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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Developing Your Screenplay

Here is some info on Field's formula and analysis of the same on Thelma and Louise: http://wondering-mind.blogspot.com/2007/03/screenwriting-101-syd-field.html

Here is an article from http://www.scriptfly.com/articles/developscreenplay.shtml

Below is the formula from Field's book:

Beginning

Middle

End
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Pinch I
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Pinch II

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mid-point

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Theme of action
60
Theme of action

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Plot Point I
45
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75
Plot point II
The Set-up

confrontation



resolution





Here is a snippet from http://www.scriptfly.com/articles/buildingscreewritertoolbox.shtml
Character and story are always intertwined, but listed in parenthesis is the stronger focus of the book.
  • The Art of Dramatic Writing, Lajos Egri - This is not for everyone. The book was written in 1946, specifically for playwriting, but I highly recommend it for screenwriting. Its depth of information converts over well for the screenplay format. (Character Development, Story Structure)
  • Aristotle's Poetics - Aristotle IS the master. He was the very first to research and analyze story structure. The fundamentals haven't changed. (Story Structure)
  • The Hero with a Thousand Faces, by Joseph Campbell - This book is not the easiest read, but explains the hero's journey by using the classic myth structure. (Story Structure, Character Development)
  • The Writer's Journey, by Christopher Vogler - This is like the "Cliff Notes" version of The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Its content is taken directly from it, sifting out a lot, and focusing on myth structure for screenwriters. But like "Cliff Notes" it waters down the intricate details. (Story Structure)
  • Stealing Fire from the Gods, by James Bonnet - Also based on Campbell's research on mythic structure, but it also examines the structure of fables and fairly tales. It will help you apply these golden forms to you own writing and give you a new insight into story development. (Story Structure, Story Development)
  • Screenwriting From the Heart, by James Ryan - A unique approach that will help to write a character-driven screenplay. (Character Development)
  • Screenplay, by Syd Field - Known for converting plot points to page numbers. It is a good basis to begin learning screenplay structure, but WARNING -- be careful about plopping your plot points onto pre-established page numbers. This rigid form of writing makes formulaic and wooden screenplays. (Screenplay Structure)
See this too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth
See this article on character development also: http://actioncutprint.com/filmmaking-articles/filmmakingarticle-04/

2 comments:

Dave's Girl said...

Suggest 510+ stage hero's journey at http://www.clickok.co.uk/index4.html ; it's totally awesome.

ducati dude said...

Thanks Dave for sharing - that link is really cool!