Writing a Screenplay (Pocket Essential series)
John Costello
Language: English
Pages: 160
ISBN: 1904048315
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
The recent explosion of unsolicited material written for the film industry has largely produced a mountain of wasted paper. The few who achieve success do so because they have shed the blood, sweat, and tears necessary to master the elaborate art and craft of screenwriting. This volume navigates a relatively painless path through the screenwriting labyrinth and offers an easy to digest step-by-step guide to writing a script from inception to completion. Areas addressed include research and development; genre; story and plot; audience; character; dialogue; and drafts. A glossary of commonly used jargon to further demystify the process is also included.
existing types? What are the recognised story types? For the answers, it’s time to learn about Genre. 41 4. Genre “Genre is more than formula. More often it is a type of story that has a visceral appeal to its audience.The scriptwriter who ignores the strength of that appeal does so at considerable cost.” Ken Dancyger & Jeff Rush (Screenwriting Lecturers) The Importance Of Genre Genre is a French word that means ‘type.’ Most people are aware of different broad types of film or television
be opaque and confusing, events to abandon a cause and effect relationship, narrative strands to be oblique or remain deliberately unresolved, visual artifice and style to take precedence over plot coherence and viewers to arrive at their own understanding of meaning among multiple possibilities. Some of my favourite films ingeniously combine elements of Art-film narrative with CHNS: Blue Velvet, Diva, Subway, Run Lola Run, Barton Fink, The Reflecting Skin, Trust, Toto The Hero, The Fourth Man,
launch a nuclear strike? Ramsey proceeds with the launch, but Hunter refuses to give his assent until the message can be verified. When Ramsey threatens to launch anyway, Hunter relieves him of command. Crew members loyal to Ramsey take steps to counter this move. With the clock counting down to a possible global holocaust, each man must choose his side . . . Opening Sequence: Inciting Incident: The Russian rebels’ takeover of the base. Live from a US aircraft carrier, a CNN news anchor reports
Double space to your first SLUG LINE. Slug lines, aka scene headings, are in caps from left. The reader needs to know whether the scene is interior (INT.), or exterior (EXT.), the location (CARNABY STREET or WALK-IN FREEZER) and the time (DAY or NIGHT). If the scene begins inside and moves 109 JOHN COSTELLO outside, or shows both interior and exterior detail, use INT./EXT. I like to use bold type for FADE IN: and slug lines. Double space to your first piece of SCENE DESCRIPTION, aka
don’t treat their comments as gospel. When you complete your notes, take stock of the situation. How many of the five liked your script? A solid thumbs-up from two is encouraging – 40% positive responses across the board from within the industry will see your work appreciated by a lot of important people. That said, almost all of these people will reject your script for any of a million reasons but even if it only earmarks you as someone to watch, that’s a good thing. Final Polish In truth,