Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect

Writing Short Films is one of the bestselling university text books on writing short film screenplays. This updated and revised edition includes several new chapters.

Crafting Short Screenplays that Connect introduces the essential element of 'human connection' - the ability to 'touch' the reader or observer - to the screenwriting and story creation process for short films. Claudia Hunter Johnson teaches the craft of short screenplay writing by guiding you through carefully focused writing exercises of increasing length and complexity. You will learn how to think more deeply about the screenwriter's purposes, craft an effective pattern of human change, and hone your vision and process for your short screenplays.

Every award-winning short film begins life with a clever idea, a good story and a screenplay. Patrick Nash analyses the process of writing short film screenplays and gives advice on: Story and structure Ideas generation Plot and pace Screenplay format Dos and don'ts Eliciting emotion Dialogue and subtext Character design Protagonists and antagonists Character motivation and goals Conflict, obstacles and stakes Clichés and Stereotypes Beginnings, middles and ends Hooking the viewer Screenplay competitions Loglines, outlines and synopses Rewriting and length Practicalities and budgets The book also includes a number of award-winning scripts and interviews, advice and contributions from their award-winning screenwriters and a discussion of the benefits to writers of writing short screenplays.

This updated edition of Writing for Visual Media will enable you to understand the nature of visual writing that lies behind the content of all visual media. This unique kind of writing must communicate to audiences through content producers, since audiences don’t read the script. Most media content provides a solution to a communication problem, which the writer must learn to analyze and solve before writing the script. The Fourth Edition strengthens the method for creating content and writing in the correct language and established format for each visual medium, including commercial communication such as ads and PSAs, corporate communications, and training. An extended investigation into dramatic theory and how entertainment narrative works is illustrated by examples and detailed analysis of scenes, scripts and storylines, designed to save writers from typical pitfalls and releasing your creative powers of invention. Writing for Visual Media will help you to develop an improved foundation for understanding interactive media and writing for non-linear content, while gaining the tools to effectively connect with your audience like a professional. Purchase of this book includes access to the companion website, which provides: Sample scripts and video clips of those produced scripts An interactive glossary of camera shots, movements, and transitions Storyboards, scripts, screenplays, and links to industry resource Instructor materials such as PowerPoint lecture slides, a sample syllabus, and a test bank. Visit the site at www.routledgetextbooks.com/textbooks/9780415815857

Publisher Description

Some of the greatest movies and television series have been written by script partners. Script Partners, Second Edition brings together the experience, knowledge, and winning techniques of Hollywood’s most productive partnerships—including Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild ), Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack (Dallas Buyers Club), and Andrew Reich & Ted Cohen (Friends). Established and aspiring screenwriters will learn how to pick the right partner and the right project, co-create character and story structure, co-draft and revise a script, collaborate in film school and in the film industry, and manage both the creative and business sides of partnerships.

This handbook brings together the experience, knowledge, techniques, and wisdom of many successful writing teams for film and television.

A story is a living thing. And you don't work on a living thing, you work with it. This is the way of the screenwriter, and it is something that writer and director Amnon Buchbinder believes all masterful screenwriters understand intuitively: learning how to work with story through a painstaking process of trial, error, and self exploration. Amnon Buchbinder draws on his knowledge as a teacher and his experience as a script doctor and a story editor to explore this creative process. Along the way he illustrates principles often inspired by the philosophy of Laozi (Lao Tze) with examples drawn from major motion pictures such as Memento and The Piano. For the beginning or seasoned screenwriter who aspires to more than mere competence, Buchbinder illuminates a path towards mastery of the craft. For the lover of the cinematic experience, he opens a curtain to reveal a rarely seen world behind the big screen.