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Screenwriting Unchained: Reclaim Your Creative Freedom and Master Story Structure
"Nobody Knows Anything" and "Structure is Everything." In two pithy statements, screenwriting legend William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid; Misery; The Princess Bride; Marathon Man), brilliantly encapsulates the essence of the film industry.
With Screenwriting Unchained, Emmanuel Oberg navigates a perilous journey between these two islands of truth. His refreshingly new approach to story structure leads to a powerful yet flexible way to handle the script development process: the Story-Type Method(R).
Having identified three main story-types - plot-led, character-led, theme-led - he explains how each of these impacts on the structure of any screenplay, and how we can use a single set of tools to develop any story. Crucially, he also looks at hybrids and exceptions, those unique gems that don't fit any of the story-types but still work beautifully because they follow the same principles, just in a less classical way.
This truly innovative book is aimed at screenwriters of all levels of experience as well as anyone involved creatively in the Film and TV development process: directors, producers, development executives, showrunners, story editors and more generally, storytellers keen to reach a wide audience at home and abroad without compromising their creative integrity.
If you've ever questioned why screenplays should be structured in three acts, eight sequences, fifteen beats or twenty-two steps then this book was written for you. And if you never have, well... no time like the present!
Using many case studies including films as diverse as Gravity, Silver Linings Playbook, Crash, Billy Elliot, The Intouchables, Birdman, Alien, Groundhog Day, Misery, Edge of Tomorrow, The Secret in Their Eyes, Cloud Atlas, L.A. Confidential and The Lives of Others, Screenwriting Unchained will transform the way you write, read, pitch, design, assess and develop screenplays. Guaranteed!
About Emmanuel Oberg
Emmanuel is a screenwriter, author and script consultant with over two decades of experience in the Film and TV industry.
After selling a first project to Warner Bros as a co-writer, he went on to be commissioned by StudioCanal and Gold Circle before writing solo for Working Title / Universal and Film4.
He has also designed an internationally acclaimed 3-day Advanced Development Workshop - based on the Story-Type Method(R) - which he delivers with passion to filmmakers all over the world.
Emmanuel lives in the U.K. with his wife and his two daughters. His film agent is Rachel Holroyd at Casarotto in London.
With Screenwriting Unchained, Emmanuel Oberg navigates a perilous journey between these two islands of truth. His refreshingly new approach to story structure leads to a powerful yet flexible way to handle the script development process: the Story-Type Method(R).
Having identified three main story-types - plot-led, character-led, theme-led - he explains how each of these impacts on the structure of any screenplay, and how we can use a single set of tools to develop any story. Crucially, he also looks at hybrids and exceptions, those unique gems that don't fit any of the story-types but still work beautifully because they follow the same principles, just in a less classical way.
This truly innovative book is aimed at screenwriters of all levels of experience as well as anyone involved creatively in the Film and TV development process: directors, producers, development executives, showrunners, story editors and more generally, storytellers keen to reach a wide audience at home and abroad without compromising their creative integrity.
If you've ever questioned why screenplays should be structured in three acts, eight sequences, fifteen beats or twenty-two steps then this book was written for you. And if you never have, well... no time like the present!
Using many case studies including films as diverse as Gravity, Silver Linings Playbook, Crash, Billy Elliot, The Intouchables, Birdman, Alien, Groundhog Day, Misery, Edge of Tomorrow, The Secret in Their Eyes, Cloud Atlas, L.A. Confidential and The Lives of Others, Screenwriting Unchained will transform the way you write, read, pitch, design, assess and develop screenplays. Guaranteed!
About Emmanuel Oberg
Emmanuel is a screenwriter, author and script consultant with over two decades of experience in the Film and TV industry.
After selling a first project to Warner Bros as a co-writer, he went on to be commissioned by StudioCanal and Gold Circle before writing solo for Working Title / Universal and Film4.
He has also designed an internationally acclaimed 3-day Advanced Development Workshop - based on the Story-Type Method(R) - which he delivers with passion to filmmakers all over the world.
Emmanuel lives in the U.K. with his wife and his two daughters. His film agent is Rachel Holroyd at Casarotto in London.
- GenresFilm
452 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2016
104 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
About the author
Emmanuel Oberg
6 books8 followersEmmanuel Oberg is a screenwriter, bestselling author and creative consultant with more than twenty-five years of experience in the Film and TV industry.
After selling a first screenplay to Warner Bros, he has been commissioned as a writer by StudioCanal, Working Title / Universal, Gold Circle and Film4.
He has also designed internationally acclaimed advanced development workshops and modules on thriller, comedy, animation and TV series writing – all based on the Story-Type Method®.
He delivers them with passion to filmmakers all over the world, in-person or online, through a series of popular interactive courses and hybrid events.
"Screenwriting Unchained", "The Screenwriter's Troubleshooter" and "Writing a Successful TV Series", all bestselling books on screenwriting and script development, are part of the Story-Type Method collection.
Emmanuel lives in the UK with his wife and their two daughters.
After selling a first screenplay to Warner Bros, he has been commissioned as a writer by StudioCanal, Working Title / Universal, Gold Circle and Film4.
He has also designed internationally acclaimed advanced development workshops and modules on thriller, comedy, animation and TV series writing – all based on the Story-Type Method®.
He delivers them with passion to filmmakers all over the world, in-person or online, through a series of popular interactive courses and hybrid events.
"Screenwriting Unchained", "The Screenwriter's Troubleshooter" and "Writing a Successful TV Series", all bestselling books on screenwriting and script development, are part of the Story-Type Method collection.
Emmanuel lives in the UK with his wife and their two daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 4, 2017
Screenwriting Unchained is an incredibly comprehensive book and an impressive achievement indeed. In particular, the way Oberg devises a properly 'unified theory' that is creatively rather than orthodoxy led makes it a fabulous one-stop, practical tool box for writers and developers. I for one will be recommending it heartily (and using it in my writing no doubt!).
November 19, 2018
This is a long read but undoubtedly one of the best books that I have read on screenwriting. The author starts from the basic theories of story telling and, with the help of actual screenplays, identifies the components of story design based on plot-driven, character-driven and theme-driven movies. I would strongly recommend this book for aspiring screenplay writers.
June 29, 2023
I can't review this book as I wrote it but as I reference it in other reviews from my recommended reading list, I thought I'd add it to the list for convenience. If you'd like to see what people say about it, please head to www.screenwritingunchained.com, at least until goodreads users review it.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews