Screenwriting: The Sequence Approach

by Paul Joseph Gulino

Overview

The great challenge in writing a feature-length screenplay is sustaining audience involvement from page one through 120. Screenwriting: The Sequence Approach expounds on an often-overlooked tool that can be key in solving this problem. A screenplay can be understood as being built of sequences of about fifteen pages each, and by focusing on solving the dramatic aspects of each of these sequences in detail, a writer can more easily conquer the challenges posed by the script as a whole.

The sequence approach has its foundation in early Hollywood cinema (until the 1950s, most screenplays were formatted with sequences explicitly identified), and has been rediscovered and used effectively at such film schools as the University of Southern California, Columbia University and Chapman University. This book exposes a wide audience to the approach for the first time, introducing the concept then providing a sequence analysis of eleven significant feature films made between 1940 and 2000:

The Shop Around The Corner / Double Indemnity / Nights of Cabiria / North By Northwest / Lawrence of Arabia / The Graduate / One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest / Toy Story / Air Force One / Being John Malkovich / The Fellowship of the Ring

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826415684
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/27/2004
Pages:	248
Sales rank:	454,241
Product dimensions:	5.55(w) x 8.39(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Paul Gulino is Assistant Professor of Screenwriting at Chapman University, USA.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Preface
Foreword
Author's Note

PART I: FEATURE FILMS
1. An Introduction to Sequences
Why Sequences?
The Origin of Sequences
How A Screenplay Works
2. Toy Story: Firing on All Eight
3. The Shop Around the Corner: Fractured Symmetry
4. Double Indemnity: Flashback to the Future
5. The Nights of Cabiria: Nocturbanal Episodes
6. North By Northwest: 1,700 Miles in Nine Sequences
7. Lawrence of Arabia: Sixteen Sequences and an Intermission
8. The Graduate: Passive Main Character
9. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: Midpoint Reversal
10. The Fellowship of the Ring: The Shotgun Approach
11. Mustang: Five Sisters and Their Subplots
12. Parasite: The Goal-Oriented Ensemble

PART II: SERIES
13. An Introduction to Series
Why Series?
The Storytelling Challenge of the Serial
The Sequence and the Serial
The Serial and the Three-Act Structure
14. Breaking Bad Pilot: The Garlic in the Coffee
15. Insecure Pilot: Three Subplots in Thirty Minutes
16. Barry Pilot: Comic Incongruity


Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Every screenplay and every pilot is so vastly different. Paul Gulino is expertly aware of this, and manages to comprehensively teach the craft, not by imposing boiler plate rules, but by exposing the qualities and commonalities that make stories for the screen work, through a clear and nuanced exploration of structure. When it comes to learning, or reminding yourself, how to effectively build your narrative for the screen, I truly believe Screenwriting: The Sequence Approach is the only book you'll need.” —Ben York Jones, Screenwriter/Showrunner, Like Crazy, Everything Sucks!, USA

“Gulino's The Sequence Approach is my most often recommended screenwriting book and the reference I use to teach sequences. The new edition adds compelling contemporary material – Parasite and Insecure among others – and reveals how both film and television rely on smaller story units to build larger cinematic narratives.” —Adam Tobin, Senior Lecturer, Stanford University, USA

“A very welcome update of the previous edition! Screenwriting: The Sequence Approach analyses the most recent feature films and adds a whole section about prominent television series. In this expanded second edition, Paul Gulino includes a very relevant analysis of both recent films and very popular serial dramas to reveal how they strategically manage audience attention while delivering emotional payoffs. The book helps writers apply the sequence approach to film and serial screenwriting alike. Brilliant!” —Romana Turina, Associate Professor, Arts University Bourbanemouth, UK

“In this book, Paul Gulino moves the film audience center stage and explains the techniques you can use to enthrall them with your storytelling. Every insight is striking.” —Richard O'Sullivan, Senior Lecturer in Film, Queen's University Belfast, UK

“The book demystifies a process that too often seems cumbersome and overly complex.” —Kevin Downs, Adjunct Lecturer, Georgetown University, USA

“With additional film analyses and a new section on television series, the 2nd edition of Screenwriting remains a highly relevant guide for writers to manage the macro and micro structure necessary for successful screenplays. Gulino's addition of television illuminates how sequencing is as viable a tool for screens of all sizes. This extension of Frank Daniel's fundamental pedagogy will continue to be central in my work with emerging writers.” —Beth Serlin, Professor and Chair, Screenwriting Department, Loyola Marymount University, USA

From the Publisher