Screenplays Books

The Screenwriter's Bible: A Complete Guide to Writing, Formatting, and Selling Your Script

David Trottier

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Total reviews: 107 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

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How does a spec script differ from a shooting script? What kind of fasteners should one use to bind a script? How did the term MOS come to mean without sound? You'll find the answers to these pressing questions and much more in David Trottier's eminently usable Screenwriter's Bible. The avuncular Trottier--a writer-producer, script consultant, and seminar leader--has written a friendly guide through the Hollywood morass. He touts it as six books in one: it's "a screenwriting primer, a screenwriting workbook, a formatting guide, a spec writing guide, a sales and marketing guide, [and] a resource guide."

Much of Trottier's advice is common sense: "Don't write anything that cannot appear on the screen"; to keep casting options open, don't make your physical descriptions too specific; "don't say Ron Howard is looking at the project if he is not." But there are things to know about Hollywood that are, well, quirkier. Don't write the title of your script on the front cover or side binding; present action sequences using the "stacking action" style; in query letters and scripts alike, avoid "big blocks of black ink." Trottier's guidance--from character development and revision to queries and pitches--is invaluable. Getting in the door can seem impossible, but it's not, necessarily. "If you write a script that features a character who has a clear and specific goal," says Trottier, "where there is strong opposition to that goal leading to a crisis and an emotionally satisfying ending, your script will automatically find itself in the upper five percent."

(By the way, MOS is said to have "originated with German director Eric von Stroheim, who would tell his crew, 'Ve'll shoot dis mid out sound'"). --Jane Steinberg

The Dark Knight: Featuring Production Art and Full Shooting Script

Craig Byrne

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Total reviews: 34 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

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Critically acclaimed director Christopher Nolan follows up his blockbuster film Batman Begins with the highly anticipated The Dark Knight. Batman Begins was a successful re-boot of the popular Batman franchise, and The Dark Knight sequel takes the fresh perspective further, developing the highly anticipated, raw cat-and-mouse game between our superhero Batman and his twisted arch-nemesis The Joker. Celebrated stars include Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman, returning as Batman, Alfred, Lucius Fox, and Lieutenant Gordon, respectively; and new additions Heath Ledger as The Joker, as well as Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Aaron Eckhart. The Art of the Dark Knight is the ultimate companion book to the movie, showcasing production ephemera including storyboard art, character sketches, Nolan’s original shooting script, still photos, and even personal behind-the-scenes material created by the Nolans and Crowley during the movie. The Art of the Dark Knight is certain to appeal to diehard and new fans alike.

Rescue Me: Uncensored: The Official Companion

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Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

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The only book on the hit television show starring Denis Leary about the professional and personal lives of New York City firefighters, acclaimed by critics and viewers alike.

Now in its fourth season, Rescue Me is the highly acclaimed, groundbreaking drama that attracts millions of viewers a week. Revolving around the lives of the men in a New York City firehouse (the crew of 62 Truck), the series examines the fraternal nature and relationships of firefighters. Each week, compelling storylines tackle the daily drama of the life-and-death situations associated with being a firefighter in a post-9/11 world, while exploring the ways they use dark humor to protect their true emotions. The men of Rescue Me are Tommy Gavin (Leary), Mike Silletti (Mike Lombardi), Chief Jerry Reilly (Jack McGee), Sean Garrity (Steven Pasquale), Kenny "Lou" Shea (John Scurti), and Franco Rivera (Daniel Sunjata).

This full-color companion guide provides an insider's look at the first four seasons of this Emmy®-nominated series. It captures behind-the-scenes moments with the cast and crew, including the show's star, Denis Leary, and features stills from the show and candid photos. This book includes interviews with creators Leary, Peter Tolan, and Executive Producer Jim Serpico, biographies of the cast and crew, a detailed look at the show's action sequences, extracts from the scripts, and sidebars of favorite quotes from the show's gritty dialogue. 150 color photos.

The Annotated Godfather: The Complete Screenplay

Jenny M. Jones

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Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

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This fully authorized, annotated, and illustrated edition of the complete screenplay of The Godfather presents all the little-known details and behind-the-scenes intrigue surrounding the landmark film.

The Godfather is considered by many to be the greatest movie ever made, from its brilliant cinematic innovations and its memorable, oft-quoted script to it magnificent cast, including Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, James Caan, and others who are now among the most celebrated actors of our time. And yet, the history of its making is so colorful, so chaotic, that one cannot help but marvel at the seemingly insurmountable odds it overcame to become a true cinematic masterpiece, a film that continues to captivate us decades after its release.

Now, thirty-five years after The Godfather's highly anticipated debut, comes this fully authorized, annotated, and illustrated edition of the complete screenplay. Virtually every scene is examined including:

• Fascinating commentary on technical details about the filming and shooting locations
• Tales from the set, including the arguments, the accidents, and the practical jokes
• Profiles of the actors and stories of how they were cast
• Deleted scenes that never made the final cut
• Goofs and gaffes that did
• And much more

Interviews with former Paramount executives, cast and crew members—from the producer to the makeup artist—and director Francis Ford Coppola round out the commentary and shed new light on everything you thought you knew about this most influential film. The more than 200 photographs from the film, from behind-the-scenes, and from the cutting room floor make this a visual feast for every Godfather fan.

Your Screenplay Sucks!: 100 Ways to Make It Great

William M Akers

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The Screenwriting Book You've Been Looking For! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3OV2MIYRQTQHS This is a great book. Seriously. Buy it.

If your're serious about writing a movie 5 out of 5 stars.
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After you've acquired John Truby's "Anatomy of Story" and Robert McKee's "Story", you MUST get William Akers' "Your Screenplay Sucks!", or you're not a serious writer. What good is it to write a great script if no one reads it. Mr. Aker practically guarantees your screenplay will be not only better, but will be read.

Very refreshing and entertaining take on the craft. 5 out of 5 stars.
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Your book is really well written and refreshing. I've read several books on screenwriting and you are much more "with it" than any one else writing on the subject right now. I've read books where the only movies they cite are Butch Cassidy and Casablanca the entire time. Great movies but if these gurus stopped watching movies that long ago, why are they writing for people who are writing now? I even read one where the guy cited a tv movie script he had written more than anything else. Don't get me wrong, these were still helpful books but I really enjoy your approach.

Thank you very much for your insight ^__^

Editorial Review:

A lifetime member of the Writer's Guild of America who has had three feature films produced from his screenplays, Akers offers beginning writers the tools they need to get their screenplay noticed.

The Shape Of Things

Neil Labute

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Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

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A startling dissection of cruelty and artistic creation from the author of In the Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors

In a modern version of Adam's seduction by Eve, The Shape of Things pits gentle, awkward, overweight Adam against experienced, analytical, amoral Evelyn, a graduate student in art. After a chance meeting at a museum, Evelyn and Adam embark on an intense relationship that causes shy and principled Adam to go to extraordinary lengths, including cosmetic surgery, and a betrayal of his best friend, to improve his appearance and character. In the process, Evelyn's subtle and insistent coaching results in a reconstruction of Adam's fundamental moral character. Only in a final and shocking exhibition does Evelyn reveal the nature of her interest in Adam, of her detached artist's perspective and sense of authority--to her, Adam is no more than "flesh.... one of the most perfect materials on earth. Natural, beautiful, and malleable." Labute's latest work is an intense and disturbing study not only of the uses of power within human relationships, but also of the ethics involved in the relationship of art and life. To what extent is an artist licensed to shape and change her medium or to alter the work of another artist? What is acceptable artistic material? At what point does creation become manipulation, and at what point does creation destroy? Or, is the new Adam, handsome and confident if heart broken, an admirable result of the most challenging artistic endeavor? The Shape of Things challenges society's most deeply entrenched ideas about art, manipulation, and love.

Synecdoche, New York: The Shooting Script (Newmarket Shooting Script)

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

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synecdoche [sih-NECK-doh-kee], noun. A figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole, as in the screen for movies.

From Charlie Kaufman, perhaps the most distinctive screenwriting voice of our generation, comes a visual and philosophic adventure of epic proportions. Much as he did with his groundbreaking scripts for Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Kaufman twists and subverts the form and language of film as he delves into the mind of a man who, obsessed with his own mortality, sets out to construct a massive artistic enterprise that could give some meaning to his life. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hope Davis, and Tom Noonan, and directed by Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York is an epic story of grand artistic ambitions and creative madness.

"The way I've always worked, especially in the last few scripts, has been to start and let the thing evolve. I don't have it outlined, so I don't know where it's going or how it's going to end...but I don't think it's gone far afield in terms of things I was interested in, either illness, fear of death, loneliness, lack of meaning in life, guilt, passage of time. I think those are all things that I came into it with." -Charlie Kaufman, from the Q&A

This Newmarket Shooting Script(r) Book includes:
* Exclusive introduction by Charlie Kaufman
* Complete Shooting Script
* Exclusive Q&A
* Color photo section
* Complete cast and crew credits

Getting Even

Woody Allen

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Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

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After three decades of prodigious film work (and some unfortunate tabloid adventures as well), it's easy to forget that Woody Allen began his career as one heck of a great comedy writer. Getting Even, a collection of his late '60s magazine pieces, offers a look into Allen's bag of shtick, back when it was new. From the supposed memoirs of Hitler's barber: "Then, in January of 1945, a plot by several generals to shave Hitler's moustache in his sleep failed when von Stauffenberg, in the darkness of Hitler's bedroom, shaved off one of the Führer's eyebrows instead..."

Even though the idea of writing jokes about old Adolf--or addled rabbis, or Maatjes herring--isn't nearly as fresh as it used to be, Getting Even still delivers plenty of laughs. At his best, Woody can achieve a level of transcendent craziness that no other writer can match. If you're looking for a book to dip into at random, or a gift for someone who's seen Sleeper 13 times, Getting Even is a dead lock.

Grindhouse: The Sleaze-filled Saga of an Exploitation Double Feature

Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez

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Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Pure Cinema Garbage 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 13 people found this review helpful.

The reason why bad movies are so fun is that they are made, ostensibly, in earnest. This double-feature is not. It's an homage to such movies, made in a tongue-in-cheek fashion. I don't find this particularly clever or funny. Why should someone be paid millions to make a bad movie, let alone two for the price of one? I will say that Tarantino and his partners should be praised for marketing genius. I'm not going to force laughter or awe for something that is so obviously forced and terrible.

a great gift for a grindhouse lover 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

the book has a lot of pictures and information about the movie making process. good quality and fantastic design.

Awesome Q.T! 5 out of 5 stars.
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Grindhouse: The Sleaze-filled Saga of an Exploitation Double FeatureWhat a great way to remember & celebrate two awesome films by producing such an amazing book. It is like re-living the movies.I just absolutely love how the book cover looks old and torn...typical Q.T..authentic to the last detail.Great pictures showing every detail and by the look on Kurt Russell's face it shows just how much he obviously enjoyed himself while making "Deathproof" I would say he was having the time of his life playing such an 'over-the-top" villain.Congratulations Q.T you've done it again!!

The Seinfeld Scripts: The First and Second Seasons

Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David

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Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

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Jerry. George. Elaine. Kramer.

We've followed their misadventures for nearly ten years on Thursday nights. Here, finally, are the scripts of the first two seasons that will take you back to the beginning of Seinfeld.

Featuring the first 17 episodes ever aired, The Seinfeld Scripts contains all the great lines that have kept us laughing for years: the pilot episode, "The Seinfeld Chronicles," where it all began; George introduces his importer/exporter altar ego Art Vanderlay in "The Stakeout"; Kramer becomes obsessed with cantaloupe in "The Ex-Girlfriend"; Jerry and George meet Elaine's dad in "The Jacket"; is Jerry responsible for a poor Polish woman's death when he makes "The Pony Remark"?; Jerry and Elaine decide to become intimate again in "The Deal"; what will George do when he is banned from the executive bathroom in "The Revenge"?; and Jerry, George, and Elaine wait for a table in "The Chinese Restaurant."

It's all here: the award-winning writing of Seinfeld, "the defining sitcom of our age". Created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld.

Elaine: My roommate has Lyme disease.
Jerry: Lyme disease? I thought she had Epstein-Barr syndrome?
Elaine: She has this in addition to Epstein-Barr. It's like Epstein-Barr with a twist of Lyme disease.

George: She calls me up at my office she says, "We have to talk."
Jerry: The four worst words in the English language.

Kramer: What a body. Yeeaaah...that's for me.
Jerry: Yeah and you're just what she's looking for, too--a stranger, leering through a pair of binoculars ten floors up.