Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect

by Johnson

• ISBN13: 9780240803784
• ISBN10: 0240803787
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-02-23
• Publisher: Taylor & Franci

Summary

The beauty and power of any story lies in its ability to connect to the reader, listener, or observer. Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect is the first screenwriting guide to introduce connection as an essential, although essentially overlooked, aspect of creating stories for the screen and of the screenwriting process itself. Written with clarity and humor, this book teaches the craft of writing short screenplays by guiding the student through carefully focused writing exercises of increasing length and complexity. Five award-winning student screenplays are included for illustration and inspiration. The text is divided into three parts. Part one focuses on preparing to write by means of exercises designed to help students think more deeply about the screenwriter's purposes; their own unique vision, material and process; and finally about what screenplays are at their simplest and most profound level--a pattern of human change, created from specific moments of change--discoveries and decisions. Part two teaches students how to craft an effective pattern of human change. It guides them through the writing and re-writing of "Five (Not So Easy) Pieces"--five short screenplays of increasing length and complexity--focusing on a specific principle of dramatic technique: The Discovery, The Decision, The Boxing Match, The Improbable Connection, and The Long Short Screenplay. Part Three presents the five screenplays used throughout the book to illustrate the dramatic principles that have been discussed, and includes interviews with the screenwriters, a look at where they are now and what they are doing, and brief discussion of how each film evolved. Exercise-based text puts the students' work at the center of the screenwriting courseBreaks the complex craft of screenwriting into teachable/learnable phrases and piecesAdopting professors receive a free video of the five films featured in the book!

Author Biography

Claudia Hunter Johnson is now Adjunct Professor of Playwriting and Screenwriting at Spalding University's Brief-Residency M.F.A. Program in Creative Writing.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction: The Power and Importance of Human Connection	1	(8)
PART I Preparing to Write the Short Screenplay	9	(44)
Connecting to Purpose	11	(7)
Connecting to Self	18	(8)
Connecting to Process	26	(7)
Connecting to Screenplays	33	(20)
PART II Five (Not So) Easy Screenplays	53	(70)
The Discovery	55	(15)
The Decision	70	(10)
The Boxing Match	80	(16)
The Improbable Connection	96	(11)
The Long Short Screenplay	107	(16)
PART III Five Screenplays That Make It Look Easy	123	(140)
Slow Dancin' Down the Aisles of the Quickcheck	125	(32)
Thomas Wade Jackson
Cool Breeze and Buzz	157	(20)
Lani Sciandra
tongue	177	(26)
Andy Zare
Lena's Spaghetti	203	(28)
Rachel A. Witenstein
The Making of Killer Kite	231	(29)
Matt Stevens
Robert S. Gray
Conclusion	260	(3)
Appendix A Available Screenwriting Software	263	(2)
Appendix B Films Referenced	265	(2)
Appendix C Further Reading	267	(4)
Index	271