Art of Plotting Add Emotion, Suspense, and Depth to Your Screenplay

Name: Art of Plotting Add Emotion, Suspense, and Depth to Your Screenplay
Price: 3.85 USD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9781580650700

ISBN-10: 1580650708

ISBN-13: 9781580650700

Edition: N/A

Authors: Linda J. Cowgill

List price: $19.99

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Description:

Plot must be as much about the emotions of the characters as it is about the events of the story. That’s the message of The Art of Plotting, which teaches screenwriters how to integrate plot, characterization, and exposition to make stories compelling. Using examples from recent and classic movies, author Linda J. Cowgill demonstrates how the plot springs naturally from the characters—and how that technique makes audiences connect with the story on a more intimate level. Easy exercises reveal common plot problems and help writers overcome them.

Book details

List price: $19.99
Publisher: Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale
Publication date: 1/8/2008
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 208
Size: 9.02" wide x 5.91" long x 0.51" tall
Weight: 0.638
Language: English



Acknowledgments


Introduction



The Three Requirements of Drama



Plot: Event and Emotion


So What Exactly Is Plot?


The Emotional Pattern of Plot


Great Movies Are Based on Strong, Simple Story Lines



The Role of Conflict


At the Start: Conflict and Tension


Characters in Conflict


Meaningful Conflict


Unity of Opposites: Locking the Conflict


The Third Force: The Agent for Change


Emotional and Physical Conflict


Important Conflict vs. Big Conflict


Conflict Develops Positively and Negatively


The Importance of Failure to Your Protagonist's Character Arc



The Principles of Action


Cause-and-Effect Scene Relationships


Rising Conflict


Foreshadowing Conflict



The Tools of Plotting


Action Tools


Character Tools


Exposition Tools



The Sequence of Story


The Outline of Events


Feature Films Are Structured in Groups of Scenes


Film Segments



The Real Art of Plotting


Transforming Plot Points into Plotted Points


Deepening Our Characterizations along with Audience Involvement


Plotting for Emotion and Not Sentimentality


Preparations and Consequences


Plotting for Suspense


The Relationship between Anticipation and Surprise


The Obligatory Scene



Common Problems in Plot Construction


Scripts Overplotted in Action


People Can't Relate-Why?


Understanding When the Audience Knows What


To-ing and Fro-ing: Using Too Many Beats to Accomplish the Task


The Passive Protagonist: Moving from Conflicted to Compelling



Tools for Analysis


Discovering the Passive Protagonist


Identifying the Core Conflict to Serve as the Story Spine


Identifying Positive and Negative Scene Values


Identifying the Key Relationship the Audience Can Root For



In the End


Referenced Films


Bibliography


Index


About the Author