Screenwriting Updated: New (and Conventional) Ways of Writing for the Screen

by Linda Aronson

Overview

Today's screenwriter must be adept at today's popular yet often complex andunconventional script forms, such as the parallel storytelling of Pulp Fiction and Magnolia, the multiple protagonist narrative of American Beauty, and the complex flashback forms of The Usual Suspects and The Sweet Hereafter. Becoming comfortable with and skilled in such modern script forms is the focus of Screenwriting Updated, which identifies basic parallel structures,

clearly explains how and why they work (or fail to work), and establishes the basic principles of their construction. These modern forms are presented in tandem with and in relation to tried-and-true, traditional screenwriting forms, rendering unconventional structures as easily grasped as conventional ones. Unlike any other screenwriting book, Screenwriting Updated combines solid, basic screenwriting craft with a thorough presentation of very contemporary script structures. The result is a unique, wide-ranging, in-depth screenwriting text and do-it-yourself script-doctoring manual suitable for both seasoned and novice writers.

"A fabulous book that deals with the creative thinking necessary to write."—Mario Andreacchio, director/writer/producer, Napoleon, Young Blades

"Linda Aronson provides screenwriters with invaluable detailed strategies to lay bare the workings of the craft."—Jane Scott, producer, Shine, Crocodile Dundee Author Biography: Linda Aronson is an award-winning screenwriter, playwright, and novelist who has written widely for the screen in the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand and for U.S. television.

Her award-winning novels have been published in five languages and her plays have been produced around the world. She is also the author of two additional books on writing.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781879505599
Publisher:	Silman-James Press
Publication date:	03/02/2001
Edition description:	1ST SILMAN
Pages:	300
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.70(d)

Table of Contents

	Foreword	xi
	Preface	xiii
Part I	Getting ideas
1	Creativity and general problem-solving	1
	Understanding the writing process	1
	De Bono's creativity theories and screenwriting	2
	What causes weak writing	3
	How to use vertical and lateral thinking	5
	The Development Strategies method	7
	Development Strategies 1 and 2: diagnosis and general problem-solving	9
2	Getting good ideas fast from screen models	13
	Writing to a screen model	14
	Getting ideas for a film (for example, a low-budget romance)	15
	Genre and audience expectations	18
	Pitfalls of genre	21
	Combining genres	21
	Inventing genres	22
3	Getting good ideas fast from fairytale, myth and fable	24
	Getting story ideas from Cinderella	24
	Fairytales as templates for thrillers	26
	Myth, fable and literature	27
4	Getting good ideas fast from non-narrative triggers	31
	The outside world	31
	Social roles or behaviors	32
	Events	32
	Photographs, music, art works and other sensory stimuli	33
	Concepts and themes	33
	Finding other triggers	35
Part II	Narrative structure
5	Overview of traditional narrative structure	39
	Parallel storytelling is driven by the three-act structure	40
	Structure = good timing	40
	Visualizing the three-act structure	41
	The importance of the protagonist	43
	Assembling the fragments	43
	Making a structure chart	44
	Nine steps to a three-act structure	45
	Subplot/background story/relationship line	49
	Index cards	50
6	Development Strategies for a traditional three-act film	51
	Parallel storytelling	51
	Getting a good setup	52
	Finding the action line	54
	Conflict and the chain of events	55
	Action line and relationship line	56
	Three-act structure in the relationship line	59
	Protagonist and antagonist	60
	Relationship line antagonists and action line antagonists	64
	Getting into character	72
	Laying the foundations for suspense and surprise	73
	Second-act complications	75
	The second-act turning point	77
	Finding the climax	77
	Resolution and ending	80
	Final steps before the first draft	81
	Finding the story sentence (advanced form)	83
	Checking that the relationship line is moving	83
	Close planning	83
	Opening scenes	85
	Symbolism and myth	87
	Specific plotting problems: adaptation	88
	Specific plotting problems: comedy and satire	90
	Specific plotting problems: the short film	91
	Specific plotting problems: the journey film	95
	Rewrites and problem-solving generally	96
	Using criticism to best advantage	98
	Structural analysis of The Piano	100
7	Alternative narrative structures: flashback	105
	Varieties of parallel narrative	106
	Narrative told in flashbacks	107
	What is flashback narrative?	107
	Other versions of flashback	108
	Flashback as illustration	108
	Flashback as life-changing incident	108
	Autobiographical flashback narrative	109
	Plot requirements in flashback narrative	109
	Requirements of the story in the past and the story in the present	109
	Three-act structure in flashback narrative	110
	Full circle, chronologically	111
	The hook/triggering crisis	111
8	Varieties of flashback narrative	117
	Differences between thwarted dream and case history	117
	Protagonist and antagonist	118
	When to use flashback as case history	118
	The investigator	119
	Climax twist	119
	When to use flashback as thwarted dream	120
	Protagonist and antagonist	120
	Pursuit of the dream	121
	New understanding in the third act	122
	Living the dream	122
	The ticking clock	122
	Restoring the balance	123
	Thwarted dream becoming case history	123
	Autobiographical flashback	124
	Flashback as life-changing incident	125
	Other flashback uses in Catch-22	126
	Recurrent flashback as moment of calm	127
9	Quick reference guide to using flashback narrative	129
	Plot material	130
	The past	130
	Detective element	130
	The enigmatic outsider	131
	Thwarted dream or case history	131
	Protagonists and antagonists	131
	Hunt, quest, or journey	133
	Structure in flashback narrative	133
	Length	133
	Three-act structure	133
	Flashbacks appear chronologically	133
	Placing and content	133
	Protagonist and antagonist	134
	The story in the present	134
	The story in the past	134
	Triggering crisis	135
	Contents of triggering crisis	135
	Full circle	135
	Third-act quest	135
	Stories in tandem	136
	No pursuit of the dream	136
	Method for constructing flashback narrative	136
	Exercise in creating flashback narrative	137
	Standard Cinderella story	137
	Cinderella as thwarted dream	138
	Cinderella as case history	140
	Using other sorts of flashback	141
	Turning Cinderella into flashback as life-changing incident	141
	Turning Cinderella into autobiographical flashback	141
	Incorporating flashback as memory into Cinderella	141
	Incorporating alternative versions of events via flashback	142
	Starting flashbacks at the disturbance and ending just after the first-act turning point	142
10	Structure charts of flashback narrative	143
	Shine	144
	The Remains of the Day	152
	The Usual Suspects	156
	Citizen Kane	164
	The Sweet Hereafter	174
11	Tandem narrative and sequential narrative	185
	Advantages and problems	186
	Closure and meaning	186
	Pace and jeopardy	187
	Length	188
	Problems with closure, meaning, and pace: case studies	188
	Magnolia	188
	Short Cuts	190
	Go	191
	Sliding Doors	192
	Techniques to handle closure, pace, jeopardy, and length	192
	Three films that solve the problems	194
	City of Hope	194
	Facilitating characters	195
	Meaning, connection, pace, and closure	196
	Close weave	199
	Crimes and Misdemeanors and Pulp Fiction	199
	Pace	199
	Structure	200
	Tandem narrative in Crimes and Misdemeanors	205
	Pulp Fiction: closure by portmanteau plot	209
	City of Hope, Crimes and Misdemeanors, and Pulp Fiction as models	219
	Actor improvisation and the macro	220
12	Multiple protagonists and antagonists	221
	How all the narratives fit together	222
	Group action line or survival macro	223
	Responses by individuals to the common problem (macro plot)	223
	Relationships between individuals	224
	The dominant character	225
	The outsider	226
	The traitor within	227
	Creating a strong multiple protagonist/antagonist structure	227
	Group action line (survival macro)	227
	The group as a family	227
	The threat to the group	227
	Steps in the action line	228
	The disturbance and "whose film is it?"	228
	Normality	229
	Skeletal structure of the macro/action line	229
	Relationship lines	229
	Quest films	229
	Relationship lines	230
	Reunion films	230
	A macro that leads to closure	231
	The group on the cusp of change	231
	Siege films	231
	Siege structure in American Beauty	232
13	Lost in the telling: films with structural flaws	237
	Prelude to a Kiss	237
	Falling in Love	238
	Wedlock	239
	Jaws 3	240
	Jack and Sarah	242
	Guarding Tess	243
	Mr. Saturday Night	245
	Parallel Lives	248
	Common script problems	250
	Why a script might feel slow	250
	Why a script might feel boring	250
	Why a script might fizzle	251
Part III	Getting it onto paper
14	Dialogue	255
	Different dialogue skills	255
	Dialogue and structure	255
	Writing dialogue	256
	Visuals and sound	256
	Real time	256
	Getting information across (exposition)	256
	Talking heads and poor exposition	257
	Keeping to the point	258
	Pace	259
	Character and emotions behind the words (subtext)	259
	To get into character for the scene	259
	Productive conflict and redundant conflict	260
	Self-control	260
	Acting and camera directions	260
	Writing well for the camera	262
15	Examples of flawed dialogue writing	265
	"Going on holiday" (Version 1)	265
	"Going on holiday" (Version 2)	268
	"The Breakup" (Version 1)	270
	"The Breakup" (Version 2)	272
	"The Breakup" (Version 3)	274
16	Treatment writing and the script as instruction manual	279
	What is a treatment?	279
	What distracts readers from the film in their heads?	280
	What is the sequence about?	280
1.	Action	280
2.	Emotional state of the characters	280
3.	New details that will be important later	280
4.	Position	281
5.	Mood	281
	Going to cards before writing the treatment	281
	Exercise in treatment technique	281
	Poor treatment writing	282
	Better treatment writing--alternative versions	283
	Points to remember	284
	Scene breakdowns and stage directions	284
17	Strategy for writing under pressure	285
	Filmography	289
	Bibliography	291
	Index	295
	About the Author	301