Writing for Film: The Basics of Screenwriting / Edition 1

by Darsie Bowden

Overview

In this introduction to screenwriting, author Darsie Bowden provides sage, real-world advice and instruction on the process of writing film screenplays. This text will help budding screenwriters to structure their dramas, refine their characterizations, and craft their language, while also introducing them to the appropriate screenplay formats. It covers the complexities of writing for the screen and points out the contradictions to expect if readers pursue this work as a career. In addition to covering the elements of the dramatic film screenplay, Bowden discusses writing for such "alternative" markets as documentaries, independent films, experimental films, and other non-Hollywood options.

Features of the text include:
*guidelines for working as a screenwriter;
*applications and exercises to enhance skills;
*suggested readings for further development; and
*a comprehensive list of resources for screenwriting.

Successful writing for film lies in being able to heighten one's perceptive abilities about the world and to communicate those perceptions in a cinematic way. In this text, Bowden introduces readers to an approach to screenwriting that will help them see the world in a different way and write about it using different genres and media. This most valuable skill prepares readers for the range of possibilities they will encounter on the path to successful screenwriting.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780805842586
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/25/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	318
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

I: The Dramatic Film; 1: The Rhetoric of the Screenplay; 2: The Film Drama; 3: Character; 4: The Nuts and Bolts of Screenplay Format; 5: Crafting Your Screenplay; 6: Selling the Screenplay; II: Applying Dramatic Principles; 7: Adaptations; 8: The Fact Film: Documentaries—Form and Format; 9: Marketplace: Screenplays for Films That Inform, Explain, and Sell; 10: Introduction to the Experimental Film