Screenwriting updated : new (and conventional) ways of writing for the screen / Linda Aronson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Aronson, Linda, 1950-

Contributor:

Edith E. Clark Endowment Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Motion picture authorship.

Physical Description:

xv, 300 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

Edition:

First Silman-James edition.

Place of Publication:

Los Angeles, Calif. : Silman-James Press, 2001.

Summary:

Today's screenwriter must be adept at today's popular yet often complex and unconventional script forms, such as the parallel storytelling of 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Magnolia', the multiple protagonist narrative of 'American Beauty', and the complex flashback forms of 'The Usual Suspects' and 'The Sweet Hereafter'. Becoming comfortable with and skilled in such modern script forms is the focus of this text which identifies basic parallel structures, clearly explains how and why they work (or fail to work), and establishes the basic principles of their construction. These modern forms are presented in tandem with and in relation to tried-and-true, traditional screenwriting forms, rendering unconventional structures as easily grasped as conventional ones. Unlike any other screenwriting book, this book combines solid, basic screenwriting craft with a thorough presentation of very contemporary script structures. The result is a unique, wide-ranging, in-depth screenwriting text and do-it-yourself script-doctoring manual suitable for both seasoned and novice writers.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: Pt. I Getting ideas

1. Creativity and general problem-solving

2. Getting good ideas fast from screen models

3. Getting good ideas fast from fairytale, myth and fable

4. Getting good ideas fast from non-narrative triggers

Pt. II Narrative structure

5. Overview of traditional narrative structure

6. Development Strategies for a traditional three-act film

7. Alternative narrative structures: flashback

8. Varieties of flashback narrative

9. Quick reference guide to using flashback narrative

10. Structure charts of flashback narrative

11. Tandem narrative and sequential narrative

12. Multiple protagonists and antagonists

13. Lost in the telling: films with structural flaws

Pt. III Getting it onto paper

14. Dialogue

15. Examples of flawed dialogue writing

16. Treatment writing and the scripts as instruction manual

17. Strategy for writing under pressure.

Notes:

Originally published: St. Leonards, Australia : Allen & Unwin, 2000.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Edith E. Clark Endowment Fund.

ISBN:

1879505592

9781879505599

OCLC:

46671200

Publisher Number:

99990198620