What makes tragedy tragic? What makes comedy comic? What does Much Ado About Nothing have in common with When Harry Met Sally? Seneca with Desperate Housewives? Goldoni with Frasier? In Genre: A Guide to Writing for Stage and Screen Andrew Tidmarsh explores these questions and more. Investigating how the relationship between form and content brings endless discoveries and illuminations about how narrative works, this entertaining and accessible book looks at how storytelling in film and theatre has evolved and how an appreciation of form can bring the writer, director or actor a solid foundation and a sense of security, which ultimately assists the creative process. Including genre-specific exercises in every chapter helping the reader to write and devise, Genre: A Guide to Writing for Stage and Screen is for all those with an interest in story and can be used by writers, actors and directors alike – whether students or experienced professionals – to make the blank page appear less terrifying.

What makes tragedy tragic? What makes comedy comic? What does Much Ado About Nothing have in common with When Harry Met Sally? Seneca with Desperate Housewives? Goldoni with Frasier? In Genre: A Guide to Writing for Stage and Screen Andrew Tidmarsh explores these questions and more. Investigating how the relationship between form and content brings endless discoveries and illuminations about how narrative works, this entertaining and accessible book looks at how storytelling in film and theatre has evolved and how an appreciation of form can bring the writer, director or actor a solid foundation and a sense of security, which ultimately assists the creative process. Including genre-specific exercises in every chapter helping the reader to write and devise, Genre: A Guide to Writing for Stage and Screen is for all those with an interest in story and can be used by writers, actors and directors alike – whether students or experienced professionals – to make the blank page appear less terrifying.

The long-awaited third volume of Robert McKee’s trilogy on the art of fiction. Following up his perennially bestselling writers' guide Story and his inspiring exploration of the art of verbal action in Dialogue, the most sought-after expert in the storytelling brings his insights to the creation of compelling characters and the design of their casts. CHARACTER explores the design of a character universe: The dimensionality, complexity and arcing of a protagonist, the invention of orbiting major characters, all encircled by a cast of service and supporting roles.

It's simple: films need to have commercial value for the studios to produce them, distributors to sell them, and theater chains to screen them. While talent definitely plays a part in the writing process, it can be the well-executed formulaic approaches to the popular genres that will first get you noticed in the industry. Genre Screenwriting: How to Write Popular Screenplays That Sell does not attempt to probe in the deepest psyche of screenwriters and directors of famous or seminal films, nor does it attempt to analyze the deep theoretic machinations of films. Duncan's simple goal is to give the reader, the screenwriter, a practical guide to writing each popular film genre. Employing methods as diverse as using fairy tales to illustrate the 'how to' process for each popular genre, and discussing these popular genres in modern television and its relation to its big screen counterpart, Duncan provides a one-stop shop for novices and professionals alike.

Dance is part of the art of theatre, a part which connects to movement, to communication, to improvisation, and to performance. It cannot exist on its own in the context of dramatic performance, but works in conjunction with other elements to enable meanings to be created in performance. Dramatic Dance sets a programme for actors to perform dance as part of the drama, offering several approaches which can contribute to developing this understanding, to training this skill, and always ensuring that the whole active and thinking body and mind are fully engaged with the task of making dance an integral and vital part of theatre. To study dance in this way allows students to develop further their understanding of logic and structure in a dramatic text. Many books deal with one aspect of dance or another: some on dance training, some on dance history, some on Rudolf Laban's ideas, some as dance manuals, and some as academic papers. Dramatic Dance is the first book to act as a comprehensive guide for theatre practice, bringing together these different, complementary disciplines.

The Turn & Burn methodology offers practical, real-world advice for quickly turning stories - within any genre - into engaging and authentic movie scripts.

Write a great script and get it into the hands of the Hollywood players! So you want to be a screenwriter? Whether you want to write a feature film or a TV script or adapt your favorite book, this friendly guide gives you expert advice in everything from creating your story and developing memorable characters to formatting your script and selling it to the studios. You get savvy industry tips and strategies for getting your screenplay noticed! The screenwriting process from A to Z -- from developing a concept and thinking visually to plotline, conflicts, pacing, and the conclusion Craft living, breathing characters -- from creating the backstory to letting your characters speak to balancing dialogue with action Turn your story into a script -- from developing an outline and getting over writer's block to formatting your screenplay and handling rewrites Prepare for Hollywood -- from understanding the players and setting your expectations to polishing your copy and protecting your work Sell your script to the industry -- from preparing your pitch and finding an agent to meeting with executives and making a deal Open the book and find: The latest on the biz, from entertainment blogs to top agents to box office jargon New story examples from recently released films Tips on character development, a story's time clock, dramatic structure, and dialogue New details on developing the nontraditional screenplay -- from musicals to animation to high dramatic style Expanded information on adaptation and collaboration, with examples from successful screenwriting duos

Exploring Movie Construction & Production contains eight chapters of the major areas of film construction and production. The discussion covers theme, genre, narrative structure, character portrayal, story, plot, directing style, cinematography, and editing. Important terminology is defined and types of analysis are discussed and demonstrated. An extended example of how a movie description reflects the setting, narrative structure, or directing style is used throughout the book to illustrate building blocks of each theme. This approach to film instruction and analysis has proved beneficial to increasing students¿ learning, while enhancing the creativity and critical thinking of the student.

This accessible and engaging text covering sketch, sitcom and comedy drama, alongside improvisation and stand-up, brings together a panoply of tools and techniques for creating short and long-form comedy narratives for live performance, TV and online. Referencing a broad range of comedy from both sides of the Atlantic, spanning several decades and including material on contemporary internet sketches, it offers all kinds of useful advice on creating comic narratives for stage and screen: using life experience as raw material; constructing comedy worlds; creating comic characters, their relationships and interactions; structuring sketches, scenes and routines; and developing and plotting stories. The book's interviewees, from the UK and the USA, feature stand-ups, sketch comics, improvisers and TV comedy producers, and include Steve Kaplan, Hollywood comedy guru and author of The Hidden Tools of Comedy, Will Hines teacher and improviser from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and Lucy Lumsden TV producer and former Controller of Comedy Commissioning for BBC. Written by “the ideal person to nurture new talent” (The Guardian), Creating Comedy Narratives for Stage & Screen includes material you won't find anywhere else and is a stimulating resource for comedy students and their teachers, with a range and a depth that will be appreciated by even the most eclectic and multi-hyphenated writers and performers.

Multiple Emmy Award-winning screenwriter Erik Bork (HBO's BAND OF BROTHERS) presents the seven fundamental characteristics of a great story in any medium. Writers tend to jump into the writing too quickly, without knowing they have a flawed central idea. This book is all about ensuring that doesn't happen!