The Megahit Movies [Paperback]

Richard Michaels Stefanik (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2001

This book analyses the Megahit Movies, those films which have generated more than $250 million in North American Box Office receipts. It presents principles of story construction that can be used to develop popular movies. The book is designed for writers, directors and producers who want to create commercially successful films. The fundamentals of dramatic structure, the human emotions, and the construction of humorous characters and situations are explained, with examples drawn from some of the most popular motion pictures Hollywood has ever produced.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Structures of Fantasy is listed as one of the Hot Screenwriting Titles in the WGA Library. -- The Writers Guild of America West

The Megahit Movies is a revised edition of Structures of Fantasy, selected by WGA Mentors as a Recommended Screenwriting Book. -- Writers Guild Online Mentor Service

About the Author

Richard Michaels Stefanik was a Screenwriting Fellow at the American Film Institute, then worked at several Hollywood studios, including Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Productions. He has an M.A. degree in Philosophy from U.C. Berkeley, and also studied Philosophy at Oxford University. Richard conducted a Story Design workshop, "Making Megahit Movies," at the UCLA Extension Department of Entertainment Studies in January, 2001. He is scheduled to conduct a series of classes on "Story Structures in the Megahit Movies" at the Las Vegas Screenwriters Conference, July 12-15, 2001.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Multimedia Systems Group (May 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1882373014
• ISBN-13: 978-1882373017
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,652,406 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Empty, March 18, 2003

By 

snowleopard (Oregon) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Megahit Movies (Paperback)

I'm stunned by all the people that recommend this book. Yes, it doesn't talk about formatting, or the three act structure, or snappy dialog. But it says almost nothing valuable about what it professes to educate on. It's a constant reminder, near dogmatic, of simple statements: "Your audience must like the protagonist." "You should have a payoff at the end of the script." Well, no kidding.

The other flaw of this book is how little it takes into account of why these megahit films TRULY succeeded. A huge rash of them were surrounded by enormous hype and marketing. Sometimes upwards of $100 million alone in advertising. Independence Day was sold on the concept of the trailer alone, and went into production before even one word was typed on a page. What are the chances that the rules that applied to those films, will apply to the spec script you are trying to break in with? Even if he did clearly explain those rules, which I felt he did not.

Skip this book. I won't recommend any other books, but I'll recommend something else. I'll recommend to you what Mike Rich did before he came out of nowhere to win the Nicholl Fellowships and sell his first script: Read actual scripts. Read spec scripts and early drafts if possible. And read the scripts that not only succeed, but succeeded not on raw financing power, but on merit.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS OUTSTANDING BOOK, THE FIRST REVIEW., June 18, 2001

By 

Mary Corbin (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Megahit Movies (Paperback)

This book is a treasure of information on Story Design and Screenwriting, which is easy to use and can help anyone who is interested in writing. Teachers, writers, directors, producers, and students will appreciate the easy to use, concise and clear information.

One of my favorite sections, of this book, is the presentation of the different Theories of Humor. Richard Michaels explains that anyone can learn the formula for being funny, and compares the relationship of math, humor and logic. If a logical sequence is presented in an out of order pattern, then the reader, or audience laughs. Anyone can learn these simple rules of humor, and improve their comic writing.

The Megahit Movies are analyzed, showing the Antagonist, Protagonist, and Love Interests, their obstacles, timelocks and crisis resolutions for each of the major conflicts in the stories. This is also a great gift for any writer, professional, or beginner who is striving to create popular movies or just improve their writing skills.

This book is a must have for any writer or library.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent guide for novice AND experienced screenwriters, September 12, 2001

By 

Jennie Berkson (Evanston, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Megahit Movies (Paperback)

_The Megahit Movies_ is very easy to understand, straightforward, full of really valuable details and examples. Many of the books about writing screenplays out there (and there are certainly many) may make a good point here or there, but I often find myself wondering, "Well, what does he really mean by that?" This book never has that problem. The author is so generous with examples that the connection between theory and practice is always clear.
This makes it so much easier for someone just learning the
craft, to really get a handle on what works and what doesn't.

The depth of the book is only enhanced by its simplicity of design and language. Again, many of the books I've read seem to want to rely on some razzle-dazzle new formula or philosophy which will then be the "guarantee of success" for the person who
follows the guru. Stefanik doesn't try to sell anything fancy and his approach has tremendous credibility as a result.