Full Description
Veteran script consultant Jill Chamberlain discovered in her work that an astounding 99 percent of first-time screenwriters don't know how to tell a story. These writers may know how to format a script, write snappy dialogue, and set a scene. They may have interesting characters and perhaps some clever plot devices. But, invariably, while they may have the kernel of a good idea for a screenplay, they fail to tell a story. What the 99 percent do instead is present a situation. In order to explain the difference, Chamberlain created the Nutshell Technique, a method whereby writers identify eight dynamic, interconnected elements that are required to successfully tell a story.
Now, for the first time, Chamberlain presents her unique method in book form with The Nutshell Technique: Crack the Secret of Successful Screenwriting. Using easy-to-follow diagrams ("nutshells"), she thoroughly explains how the Nutshell Technique can make or break a film script. Chamberlain takes readers step-by-step through thirty classic and contemporary movies, showing how such dissimilar screenplays as Casablanca, Chinatown, Pulp Fiction, The Usual Suspects, Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, Silver Linings Playbook, and Argo all have the same system working behind the scenes, and she teaches readers exactly how to apply these principles to their own screenwriting. Learn the Nutshell Technique, and you'll discover how to turn a mere situation into a truly compelling screenplay story.
Contents
A Note on the Text
Foreword by Patrick Wright
Acknowledgments
Part 1. The Problem with 99% of Screenplays
Chapter 1. The Problem
Chapter 2. The Solution
Part 2. The Nutshell Technique Process
Chapter 3. How to Use This Book
Chapter 4. Protagonist
Chapter 5. Set-Up Want: Part 1
Chapter 6. Point of No Return
Chapter 7. Set-Up Want: Part 2
Chapter 8. Catch
Chapter 9. Flaw
Chapter 10. Crisis
Chapter 11. Triumph
Chapter 12. Climactic Choice
Chapter 13. Final Step
Chapter 14. Strength
Part 3. Advanced Application of the Nutshell Technique
Chapter 15. Nonlinear Screenplays
Chapter 16. Using a "Secret Protagonist" to Structure a Nonconventional Story
Part 4: Film Nutshells
Annie Hall
Argo
August: Osage County
Being John Malkovich
The Big Lebowski
The Bourne Identity
Braveheart
Casablanca
Chinatown
Collateral
Crimes and Misdemeanors
Dallas Buyers Club
Frozen
The Godfather
Groundhog Day
Juno
Little Miss Sunshine
The Matrix
Memento
North Country
Pulp Fiction
Silver Linings Playbook
The Sixth Sense
The Social Network
Sunset Blvd.
Titanic
Tootsie
Up in the Air
The Usual Suspects
Witness
Notes
Index
