There is no prescribed reading for the module. Guidance on books and other resources will be offered as appropriate by the module leader and specialist supervisors in the course of students’ research and development of their extended screenplay projects.
Your Screenplay Sucks! by
A lifetime member of the Writer's Guild of America who has had three feature films produced from his screenplays, Akers offers beginning writers the tools they need to get their screenplay noticed.
The 21st-Century Screenplay by
This is a comprehensive and highly practical screenwriting manual. An eagerly anticipated successor to the authors internationally acclaimed book Scriptwriting Updated, it covers classic to avant-garde scripts, from The African Queen and Tootsie to 21 Grams, Pulp Fiction, Memento, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Whether you want to write features, shorts, adaptations, genre films, ensemble films, blockbusters, or art house movies, this book is your road map, it takes you all the way from choosing a brilliant idea to plotting, writing, and rewriting a successful script. Featuring a range of insider survival tips on creativity under pressure, time-effective writing, and rising to the challenge of international competitions, this is essential reading for newcomers and veterans alike.
The Calling Card Script: A Writer's Toolbox for Stage, Screen and Radio by
The calling card script is the script that expresses your voice, gets you noticed and helps you reach commission and production. Written by Paul Ashton, Development Manager of the BBC writersroom, and born out of his wide experience of reading scripts, working with writers, and as an industry 'gatekeeper', this is a guide to the key writing tools you need to know and understand to write a truly original script. As many professionals need to switch mediums and genres in order to survive and thrive, the book uniquely draws together the universal principles of dramatic storytelling for screen, stage, and radio. With a focus on the script as a blue print for performance, sections and chapters break down into bite-sized practical insights and the book mirrors both the journey of the story and process of writing it. The Calling Card Script shows how to tell a great story in script form and offers valuable professional development insight for all writers, whether established or just starting out, who wish to hone their craft and speak their voice.
Becoming a Writer by
A reissue of a classic work published in 1934 on writing and the creative process, Becoming a Writer recaptures the excitement of Dorothea Brande's creative writing classroom of the 1920s. Decades before brain research "discovered" the role of the right and left brain in all human endeavor, Dorothea Brande was teaching students how to see again, how to hold their minds still, and how to call forth the inner writer.
The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by
This work provides a 12-week course that guides the reader through the process of recovering their creative self. It aims to dispel the "I'm not talented enough" conditioning that tends to hamper the creativity of many people.
Writing for Radio by
Writing for Radio -- A Practical Guide offers advice and inspiration for anyone thinking of writing or beginning to write for radio. The book focuses mainly on radio drama techniques, with advice from producers and experienced writers, but also covers documentary writing, radio soaps, radio comedy and essential advice on how to begin and maintain a career. Topics covered include: Dialogues and monologues Using sound Scenery and action Adaptations, abridgements and biographies
Understanding Radio by
'... a highly imaginative and often very entertaining book ... which ... probably says more than any other available text about the limitations and possibilities of present forms of radio.' Professor Laurie Taylor on the first edition of Understanding Radio Understanding Radio is a fully revised edition of a key radio textbook. Andrew Crisell explores how radio processes genres such as news, drama and comedy in highly distinctive ways, and how the listener's use of the medium has important implications for audience studies. He explains why the sound medium, even more than television, has played such a crucial role in the development of modern popular culture. The book also introduces students to the broadcasting landscape in a time of great change for national and local radio provision. Understanding Radio will be essential reading both to students of media and to those with a practical involvement in programme production. This new edition includes: a revised history of radio bringing the reader right up to date a brand new chapter on 'talk-and-music' radio, the format adopted by many of the new stations. Andrew Crisell lectures in communication and media studies at the University of Sunderland. He has written widely on radio and co-founded Wear FM, winner of the 1992 Sony 'Radio Station of the Year' award.
Radio Drama: Theory and Practice by
Radio Drama brings together the practical skills needed for radio drams, such as directing, writing and sound design, with media history and communication theory. Challenging the belief that sound drama is a 'blind medium', Radio Drama shows how experimentation in radio narrative has blurred the dividing line between fiction and reality in modern media. Using extracts from scripts and analysing radio broadcasts from America, Britain, Canada and Australia, the book explores the practicalities of producing drama for radio. Tim Crook illustrates how far radio drama has developed since the first 'audiophonic production' and evaluates the future of radio drama in the age of live phone-ins and immedate access to programmes on the Internet.
Alternative Scriptwriting: Successfully Breaking the Rules. by
Learn the rules of scriptwriting, and then how to successfully break them! Unlike other screenwriting books, this unique guide pushes you to challenge yourself and break free of tired, formulaic writing--bending or breaking the rules of storytelling as we know them. Like the best-selling previous editions, seasoned authors Dancyger and Rush explore alternative approaches to the traditional three-act story structure, going beyond teaching you "how to tell a story" by teaching you how to write against conventional formulas to produce original, exciting material. The pages are filled with an international range of contemporary and classic cinema examples to inspire and instruct.　 New to this edition: New chapter on the newly popular genres of feature documentary, long-form television serials, non-linear stories, satire, fable, and docudrama New chapter on multiple-threaded long form, serial television scripts New chapter on genre and a new chapter on how genre's very form is flexible to a narrative New chapter on character development New case studies, including an in-depth case study of the dark side of the fable, focusing on The Wizard of Oz and Pan's Labyrinth
Writing the TV Drama Series by
This revised and updated edition is a complete resource for anyone who wants to write and produce for television drama series or create an original series, as well as for teachers in screenwriting classes and workshops. It leads the reader step-by-step through every stage of the development and writing process, offering practical industry information and artistic inspiration.The Fourth Edition leads readers into the future and engages provocative issues about the interface between traditional TV and emerging technologies. It's also the single most comprehensive source on what is happening in original television drama around the world, with surveys of 15 countries.
Four Screenplays: Studies in the American Screenplay by
In a field being transformed by technology, Sydnbsp;nbsp;Field shows you what works and why and how to findnbsp;nbsp;new ways to create a truly outstanding film usingnbsp;nbsp;four extraordinary examples: Thelma nbsp;Louise, Terminator 2: Judgementnbsp;nbsp;Day, The Silence Of Thenbsp;nbsp;Lambs, and Dances Withnbsp;nbsp;Wolves.
Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting by
A generation of screenwriters has used Syd Field's bestselling books to ignite successful careers in film. Now the celebrated producer, lecturer, teacher, and bestselling author has updated his classic guide for a new generation of filmmakers, offering a fresh insider's perspective on the film industry today. From concept to character, from opening scene to finished script, here are easily understood guidelines to help aspiring screenwriters--from novices to practiced writers--hone their craft. Filled with updated material--including all-new personal anecdotes and insights, guidelines on marketing and collaboration, plus analyses of recent films, from American Beauty to Lord of the Rings--Screenplay presents a step-by-step, comprehensive technique for writing the screenplay that will succeed in Hollywood. Discover: *Why the first ten pages of your script are crucially important *How to visually "grab" the reader from page one, word one *Why structure and character are the essential foundation of your screenplay *How to adapt a novel, a play, or an article into a screenplay *Tips on protecting your work--three legal ways to claim ownership of your screenplay *The essentials of writing great dialogue, creating character, building a story line, overcoming writer's block, getting an agent, and much more. With this newly updated edition of his bestselling classic, Syd Field proves yet again why he is revered as the master of the screenplay--and why his celebrated guide has become the industry's gold standard for successful screenwriting.
The Insider's Guide to Writing for Television by
aking budding scriptwriters step-by-step through the entire scriptwriting process, including how to make money from TV scriptwriting. Authored by two industry experts, from both the scriptwriting and agency side, this book reveals insider tips and strategies; from how to structure scripts to preparing your pitch and finding an agent.
Writing Television Drama by
Writing Television Drama: Get Your Scripts Commissioned takes you from the very first line of the script through to becoming a regular writer for soaps and 'continuing dramas'. It starts with the basics of different types of script and production, and moves on to getting ideas, shaping character and dialogue, re-writing, pitching work and the practicalities of who does what in the production world, in both the UK and the US. Structured around a practical, progressive, goal-orientated approach, each chapter contains a diagnostic test, case studies, practical exercises and Aide Memoire boxes. Each chapter concludes with a reminder of the key points of the chapter (Focus Points) and a round-up of what to expect in the next (Next Step) will whet your appetite for what's coming and how it relates to what you've just read.
Writing for Television: Series, Serials and Soaps by
Written in an engaging, anecdotal tone, Yvonne Grace gives advice on: getting an agent; the type of writer television is looking for; the tool kit a television writer needs; the writer/script editor relationship; how to structure a storyline; how to write good treatments and outlines; what a long running format teaches writers. Packed full of useful insights, links and information, the book includes interviews with successful television writers working today, pointers on how to work collaboratively in the industry and how to make good contacts.
Raindance writer's lab write + sell the hot screenplay by
If you're looking for a straightforward, practical, no-nonsense guide to scriptwriting that will hold your hand right the way through the process, read on! The Raindance Writers' Lab guides you through the tools that enable you to execute a strong treatment for a feature and be well on the way to the first draft of your script.
Written by the creator of the Raindance Film Festival himself, Elliot Grove uses a hands-on approach to screenwriting based on his many years of experience teaching the subject for Raindance training. He uses step-by-step processes illustrated with diagrams and charts to lend a visual structure to the teaching. Techniques are related to real-life examples throughout, from low budget to blockbuster films.
The Companion Website contains interviews with British writers and directors as well as a handy series of legal contracts, video clips and writing exercises.
In this brand new 2nd edition, Grove expands on his story structure theory, as well as how to write for the internet and short films.
The website also contains sample scripts and legal contracts, a writing exercise illustrated with a video clip, a folder full of useful hyperlinks for research, and a demo version of Final Draft screenwriting software.
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by
In 1999, Stephen King began to write about his craft -- and his life. By midyear, a widely reported accident jeopardized the survival of both. And in his months of recovery, the link between writing and living became more crucial than ever. Rarely has a book on writing been so clear, so useful, and so revealing. On Writing begins with a mesmerizing account of King's childhood and his uncannily early focus on writing to tell a story. A series of vivid memories from adolescence, college, and the struggling years that led up to his first novel, Carrie, will afford readers a fresh and often very funny perspective on the formation of a writer. King next turns to the basic tools of his trade - how to sharpen and multiply them through use, and how the writer must always have them close at hand. He takes the reader through crucial aspects of the writer's art and life, offering practical and inspiring advice on everything from plot and character development to work habits and rejection. Serialized in the New Yorker to vivid acclaim, On Writing culminates with a profoundly moving account of how King's overwhelming need to write spurred him toward recovery, and brought him back to his life. Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, On Writing will empower - and entertain - everyone who reads it.
Writing for Radio by
Hints and tips from an experienced author on how to write for the radio and how to get a play, feature or short story successfully produced. This revised and updated edition includes new material covering the future of radio, the future of audio drama on the internet, and digital radio stations.
Writing for Radio by
Writing for radio brings together theoretical and practical aspects of radio writing. It deals with writing for all principal radio genres - short stories, plays, documentaries/drama documentaries, talks and features, adaptations/dramatisations, poems, and advertisements. It contains historical overviews of the genesis and development of each of these categories and attempts an analysis of the nature of radio itself. For the first time there is an attempt to isolate a 'radio language', a syntax and vocabulary guaranteed to produce pictures in the mind of the listener. This means radio can be taught as an academic subject as all writing - prose, drama and verse, can be tested as radio and examples for analysis are used from both broadcast and non-broadcast work.
Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting. by
Robert McKee presents his powerful and much sought-after knowledge in a comprehensive guide to the essentials of screenwriting and storytelling. Using hundreds of films as examples, McKee takes the writer through all the critical points which allows him/her to write a screenplay which both works and sells.
The Art and Science of Screenwriting by
In an age where many see screenwriters as the storytellers of the new century and everyone appears to be trying to write a screenplay, this book provides the framework for you to write a great screenplay. It goes beyond the concerns of act structure and the merits of story-driven ? as opposed to character-driven ? screenplays to tackle the real complexities of writing a compelling screenplay. This second edition contains: ? the different layouts for film, television, documentary and corporate screenplays ? a detailed analysis of what is required from a premise, an outline, a step outline, a treatment and a first draft ? a simple stage by stage guide to the inevitable re-write ? tips on finding an agent. This new approach to writing for film and television covers everything from finding an idea to writing a finished screenplay. The author's framework, 'A Creative Matrix', brings together all the elements of screenplay writing - from story, character, theme, and dramatic structure to plot, genre, tone and style in an understandable way that is easy to follow. His analysis includes illustrating what comprises a good thriller, identifying the different types of sit-com, and showing the qualities of a screen romance that both works and convinces. The author uses examples from across European, American and World Cinema, as well as television, and this revised edition now contains a comprehensive index.
Writing the Pilot: Creating the Series by
When I finished Writing the Pilot a few years back, I figured I'd managed to cram everything I had to say on the subject in that little 90-page package. But that was 2011, and in the years that have passed, a lot has changed about the television business.And when I say "a lot," I mean everything. The way series are bought. The way series are conceived. The way stories are told. The way series are consumed. The kinds of stories that can be told. The limitations on content at every level. The limitations on form at every level. And maybe most important of all: The restriction on who is allowed to sell a series.What's far more confusing about the future is that there are as many changes in the business models for "broadcasters" out there, and no one knows which ones will prevail. And the changes in the delivery model are actually affecting the way our viewers watch our shows - and that in turn is affecting the shows that are being bought and produced. It turns out that we approach a series differently if we're going to binge an entire season in three days instead of taking it week by week. And while you might leap to the conclusion that this only applies to shows produced for Netflix, that's actually not true - the market for syndicated reruns on independent and cable channels is mostly dead, and the afterlife for almost every drama currently produced will be on a streaming service. So in those cases you are writing for two completely different audiences.And this is only the beginning of the forces that are changing the ways stories are told on television these days. Who could have guessed, for example, that a change in the way networks count their viewers would result in a huge acceleration in the pace of storytelling? Or that an overabundance of outlets would lead to a complete liberalization of the kinds of stories that would be allowed to serve as foundation for a series?TV drama storytelling has been changing constantly since the turn of the millennium, but the pace of that change seems to accelerate with every passing television season - except that there really isn't any such thing as a television season anymore. Series are getting bigger and faster - and also slower and smaller. A hit show from even five years ago can look hopelessly dated in this new world. And the only thing that's certain is that everything is going to keep changing. Well - almost everything. Because the one constant in this new television world is the need for great writing. Strong concepts, rich characters, intriguing plots. And more even than great writing: a voice. There's a desperate hunger out there for a fresh, original vision, something that can cut through the clutter of all those hundreds of other shows out there.But in order for that voice to be yours, you've got to understand how TV writing has changed - and what it may be changing to. That's why I've written this book. I believe that almost all of what I said in Writing the Pilot still applies, but right now it feels there's a lot to talk about that wasn't even a fantasy back in 2011. This book is about addressing the changes that have overtaken the TV business - and more importantly, have overtaken TV storytelling. I'm going to be talking about all the changes I listed above, and how they may - how they must - affect your pilot.In many ways, this is the greatest time in the history of our art form to be a TV writer. There are no limits to the stories you can tell or the ways you can tell them. But beneath what appears to be a market in chaos, there are still rules that guide our storytelling - and you can't get into the game before you master them.
Writing Subtext: What Lies Beneath by
Partly a how-to book, partly an exploration of this important topic, Writing Subtext explores all the underlying meanings that lie beneath the words, images, and actions in film, which are also applicable to any kind of fiction writing. Replete with examples from films, as well as examples from real life, Writing Subtext helps the writer figure out how to find and write subtext.
How to Write for Television: A Guide to Writing and Selling TV and Radio Scripts by 
Writing Television Sitcoms by
New edition of the popular screenwriting guide! Writing Television Sitcomsis the ultimate all-in-one guide to writing a funny script, pitching a new show, and launching a successful career. AS digital technology reshapes the television industry, this new and expanded edition explains how today's writers can get ahead of the curve. Features include- A complete description of premise-driven comedy, a proven method for 'writing funny from the ground up' Numerous examples from new and classic shows Advice from top writer-producers A thorough look at how sitcom story models are changing Complete script layout guidelines for all three formats Tips on how new-media developments can help you break into the business
The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller by
"If you're ready to graduate from the boy-meets-girl league of screenwriting, meet John Truby . . . [his lessons inspire] epiphanies that make you see the contours of your psyche as sharply as your script." --LA Weekly John Truby is one of the most respected and sought-after story consultants in the film industry, and his students have gone on to pen some of Hollywood's most successful films, includingSleepless in Seattle,Scream, andShrek.The Anatomy of Storyis his long-awaited first book, and it shares all his secrets for writing a compelling script. Based on the lessons in his award-winning class, Great Screenwriting,The Anatomy of Storydraws on a broad range of philosophy and mythology, offering fresh techniques and insightful anecdotes alongside Truby's own unique approach to building an effective, multifaceted narrative.
The Writer's Journey by
The udated and revised third edition provides new insights and observations from Vogler's ongoing work on mythology's influence on stories, movies, and man himself. The previous two editons of this book have sold over 180,000 units, making this book a 'classic' for screenwriters, writers, and novelists.
