Customer Reviews

The Tools of Screenwriting: A Writer's Guide to the Craft and Elements of a Screenplay

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Forget all of the other books out there...or, buy the other books, but make this one first on your list. Howard and Mabley are both accomplished professional writers and they know their tools of the craft, which they now share with you. This book succeeds immensely simply because it lists the elements of a screenplay and tells how each is best used and why. It has all of the basic elements: Dialogue, Dramatic Irony, etc. But ever heard of "Preparation and Aftermath", "Future and Advertising", "Planting and Payoff", or "Plausibility"? If not, then learn how to include them in YOUR screenplay to make it better, more exciting, and more fulfilling in a dramatic and universal way. Absolutely the best book on screenwriting. Period. Buy it now. I have read it a countless number of times and each time I learn something new or it spurs my imagination to create something new in the world of my screenplay. Please do yourself a favor and get a hold of this book. A masterpiece of screenplay instruction.

This book is ABSOLUTELY the best on the subject. And I've read _all_ of them: Field, Froug, Hunter, Seger, Halperin, and many more. The analyses of clasic and newer films are exhaustive and the "Tools" section provides an indispensible guide for any writer. It sits right next to my computer. When I sell my first screen play, David Howard will be the first one I call to say "Thank you."

I can't praise enough this book. The First section explain the Basic about Storytelling, the Second section expose The Screenwriting Tools, the Third Section from the page 100 to the end provide an Analyses of 16 Films using the following tools/elements:

Protagonist and Objective, Conflict, Obstacles, Premise and Opening, Main tension, Culmination and Resolution, Theme, Unity, Exposition, Characterization, Development of the History, Dramatic Irony, Preparation and Aftermath, Planting and Payoff, Plausibility, Action and Activity, Dialogue, Visuals, Dramatic Scenes.

My conclusions:
1) The information is clear and concise explaining the essential elements of a script
2) The Analyses Section provides examples in depth
3) The book is cheap

Is a favorite between my 12 books about Writing, you can't go wrong with this bok even if you are a Pro because the analyses of the films provide you a comparative of the central principles of a good movie.

I think this book stands out from others in the heap of books on screenwriting in at least two salient aspects.

First, it does a fairly good job of defining the terms being used. There is great confusion in screenwriting terminology; different authors have differing definitions for commonly used terms -- or none at all. They just throw out terms as if the reader already knows what it means or the meaning is so intuitively obvious it doesn't need definition. Or they define the term vaguely and apply it inconsistently so it seems to mean one thing in one paragraph, and then something else in another. Terms do need clarification and authors need to be consistent.

Second, whereas some authors emphasize a particular element or technique as a sin qua non -- if not the sin qua non for creating a marketable manuscript -- this book discusses all the basics with no particular emphasis or preference for one.

After surveying the basics, the authors apply their analytical schema to 14 notable films from various genres including The GodFather, Rashomon, Annie Hall, sex lies and videotape and Hamlet. Though I don't always agree as to how they apply their schema, it's a practical schema.

I used to teach a film class--so I had to review a lot of texts on screenplays--and this one was by FAR the best. It gives a very simple--yet incredibly helpful--"formula" for creating a successful storyline. (FYI--the authors accept the irony inherent in employing a formula for dramatic ends.) I would recommend it for anyone who wants to write a good narrative:short story, novel, screenplay, comic, etc. It made all the difference in the quality of my students' screenplays!

Howards later "How to Build a Great Screenplay" is the very best single book if you want to master screenwriting, but this is a great book, and I consider it a "must have." Better than any seminar or course, and I've spent thousands on most of them over the years, including a couple years at AFI.

I received this book about a decade ago and after reading several other screenwriting books and writing several screenplays, I still feel this is the most useful book I have read on the topic. I know that there are several quality books out there, but especially if you are just starting out, I think this is an invaluable resource.

"Tools" is written by an intellectual with many years under his belt. He starts from the bottom up, and teaches you writing from the most basic levels to the most complex of ideas. This book not only improves your screenwriting skills by leaps and bounds, but enriches your movie-going experience.

If you have never written anything, in any genre, in any format, then this book would be an excellent tool to help develop your writing skills. However, as a book on screenwriting, this book gives the very basic of basics. That is, to sum up 97 pages of text, you need to have characters, a plot, conflict, a resolution. Oh, yeah, and it all has to make sense.

Each concept is "delved" into in about two to three pages. Most of this, however, is just primer to the Analysis Section in the back of the book, where the writer now explains how all those elements take place in various movies he considers Good.

Not a great book.

Nothing new here and it is wordy. You should read it carefully, underliner in hand, to mark fishing grounds worth remembering.