|
The Screenwriter's Workbook: Exercises and Step-by-step Instructions for Creating a Successful Screenplay | 
 enlarge | Author: Syd Field
Publisher: Delta (imprint of Dell Publishing)
Category: Book
List Price: £9.99
Buy New: £4.24
You Save: £5.75 (58%)
New (26) Used (3) from £4.24
Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 67270
Media: Paperback
Edition: Revised
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.7
ISBN: 0385339046
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.23
EAN: 9780385339049
ASIN: 0385339046
Publication Date: May 2, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New Book direct from the publisher. Takes 7 business days to ship from New York. Usually delivered in 2 weeks.
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Books are great but... September 25, 2008
Great book for reference purposes. I agree it's easier to read than McKee. BUT, one thing McKee does teach is... there are no short cuts in this business. If you want to learn "how" to write a screenplay, go to college. UCLA or USC [in LA] for example have excellent extension programs. Screenwriting is an art, a calling... if you wanted to write a symphony, you wouldn't just grab a pen and some music sheets, you'd go to college you'd learn how to read music, notes, tempo etc... etc... Years of sudy would lead you to your magnum opus. Screenwriting is the same, if not tougher.
 This book inspired me... March 15, 2003
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
This was the first 'how to write screenplays' book I've ever bought, and it has encouraged me to pursue writing screenplays further. I was however a little disappointed to discover the book was last published in 1984,19 years ago, and I'm sure screenwriting has changed a lot since then. Also, there's nothing on how to layout/format your script in Word, and how to use abbreviations and all the other scripting conventions correctly. He talks about using double spacing, but all the scripts I've read don't adhere to this, which is confusing. This book needs a re-write to bring it up to date. For example, he talks about writing on a series of 3x5 cards, cutting and pasting (not using a computer), and I think once mentions the use of a word processor, which of course weren't really around then. Some of the chapters are too theoretical and lack practicality, for example chapter 2 on Structure. He tries to define what it is almost from a philosophical angle rather than through practical concrete example. What does it mean to have a 'tight' script, when does a passage 'work', and when does it not, and what does he mean when he says a script is 'sharp'? These quantities need explaining through example. Putting these chapters aside, Field is inspirational and generally structured in his approach. I found his paradigm tool particularly useful, which essentially broke the making of a script down into manageable chunks. A good first read on the subject, but not really comprehensive in its coverage.
THIS IS THE BIBLE OF THE FILM INDUSTRY September 2, 1999
20 out of 20 found this review helpful
Thee are some serious distinctions to be made about books on screenwriting. Some of them are very good, very theoretical, very serious works. Some of them are throw-away one time reads.A very few of them are "working" books, books that you will never throw away - books that you will use as reference. And even fewer still are books that you will use over and over again - books that will inspire you everytime you pick them up. Syd Field's "The Screenwriter's Workbook" is one of those rare books. It is the "Bible" of the film industry. All of Field's books are excellent for this reason - they not only tell you how to write screenplays - they tell you why screenplays are structured in a unique way. It is understanding structure that is the key to writing movies. All the ideas about character development, the representation of myth, and the history of cinema are necessary to writing good screenplays. But only one thing is really essential and that is a clear understanding of a form that appears simple but is actually very complex. I still have many of the screenwriting books I have read over the years but Field's books are the only ones I actually USE.I know many other screenwriters, professionals all, who would say the same thing. Fashion in screenplay writing and thinking about movies comes and goes - and every new writer thinks they have to either read the latest theory or re-invent the wheel - but when you actually write you only want a book that YOU CAN USE. Syd Field never goes out of style because he writes from a serious understanding of the relationship of structure to screenwriting - and it's this relationship that you constantly return to in order to make the writing work. Buy this book and keep it. You will need it.
THIS BOOK GUIDES YOU FROM INCEPTION THRU COMPLETION August 16, 1999
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is the book I've been looking for. Story, by McKee, is so filled with intellecutal nonsense that I was so confused after reading it; I didn't know where to start. Intellectual BS! At least, Field points you in the direction and guides you through every step of the process. And, his Problem Solver is great.A great companion to any writer.
 I agree with the reader from Visalia August 8, 1999
7 out of 12 found this review helpful
Again, Syd Field has managed to take a complex and creative craft and reduce it to something not unlike a paint-by-the-numbers coloring book. Screenwriting is not as easy as he says it is, and not as difficult either. He simplifies all to extraordinary lengths.Good only for the merest beginner starting on his own. Get STORY by Robert McKee. I've read over twenty books and his has some of the best information.
|
|
|
© UK.Recipes.UK.net in association with Amazon.co.uk et al | |
