Sunday, February 17, 2008

Meme on Screenwriting books


It appears I've been meme-d by Chip here to recommend any useful film books hmmmm. Not sure about useful but here's the list of what I've currently got on my desk :

Misogyny in the Movies by Mackinnon - interesting book about gender politics mainly in the 70s. Particularly interesting about de Palma works. Found this one when researching my Valley of the Dolls' essay;

Feminism and Film by Mumm - this one also found during the VOTD research. Threw up a few interesting questions;

The Ode Less Travelled by Stephen Fry - Still to finish this, but it's both intriguing and like sticking your head into a wonderful swirl of words;

101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters - this was a Christmas present, and a useful prop when you've got a block;

Teach Yourself Screenwriting by Raymond Frensham - this one was recommended by the MA course and it's proved really useful on the basic principles of writing - especially if you have any little niggles about something like structure or plot;

Writing Screenplays That Sell by Hauge - the first screenwriting book I ever bought. Scared the crap out of me at the time but also let me see for the first time that once you had your ideas, there was a 'way' to shoogle it into something resembling a script;

The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri - hard going but rather deep. I read it when I'm feeling cerebral. Useful;

Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman - intriguing book that isn't about screenwriting but certainly pertains to character work and how you structure a convincing inner life for your puppets;

Story by Robert McKee - the infamous one! I actually rather like it - it talks a lot of sense, and was certainly a bit of a stalwart when I was getting restarted into this screenwriting lark again. Bit dry, but useful and I do still occasionally refer to it;

The Devil's Guide to Hollywood by Joe Eszterhas - if you want a macho expose - this is it, though perhaps 'macho' is me being a bit disingenuous as it's actually quite a revealing and honest book. Funny too. A great irreverent read;

The Screenwriter's Bible by Trottier - now this was one of my first ever Screenwriting books. I still remember feeling embarrassed buying it. Got me started though and it lays out all the things you need to know clearly and with numerous examples to follow.

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