Screenwriting: The Sequence ApproachThe great challenge in writing a feature-length screenplay is sustaining audience involvement from page one through 120. Screenwriting: The Sequence Approach expounds on an often-overlooked tool that can be key in solving this problem. A screenplay can be understood as being built of sequences of about fifteen pages each, and by focusing on solving the dramatic aspects of each of these sequences in detail, a writer can more easily conquer the challenges posed by the script as a whole. The sequence approach has its foundation in early Hollywood cinema (until the 1950s, most screenplays were formatted with sequences explicitly identified), and has been rediscovered and used effectively at such film schools as the University of Southern California, Columbia University and Chapman University. This book exposes a wide audience to the approach for the first time, introducing the concept then providing a sequence analysis of eleven significant feature films made between 1940 and 2000: The Shop Around The Corner / Double Indemnity / Nights of Cabiria / North By Northwest / Lawrence of Arabia / The Graduate / One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest / Toy Story / Air Force One / Being John Malkovich / The Fellowship of the Ring |
Contents
Firing on All Eight | |
Fractured Symmetry | |
Flashback to the Future | |
Nocturnal Episodes | |
1700 Miles in Nine Sequences | |
Sixteen Sequences and an Intermission | |
Passive Main Character | |
Midpoint Reversal | |
Eight Sequences Eight Miles | |
The Disappearing Lead Actor | |
The Shotgun Approach | |
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Common terms and phrases
aftermath scene Allenby Aqaba Arabs Aragorn arrives asks attempt Auda audience's Boromir Brighton Buzz Cabiria character Craig cutaway dangling cause Deraa dialogue hook Donofrio dramatic irony dramatic tension Elaine escape exposition Farraj Feisal Fellowship film final sequence following scene Frame enlargement Frodo Gandalf Gimli glimpse hobbits ironic tension John Malkovich journey Keyes Klara Korshunov Kralik Lawrence Lawrence's Lester Lotte main tension Marshall Matuschek Maxine McMurphy McMurphy’s minutes Mordor motif movie murder Neff Neff's night Nights of Cabiria North by Northwest Nurse Ratched objective obstacle opening sequence payoff Phyllis picked picture Pirovitch preparation by contrast previous sequence protagonist relationship rescue resolution resolved reveals ring Rivendell Robinson Roger Saruman Sauron scene of preparation screenplay screenwriting script second act Second Culmination second sequence sequence begins sequence ends Sequence G setup storytellers Strider subplot succeed Tafas telegraphing tells text box third act Toy Story unified by dramatic Unifying Aspect Uruk-hai Vandamm Woody Woody's