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Writing a Great Movie: Key Tools for Successful Screenwriting
Let’s cut to the Writing a Great Movie is a practical nuts-and-bolts manual to dramatic writing for film. This hands-on course in screenwriting shows how to create, develop, and construct an original screenplay from scratch using seven essential tools for the screenwriter—(1) Dilemma, Crisis, Decision and Action, and Resolution; (2) Theme; (3) the 36 Dramatic Situations; (4) the Enneagram; (5) Research and Brainstorming; (6) the Central Proposition; and (7) Sequence, Proposition, and Plot—which break the writing process down into approachable steps and produce great results.
Author Jeff Kitchen—a working screenwriter, renowned dramaturge, and teacher at the University of Southern California’s graduate film school—shares the insider secrets he has developed over years of writing and teaching. Writing a Great Movie is the complete guide to creating compelling screenplays that will sell.
• State-of-the-art screenwriting theory and technique from a master
• Author named one of today's top screenwriting teachers in Creative Screenwriting magazine
• Great for writers at every level, beginner to established
Author Jeff Kitchen—a working screenwriter, renowned dramaturge, and teacher at the University of Southern California’s graduate film school—shares the insider secrets he has developed over years of writing and teaching. Writing a Great Movie is the complete guide to creating compelling screenplays that will sell.
• State-of-the-art screenwriting theory and technique from a master
• Author named one of today's top screenwriting teachers in Creative Screenwriting magazine
• Great for writers at every level, beginner to established
352 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2006
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83 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 10, 2010
One of the better books out on screenplay writing. His biggest contribution is to focus on the centrality of dilemma. Aristotle leave it almost as an aside, but Kitchen shows its importance.
October 20, 2022
I love how Kitchen organized his material in a detailed top-down approach with plenty of explanations, examples and excises. It is a true gold mine for beginners or experienced dramatist and storytellers.
May 5, 2011
Writing A Great Movie
by Jeff Kitchen
This book isn't at the top of the stack of popular writing books, but it should be. It's one of the best books on the subject of storytelling.
Classically trained as a playwright, Jeff Kitchen uses an array of techniques not found in any other book on writing.
Taking the attitude that the writer is responsible for sculpting the minds and attitudes of the audience, this book will show you several techniques for putting together a great story.
Powerful Techniques
Here are a few techniques described in the book:
Dilemma, Crisis, Decision and Action
How to set up a Dilemma, which you can use to heighten the conflict in the story. A great dilemma can be the seed of conflict for an entire story.
Scene, Sequence, Proposition, Plot
How to set up a series of events caused by something that went before it to generate the plot of your story. Your plot will never seem illogical or contrived with this method. One of the secrets is to work through your story backwards.
Research & Brainstorming Techniques
How to conduct research with the 36 Dramatic Situations used in the past by playwrights to generate story ideas.
The Enneagram
This psychological tool can be used to create a set of interesting characters with a natural set of personality traits which you can used to set up personality conflicts.
The Central Proposition
How to set up the Central Proposition, so that your audience always knows what your story is about. This will also keep the writer on track.
Writing A Great Movie
Writing A Great Movie is essential reading for serious writers. You can get it from Jeff Kitchen's website: http://www.developmentheaven.com or from the Writer's Store website: http://www.writersstore.com
Also, get his video courses!
Mark O'Bannon
www.BetterStorytelling.Net/Blog
by Jeff Kitchen
This book isn't at the top of the stack of popular writing books, but it should be. It's one of the best books on the subject of storytelling.
Classically trained as a playwright, Jeff Kitchen uses an array of techniques not found in any other book on writing.
Taking the attitude that the writer is responsible for sculpting the minds and attitudes of the audience, this book will show you several techniques for putting together a great story.
Powerful Techniques
Here are a few techniques described in the book:
Dilemma, Crisis, Decision and Action
How to set up a Dilemma, which you can use to heighten the conflict in the story. A great dilemma can be the seed of conflict for an entire story.
Scene, Sequence, Proposition, Plot
How to set up a series of events caused by something that went before it to generate the plot of your story. Your plot will never seem illogical or contrived with this method. One of the secrets is to work through your story backwards.
Research & Brainstorming Techniques
How to conduct research with the 36 Dramatic Situations used in the past by playwrights to generate story ideas.
The Enneagram
This psychological tool can be used to create a set of interesting characters with a natural set of personality traits which you can used to set up personality conflicts.
The Central Proposition
How to set up the Central Proposition, so that your audience always knows what your story is about. This will also keep the writer on track.
Writing A Great Movie
Writing A Great Movie is essential reading for serious writers. You can get it from Jeff Kitchen's website: http://www.developmentheaven.com or from the Writer's Store website: http://www.writersstore.com
Also, get his video courses!
Mark O'Bannon
www.BetterStorytelling.Net/Blog
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews