So many people watch films and yet so few know how to write a film well. Film writing is a very specific art form. Over the past twenty-something years Janet van Eeden made every mistake in the book and eventually turned to the experts. Using advice from screenwriting experts such as Robert McKee and Christopher Vogler, among many others, Janet van Eeden developed an effective approach to scriptwriting. Cut to the Chase breaks down the essentials of writing for film. Janet van Eeden shares her experience of writing feature films and short films, as well as her many years of lecturing, in this book. This user-friendly manual unlocks the world of scriptwriting for students. It includes a step-by-step writing programme, setting specific tasks after each chapter, so that the reader can build up their own film script. The reader is guided towards writing a well thought-out first draft script written to internationally acceptable standards.

Millions of people dream of writing a screenplay but don't know how to begin, or are already working on a script but are stuck and need some targeted advice. Or maybe they have a great script, but no clue about how to navigate the choppy waters of show business. Enter Cut To The Chase, written by professional writers who teach in UCLA Extension Writers' Programme, whose alumni's many credits include Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl; Twilight; and the Academy Award nominated Letters from Iwo Juima. From learning how to identify story ideas that make a good movie to opening career doors and keeping them open, this authoritative, comprehensive, and entertaining book, edited by Writers' Program Director Linda Venis, will be the film-writing bible for decades to come. "A well-organized soup-to-nuts manual for aspiring Nora Ephrons and Charlie Kaufmans, from the faculty of a notable screenwriting program. . . . A readable writer's how-to that goes down smoothly." - Kirkus Reviews

Millions of people dream of writing a screenplay but don't know how to begin, or are already working on a script but are stuck and need some targeted advice. Or maybe they have a great script, but no clue about how to navigate the choppy waters of show business. Enter Cut To The Chase, written by professional writers who teach in UCLA Extension Writers' Programme, whose alumni's many credits include Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl; Twilight; and the Academy Award nominated Letters from Iwo Juima. From learning how to identify story ideas that make a good movie to opening career doors and keeping them open, this authoritative, comprehensive, and entertaining book, edited by Writers' Program Director Linda Venis, will be the film-writing bible for decades to come. "A well-organized soup-to-nuts manual for aspiring Nora Ephrons and Charlie Kaufmans, from the faculty of a notable screenwriting program. . . . A readable writer's how-to that goes down smoothly." - Kirkus Reviews

Let’s cut to the chase:Writing a Great Movieis a practical nuts-and-bolts manual to dramatic writing for film. This hands-on course in screenwriting shows how to create, develop, and construct an original screenplay from scratch using seven essential tools for the screenwriter—(1) Dilemma, Crisis, Decision and Action, and Resolution; (2) Theme; (3) the 36 Dramatic Situations; (4) the Enneagram; (5) Research and Brainstorming; (6) the Central Proposition; and (7) Sequence, Proposition, and Plot—which break the writing process down into approachable steps and produce great results. Author Jeff Kitchen—a working screenwriter, renowned dramaturge, and teacher at the University of Southern California’s graduate film school—shares the insider secrets he has developed over years of writing and teaching.Writing a Great Movieis the complete guide to creating compelling screenplays that will sell. • State-of-the-art screenwriting theory and technique from a master • Author named one of today's top screenwriting teachers inCreative Screenwritingmagazine • Great for writers at every level, beginner to established

This ultimate insider's guide reveals the secrets that none dare admit, told by a show biz veteran who's proven that you can sell your script if you can save the cat!

Basics Animation: Scriptwriting addresses the full range of approaches to scripting and developing for animated films. It details the issues faced by the animation scriptwriter, and the techniques to overcome them. It also seeks to promote the unique qualities of animation as a form of expression, using many images to illustrate and emphasise points made in the text. This book looks at genres in animation as a starting point for scripting, employing a range of case studies from feature films to public relations work to independent productions, in order to reveal a range of approaches to writing.

The Psychology of Screenwriting is more than an interesting book on the theory and practice of screenwriting. It is also a philosophical analysis of predetermination and freewill in the context of writing and human life in our mediated world of technology. Drawing on humanism, existentialism, Buddhism, postmodernism and transhumanism, and diverse thinkers from Meister Eckhart to Friedrich Nietzsche, Theodor Adorno, Jacques Derrida, Jean Baudrillard and Gilles Deleuze, The Psychology of Screenwriting will be of use to screenwriters, film students, philosophers and all those interested in contemporary theory. This book combines in-depth critical and cultural analysis with an elaboration on practice in an innovative fashion. It explores how people, such as those in the Dogme 95 movement, have tried to overcome traditional screenwriting, looking in detail at the psychology of writing and the practicalities of how to write well for the screen. This is the first book to include high-theory with screenwriting practice whilst incorporating the Enneagram for character development. Numerous filmmakers and writers, including David Lynch, Jim Jarmusch, David Cronenberg, Pedro Almodóvar, Darren Aronofsky, Sally Potter and Charlie Kaufman are explored. The Psychology of Screenwriting is invaluable for those who want to delve deeper into writing for the screen.