Film Scriptwriting: A Practical Manual

by Swain; Dwight V

• ISBN13: 9780240511900
• ISBN10: 0240511905
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 1988-08-24
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This second edition of the widely acclaimed Film Scriptwriting is a truly practical manual for the working writer. It provides all the clear, step-by-step guidance you need to script both fact and feature film and video - from getting and developing ideas to the writing of master scene or shooting script. featured in this new edition are annotated excerpts from some of today's most successful films, selected to point up principles and techniques discussed. Interviews with working film specialists reveal the things professional directors, producers, story editor, and analysts look for in appraising the scripts that come across their desks.

Table of Contents

Preface to the Second Edition	v
Foreword	ix
Film and You	1	(6)
PART ONE: THE FACT FILM	7	(68)
The Proposal Outline	9	(16)
The Film Treatment	25	(17)
The Sequence Outline	42	(9)
The Shooting Script	51	(15)
Writing Narration	66	(9)
PART TWO: THE FEATURE FILM	75	(118)
The Film Story	77	(17)
The Film Character	94	(23)
The Story Treatment	117	(19)
The Art of Confrontation	136	(13)
The Step Outline	149	(12)
Dialogue Devices	161	(14)
The Master Scene Script	175	(18)
PART THREE: TRICKS OF THE TRADE	193	(221)
Adaptation and Its Problems	195	(6)
Surviving Story Conferences	201	(7)
The Scriptwriter as Businessperson	208	(19)
What You Should Know About . . .	227	(5)
Lessons from the Pros	232	(115)
The Other Side	347	(28)
You and Film	375	(39)
Appendix
A: The Storyboard	377	(2)
B: Judging Screen Time	379	(4)
C: For Further Reading	383	(5)
D: Terms You'll Use	388	(10)
E: Writers' Guild of America	398	(7)
F: Writers' Guild of Great Britain	405	(9)
Index	414