nuts-and-bolts introduction to the terminology of filmmaking and a step-by-step guide to making sure your opus is properly formatted. Argentini starts with a short sample screenplay as a concrete example, peppered with annotations as simple as "use plain Arabic numbers" and as complex as "(continuing) not needed here--LUDVINNIA (O.S.) and LUDVINNIA are separate elements." Don't worry, when it's all laid out on the script it makes a lot of sense. Most of the book is set up as a glossary of film terms, though Argentini does not stop at mere definitions, also filling the book with practical advice. He explains that a "talking heads" scene refers to one that is all dialogue and no action and points out that it will doom your script. The second portion of the book--considerably smaller--lays out the elements of style for playwriting in a similar sample and glossary fashion. Argentini also helpfully explains the broader differences between writing for the stage and writing for the screen (in a nutshell, the playwright can get away with those talking-head scenes.) A good, practical manual that should take a lot of the fear out of diving into that first script. --Ali Davis
Book Description
How to design and format manuscripts to impress any film school professor, story editor, agent, producer or studio executive.
Customer Reviews:
The author can't write, and I am pretty sure has never had a screenplay produced.......2007-09-10
This book is so incoherently and terribly written that I only got through the 3rd page of the intorduction out of morbid fascination. Consider a sentence from the author's biography that illustrates, simultaneously, his lack of grammatical ability and credits:
"Awarded a Playwriting Fellowship by the Massachusetts Artists Foundation, he is a former Boston and Washington D.C. editor, reporter and photographer."
That is, by the way, the most specific sentence of his four-sentence bio, besides "He graduated from Boston University".
A few sentences from the introduction:
"There will be some repetitious information on these pages. But, there are no wrong examples to remember. The Elements of Style for Screenwriters was not written to teach screenwriting, or to give you an insight into the dramatic art, although it might come close and I beg your forgiveness."
I accidentally bent the cover, but I am sure Barnes and Noble will take it back out of shame.
As Essential to Screenwriters as Strunk & White is to All Writers.......2007-02-11
Yes, you'll use this book fewer times as you keep writing screenplays simply because you'll commit more of it to memory. Yes, you'll want one for your shelves, one for your briefcase, and one for your office. Yes, they'll all be well used. And yes, this will be as invaluable a tool to you as your best loved dictionary and thesaurus. I require it of all my screenwriting students who are discouraged from ever selling it back to the bookstore, especially if they plan to take an advanced class with me. I also recommend this to all my workshop participants.
Get this book, read it through cover to cover once, and then flip through the alphabetized screenwriting terms when you need to refresh yourself as you write your script. Good luck with your project!
Look at me! Look at my cap........2005-10-04
This book is basically an extensive glossary of screenwriting terms, and will help the beginning (and the experienced) screenwriter make sure that his or her screenplay is formatted correctly and that it uses the correct terms. The book is arranged alphabetically, so if you need to look up "Fade In" or "Margins," you can turn right to the correct pages.
The book lists a lot of terms, however, that you should never use in a spec script that you just want to show to producers and investors. Use this in conjuction with other screenwriting books to get a better idea of this.
The book is not always perfectly written either--and don't let its title fool you into thinking it has anything to do with Strunk and White--but it is helpful, and when I'm writing a screenplay, I use it often.
THE Screenplay Writer's Guide.......2005-05-07
If you're into writing screenplays, this is THE Essential Screenplay Writer's Guide. I used it to write a couple of screenplays for Triggerstreet.com. In all of the feedback I received, not one person knocked the style of my works.
Writing.......2005-01-22
Maybe I'm crazy, but I tend not to like writing reference books that are terribly written.
Book Description
Beginning with the proposition that there exist uniquely cinematic elements of meaning and structure, Stefan Sharff clearly and systematically lays the foundation for "literacy" in cinema -- a sensitivity to the aesthetic elements intrinsic only to film. Sharff presents the basic elements of structure, modes of expression, and rules which he argues create a specific "language" and "syntax" of cinema.
Customer Reviews:
Good exploration of 8 basic elements/structures/patterns.......2005-08-27
I have been looking for cinesthetic book lately. I got this book in amazon used books section. It's about 300 movies (Mostly before 90's)analysis and extracting the 8 basic structures/elements/patterns followed in most of the movies. The explanation is more on theory and anlysis of how they did it. It strictly go by 8 elements author trying to discuss with some movie clips (story boards) and cinesthetics to follow while using this elements.
Here are 8 basic models of structures:
1)Separation--Fragmentation of scene into single images in alternation--A,B,A,B,A,B etc
2)Parallel Action--Two or more narrative lines running simultaneously and presented by alternation between scenes.
3)Slow Discloser--The gradual introduction of pictorial information with in a single shot, or several
4)Familiar Image-- a stabilizing anchor image periodically reintroduced without variations
5)Moving camera--Used in scenes without cuts
6)Multi-angularity-- a series of shots of contrasting angles and compositions (including reverse and mirror images)
7)Master shot disciplaine--a more traditional, Hollywood film structure
8)Orchestration--The arrangement of the various other elements of structure throghout the film.
I highly recommand this for introductory level of cinesthetics. I could not able to stop reading this book. Go for yours.
a complex work, very interesting.......2001-07-08
For a long time I've been trying to find out just what it is that makes a film a film and this book helped me out considerably. The book pinpoints a few of the elusive traits of the cinema and explains how they are used in combination to produce all the cinematic subtleties. In each chapter it has shot by shot analysis of a scene demonstrating a particular structure and it's full of diagrams and charts which help explain it's ideas. It has been a great help for me in both watching and constructing films.
Be warned, you'll need all your concentration to get through this one. It is intense.
Book Description
Malcolm Boyd's lucid text investigates how often various chords and progressions occur, in what contexts and (where possible) for what reasons. Following methods known to have been adopted by Bach himself, the exercises are graded in such a way as to encourage the student to develop both technique and imagination within a closely defined framework.
Customer Reviews:
Makes some helpful observations.......2006-07-11
As a music student who was looking for a good resource to better understand Bach's style, I decided to pick up this book. I found it made many helpful observations that aided in my understanding of Bach's style in his chorales and instrumental music (i.e. favored progressions, voice leading). It is designed for students who have already studied Harmony (and Counterpoint for the second half of the book) and who require more detail on what Bach would or would not have done in different situations. Exercises are also provided, starting with an existing soprano and bass part where the student adds the alto and tenor, followed by many more where only the soprano is provided and the student adds the three other voices. As there are so many different ways to harmonize a melody, answers are not provided, and a teacher will be required to correct the work.
The quibble that prevents this book from getting 4 or 5 stars in this review is that there is no included Bach Anthology. I had hoped for the price that there would at least be some chorales and some Bach keyboard pieces for harmonic and countrapuntal analysis. In fact the book makes the point that the reader should analyse several Bach chorales before even attempting the given exercises, yet there are none included in the book. Also several examples say things like "see chorale no 19 measure 10 for an example of this". Therefore, in order for this book to be of use, you'll need to also purchase Bach's 371 chorales for the first half and his 2-part inventions and 3-part sinfonias for the second half.
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Merce Cunningham: Creative Elements ((Choreography & Dance Ser. ; Vol. 4, Pt. 2))
Manufacturer: Routledge
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ASIN: 3718658348 |
Book Description
Merce Cunningham reached the age of 75 in 1994, an age at which many creative artists are content to rest on their laurels, or at least to leave behind whatever controversies they may have caused during their careers. No so Cunningham. In the first place, his 70s have been a time of intense creativity in which he has choreographed as many as four new works a year. Cunningham is a strongly committed as ever to the discovery of new ways of moving and of making movement, refusing to be hampered by the physical limitations that have come with age. Since 1991 every new work has been made at least in part with the use of the computer program Life Forms, which enables him to devise choreographic phrases that he himself would be unable to perform - and which challenge and develop the virtuosity of the young dancers in his company.
The essays collected in this special issue of Choreography and Dance were written over the last few years and discuss various aspects of the work of Cunningham as seen b
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Elements of Writing About Literature and Film, The
Elizabeth McMahan ,
Robert Funk , and
Susan X Day
Manufacturer: Longman
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