The Screenwriter's Workbook : Excercises and Step-By-Step Instructions for Creating a Successful Screenplay

About the book

At last! The classic screenwriting workbook--now completely revised and updated--from the celebrated lecturer, teacher, and bestselling author, Syd Field: "the most sought-after screenwriting teacher in the world"* No one knows more about screenwriting than Syd Field--and now the ultimate Hollywood insider shares his secrets and expertise, completely updating his bestselling workbook for a new generation of screenwriters. Filled with new material--including fresh insights and anecdotes from the author and analyses of films from Pulp Fiction to Brokeback Mountain--The Screenwriter's Workbook is your very own hands-on workshop, the book that allows you to participate in the processes that have made Syd Field's workshops invaluable to beginners and working professionals alike. Follow this workbook through to the finish, and you'll end up with a complete and salable script! Learn how to: - Define the idea on which your script will be built- Create the model--the paradigm--that professionals use- Bring your characters to life- Write dialogue like a pro- Structure your screenplay for success from the crucial first pages to the final actHere are systematic instructions, easy-to-follow exercises, a clear explanation of screenwriting basics, and expert advice at every turn--all the moment-to-moment, line-by-line help you need to transform your initial idea into a professional screenplay that's earmarked for success.The Perfect Companion Volume to Syd Field's Revised and Updated Edition of Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting*Hollywood Reporter

Reviews

None

Quotes

None

Syd Field Biography

Sydney Alvin Field (December 19, 1935 – November 17, 2013) was an American author and speaker who wrote several books on screenwriting, the first being Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting (Dell Publishing, 1979). He led workshops and seminars about producing salable screenplays. Hollywood film producers use Field's ideas on structure to measure the potential of screenplays.He was inducted into American Screenwriters Association's Screenwriting Hall of Fame.

Early life

Syd Field was born on December 19, 1935 in Hollywood, California. His uncle, Sol, was the head of the camera department at 20th Century Fox, and his neighbor was a talent agent who got him minor screen time in Gone with the Wind (1939) which was cut from the final film. He also played the trumpet in State of the Union (1948).He attended Hollywood High School where he met Frank Mazzola, the "gang consultant" on Rebel Without a Cause (1955), who encouraged him to pursue acting. His mother passed away during his senior year, which caused him to drift across the US for two years.He considered dental school at the behest of his mother to consider a "professional life", but he eventually earned a bachelor's degree in English from University of California, Berkeley, where he studied under Jean Renoir and was cast in his play, Carola. Renoir recommended that Field attend UCLA Film School where Field collaborated on a short film with Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek of The Doors.

Career

Field worked as a script reader in the 1970s. Field got his start in the shipping department of David L. Wolper Productions, where he later worked his way up to writer/researcher for the company's Biography series, hosted by reporter Mike Wallace, in the early 60's. By the release of the expanded edition for Screenplay 1994, he was credited as writer/producer at Wolper Productions.Field was also a freelance screenwriter and script consultant. He wrote nine screenplays, one of which was produced as the Argentinian film, Los Banditos. Field wrote and produced the television series Men in Crisis in 1964 and the Vegas nightlife documentary, Spree, in 1967; the latter of which he also narrated.He wrote Hollywood and the Stars, National Geographic, and Jacques Cousteau Specials from 1963 −1965 for David L. Wolper Productions.He was the head of story at Cinemobile System when founder Fouad Said decided to diversify the location services company into an entertainment studio.

Teaching

Field taught screenwriting for the Master of Professional Writing Program at University of Southern California until 2001. In the mid-1970s, Field began teaching screenwriting at the Sherwood Oaks Experimental College (now Sherwood Oaks College) in Hollywood. He also led screenwriting workshops across the world. Previous students include Judd Apatow, John Singleton, Anna Hamilton Phelan, and Alfonso Cuarón.

The paradigm

Field's most notable contribution is his paradigm "three-act structu ... Read full biography