The Screenwriter's Workbook (Revised Edition)
by Syd Field
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Book Summary Information
Author: Syd FieldEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-10-31
ISBN: 0385339046
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Delta
Book Reviews of The Screenwriter's Workbook (Revised Edition)
Book Review: An Excellent Guide to Screenwriting
Summary: 5 Stars
Syd Field's The Screenwriter's Workbook (Revised Edition) makes an excellent companion to his Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting, published in 1979, the first book ever on the subject. In his memoir, GOING TO THE MOVIES -- A Personal Journey Through Four Decades of Modern Film, published in 2001, he says: "There were three printings within the first six months of publication, and it wasn't long before many of the major college and universities across the land were using it as a text (p 239)."
Introducing the SCREENPLAY book, Syd Field writes, "This not a `how-to' book....I call it a 'what-to' book, meaning if you have an idea for a screenplay, and you don't know what to do or how to do it, I can show you (p 8)." Very well, let's see.
Write down your answers to the following three questions. First: What is your story about? Who is the main character? What is the dramatic situation? ("You've got approximately ten pages of screenplay or approximately ten minutes of screen-time to establish this.") Second: What is your screenplay's ending? Third: What is your screenplay's inciting incident? -- which he defines as the incident "that sets the story in motion; it is the first visual representation of the key incident, what the story is about, and draws the main character into the story line (p 129)."
The major structuring form, Syd Field emphasizes is the classic three-act paradigm: Act I, set-up; Act II, confrontation; Act III, resolution. The typical length of a screenplay is 120 pages and the three acts take 30, 60, and 30 pages. Next, he introduces the concept of plot points: How do you get from one act to the next? "The answer is to create a Plot Point at the end of both Act I and Act II. He defines plot point as any incident, episode, or event that hooks into the action and spins it around in another direction (p 26)."
Does this paradigm hold for most, if not all, screenplays? Yes, says Syd Field, and tries to establish it by analyzing the structures of linear screenplays such as "Casablanca" and "Thelma & Louise" as well as nonlinear screenplays such as "The Hours" and "The English Patient."
In the companion book, THE SCREENWRITER'S WORKBOOK, Syd Field adds three plot points to the basic three-act, two plot-points paradigm. The new plot-points are the midpoint at about page 60 and pinches at about pages 45 and 75 in the standard 120-page screenplay. These concepts of midpoint and pinches certainly enhance the form guidelines presented in the earlier book. One of the strengths of Syd Field's books is his focusing on form, not on content, which is up to the creative writer. Form, of course, interactively affects content; nonetheless, Field wisely refrains from micromanaging techniques of content generation.
I must say the three Syd Field's books I've read so far could certainly use consultations with a professional copyeditor, a copyeditor who'd excise his annoyingly repetitive pedagogy. According to social psychologists, repetitive communication is the behavioral tendency in teachers caused by the practice of their profession ("deformation professionelle" carry-over to their communication pattern). Syd Field's penchant for repetition probably arose from leading numerous lectures and workshops? The three books, totalling over one-thousand pages, could be easily edited into an excellent 350-page book.
Summary of The Screenwriter's Workbook (Revised Edition)
At last! The classic screenwriting workbook?now completely revised and updated?from the celebrated lecturer, teacher, and bestselling author, Syd Field: ?the most sought-after screenwriting teacher in the world?*No one knows more about screenwriting than Syd Field?and now the ultimate Hollywood insider shares his secrets and expertise, completely updating his bestselling workbook for a new generation of screenwriters. Filled with new material?including fresh insights and anecdotes from the author and analyses of films from Pulp Fiction to Brokeback Mountain?The Screenwriter?s Workbook is your very own hands-on workshop, the book that allows you to participate in the processes that have made Syd Field?s workshops invaluable to beginners and working professionals alike. Follow this workbook through
to the finish, and you?ll end up with a complete and salable script!
Learn how to:
? Define the idea on which your script will be built
? Create the model?the paradigm?that professionals use
? Bring your characters to life
? Write dialogue like a pro
? Structure your screenplay for success from the crucial first pages to the final act
Here are systematic instructions, easy-to-follow exercises, a clear explanation of screenwriting basics, and expert advice at every turn?all the moment-to-moment, line-by-line help you need to transform your initial idea into a professional screenplay that?s earmarked for success.
The Perfect Companion Volume to Syd Field?s Revised and Updated Edition of Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting
*Hollywood Reporter
Screenplays, according to Field, are not so much written as they are built, and in this book he provides a clear explanation of what raw materials are needed to assemble the modern Hollywood movie script.In this cogently constructed workbook--one of the standards in the industry--Field elucidates the strict three-act structure of screenplays, talks about the nature of character, describes what plot points are and where they must fall, and provides exercises to help the screenwriter take an idea from the first germ of a concept, to outline, to rewritten script.
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