Table Of Content$14.9$51/7. 25. Can
"WhaDta viHdo warhda sd onew ith
TheT oolosf S creenwriitsti on
n TheT oolosf S creenwriDtaivnigd,
revefaolrm e and forre aadleljr uss t
Howaradn d� dwarMda bleiyl luminateh ows toriweosr kh;e showtsh at
thee ssenteilaelm enotfsc inematict heraer ne oa bsolruutlee bsu,tt here
arep rincitphlaectsa nh elap b egin
storytelalnidnr ge,v etahle c entral
ninwgr itgeari unn derstanodfai lnlg
·
principtlheaastl l goscorde enplaytsh ee lements gtohi anott t hec re
sharTeh.e a uthoardsd reqsuse stioofn s atioonfa 'good swetlotlro yl d". '
dramatic structure, plot, dialogue, charac
terd evelopmesnett,t iinmga,g erayn,d
othecrr ucitaolp iacsst heyap pltyo t he '�is the
speciaaroltf f ilmmaking. best proinmt ehrec raffta,br e tter
thatnh eu suapla int-by-the-numbers
Howaradn dM ableayl sdoe monstrate
sorotfb ooktsh aatb ound."
howt het oolosfs creenwrwiotriiknn gs ix
teenno tabfliel misn,c ludCiintgi zen Kane,
�T..O,n eF lewO vert heC uckooN'ess t,
RashomonT,h eG odfatheNro,r tbhy
NorthweCshti,n atoawnnd, sleixe,as n d
videotape.
"Asm y screenwrtietaicnhgDe arv,i d
TheT oolos fS creenwriitsai nne sgs en Howarmda det heu nderlypirnign ci
tiablo okf ora nyone swthuo difeisl omr pleosf s creenwrcilteianargc, c essi
blea,n du sefTuhle.s amec anb es aid
wanttso w ritaes creenplay.
ofh iss uccinacntde legabnoto k,
whicIh' vael reaudsye da sa much
neederde freschoeurr sIet.'s si tting
"DaviHdo warcda lltsh ibso ok'a nextto m yc omputneorw r,i ghnte xt
writegru'isd et.h'i niIkt 'as wonder tot het hesaurus."
fula ndi ndispensparboldeu cer's
guidteo s to,rs ytorytelalnidn g,
screenwriting."
ISBN-91738:- 0-311920-81-9
ISBN-0I-O3:1 2-11908-9
I 51 495>
1
9 "78031121 9089
I
PRAIS E FO R THIS BO OK
"DaviHdo waradn dE dwarMda bleyT'hsTe oo losfS crwereint iisa n prga c
ticaclo,m prehengsuiivdfeeo wrr iteartas l lle veIlfsI .h adt hibso okf our
yearasg oI,w ouldnb'ept a yionfgff i lsmc hotouli ttioodna "y .
-ADAM BELANDFSFTA,F FW RITER,W INGASND MURPHBYR OWN
"ThTeoo losfs creenwtorsisatessii ndpgeo nderopuasr adigamnsdt akes
youd irecttotl hyeh earotfg oowdr itiInh go.p eev erays pirsicnrge enwriter
readist" .
-JOHN FURIAJ,R .P,A STP RESIDEANNTD CHAIRMAONF
THEW RITER'GSU ILDO FA MERICAW,E ST
"Thiissn ots impalb yo oka bout making buckssc rweietnhp. ly.aoy.usr.
Thea uthosrhso wan i mportcaonntn ectbieotnw eleena rntions gc reenwrite
ande xamintihnege lemenotfts h eat"e r.
-FILTMH REAT
"Howaradn dM abledye arldye fitnheeb uildbilnogc okfss toryntge".l li
-BOOKLIST
"Ane xcellveonltu mfeo trh es tudeonfst c reenwraitta ilnmgo asnty l evel.
Recommend"e d.
-CLASSIIMCA GES
THE TOOLS OF
A WRITER'GSU IDTEO
THEC RAFTA ND ELEMENTOSF
A SCREENPLAY
•
AND
StM.a rtiGnr'isffi n
NewY ork
THE TOOL'S OF SCREENWRITINAG :W RITER'S GUIDETO THE CRAFT AND ELEMENTS OF A SCREEN
PLAY.C opyri©g h1t99 3 byG regoDry. M cKnigAhltl.r ighrtess ervePdr.i ntientd h eU nited
StatoefAs m ericNao.p arto ft hiboso km aybe useodr r eproduicnae ndy m annewrh atsoever
withowurti ttpeenr misseixocnei pntt hcea soefb riqeufo tateimobnosd iiencd r itiacrtailc loers
revieFwosir.n formationS,t M.aa drtdirne'sss P1r75eF sisf,t h AvNeenwuY eo,r kN,. Y1.00 10.
Quotferso Pma ddCyh ayevsky, WilliEarnme GsLtoe lhdmmaaannn,,d R obeTrotw ne
aret akefnr oTm hCer afto ft hSec reenbwyJ roihtBnr eard Cyo.p yri©g h1t9 81 by
JohBnr adRye.p rinbtyepe drm issioofnS imo&n S chuster, Inc.
DesignbeyBd e tTho ndreau DeIsM airgyAn . W irth
ProductEidoint or: SMuazgaindnae
LibraorfCy o ngresCsa taloging-in-DPautbal ication
HowarDda,v id
Thet ooolfss creenwrIiD taivniHgdo waradn dE dwarMda ble:y
introdubcytF iroannD ka niel.
p. cm.
ISBN0 -312-11908-9
1.M otipoinc tuaruet horshi2p..T eleviasuitohno rship.
/.M ableEyd,w ard. IIT.i tle.
PNI996.H73 1993
808.2'�c20 93-22787
CIP
201 91 81 71 61 51 41 3
Bookasr ea vailaibnql uea ntfiotpryro motioonrpa rle miuums eW.r itteo
DirecotfoS rp eciSaall eSst,M. a rtiPnr'ess 1s7,5F ifAtvhe nuNee,w Y orkN,Y
10010,f oirn formaotndi iosnc ouanntdts e rmosrc, a ltlo ll-(f80re02e)2 1-794I5n.
NewY orkc,a ll (62714-25)1 5(1e xt. 645).
ToV cik-
Witohuyto ulro vceo,m faonrdt
supptohrwitos,u sldt ibleol n layn
idenaoa,tr eality.
Allm yl oavlew ays,
-DAVID
CONT EN TS
FOREWORD ix
PREFACE xi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xv
INTRODUCTION xvii
ABOUTS CREENWRTIING 1
ThSec reenwTrasikt er's 3
StaVgeer Sscurse en 6
Adaptation 9
TheA uteuorfa F ilm 12
ThSec reenRwerliatteiro'nss hips 14
A CautiNoontaer y 16
BASICS TORYTELLING 19
WhaMta ke"saG ooSdt oWreylT lo ld" 21
ThDei viisniTtohonr Aetces 24
ThWeo roifdt hSet ory 26
ProtagAonngtioasntia,sn tCd,o nflict 2B
ExterntahlIeinz tienrgn al 30
ObjeacntSdiu vbej eDcrtaimvae 32
Timaen tdh Set oryteller 33
ThPeo woefrU ncertainty 37
SCREENWRITINTGO OLS 41
ProtagaonnOdib sjte ctive 43
Conflict 46
Obstacles 47
PremainsOdep ening 49
MaiTne nsCiuolnm,i naantRdie osno,l ution 52
Theme 55
Unity 58
Exposition 60
Characterization 63
• vii
viii • Contents
Develoopftm heSent to ry 66
DramaItriocn y 68
PreparaantAdij oine rmath 70
PlantaniPdna gy off 72
Elemeonftt hFseu tuarnAedd vertising 74
ThOeu tlainntdeh S et eOpu tline 76
Plausibility 78
AtcivaindtA yc tion 81
Dialogue 84
Vsiuals 88
The DraSmcaetniec 91
Rewriting 95
THEA NALYSES 99
Aboutth Aen alyses 101
ET.. 103
SOMEL IKIETH OT 114
NORHT BNYO RHTWEST 126
THE40 0B LOWS 135
CITIZKAENE N 147
WITNESS 155
AS TREETNCAAMRE DD ESIRE 166
CHINTAOWN 177
TIlEG ODFTAHER 189
ONE FLEW TOilVECE URC KOON'ESS T 202
THELMAAND L OUISE 213
DINER 227
RASHOMON 240
SEXL,I EASN,D V IDOETAPE 252
ANNIEH ALl, 262
HAMLET 274
ADDITIONARLE ADIGNS 289
A80UT THEA UTHORS 290
INDEX 291
FO RE WORD
g
omep rojeicntt sh em otion picture insdomu uscthrt yi misenp end
thed evelopmepnrtoaclet shse sye emt ob ei rretrieevnatbalnyg led
therIen.t hakti nodf p rojeocbts,e rvmearysb egitnow ondeirft he
filmw ilelv erre aciht fisn aflo ramn di tisn tendaeudd ienSceel.d oimf,
evedro,e osn ep raitshele e ngotfth i miett aketsoc reaatc eo mplperxo ject.
ThTeo oolfSs c reenwhorwietvieirsna, pg r,o jetchtah ta sb enefitferdo m
itmsa nyy earisnd evelopmIenndte.e mdu,c ho fi tvsa luceo mefsr otmh e
factth aitth asb eenr efineodv ear p erioofdd ecadeAs s.e rioefcs r eative
mindhsa ved istitlhleee ds senocfed ramatciocn structtoei xopnl atihne
basitcoss creenwraintdse crrsi apnta lysts.
InN ewY orki nt he1 960Esd,w arMda blebye gaant raoifnt hougthhta t
ist heo rigoifnt hibso okT.h roughihs w orka sa writaenrd d irecthoer ,
formulahtiestd h eories darbaomauttci ocn strucatniduo sne ds tageplays
toi llusthriasptr ei ncipHleea sp.p liaenddr efinehdi si deaassa teacher
att heN ewS chofoolSr o ciRaels earacnhdh, e e ventuwarloltye tdhoewmn
ina bookw,h icwha sp ublisihne1 d9 72.
Thabto oke ventuawlelnyto uto fp rinatn dl ayd ormaunntt ialn other
practitainodnt eera chFerra,n Dka niedli,s covearnedad d optietfd o hri s
ownu sei nt eachisncgr eenwriMtri.Dn agn.i ehals d irecmtaendy o ft he
worldfi'nse sfitl ms chooalnsdh asf omra nyy earuss edM ableyb'oso ka s
ane xcellaenndct o nciisnet rodutcotd iroanm attihce oarnydi tasp plication
tos creenwriting.
Oneo ft hei ndividtuowa hlosm M r.D aniceolm municahtiesed n thusi
asma ndh ist heoretical waapsDp arvoiaHdco hw ardM.r .H owardw,h o
latbeerc amfeo undidnigr ecotfot rh eG raduate ScreePnrworgirtaaitmn g
theU niversoifSt oyu theCranl iforandidaeh,di si nsigahntde xperience.
Hiss tudegnrtasd uattoew dr itsec rifpotarsw ard-winpnrionfigt,a abnlde ,
populfialrm sT.h eb oocko ntintuoeb dea princirpeaslo urlcoena gf tietr
hadg onoeu to fp rint.
Ifi rsetn countetrheebd o owkh ilTew asw orkiantgH ometowFni lmosn
theP aramouPnitc tulroetIsh. a db eesne archfionargg oobdo ok socnr een
writianngdf ounndo nep articuslaatrilsyf Oyniend ga.y a formesrtu dent
.ix
x • Foreword
ofM r.H owardw'asl keidn tmoy officwei tah t hicskt acokfp alpeh oto
copieBse.c auIsa em thes ono fa p ublisIhw ears,c uriowuhsyh ec opied
ane ntibroeo ikn steoafbd u ying Hoent eo.lm de t heb oowka su navailable
ina nyo thewra y.
Itd idnm'atk es ensteom e thaat b ookt hahta db eent hep rimatreyx t
ats everoaftl h eb esfitl ms choohlasd g oneo uto fp rinatn dr emained
unpublisahnedud n revifsoesrdo l ongU.p onc ontactthieno gr igipnuabl
lishIel re,a rntehde hya dn arrowtehde ir faoncdwu esr neo ti ntereisnt ed
revisiitnT.gh eyr eleatsheedc opyritgoth htea uthor's aensdIt n aetgeo
tiattehdre i ghttots h beo ok. HMorw.a radg reteodr ewritthtee e xttor eflect
thew ayi tpsr inciapplpelsty os creenwraintdit nosg u bstiatnuatley osfe s
thefi lms criaptses x amples.
DaviHdo wardde dicahtiestd i mee,n ergayn,dt hougthott r ansforming
theo rigibnoaolki ntTo he ToofSo clrse enwKreeiptiintngh egc o.r oef
Mableyi'dse aasn dc oncepitnst achter, e direcatlelod ft het ools, ex
ampleasn,d q uotatitoonwsa rfidl me,x pandaendd e xplaitnheecd r itical
elementansd,a nalyztehde iurs ei na varieotfyi mportasnctr ipts.
He hasc rystalal ihziegdhu lsya blveo cabultaord yi scutshsec rafotf
screenwriting.
The ToofSo clrse enwisrw ihattii tin sbg e cauosfet hee xtraordinary
taleonftt sh ec ontribwuhtooc rosn tinuraelfliyni etod v emra nyy earWsi.t h
eachs critphtet eacheanrdss tudewnrtost oera nalyztehde,hy o netdh e
ideaasn dt hep resentaotfti hoons e ideas. thAilpstr hoojuehgcahtsb een
ind evelopmfeonart v erlyo ntgi met,h er esuhlatsb ecomteh eb ookIh ad
inm indw henI s earchfeodtrh ep erfbeocotok n s creenwriting.
It hanSkt M.a rtiend'ist Goero rgWei ttfeo hri vsi siaonndh igsu idance.
It hanAkd amB elanfoofbrfr ingtihneMg a blebyo otko m ya ttentAinodn,.
Ie specitahlalnymk y f athWeirl,M cKnigfhothr,i isn valuhaeblltpeh rough
alslt agoefst hipsr oject.
-GREGORY McKNIGHT
