Christians in Cinema BLOG

We have some help for you! There are some great books and resources available for writers who have great ideas for films, but need some help getting started. Here are just a few:

• Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting - by Robert McKee. This book is derived from his Story Structure seminar that is regarded as the ultimate class for screenwriters and filmmakers. Using more than 100 examples from films, he teaches a form, not a formula. He goes beyond how a film works to discover why a film works, and elevates screenwriting from a craft to an art form. This book is now in my personal library.
• Four Screenplays: Studies in the American Screenplay - by Syd Field. By analyzing 4 groundbreaking films, Field helps the writer find new ways to tell stories in pictures. Using the films Thelma and Louise, Terminator 2, The Silence of the Lambs and Dances with Wolves, he shows What works, Why and How. Other recommended reading from Field includes Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting and The Screenwriter’s Workbook.
• Writing Screenplays that Sell - by Michael Hauge. He covers not only the basis of writing a good screenplay, but also includes important information about selling your screenplay. Included are chapters on writing for television, getting an agent, and the life of a screenwriter.
• The Hollywood Standard: The Complete and Authoritative Guide to Script Format and Style - by Christopher Riley, director of the Act One Program who ran the acclaimed script processing department at Warner Bros. His experience in applying industry standard formatting to scripts from every major studio has translated into a must-have for every serious screenwriter. It gives hundreds of examples along with clear, concise instructions that take the guesswork out of formatting questions that can stump even the most seasoned writers.

Other resources:

• Drew’s Script-O-Rama - A resource for scripts of produced films and television shows.
• Simply Scripts - A source of produced and unproduced scripts.
• Final Draft - Scriptwriting software. Site includes publication resources as well as a schedule of presentations they’re doing on the East and West Coasts.
• Writer’s Blocks - Allows you to capture your ideas, from a few sentences to a few pages, in blocks and arrange them into a coherent structure. The outline can then be transferred into an integrated full-featured word processing program. Available as a fully functional free trial download.