Reviews
Weekend Read
By Wout Thielemans
ROMANCING THE A-LIST always entertaining collection can occur in a well-plotted film
Writing the Script the Big Stars of nuggets of wisdom, sketches, is actually quite low.
Want to Make anecdotes and behind-the-scenes The book is full of very good
Christopher Keane info. Robert McKee is really not advice, and although the focus is
Michael Wiese Productions going to like this book, as he’s plainly on traditional screen-
Chris Keane’s second book on ridiculed consistently throughout writing, it is also on (very) good
screenwriting may seem to be the many chapters. and well-crafted storytelling.
all about creating the big There are plenty of tips on I suppose a few more extensive
blockbuster on the surface, but writing, which frequently go examples along the lines of the
it really isn’t. Writing a script against the grain of common previously mentioned breakdowns
to woo an A-list actor doesn’t knowledge. Eszterhas also details would not have gone amiss,
involve dreaming up a simple his own working habits (writing but as a primer for screenplay
high concept that requires lots Basic Instinct in 13 days!), plotting this book definitely
of CGI work—instead, it’s all but he doesn’t really recommend hits the target.
about creating truly memorable them to anyone else. Most
characters and intriguing stories. importantly, though, you get a INDEPENDENT CINEMA
The book is largely based on very strong sense of his anger at D. K. Holm
Keane’s workshops. As such, the way screenwriters are treated Kamera Books
the chapters follow a logic that in Hollywood. Part of the Kamera books range,
might seem a little strange at Not everything here is this book doesn’t try to give
first, but which actually provide Eszterhas-related—there are encyclopaedic coverage of the
a set of (somewhat surprising) several quotes from fellow entire spectrum of independent
building blocks for the entire Hungarians Tony Curtis and films (which actually includes
scriptwriting approach advocated Zsa Zsa Gabor, as well as The Phantom Menace, of all
in the book. At first, the focus numerous anecdotes about the things). Instead, D. K. Holm
is on the writer: Keane asks his old Hollywood Moguls. And for provides a couple of essays that
readers to do a number of the gossip-minded: yes, Sharon look at the development of the
exercises that range from choosing Stone did sleep with Joe— movement, and which try to
your favourite films to admitting I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s predict where it will go in the
your darkest childhood secret. been sorry ever since. coming years.
The meat of the book consists The bulk of the book consists
of chapters about situation, THE ART OF PLOTTING of essays on a number of
concept, story, plot and structure. Add Emotion, Suspense, and independent filmmakers such as
There’s a lot of good advice here, Depth to Your Screenplay Jill and Karen Sprecher, Whit
with some original insights. Linda J. Cowgill Stillman, Guy Maddin and
The final chapters tackle scene Lone Eagle Press James Mangold, who successfully
outlines and treatments (with Plotting is a matter of choosing made the transition from
examples from Keane’s students); the right story incidents to independent to mainstream
the obligatory breaking-into- achieve your goals and making cinema. A couple of interviews
Hollywood advice; and a short sure they are presented in the with independent filmmakers
look at adaptation. best possible order. Ms. Cowgill are also included, such as horror
examines in depth all the director Lance Weiler and
THE DEVIL’S GUIDE TO necessary elements to construct Turkish-born Bilge Ebiri.
HOLLYWOOD the central conflict and the cause- Despite its fairly narrow focus,
The Screenwriter as God! and-effect chains that give the book succeeds in explaining
Joe Eszterhas meaning to the narrative work. the independent movement
St. Martin’s Press She also provides a complete quite well, and makes the reader
Still the best-paid writer ever, breakdown of Jaws and curious about many of the less
Joe Eszterhas’ career never American Beauty, to illustrate well-known films and directors
recovered from the disaster that just how these scripts are plotted. mentioned here. The
was Showgirls. Since then, She likewise looks at sequences, accompanying DVD features a
he’s written a few novels and an plotting tools for characters and documentary on co-founder of the
autobiography, and has now action, and common problems New York Film Festival Amos
poured all his insight into this in plotting. One of the more Vogel, who was instrumental in
extremely readable, occasionally surprising revelations is that the bringing early independent
shocking, frequently bitter and number of major events that films to the cinema screen. n
76 By FilmmakeRs. FoR FilmmakeRs.
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