Synopses & Reviews
The beauty and power of any story lies in its ability to connect to the reader, listener, or observer. Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect is the first screenwriting guide to introduce connection as an essential, although essentially overlooked, aspect of creating stories for the screen and of the screenwriting process itself. Written with clarity and humor, this book teaches the craft of writing short screenplays by guiding the student through carefully focused writing exercises of increasing length and complexity. Five award-winning student screenplays are included for illustration and inspiration.
The text is divided into three parts. Part one focuses on preparing to write by means of exercises designed to help students think more deeply about the screenwriter's purposes; their own unique vision, material and process; and finally about what screenplays are at their simplest and most profound level--a pattern of human change, created from specific moments of change--discoveries and decisions.
Part two teaches students how to craft an effective pattern of human change. It guides them through the writing and re-writing of "Five (Not So Easy) Pieces"--five short screenplays of increasing length and complexity--focusing on a specific principle of dramatic technique: The Discovery, The Decision, The Boxing Match, The Improbable Connection, and The Long Short Screenplay.
Part Three presents the five screenplays used throughout the book to illustrate the dramatic principles that have been discussed, and includes interviews with the screenwriters, a look at where they are now and what they are doing, and brief discussion of how each film evolved.
Exercise-based text puts the students' work at the center of the screenwriting courseBreaks the complex craft of screenwriting into teachable/learnable phrases and piecesAdopting professors receive a free video of the five films featured in the book!
Review
"Crafting Short Screenplays that Connect would make a good addition to any screenwriter's library. While this book assumes the reader is familiar with feature-film style scriptwriting, screen language and shot descritptions, it is a very accessible book for aspiring screenwriters." - Videomaker
"Whether you want to write short screenplays because you want some practice before you go the distance, or because it's an assignment for your film class, 'Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect' is for you...It is explicit in its detail and direction. What is perhaps the most unique part of this guide is the fact that it contains five short screenplays that illustrate dramatic principles she teaches."
- Jason Antebi, Done Deal (scriptsales.com)
Review
book for aspiring screenwriters." - Videomaker
"Whether you want to write short screenplays because you want some practice before you go the distance, or because it's an assignment for your film class, 'Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect' is for you...It is explicit in its detail and direction. What is perhaps the most unique part of this guide is the fact that it contains five short screenplays that illustrate dramatic principles she teaches."
- Jason Antebi, Done Deal (scriptsales.com)
Review
ve short screenplays that illustrate dramatic principles she teaches."
- Jason Antebi, Done Deal (scriptsales.com)
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 267-269) and index.
About the Author
Claudia Hunter Johnson, Ph.D. has written numerous short and long scripts for stage, film, and television. Two of her screenplays, OBSCENITY and PSYCHO BITCH (co-written with Matt Stevens), were finalists for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab. Her many awards include the Warner Brothers Scriptwriting Award, the Lorraine Hansberry Award, the American National Theatre and Academy West Award, and the Florida Screenwriters Award. A nationally recognized advocate for free speech, she was awarded the inaugural PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award for her "extraordinary and ongoing efforts" to restore banned literary classics to the classrooms of rural North Florida. Her critically acclaimed memoir, STIFLED LAUGHTER: ONE WOMAN'S STORY ABOUT FIGHTING CENSORSHIP, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. She is also the author (with Matt Stevens) of the first book about collaborative screenwriting, SCRIPT PARTNERS: WHAT MAKES FILM AND TV WRITING TEAMS WORK, and a second memoir,
TAKING ROSS TO TEXAS: A MOTHER-SON ROADTRIP. She was a member of the founding faculty of the Florida State University School of Motion Picture, Television, and Recording Arts, where she taught screenwriting for thirteen years.
Table of Contents
Introduction; Part One: Preparing To Write; Connecting to Purpose; Connecting to Self; Connecting to Process; Connecting to Screenplays; Part Two: Five (Not So Easy) Pieces; The First Piece: a Discovery; The Second Piece: the Decision; The Third Piece; the Boxing Match; The Fourth Piece; the Improbable Connection; The Fifth Piece; The Long-Short Screenplay; Part Three: Five Pieces That Made It Look Easy; Appendix