Showing posts with label screenwriting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label screenwriting. Show all posts

How to Write a Movie in 21 Days: The Inner Movie Method Review

How to Write a Movie in 21 Days: The Inner Movie Method
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How to Write a Movie in 21 Days: The Inner Movie Method Review...at least not one that's actually sellable, or that has enough depth and craftsmanship to survive in the real-world marketplace. To think otherwise is to be laughably naive. Having said that, I strongly recommend this book!
Why the discrepancy? Simple. I've been writing for years, off and on. I've read dozens of screenwriting books, and taken a few of the big screenwriting courses. I've started writing about 50 screenplays, and completed about 3 of them.
One of the troubles I had (sound familiar?), is that I would begin writing, get about 30 or 40 pages into it, and then stop. Either I went off-course, I began to hate my concept or characters, thought my writing was atrocious, or came up with "a better idea." The result? Dozens of half-completed screenplays.
A writer writes. And writing is re-writing. You'll never fully appreciate these clichés until you ACTUALLY SIT DOWN AND WRITE! And don't stop!
The script I wrote when I actually APPLIED this book (about 2 years after I bought it) was written in about 48 days. Hmmph! But you know what? It was WRITTEN. It was complete. It was my first, fully-completed screenplay. And it was actually pretty darn good.
Truth be told, when you finish writing the script Viki King helps you get out on paper, it will likely be only a FIRST DRAFT. Chances are, there'll be a lot more work to do. Re-writing. Making it more organic. Adding depth and breadth to your characters. Expanding your subplots and building elements necessary to your story that Viki's book overlooks (things experience will teach you). But if you've never written a screenplay before (or never completed one you like), this book will talk you through it. And it will give you the basic tools needed to actually complete it. Because before you can re-write, hone, and perfect... you need to get it on paper in the first place!
Make no mistake about it. If you buy into the idea that you'll get this book and have a sellable screenplay a month later, you'll be disappointed. You're not a writer. You're a get-rich-quick wishful thinker. Writing screenplays is a tough business, let alone a difficult process. It just doesn't happen overnight.
The power and beauty of this book is its ability (if you actually FOLLOW it) to help you get through the battle that happens inside, when you sit down to write. It will get your script on paper. It will make you a writer. The quality of your writing gets better with experience. Applying the principles of this book will give you that experience.
Also: Others have accused this book of being "spiritual". It's not. It's motivational, it's inspirational, it's conversational. Just what a first-time or would-be writer needs to overcome his battle with himself.
Some people talk. Other people act. Those who act will get value out of this book.
As I write this review, the script I wrote (in, umm, 48 days) is currently in post-production. And the script I'm working on now is even better.
It's a process. And this is a wonderful first step. A wonderful tool to help you through the self-imposed barriers to succeeding at this craft.How to Write a Movie in 21 Days: The Inner Movie Method Overview

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20 Master Plots: And How to Build Them Review

20 Master Plots: And How to Build Them
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20 Master Plots: And How to Build Them ReviewIf you've looked inside the book yet then you've noted the twenty master plots that are exposed in this book. So I won't list them here.
For each one there is an example, an analysis of the example and a three-act structure for using the plot. There is also a checklist at the end of each plot so you have some idea what you should be doing to develop this plot in a successful manner.
eg plot 3 the pursuit: the checklist is
* the chase is more important than the people who take part in it
* Make sure there's a real danger of the pursued getting caught
* your pursuer should have a reasonable chance of catching the pursued; they may even catch them momentarily
* rely heavily on physical action
* Your story and your characters should be stimulating, engaging and unique
* Develop your characters and situations against type to avoid cliches
* keep your situations as geographically confined as possible; the smaller the area the greater the tension
* The first dramatic phase should have 3 stages. a) establish the ground rules for the chase b) establish the stakes and c)start the race with a motivating incident
okay this book does a slightly cookbook feel about plot developement, but for those new to the game, what's wrong with getting a little support and help? Consider it a training manual for plotting! And sure you might not agree with the checklists and the manner...but don't you see, that it's getting you thinking about it too! So even if you hate it, you still gain because it pushes you to refute or accept or partially accept what it presents, and this requires effort. Effort creates thought, which leads to understanding and the development of your own ideas! So where's the problem! The only problem is if you're looking for a 'do-it-for-me'...sorry you miss out here.
Apart from the exposition of each of the 20 plots there are chapters (as listed in the table of contents) involving triangular relationships, structure, motivations, the basics of plotting: the things that are always the same.
Seriously for $10 you get a lot of book. It has some really useful content here. I am an engineer and have written two fictional novels (neither published, since I never realy tried to get them published). Yeah scary huh? A literate engineer! That aside, it appeals to my 'generalize the solution space' nature and make a solution that is readily acceptable, decipherable and accessible (there was once a british engineer who went to the local library, found out the most popular childrens books, analyzed them for the common characteristics and plots and then wrote his own...hey it's ugly but it worked!)
Just remember that there is no substitute for actually writing. Nothing will write for you. It is not a panacea. It won't give you ideas nor will it make you a good wordsmith. It will guide and help you to develop one of the major stumbling blocks in writing: having a story that actually goes somewhere (you just have to be sure you avoid being 'formulaic' and applying a given plot too rigidly- remember it's a guide, not a blueprint!). Great characters doing nothing don't interest too many poeple outside of the literary criticism clique. I'm sure it makes them cringe because one doesn't do these things...circumventing the process of suffering for ones art.
Great value for money, well written, using examples we all know and it's cheap. What more could you want? Definitely 5 stars!20 Master Plots: And How to Build Them Overview

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Writing Movies for Fun and Profit: How We Made a Billion Dollars at the Box Office and You Can, Too Review

Writing Movies for Fun and Profit: How We Made a Billion Dollars at the Box Office and You Can, Too
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Writing Movies for Fun and Profit: How We Made a Billion Dollars at the Box Office and You Can, Too ReviewThis book is full of practical, professional advice on how to swim with the sharks in the very weird world of Hollywood screenwriting. In many ways it's more about the business of writing and selling movies, than it is about how to write. But I've got lots of books on writing; this is the first one that's quite like this.
Not surprisingly, since Lennon and Garant are comedy guys, it's a very funny book. It's easy to read, in a self-mocking conversational tone, and it seems like they're telling real, often embarrassing stories that actually happened to them. There are details that I've never seen in other screenwriting books, like how to tell if you've "made it," based on your studio parking spot; how to take notes from executives and movie stars; what script arbitration is, and how to win at it; and how to get fired with a gracious smile, and then get hired again.
They're also obsessed with In n Out Burger, and dedicate many pages to printing its secret menu and all the locations in Los Angeles. At first I didn't get what that had to do with movies. But whatever. It's part of their guide to living in Los Angeles, so I guess it makes sense?
"Writing Movies..." is unapologetically NOT about "art" or anything at all high-minded, so if that's what you're looking for, the writers are happy to send you elsewhere. I believe they suggest "gazing longingly out the window at the moor." They also say that if you follow their system, you'll soon think of "Oscar Season" as "Ski Season," because the kind of movies they're talking about will never win any Academy Awards anyway. Probably not a book for Documentarians, or Art House types. But if you like your popcorn movies, and if you're looking for tons of practical advice for going into the business of making them, it seems like a genuinely great book.
Also, I can't wait to try to sell some the "free movie ideas" in the back of the book. Somebody's got to do it...Writing Movies for Fun and Profit: How We Made a Billion Dollars at the Box Office and You Can, Too Overview

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