Very readable and inspiring
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I work as a speechwriter and I bought this book to see if I could branch out. I subscribe to the DVD rental scheme with Amazon, so I could get out those films I hadn't seen which he mentions. I like the prescriptive nature of his advice. It got me thinking about plot points and working backwards from the ending.
I've started analysing the films I watch more closely. It's a good start.
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I wish it was a pamphlet!
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Lets get this out of the way first; the book is helpful and I highly recommend it to novices (as I am). Actually, I just recommend it.
The issue I have with this book, and Syd Field, is the way it has been written. The editor should have chucked it in Syd Fields rag-to-riches smug c*nt of a face and got him to re-write it.
Whats the problem? Its simple and boils down to two things- repetition and analogies. If we cut out the repetition alone it would have been the size of a Franz Kafka book. I lost count of the times I heard the same thing about the same movies, and saw that same paradigm which always looked exactly the same. Maybe Syd Field is as good at writing books as he is screenplays.
Next to the analogies- Which were over the top and superfluous... 'Context holds content in much the same way the cup holds coffee, tea, milk, squash, water...' alright we get it, a cup holds liquids. In fact I got it when you said context holds content. There is no need for analogies, you've told us the fact, why feel the need to compare it to something else. Just have a little faith in us and trust we got it the first time.
On a final note, Syd Field I know the chances of my work getting published are infinitely small, please don't keep reminding me.
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Repetitive... but perhaps that's why it works.
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The main thing to say about this book is that it's repetitive. Really, really repetitive. Phenomenally repetitive. You think the start of this review is repetitive? No, my friend. Compared to the book, my review is not remotely repetitive.
Sentences are repeated. Quotes are repeated. Advice is repeated ad infinitum. The book has 308 pages without the index. I reckon you could boil that down to less than half the size if you just took out all the bits that are said more than once. You may find this hard to believe but there are things in here that are repeated more than four times.
So why do I still give it four stars?
Well, I think the repetition works. OK, it goes a little too far on that point. And there will be some readers (though none who can argue I haven't done my utmost to warn them) who get really worn down by the repetition. But for me, since this is only my second screenwriting book and I haven't been to any classes, I have probably benefited from the repetition.
It really hammers its points home. If you don't remember the main points after being told again and again and again, then when will you learn them?
So this book is like being taught by a teacher who doesn't trust you to remember the key points. He hits you over the head with them. Then again. Then again. And then one more time, just to be sure.
In my case, it's probably a good thing that he does. For other people, though, it may be much too much.
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Know the rules to break the rules
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I agree with many of the reviewers here who argue that Field advocates quite a formulaic and almost stifling approach to writing scripts. His approach really is based on what major studios would want to see in a script - quite a safe, bankable structure. Also one could argue this is slightly anachronistic: Field's book was written during the so-called 'Golden Age' of film-making, when Coppola, Scorcese et al were arguably at their best. Since then, times have changed slightly, not only in terms of what people want to write, but even what some major studios might look for now.
Nevertheless, Field teaches what are really the basics of decent script-writing. A knowledge of structure, chracter development, holding audience's attentions are all fundamental to being successful. A more independent writer might take all the important lessons on board, and think how to subvert the predictability of the standard structural devices he teaches.
Really, Syd Field's book is a must for all screen-writers. It is also well-written and engaging. You have to know the rules to know how to break break the rules - think Cubism, Free Verse...whatever!
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Beware the Basics
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This is a good book for beginners. As with McKee's "Story", it belongs on your shelf if you want to start screenwriting. It's easy to read, logical and full of useful tools for the aspiring screenwriter. However, the books simply scratches the surface. Its rigid "formula" approach to screenwriting means that adhering too closely to it may hinder creativity and produce more of the many flat, mediocre Hollywood films that are cluttering our screens recently. I would read this book, absorb the basics from it, then read and write a whole lot more. On the whole, though, this is a good beginners guide.
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