So I did a little internet research/crossrefering, and it seems like the following always pop up:

The Screenwriter's Bible
Screenwriting Goldmine
How Not To Write A Screenplay

Would anyone kindly let me know if these are indeed the best books on the topic, or maybe point me in the direction of some better options?

Thanks in advance.

Although it references Syd Field's "Screenplay" a lot so you might want that as well.

It's not focused solely on screenwriting but Sidney Lumet's Making Movies is a great book if you want to get an inside look on filmmaking.

I'd also recommend the Wordplayer website (run by the Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot - Shrek, Pirates of the Caribbean, and other films) but the site appears to be down.

Carson Reeves site?

You *MUST* be in his email list to get the scripts he reviews every week.

He used to (or may still be) work in development for many of the major studios.

http://scriptshadow.blogspot.com

his reviews on what works and what doesn't in the screenplays is honest and to the point.

I know he's coming out with a book next month also. And it's only going to be $10 at that. THAT would be a must get, imho.

Absolutely phenomenal. Says the same basic principle as Lennon: screenplay books can't teach you shit-- a good cinematic story is worth money in Hollywood, and if someone thinks your story can make them money, you will sell your script. Lennon is far more interested in collaboration and taking notes and acting professional, whereas Eszterhas is far more interested in telling people to fuck off and instead commanding attention based on ability to tell an interesting story. Both stress that there's no method to selling a script at all, and even less of a method to getting it made, so people claiming there is one are just trying to steal your money.

Both are really awesome, funny, and honest reads.

Thompson's "Storytelling in the New Hollywood" (she argues that Hollywood narrative has 4 acts instead of the widely viewed 3) and Bordwell's "The Way Hollywood Tells It"???

They're not formal script manuals but perceptively analyze the characteristics of contemporary Hollywood screnplays/narrative.

And to further trace the tradition of the dominant Hollywood screenwriting/narrative (1960s to its formation in the teens), check out their (written along with Janet Staiger) older but ridiculously thorough "The Classical Hollywood Cinema."

Bordwell and Thompson have the best film analysis blog (see the following screenwriting focused entries to get a taste of their in-depth writing):

http://www.davidbordwell.net/essays/anatomy.php

http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/category/screenwriting/


Also, Lajos Egri's "The Art of Dramatic Writing" is a major book for screenwriters.

Since Syd Field and Robert McKee's script manuals are the most widely read, you kind of have to read them. Same goes for Christopher Volger.

2 other books worth reading:

"Me and You and Memento and Fargo: How Independent Screenplays Work" by J.J. Murphy

"Understanding Screenwriting: Learning from Good, Not-Quite-So-Good, and Bad Screenplays" by Tom Stempel. Stempel also has a screenplay series at the House Next Door blog.

Unlike film academics, these two really engage in the medium in a way that I think is exceptionally helpful for the writer and the director.

They write much less about cultural context and much more about the actual craft of how these things are put together, what scenes/shots/sequences are trying to convey and how these succeed or fail, etc.

Bordwell's book on Ozu could serve as the basis for not just a course, but an entire film school curriculum (or at least one taught by me).

>Unlike film academics, these two really engage in the medium
>in a way that I think is exceptionally helpful for the writer
>and the director.

Most if not all artists have intentions. In a sense, Bordwell, Thompson, and their ilk reverse-engineer. I'm glad that they're not the only ones, but they are the most prominent and, IMO, the most readable and...best. While none of their books are manuals, they kind of are in that they can be, because, like you said, they're exceptionally helpful for the writer and director.

>They write much less about cultural context and much more
>about the actual craft of how these things are put together,
>what scenes/shots/sequences are trying to convey and how these
>succeed or fail, etc.

That's true. But, at the same time, critics of Bordwell and Thompson are wrong when they say cultural/social/political analysis is totally abandoned. Bordwell's monographs on Ozu, Dreyer, and Eisenstein (especially the Ozu one), place the artworks in cultural/social/politicial/historical context. Have you read Thompson's essay on Late Spring in "Breaking the Glass Armor"? She wrote about how the depiction in the film is radical in Japanese cultural terms. Great stuff.

>Bordwell's book on Ozu could serve as the basis for not just a
>course, but an entire film school curriculum (or at least one
>taught by me).

Co-sign. I wish there were more director monographs like it. Overwhelmingly thorough (in a great way). I hope he writes a Hou or Kiarostami monograph someday.

>Most if not all artists have intentions. In a sense, Bordwell,
>Thompson, and their ilk reverse-engineer. I'm glad that
>they're not the only ones, but they are the most prominent
>and, IMO, the most readable and...best. While none of their
>books are manuals, they kind of are in that they can be,
>because, like you said, they're exceptionally helpful for the
>writer and director.

Yeah, not manuals. But the sort of film studies writing that has immense practical benefits.

Also, meant to write "unlike MANY film academics" rather than just sound like I was shitting on film studies as a whole.


>That's true. But, at the same time, critics of Bordwell and
>Thompson are wrong when they say cultural/social/political
>analysis is totally abandoned. Bordwell's monographs on Ozu,
>Dreyer, and Eisenstein (especially the Ozu one), place the
>artworks in cultural/social/politicial/historical context.

Indeed. I should say the emphasis is more towards technique. They don't treat the works in a cultural vacuum by any means.


>Have you read Thompson's essay on Late Spring in "Breaking the
>Glass Armor"? She wrote about how the depiction in the film is
>radical in Japanese cultural terms. Great stuff.

No. I should check it out.

>Co-sign. I wish there were more director monographs like it.
>Overwhelmingly thorough (in a great way). I hope he writes a
>Hou or Kiarostami monograph someday.

I don't know there's any other single-director work that quite compares.

screenwriter is from the 2 of the Reno 911 dudes.

http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Movies-Fun-Profit-Billion/dp/1439186758/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329065342&sr=1-11

Warning: It might deter you from wanting to write scripts.

But "Screenwriters Bible" is good like you mentioned. "How Not to Write a Movie" as well.

And "Story" by McKee

Unless he wrote another one.

Wow, many thanks for all the responses. Only problem is now I've got so many options haha. Decisions, decisions.

Backstory 3: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1960s -
http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft138nb0zm&brand=ucpress

Backstory 2: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1940s and 1950s -
http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft0z09n7m0&brand=ucpress

Lot's of good info here but I know I won't track down all these books at once.

**********
Peace to the Gods.