Crafting Short Screenplays That... | Buy

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.

Preface

Acknowledgments

xiii

Introduction: The Power and Importance of Human Connection

(8)

PART I Preparing to Write the Short Screenplay

(44)

Connecting to Purpose

(7)

Connecting to Self

(8)

Connecting to Process

(7)

Connecting to Screenplays

(20)

PART II Five (Not So) Easy Screenplays

(70)

The Discovery

(15)

The Decision

(10)

The Boxing Match

(16)

The Improbable Connection

(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

Supplemental Materials

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.