Science of Screenwriting

Paul Gulino is Associate Professor at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts in Orange, California, USA. Connie Shears is Associate Professor in the Psychology Department at Chapman University, USA.

• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSINTRODUCTION; or, Should I Save The Cat and Send the Hero On His Journey?1: The Science of information flow, or, I say Schema, You say Schemata: Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up2: The Science of Connecting to the Main Character, or, Why Do I Worry That A Meth Dealer Might Get Caught?3: Science of Contrast, or, why the big huge spaceship followed the little tiny space ship in the opening of Star Wars4: The Science of Exposition, or, What’s Wrong With An Information Dump?5: Science of Cause and Effect, or, Did the Packers Really Lose Because I Didn’t Wear My Cheesehead Hat?6: The Science of Shared Attention, or If I Write A Screenplay In Which A Tree Falls in the Forest, And The Reader Falls Asleep Halfway Through, Have I Written A Screenplay?7: The Science of Conflict, or, What’s Wrong with Watching Two Hours of People Just Getting Along and Helping Each Other?8: Science of Imagination: Temporal Lobes, How to Think Creatively, Stages of Mind, or, Your Dope-Fueled Imaginings 9: The Structure Question, or, How Many Acts Does It Take To Sell A Script?10: Star Wars, or, How George Did It

After reading this book, screenwriters should feel a sense of confidence ... Excellence [was achieved by] Gulino and Shears in generating new knowledge to the field of screenwriting ... A great introduction to anybody who wants to take a first step in understanding the science behind storytelling principles.