Screenwriting

Paul Gulino is Associate Professor of Screenwriting at Chapman University, USA. He is an award-winning screenwriter, whose book, Screenwriting: The Sequence Approach (Bloomsbury, 2004) has been adopted as a textbook at schools and universities around the globe. He is also the co-author of The Science of Screenwriting: The Neuroscience Behind Storytelling Strategies (2018).

• AcknowledgementsPrefaceForewordAuthor’s NotePART I: FEATURE FILMS1. An Introduction to SequencesWhy Sequences?The Origin of SequencesHow A Screenplay Works2. Toy Story: Firing on All Eight3. The Shop Around the Corner: Fractured Symmetry4. Double Indemnity: Flashback to the Future5. The Nights of Cabiria: Nocturnal Episodes6. North By Northwest: 1,700 Miles in Nine Sequences7. Lawrence of Arabia: Sixteen Sequences and an Intermission8. The Graduate: Passive Main Character9. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: Midpoint Reversal10. The Fellowship of the Ring: The Shotgun Approach11. Mustang: Five Sisters and Their Subplots12. Parasite: The Goal-Oriented EnsemblePART II: SERIES13. An Introduction to SeriesWhy Series?The Storytelling Challenge of the SerialThe Sequence and the SerialThe Serial and the Three-Act Structure14. Breaking Bad Pilot: The Garlic in the Coffee15. Insecure Pilot: Three Subplots in Thirty Minutes16. Barry Pilot: Comic IncongruityBibliographyIndex

Every screenplay and every pilot is so vastly different. Paul Gulino is expertly aware of this, and manages to comprehensively teach the craft, not by imposing boiler plate rules, but by exposing the qualities and commonalities that make stories for the screen work, through a clear and nuanced exploration of structure. When it comes to learning, or reminding yourself, how to effectively build your narrative for the screen, I truly believe Screenwriting: The Sequence Approach is the only book you’ll need.