Jim Pagiamtzis review
" Amazing stories on how scripts are made and insights on drama and tragedies that happened behind the scenes on some well known block buster movies. An inspiring read!"
Inga
Karetnikova's method is that of the art teacher: she asks students to
study great works in detail, to analyze them, and then to create their
own. She stresses that her examination is "interested only in how the
scripts are written and what makes them work, not in a cultural or
scholarly examination of them." Karetnikova analyzes eight screenplays?
The Godfather, Rashomon, La Strada, Bicycle Thief, Nosferatu, The Servant,
Viridiana, Notorious?and
a novel written in screenplay form,
Kiss of the Spider Woman. Each
serves as an example of a particular aspect of screenplay writing:
composing scripts, developing characters, constructing suspense,
adapting literature to cinematic space and time, and weaving details and
motifs within a script.
Karetnikova urges film students to work
on their own screenplays while studying her book, reading the suggested
scripts and viewing the films based on them to get the most from her
method. She provides a series of exercises for each chapter to help
students master the skills of composing and writing film treatments,
developing screen stories and their characters, organizing scenes, and
writing dialogue. Each of the exercises has worked successfully in her
own screenplay-writing classes.
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