Screenwriting is Rewriting: The Art and Craft of Professional Revision

by Epps, Jr., Jack

• ISBN13: 9781628927405
• ISBN10: 1628927402
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2016-01-28
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

If there is one skill that separates the professional screenwriter from the amateur, it is the ability to rewrite successfully. From Jack Epps, Jr., the screenwriter of Top Gun, Dick Tracy, and The Secret of My Success, comes a comprehensive guide that explores the many layers of rewriting.

In Screenwriting is Rewriting, Epps provides a practical and tested approach to organizing notes, creating a game plan, and executing a series of focused passes that address the story, character, theme, structure, and plot issues. Included are sample notes, game plans, and beat sheets from Epps' work on films such as Sister Act and Turner and Hooch. Also featured are exclusive interviews with Academy Award® winning screenwriters Robert Towne (Chinatown) and Frank Pierson (Dog Day Afternoon), along with Academy Award® nominee Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich).

Author Biography

Jack Epps, Jr. is the co-author of the films, Top Gun, The Secret Of My Success, Dick Tracy, Anaconda, and Turner and Hooch. Epps is also a script doctor and has contributed to films such as Sister Act and Die Hard With a Vengeance. Epps is a Professor and Chair of the Writing for Screen and Television Program at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, USA.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Glossary
Chapter 1 - Receiving and Organizing Notes - Critical Feedback
Chapter 2 - Interpreting Notes - Reading Tea Leaves
Chapter 3 - Annotated Draft - Your Reference Guide
Chapter 4 - Game Plan - Creating a Road Map for the Rewrite
Chapter 5 - Index Card Method of Outlining - The Visual Outline
Chapter 6 - Brainstorming & Problem Solving - Tools to Generate New Ideas
Chapter 7 - Writing your First Pass - Getting Started
Chapter 8 - Character Pass - The Emotional Core
Chapter 9 - Story Pass - The Emotional Underpinning
Chapter 10 - Plot and Structure Pass - Architecture and Design
Chapter 11 - Feedback on the First Pass - Checking-in
Chapter 12 - Revised Game Plan - Planning for the Next Series of Passes
Chapter 13 - Relationship Pass - Interconnecting
Chapter 14 - Obstacles and Complications Pass - Making Life Much More Difficult
Chapter 15 - Scene Pass - The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts
Chapter 16 - Consistent Pass - Motivated Actions
Chapter 17 - Dialogue Pass - Less is More
Chapter 18 - Polish Pass - Details, Details, Details
Chapter 19 - Final Notes - Is it Ready to be Sent Out?
Chapter 20 - The Last Read - One More Time from the Beginning
Chapter 21 - Working with Directors, Producers and Executives - Patience, Patience, Patience
Chapter 22 - Becoming a Script Doctor - Revising Other Writers' Works
Appendices:
Screenwriters on Screenwriting - Interviews:
Robert Towne - Chinatown, Shampoo, The Firm, Mission Impossible
Frank Pierson - Cool Hand Luke, Dog Day Afternoon, Mad Men
Susannah Grant - Pocahontas, Erin Brockovich, The Soloist
Index of Craft Tools
Anatomy of a Rewrite
Studio Notes
Annotated Draft
The Essential 50 Questions
Character Wheels
Game Plans
Beat Sheet
Index Cards