The Art and Craft of Screenwriting: Fundamentals, Methods and Advice from Insiders

by Shelly Frome

Overview

This guide for screenwriters and those interested in the screenwriting process has important information on every facet of the screenwriter's trade.

Introductory chapters discuss skills essential for all screenwriters. The second part covers various options available to screenwriters (such as different genres, indie films, adaptation) with important methods for each. Part Three is a collection of revealing interviews by the author with several established and seasoned professionals.

Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786434268
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	02/10/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	263
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Shelly Frome is a professor of dramatic arts emeritus at the University of Connecticut, a former professional actor and a prolific writer of fiction and nonfiction. He lives in Litchfield, Connecticut.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface     
Introduction     
Notes on Content     

PART I—THE ESSENTIALS
1. An Eye for the Camera     
2. A Knack for Juggling     
3. A Touch of the Actor     
4. A Storyteller’s Vision     

PART II—OPTIONS AND METHODS: RUNNING THE GAMUT
5. Genre as a Niche     
6. Alternative Routes and Strategies     
7. The Indie Option     
8. Intrepid Merchandising     
9. The Adaptation Chronicles     
10. Taking on the Novel     
11. Piecework at the Factory     
12. The Screenwriter at Work: Guidelines and Gauges     
13. Scripting, Polishing and Other Nuts and Bolts     

PART III—INTERVIEWS: THE VOICES OF EXPERIENCE
The Top Flight Agent     
Coverage and the Script Reader     
The Hollywood Producer     
The Independent Producer     
The Film Festival Director     
The Actor for All Seasons     
The Versatile Writer-Director     
The Hollywood Writing Partners     
The Emmy-Winning Chronicler     
The Master Storyteller     
The Screenwriter and the High Road     
Afterword     

Appendix A: Glossary     
Appendix B: Conventional Three-Act Format     
Appendix C: Hollywood Mythic Formula     
Appendix D: Resources     
Selected Bibliography     
Index     

Editorial Reviews

valuable screenwriting tool...as thorough as it is honest and passionate”—The Review; “as highly entertaining as it is informative”—Republican-American; “offers a refuge for those juggling with originality versus what will sell”—The Hollywood Scriptwriter; “An informative and lively book about the art and craft of screenwriting.”—Peter Lefcourt, co-executive producer, Desperate Housewives and author of The Manhattan Beach Project and The Deal; “Aspiring screenwriters will find these interviews a treasure trove, but everyone can appreciate them. If you wonder where film may be heading—especially independent film—then you'll savor the insights in [this] book.”—Steve Lawson, executive director of the Williamstown Film Festival and author of the Emmy Award-winning documentary Broadway’s Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theater, and his adaptations of Tennessee Williams’ letters (A Distant Country Called Youth and Blanche and Beyond) have been performed across America.

From the Publisher

offers a refuge for those juggling with originality versus what will sell

The Hollywood Scriptwriter

as highly entertaining as it is informative

Republican-American

valuable screenwriting tool...as thorough as it is honest and passionate

The Review