INTRODUCTION
STRUCTURE
GENRE
11.Working Against Genre
12. The Flexibility of Genre )New chapter)
13. Genres of Voice
14. The Non-Linear Film
15. The Fable: A case study of Darkness: The Wizard of Oz and Pan’s Labyrinth (New chapter)
CHARACTER
16. Reframing the Active/Passive Character Distinction
17. Stretching the Limits of Character Identification
18. Main and Secondary Characters
19. Subtext, Action and Character
20. The Primacy of Character over Action: The Non-American Screenplay.
FORM, TONE AND THEORY
21. The Subtleties and Implications of Screenplay Form
22. Agency and the Other
23. Character, History and Politics
24. Tone: The Inescapability of Irony
25. Dramatic Voice, Narrative Voice
26. Digital Features
27. Writing the Narrative Voice
28. Rewriting
29. Adaptations from Contemporary Literature
CONCLUSION
30. Personal Screenwriting: The Edge
31. Personal Screenwriting" Beyond the Edge.
Ken Dancyger is a Professor of Film and Television at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University as well as the author of numerous books on screenwriting, editing, and production.
Jeff Rush is an Associate professor at Temple University's Department of Film & Media Arts as well as author of numerous articles on screenwriting and narrative theory.
Praise for the fifth edition:
"Screenwriting is about making choices. What Dancyger and Rush
reveal so effectively in Alternative Screenwriting is just how many
options are possible, how the various available choices work and
how different decisions will impact screen storytelling. This book
substantially broadens every screenwriters' -creative
horizons."
-David Howard, USC screenwriting professor and author of The Tools
of Screenwriting and How to Build a Great Screenplay.""It’s so
refreshing to read a book that helps to develop a creative trade
like scriptwriting that is written by people who encourage you to
differ from the three-act structure and not conform to all the
codes that are drilled into us at college. It outlines to us the
limitations of common film conventions and dissects mainstream
characteristics for structure, dialogue, action, genre, discovery
and turning points in a clear and coherent manner. It then teaches
us how to be resourceful and take inventive risks to create a more
original story that you can call your own and lets you know that
there are endless roads for your story to go down... It is perfect
for those who get that little itch and sense of disagreement when
someone tells you that "you must do scriptwriting this way". With
this new edition featuring new case studies on Pans Labyrinth and
The Wizard of Oz, it really is a great book to read if you want to
keep your story unique, refreshing and rich with memorable
characters and themes that will give it a certain emotional weight
and show that it was not written by a business man, but by a true
story teller."- Raindance.org"Alternative Scriptwriting is
invaluable to anyone interested in screenwriting or in directing
fiction. Using plain language it demystifies storytelling for the
screen, and opens up myriad possibilities for using the cinema with
invention, freshness, and imagination." - Michael Rabiger,
Professor Emeritus, Film/Video Department, Columbia College
Chicago.
"Just as Aristotle's "Poetics and André Bazin's "What is Cinema are
an inseparable part of a Screenwriting reading list, Ken Dancyger
and Jeff Rush's "Alternative Scriptwriting is an absolute must read
for a deeper understanding of the structure of Screenwriting. -Dr.
John Bernstein, Director, Graduate Program in Screenwriting,
Department of Film and Television, Boston University
"Alternative Scriptwriting," by Ken Dancyger and Jeff Rush, is one
of the few books on the subject that doesn't make you feel stupid
while you're reading it.
Instead of the usual boring list of "tricks of the trade" that
replaces a real table of content in so many "How To Write A
Screenplay And Sell It For A Lot Of Money To An Even Bigger Lot Of
Talentless Hopeful People" Dancyger & Rush offer real insight for
those who take their screenwriting seriously and are not afraid to
venture a little bit "beyond the rules". Both as a filmmaker and as
a teacher I have found this volume very precious because what the
authors do best is mix American craftsmanship with European
sensibility.
An excellent cocktail, if you ask me. And you did."
-Marc Didden - Head Of Screenwriting at St. Lukas Hogeschool,
Brussels , Writer/Director ( "Brussels By Night", "Istanbul",
"Sailors Don't Cry" )
Praise for the third edition:
"An insightful alternative to mainstream narrative and character
analysis that presents the reader with a clear dissection of the
mainstream before revealing the alternatives."
-- Script Factory
"[Alternative Scriptwriting] aims to challenge its readers to
create writing that is exceptional. While no book can possibly
replace your own creative vision, as a resource it's thorough and
is a good way to help yourself consider alternative ideas."
-- Plugin Cinema
Praise for the fifth edition:
"Screenwriting is about making choices. What Dancyger and Rush
reveal so effectively in Alternative Screenwriting is just how many
options are possible, how the various available choices work and
how different decisions will impact screen storytelling. This book
substantially broadens every screenwriters' -creative
horizons."
-David Howard, USC screenwriting professor and author of The Tools
of Screenwriting and How to Build a Great Screenplay."
"Alternative Scriptwriting is invaluable to anyone interested in
screenwriting or in directing fiction. Using plain language it
demystifies storytelling for the screen, and opens up myriad
possibilities for using the cinema with invention, freshness, and
imagination." - Michael Rabiger, Professor Emeritus, Film/Video
Department, Columbia College Chicago.
"Just as Aristotle's "Poetics and André Bazin's "What is Cinema are
an inseparable part of a Screenwriting reading list, Ken Dancyger
and Jeff Rush's "Alternative Scriptwriting is an absolute must read
for a deeper understanding of the structure of Screenwriting. -Dr.
John Bernstein, Director, Graduate Program in Screenwriting,
Department of Film and Television, Boston University
"Alternative Scriptwriting," by Ken Dancyger and Jeff Rush, is one
of the few books on the subject that doesn't make you feel stupid
while you're reading it.
Instead of the usual boring list of "tricks of the trade" that
replaces a real table of content in so many "How To Write A
Screenplay And Sell It For A Lot Of Money To An Even Bigger Lot Of
Talentless Hopeful People" Dancyger & Rush offer real insight for
those who take their screenwriting seriously and are not afraid to
venture a little bit "beyond the rules". Both as a filmmaker and as
a teacher I have found this volume very precious because what the
authors do best is mix American craftsmanship with European
sensibility.
An excellent cocktail, if you ask me. And you did."
-Marc Didden - Head Of Screenwriting at St. Lukas Hogeschool,
Brussels , Writer/Director ( "Brussels By Night", "Istanbul",
"Sailors Don't Cry" )
Praise for the third edition:
"An insightful alternative to mainstream narrative and character
analysis that presents the reader with a clear dissection of the
mainstream before revealing the alternatives."
-- Script Factory
"[Alternative Scriptwriting] aims to challenge its readers to
create writing that is exceptional. While no book can possibly
replace your own creative vision, as a resource it's thorough and
is a good way to help yourself consider alternative ideas."
-- Plugin Cinema
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