Table of Contents

I. Introduction
What is a screenplay?
What is important in a screenplay?
The screenwriters skill set

II. Shorts
The fundamentals of the short film
The four categories of short films: short-shorts, conventional shorts, medium shorts, long shorts
Film vs. theater
Film vs. television

III. Character
Character and characterization
Putting your characters in charge of the action
What a character wants, what a character needs
Adding depth to your characters
Types of characters and their function
Secondary characters

IV. Narrative
The five forms of conflict
The three-part nature of screenplay structure: setup, rising action, resolution
The importance of cause and effect
The elements of a scene
Scene structure
Writing the scene

V. Dialogue
The goals of film dialogue
The characteristics of film dialogue
Writing effective dialogue
Structuring sentences and speeches
Dialect, slang, and insider speech

VI. Development
Generating ideas for a short screenplay
The development process
Creating a concept
Creating a synopsis
Creating a step outline
The first draft
Revising
Writing screenplays for non-theatrical films (podcasts, Internet only, mobile phone)

VII. Production
Production considerations for a short screenplay
Working with a director
Working with a producer
When the director or the producer is you
Conforming the screenplay to existing locations and budget limitations
“Theres no such thing as a free lunch”
Permissions and legal considerations
Writing the shooting script

VIII. Format
The standard industry format: the way a screenplay looks on a paper
Screenplay form: using language to suggest film images
What to avoid: directing on paper and acting on paper
Film grammar vs. English grammar

IX. Glossary

X. Appendix

IX. Index

About the Author

Dan Gurskis has more than twenty years of writing and producing experience in film and television. He has worked on projects Columbia, Paramount, RKO, HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, Comedy Central, and the USA Network with collaborators as varied as the director Nicolas Roeg and Monty Python's Graham Chapman. In all, he has written more than thirty screenplays. Gurskis has won an Emmy Award and has been a Cable Ace Nominee, a Shubert Fellow, and a MacDowell Colony Fellow. He currently chairs the Department of Film at Brooklyn College, City University of New York.

Reviews

I. INTRODUCTION What is a screenplay? What is important in a screenplay? The screenwriter's skill set II. SHORTS The fundamentals of the short film The four categories of short films: short-shorts, conventional shorts, medium shorts, long shorts Film vs. theater Film vs. television III. CHARACTER Character and characterization Putting your characters in charge of the action What a character wants, what a character needs Adding depth to your characters Types of characters and their function Secondary characters IV. NARRATIVE The five forms of conflict The three-part nature of screenplay structure: setup, rising action, resolution The importance of cause and effect The elements of a scene Scene structure Writing the scene V. DIALOGUE The goals of film dialogue The characteristics of film dialogue Writing effective dialogue Structuring sentences and speeches Dialect, slang, and insider speech VI. DEVELOPMENT Generating ideas for a short screenplay The development process Creating a concept Creating a synopsis Creating a step outline The first draft Revising Writing screenplays for non-theatrical films (podcasts, Internet only, mobile phone) VII. PRODUCTION Production considerations for a short screenplay Working with a director Working with a producer When the director or the producer is you Conforming the screenplay to existing locations and budget limitations "There's no such thing as a free lunch" Permissions and legal considerations Writing the shooting script VIII. FORMAT The standard industry format: the way a screenplay looks on a paper Screenplay form: using language to suggest film images What to avoid: directing on paper and acting on paper Film grammar vs. English grammar IX. GLOSSARY X. APPENDIX IX. INDEX