Screenwriting Book Review: Constructing a Story

Paperback: 240 pages Publisher: Le Clown et l’Enfant (2017) Language: English Publisher’s Store: https://2ks.co/leclown Amazon Link: https://amzn.to/2ICpsGD THE AUTHOR Yves Lavandier took a degree in Civil Engineering, then studied film at Columbia University, New York, between 1983 and 1985. One of his tutors was Frantisek (Frank) Daniel, the same teacher who inspired Paul Gulino, author of “Screenwriting, the Sequence Approach”. … Read more

Not on the screen? Not on the page!

If it’s not on the screen, it can’t be on the page. While most screenwriting books allude to this rule, Michael Hague probably best expresses it:  “Nothing goes on the page that doesn’t go on the screen. Screenplays are made up of action, description, and dialogue.” by Jack Brislee “That’s all.  Nothing can be included that … Read more

No Passive Protagonist!

Jack Brislee shatters some of the screenwriting principles the gurus so passionately advocate. First he introduces us to the rule, then explains how it has been successfully broken (or bent). The Rule: No Passive Protagonists! Most screenwriting books regard a passive protagonist as a major error.  Audiences want to see a hero who instigates action, … Read more

The Hero Must Change!

Blake Snyder describes it thus: “The Covenant of the Arc is the screenwriting law that says: Every single character in your movie must change in the course of your story. The only characters who don’t change are the bad guys. But the hero and his friends change a lot.” (“Save the Cat” 2005 p134). This is a … Read more