Customer Reviews

Writing Great Screenplays AFI (Writing Great Screenplays for Film and TV)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Before I begin my praise for this book, let me make one note: despite the back cover and the PR, it does not give any guidance on script marketing. It is, however, true to the title - it is a solid primer on how to write great stories for the big and small screens.

Rather than present a cookie-cutter or one-size-fits-all approach to script development, Ms. Cooper offer solid theory and evidence regarding the elements of a good story, the active role of the audience, determining screenplay goals, etc. She presents a useful roller-coaster model of the story and a system of instruction, examples, and self-Q/A to help the reader/screenwriter approach his material on the macro- and micro-levels. Her ultimate aim is to match the speed, tempo and size of the roller-coaster to the desired story effect. This approach provides great flexibility and can accommodate most genres and personal styles.

This is a good read and a valuable reference tool for any screenwriter's personal library. I will refer to it over and over again, especially during the re-write process (when inspiration is always needed!).

If only every book was as well written as this one.... This book is one of the best books on screenwriting I've ever read for one simple reason: Clarity. The material in this book is presented in a wonderful "reader friendly" streamlined structure. Full of useful information yet straight and to the point. A great read for the beginning screenwriter.

Dona Cooper takes a fresh and innoative approach to the screenwriting craft and presents material not found in other how-to books, such as the chapter that deals with structure. I recommend it to my screenwriting students! Marisa D'Vari, author, Script Magic.

You should definitely own a copy of this book. While it is not aimed at total beginners, intermediate and advanced writers will find it invaluable.

When writing for television and film some people may think that all you have to do is come up with an idea and write the screenplay. The reality is that there is a lot more to it according to Dona Cooper, the author of the best-selling book, Writing Screenplays for Television and Film. The major theme that she continuously uses throughout the book is the two-dimensional roller coaster theme. The roller coaster analogy is to help "capture the sense of thrust, power, build, and intensity that a good story experience must have." This book targets readers who are more advanced and are ready to market their screenplays as soon as everything is together versus a beginning writer who wants to learn the basic steps of writing a screenplay. The majority of this book is written with strong structure. She develops key concepts and backs the structure of the different types of roller coasters that can be incorporated in many story elements. She writes with the idea of not telling the reader first you need to do this step, instead she lets the reader explore the different possible directions they can take. Her advice allows the reader to develop their own way of writing and their own sequence of writing. Beginning writers may want to gear away from this book. For the more advanced writers this would be a great book to purchase.

As a beginning screenwriter, I was disappointed with the information available in this text. Although it does provide some information on the emotional journey needed for a screenplay, I was disappointed by the lack of technical writing information. The screenwriting format is very unique and is not well covered in this text.

This book is amazing... I have Dona Cooper for class at the North Carolina School of the Arts and she is amazing. What a wealth of knowledge she has to share, and has shared in this text. A+++ Read!!!! A Must-Have for any screenwriter...

"Writing Great Screenplays..." has tremendous value for those who desire to reach beyond the "How To" books. It assumes that the reader already has some understanding of the form and function of a screenplay. Importantly, the begining writer would stand to benefit from the pointers and advice on the psychology of the writer and the audience. Each chapter proposes important questions to the creative process and does not give simplistic answers. Excellent!

Dana Cooper has has not written a "how to" book, or a book that gives you a formula for writing, and that's exactly what is so fantastic about it. It gives you much more freedom with your writing than screenplay books have in the past, but it still gives you the direction necessary for a begining writer. But it's not just for a begining writer. Even the best in the buisness could learn form this masterpiece. Through a unique style of looking at the screenplay, this book helps you find the story inside you, and helps you to convey bhow that story makes you feel to the audiance. Speeking of the audiance, this book will help you develop the writers relationship with the viewers. It also helps to show you what they, the audiance, are looking for. On top of that, at the end of each chapter, there are 12 or so questions that you can answer for yourself to see if you feel stable with the topic that you just read about. Overall, this book goes far beyond any other screenwriting book, and also helps you to go further that you ever have with your writing. It's well worth your money, so put it in your shoping cart immediately! :)

I have about 20 books in my room and this one is one of them and it's seriously the best I've ever read, regardless of genre.
I don't even write much screenplays these days but sometimes I still re-read some chapters and sitting there nodding "yup, that's so true".

The examples are so good, I thought that probebly a book like this would just make examples from boring drama movies and discard action as garbage, but the examples vary from Robocop to Beverly hills cop.

My favrouite chapter is about the Hero, finally I can explain for real why I don't like Harry Potter, becouse for me he is not a hero, and this chapter analyses what a hero is so I can make sure that in my screenplays ppl will actually hope that the hero will sucseed unlike in movies like Harry Potter where I'm hoping the evil wizard will kill his ass.