Kategoria BISAC: Performing Arts >> Film - Screenwriting

Before the director or actors can work their magic onscreen a writer, often working alone, faces the blank page and must be the first to create the magic. Yet the writer is usually ignored by critics eager to give credit to the director or sometimes an actor. Not only that, the original vision of the screenwriter rarely makes it to the screen intact-Imagine if your favorite movie could have even been better had that image-conscious actress not demanded changes to the script? The screenplays and movies discussed include: A Beautiful Mind, Adaptation, Almost Famous, Ararat, Black Hawk Down,...

During WWII my father kept a diary during his 300 combat hours and 81 missions as a decorated P-47 fighter pilot in England. This book celebrates and honors my father and mother's participation in that difficult time.

The screenplay "Hunters in the Fog" looks into the mysteries of luck and fate in war. Why is it certain pilots, regardless of their refined skills in war, fall victim to death, chopped short in youth? My father turns over that question in his diary. He notes the near misses to himself and other pilots, the mysterious accidents, the horror of fiery death and the strange...

"Twice as Bright"
High school basketball coach Phil Novak has a heart attack and dies during a pick-up game--only to discover himself playing for the 1957 Boston Celtics.

"Making Corrections"
Prison teacher Gary Sanderson meets and befriends an innocent-seeming inmate and helps him escape. But the inmate turns out to be not at all what he seemed.

"Something Borrowed"
Valerie and Ken are a happily married teacher and social worker, but they are fed up with being poor. So they devise what seems like a perfect plan--split up, court and marry rich people, take them for a...

"When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again" tells the stories of three soldiers in three wars.

Three soldiers. Each someone's Johnny. Father, son. Brother, cousin. Husband, lover. Just plain buddy.

Three conflicts. The Civil War, pitting North against South, Yank against Johnny Reb, brother against brother. The Vietnam War, North-South strife with Orwellian overtones. The War on Terror, Afghanistan theater.

Three stories in screenplay format:

"Owl Creek Bridge," based on the Civil War stories of Ambrose Bierce.

"Sleeping With Charlie," adapted from the author's novel "Solomon's...

"Contemporizing the Classics: Poe, Shakespeare, Doyle" is a how-to on the art and craft of transforming a classic into a feature-film screenplay with a modern storyline.

The introduction probes an issue that weaves throughout: role of artistic license in balancing fidelity to the original versus dramatic needs of the script.

Contemporization of a classic being the most flagrant form of dramatic license, the introduction presents three guidelines for a considered exercise thereof.

Each part debuts a feature-film script that resets a classic work(s) in the present.

Part One offers a...

Watching movies, either at the theatre or on video, is a very popular form of entertainment that is enjoyed by the whole spectrum of society, from the very young to the elderly. Movies have varying effects upon people and they touch and inspire people in different ways. There is a large segment of society that is inspired to write their own story and some simply have their own "ideas for a movie." Some people have written scripts but "need some help fixing it." That's where "Scriptwriting and Structure" comes to the rescue. Within these pages are the necessary tools to write and structure...

Not everyone enjoys a globe-hopping lifestyle a la Indiana Jones and 007, or endures the emotional peaks and valleys of a Scarlett O'Hara or Blanche Dubois. But most of us do come of age sooner or later, which makes it easy to relate to the pivotal events involved in growing up. First crush. Dawn of sex drive. Loss of virginity. Breakup with sweetheart. Senior prom. Graduation day. Going off to college.

In like vein, we're all familiar with the issues confronting adolescents. Forging an identity. Fitting in. Handling peer pressure. Bonds/bounds of friendship. Erosion of childhood...

Action, action, yet more action. No action film worthy of genre would be caught dead without its fair share of red-hot lead and no-holds-barred fisticuffs, high-octane pursuits and gravity-defying gymnastics.

Then again, nonstop action soon wears thin absent a rooting interest in Last Man Standing.First Woman to Cross Finish Line.

Rooting interest inheres not in overt action, no matter how artfully choreographed or breathtakingly executed.

Rather, rooting interest comes from empathy for the protagonist and, more precisely, from the dramatic action embodied by the protagonist's...

During WWII my father kept a diary during his 300 combat hours and 81 missions as a decorated P-47 fighter pilot in England. This book celebrates and honors my father and mother's participation in that difficult time.

The screenplay "Hunters in the Fog" looks into the mysteries of luck and fate in war. Why is it certain pilots, regardless of their refined skills in war, fall victim to death, chopped short in youth? My father turns over that question in his diary. He notes the near misses to himself and other pilots, the mysterious accidents, the horror of fiery death and the strange...

"When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again" tells the stories of three soldiers in three wars.

Three soldiers. Each someone's Johnny. Father, son. Brother, cousin. Husband, lover. Just plain buddy.

Three conflicts. The Civil War, pitting North against South, Yank against Johnny Reb, brother against brother. The Vietnam War, North-South strife with Orwellian overtones. The War on Terror, Afghanistan theater.

Three stories in screenplay format:

"Owl Creek Bridge," based on the Civil War stories of Ambrose Bierce.

"Sleeping With Charlie," adapted from the author's novel "Solomon's...

"Contemporizing the Classics: Poe, Shakespeare, Doyle" is a how-to on the art and craft of transforming a classic into a feature-film screenplay with a modern storyline.

The introduction probes an issue that weaves throughout: role of artistic license in balancing fidelity to the original versus dramatic needs of the script.

Contemporization of a classic being the most flagrant form of dramatic license, the introduction presents three guidelines for a considered exercise thereof.

Each part debuts a feature-film script that resets a classic work(s) in the present.

Part One offers a...

Not everyone enjoys a globe-hopping lifestyle a la Indiana Jones and 007, or endures the emotional peaks and valleys of a Scarlett O'Hara or Blanche Dubois. But most of us do come of age sooner or later, which makes it easy to relate to the pivotal events involved in growing up. First crush. Dawn of sex drive. Loss of virginity. Breakup with sweetheart. Senior prom. Graduation day. Going off to college.

In like vein, we're all familiar with the issues confronting adolescents. Forging an identity. Fitting in. Handling peer pressure. Bonds/bounds of friendship. Erosion of childhood...

Action, action, yet more action. No action film worthy of genre would be caught dead without its fair share of red-hot lead and no-holds-barred fisticuffs, high-octane pursuits and gravity-defying gymnastics.

Then again, nonstop action soon wears thin absent a rooting interest in Last Man Standing.First Woman to Cross Finish Line.

Rooting interest inheres not in overt action, no matter how artfully choreographed or breathtakingly executed.

Rather, rooting interest comes from empathy for the protagonist and, more precisely, from the dramatic action embodied by the protagonist's...