Elements of Style for Screenwriters: The Essential Manual for Writers of Screenplays [Paperback]

Paul Argentini (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1998

How to design and format manuscripts to impress any film school professor, story editor, agent, producer or studio executive.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

For many first-time screenwriters, the most daunting aspect of getting underway is learning the proper format. Paul Argentini lends a helping hand with Elements of Style for Screenwriters. It's a good nuts-and-bolts introduction to the terminology of filmmaking and a step-by-step guide to making sure your opus is properly formatted. Argentini starts with a short sample screenplay as a concrete example, peppered with annotations as simple as "use plain Arabic numbers" and as complex as "(continuing) not needed here--LUDVINNIA (O.S.) and LUDVINNIA are separate elements." Don't worry, when it's all laid out on the script it makes a lot of sense. Most of the book is set up as a glossary of film terms, though Argentini does not stop at mere definitions, also filling the book with practical advice. He explains that a "talking heads" scene refers to one that is all dialogue and no action and points out that it will doom your script. The second portion of the book--considerably smaller--lays out the elements of style for playwriting in a similar sample and glossary fashion. Argentini also helpfully explains the broader differences between writing for the stage and writing for the screen (in a nutshell, the playwright can get away with those talking-head scenes.) A good, practical manual that should take a lot of the fear out of diving into that first script. --Ali Davis

About the Author

Paul Argentini

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Lone Eagle; 1st edition (September 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580650031
• ISBN-13: 978-1580650038
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.4 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #458,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to understand.., September 7, 2002

By 

S Smyth (Belfast, Co Antrim United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elements of Style for Screenwriters: The Essential Manual for Writers of Screenplays (Paperback)

Paul Argentini's Elements of Style covers the bulk of the details required for those who want to make up a decent screenplay consistent with accepted formatting standards.. It also covers stage plays. The creation of a screenplay template for word processors is discussed, but few details are given on how to do this. But - to be fair - this is different from version and vendor, so it's a minor point. Creating macros in Word 95 and 2000, for example, is a different procedure for each one, the 20000 version being less than obvious.

For the more ambitious student, I would recommend getting the Cole and Haag book. It's more comprehensive, explains the general background to screenplays, and has many examples of real screenplays, with worked exercises.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Look at me! Look at my cap., October 3, 2005

By 

Mike Smith (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Elements of Style for Screenwriters: The Essential Manual for Writers of Screenplays (Paperback)

This book is basically an extensive glossary of screenwriting terms, and will help the beginning (and the experienced) screenwriter make sure that his or her screenplay is formatted correctly and that it uses the correct terms. The book is arranged alphabetically, so if you need to look up "Fade In" or "Margins," you can turn right to the correct pages.
The book lists a lot of terms, however, that you should never use in a spec script that you just want to show to producers and investors. Use this in conjuction with other screenwriting books to get a better idea of this.
The book is not always perfectly written either--and don't let its title fool you into thinking it has anything to do with Strunk and White--but it is helpful, and when I'm writing a screenplay, I use it often.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars informative, August 29, 2000

By 

avdr (san diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elements of Style for Screenwriters: The Essential Manual for Writers of Screenplays (Paperback)

this book has pretty much all the elements and their defenitions of screenwriting.it explains with clarity what the purpose of that term is on the screenplay.you should try "the screenwriters bible" by david trottier to get a full explanation of what it takes to write screenplays.