drawing out, 133–134
physical, 132
positioning, 128–129
research in, 134–135
in short film, 127
singular qualities, 133
tragedy in, 138
Characters, 5. See also Antagonist;
Main Character; Protagonist;
Secondary Characters
abstraction of, in experimental
narrative, 208–209
appearances and, 43–44
behavior defining, 39–40
believable, 135–136
comic, 137–138
complexity in, 136–137
describing, 43
dialogue and, 143
in docudrama, 172–173, 179
docudrama case studies in,
182–183
in dramatic strategies, 121
drawing out, 133–134
experimental narrative case
studies in, 216–218
finding, 44
flat, 127
habitual behavior and, 37–39, 60
in hyperdrama, 189–190, 197
hyperdrama case studies in, 201
images and, 22–23
intentional/energized, 133
interactions, 45
melodrama case studies in,
166–167
objectives of, 160–161
polarity, 91
positioning, 127–128
qualities of, 90
rounded, 127
singular qualities of, 133
in Thelma and Louise, 38–39
tragic, 138
voice and, 65–67
Chayevsky, Paddy, 117
Chicago Hope (television), 154
Un Chien d’Andalou (Buñuel and
Dali), 2, 205
A Children’s Story (Justice), 153,
154–155
plot in, 167
structure in, 166–167
tone in, 167
Chinatown (Polanski), 11, 41
revisions of, 82
screenplay shorthand in, 40–41
voice in, 65–66
Chungking Express (Wong Kar-Wai),
207, 209
CILECT, 3–4
Cinema verité, 171, 174, 176
Citizen Kane, 144
comedy in, 81
The Class of ‘75 (Dancyger), 32
Clement-Ferrand Festival, 3
Climax
in dramatic strategies, 124
identifying, 54–55
strategies for, 93
A Clockwork Orange (Kubrick), 130,
188, 191
Close-ups, 104
Cocteau, Jean, 18, 20, 22
condition of, 76
on images, 17
Columbus, Chris, 3
Comedy, 96–97, 114
in characterization, 137–138
definition of, 116
melodrama and, 81
Commercials
short film and, 230
Communication, 89
The Company of Wolves (Jordan), 189
Complexity
in characterization, 136–137
Conflict
in dramatic strategy, 120–121
Contemporary issues
in docudrama, 174
in hyperdrama, 192
in melodrama, 156–157
Context, 69–70
Index 347
Index.qxd 9/27/04 6:13 PM Page 347
Cooper, Pat, 29, 62, 70
Copenhagen (Frayn), 153
Coppola, Francis Ford, 102
Craig, Laurie, 14
Creative solutions
in dramatic strategy, 124–125
Cries and Whispers (Bergman), 26
Crimes and Misdemeanors (Allen), 162
The Criminal Mind of Archibald Cruz
(Buñuel), 188
The Crying Game (Jordan), 102
Culloden (Watkin), 173
as docudrama case study, 175–177
Cuts
in second drafts, 82–83
Dali, Salvador, 2, 117, 205, 207
Dallas (television), 225
Dancyger, Ken, 32
Dangerous Liaisons (Hampton), 28
screenwriting in images in, 24–25
Dante, 208
Dash, Julie, 206
Daughters of the Dust (Dash), 206
David Holzman’s Diary, 115
Davies, Terence, 206
Dead Letters Don’t Die (Granofsky
and Swanhaus), 45,
201–202, 257, 323–343
dialogue in, 68–69
Dead of Night, 4
Deardon, Basil, 4
Death of a Princess, 174
Demme, Jonathan, 224
Deren, Maya, 2
Dialect, 143
Dialogue
as action, 70–72
characterization and, 142, 143
cutting, 83
as dramatic action, 69–70
as exposition, 68–69
intensifying tension with, 145
narration and, 146–147
plot and, 143–144
purposes of, 142–143
realism and, 148
relieving tension with, 146
revising, 74
in short film, 141
silence and, 147–148
as transition, 144
Digital video, 225
short film and, 231–232
Direct cinema, 171
Disney, Walt, 2
Distant Voices, Still Lives (Davies), 206
Distinct style
in experimental narrative,
206–207
Divine Comedy (Dante), 208
Docudrama, 114
actuality in, 172
author’s voice in, 174–175
character case study in, 182–183
contemporary issues in, 174
definition of, 115
documentary and, 179–180
goals in, 179
history of, 171–172
main character in, 173
main character in short film, 181
main character’s relation to plot
in, 180
motifs in, 175–178
place and time in, 172–173
place case studies in, 183
plot case studies in, 183–184
plot in, 173–174
plot in short film, 181
structure of, 180–181
structure of, in short film, 182
style in short film, 181
time case study in, 184
tone case studies in, 184–185
tone of, in short film, 182
writing devices for, 178–179
Documentary
docudrama and, 179–180
short film and, 228–229
Dogma 95 films, 172
The Double Life of Veronique
(Kieslowski), 206, 209
Dovschenko, Alexander, 205, 208
348 Index
Index.qxd 9/27/04 6:13 PM Page 348
Dr. Strangelove (Kubrick), 117
Dr. Zhivago (Lean), 157
Drafts
cutting inessentials in, 82–83
first, 78
Malamud, Bernard, on, 79
second, 80–81
third, 84
Drama
framing, 114–115
origins of, 47
Dramatic action
of antagonist, 54
Aristotle on, 48
dialogue as, 69–70
as motif, 158
of protagonist, 53–54
resolving, 54
Dramatic arc
as motif in docudrama, 176,
177–178
as motif in experimental
narrative, 211, 213–214
as motif in hyperdrama, 194,
195–196
as motif in melodrama, 158,
159
Dramatic core, 121–123
Dramatic strategies
character in, 121
climaxes in, 124
creative solutions in, 124–135
endings in, 124
energy in, 125
idea behind, 113–114
insight in, 125
middle in, 124
plot points in, 123
tone in, 119–120
voice in, 119
Dramatic strategy
beginnings in, 123–124
conflict in, 120–121
polarity in, 120–121
A Dry White Season (Palcy), 154
Duck Soup (Marx Brothers), 187
Duvall, Robert, 131
Earth (Dovschenko), 205
East of Eden (Kazan), 156
Eastwood, Clint, 11, 102
Eclipse (Ruscio)
tone case studies on, 218
Education, 225
storytelling and, 89–90
Edward Munch (Watkins), 173
Egoyan, Atom, 163, 206, 207, 209,
231
Elder, Bruce, 3
Elliot, Ayanna, 167
Embrechts, Gert, 227, 233, 235
Emerling, Susan, 257, 308
Empire of the Moon (Haptas and
Samuelson)
place case studies in, 217
Encyclopedia Britannica, 63
Ending
in dramatic strategies, 124
identifying, 54–55
Enemies: A Love Story (Mazursky),
156
Energized characters, 133
Energy
in dramatic strategy, 125
The English Patient, 154
Enrico, Robert, 20, 144
ER (television), 154, 225
Escape from Alcatraz (Siegel), 62
Eszterhas, Joe, 132
E.T. (Spielberg), 188
Everyday Except Christmas
(Anderson), 171
Excalibur (Boorman), 189, 190, 192,
198
Exotica (Egoyan), 163, 207, 208, 209,
216, 231
Experimental film
short film and, 229–230
Experimental narrative
author’s voice in, 209–210
character abstraction in, 208–209
character case studies in, 216–217
character use in, 215–216
definition of, 205
distinct style in, 206–207
Index 349
Index.qxd 9/27/04 6:13 PM Page 349
Experimental narrative (Continued)
intellectual concepts in, 208
linkages to other arts in, 207–208
motifs in, 210–214
nonlinearity in, 206
patterns in, 209
place case studies in, 217
poetry and, 215
ritualized tone in, 209
simple ideas behind, 215
story types benefiting from,
214–215
structure case studies in, 217–218
structure in, 216
tone and voice in, 216
tone case studies in, 218
voice case studies in, 218–219
Exposition
dialogue as, 68–69
Exterior narration, 147
Extreme long shots, 104
Fable, 114, 229. See also Fairy tales;
Myths
definition of, 117–118
realistic dialogue in, 149
The Fabulous Baker Boys (Klove),
156
Fairy tales, 10–11. See also Fables;
Myths
adapting, 49–50, 62
choosing, for adaptation, 63
hyperdrama and, 198
“Fall guy” idiom, 98
Fantasy
in hyperdrama, 191
realism v., 93–94, 149
Feedback
getting, 83–84
Feeling, 13
Fellini, Federico, 3
Ferguson, Larry, 102
A Few Good Men (Reiner), 102
Film
character positioning in, 129
first-person positioning in, 129
inherent qualities of, 102–103
second-person positioning in,
129–130
storytelling in context of, 101–102
First drafts
Malamud, Bernard, on, 79
writing, 78
First Knight (Zucker), 198
First-person positioning, 128
in film, 129
Flaherty, Robert, 171
Flat characters, 127
Fleming, Victor, 189
For Whom the Bell Tolls, 174
Ford, John, 157
Formalism
in hyperdrama, 191
Forman, Milos, 156
Forrest Gump (Zemeckis), 188, 190, 199
moral lessons in, 188
Forster, E.M., 9, 102, 127
Forsythe, Frederick, 94
Four Little Girls (Lee), 224
Framing
genre and, 114–115
Frankenheimer, John, 189, 192
Frayn, Michael, 153
Friedrich, Su, 206, 208
Gangster film, 114
Gare du Nord (Rouch), 13–14
Gender, 143
Genesis and Catastrophe (Liebesman),
227
Genre, 10–11
framing and, 114
Get On the Bus (Lee), 224
Giler, David, 102
Goals, 91
character, in docudrama, 179
in hyperdrama, 197
as motif in docudrama, 175, 177
as motif in experimental
narrative, 210, 212–213
as motif in hyperdrama, 193, 195
as motif in melodrama, 158, 159
in shortfilm hyperdrama, 200
Godard, Jean-Luc, 3, 4
350 Index
Index.qxd 9/27/04 6:13 PM Page 350
The Godfather Part 1, 190
Goffman, Ervin, 43
Going to Work in the Morning from
Brooklyn (Messina), 11–12
Goldenberg, Matthew, 83, 226,
233, 241
Goldman, William
on screenwriting, 56
Granofsky, Anais, 201, 202, 257, 323
Grease Monkey (Craig), 14–15
Green, Anthony, 101, 233, 249
Griffith, D.W., 1
Grimm’s Fairy Tales, 63
Guest, Judith, 153
Habitual behavior
character and, 37–39, 60
Hampton, Christopher, 24, 28
Haptas, John, 217
Harwood, Ronald
on screenwriting, 32
Hemingway, Earnest, 91
Herzog, Werner, 188, 191
High Noon, 31
Hill, Walter, 102
Hills, Rust, 5, 47
Hitchcock, Alfred, 103
Hochschule, 3
Hoffa (Mamet), 102
Holland, Agnieszka, 102
Hopkins, Anthony, 132
Horror film, 114
“The Hospital” (Chayevsky), 117
How Green Was My Valley (Ford), 157
Howard’s End, 102
Huffman, Michael, 165
Hurbis-Cherrier, Katharine, 217
Hurbis-Cherrier, Mick, 217
Huston, Angelica, 157
Hyperdrama
antagonist case study in, 201
author’s voice in, 191–192
catalysts in, 199
character case study in, 201
character in, 189–190, 197
contemporary issues in, 192
definition of, 187
fairy tales and, 198
fantasy in, 191
formalism in, 191
goals in, 197
goals in short film, 200
main character in short film, 200
moral lesson’s centrality in, 188–189
motifs in, 192–196
plot case study in, 202–203
plot in, 190, 197–198
plot in short film, 200
plot structure in, 190–191
realism in, 189
ritual in, 190–191
structure in short film, 200–201
structure of, 198–199
style in short film, 200
superheroes in, 197–198
tone case study in, 202–203
tone in, 191, 199
tone in short film, 201
writing devices for, 197–199
Idioms
fall guy, 98
in storytelling, 98
Images
character and, 22–23
Cocteau, Jean, on, 17
juxtaposition of, 103
utilizing, 76–77
Incident at Owl Creek (Enrico), 20,
22, 48, 127, 131
dialogue in, 144
dramatic core of, 121
image and situations in, 23–24
Insight
in dramatic strategy, 125
Intellectual concepts
in experimental narrative, 208
Intentional characters, 133
Interactions
character, 45–46
Interior narration, 146–147
Interviews
conducting, 67–68
It’s a Wonderful Life, 192
Index 351
Index.qxd 9/27/04 6:13 PM Page 351
It’s Not Just You, Murray (Scorsese),
3
I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing
(Rozema), 206
Ivory, James, 102
Jackson, Michael, 223
Jansco, Miklos, 206, 207
La Jetée (Marker), 206, 207
Jokes
in storytelling, 96–97
Jordan, Neil, 102, 188, 189
Journey structure, 114
definition of, 118–119
examples of, 11–13
Judith of Bethulia, 1
Julius Caesar, 118
Justice, Graham, 153, 154, 167
Juxtaposition, 103
Kazan, Elia, 39, 156
on character, 128
Kershner, Irvin, 156
Khouri, Callie, 37
Kieslowski, Krystof, 206
Kill the Director (Mandel), 184–185
Klove, Steve, 156
Kopple, Barbara, 3
Kramer vs. Kramer (Benton), 154
Kubrick, Stanley, 117, 188, 191
Kusama, Karyn, 216, 257, 297
Kusturica, Emir, 188
The Lady in Waiting (Taylor), 41–42,
67, 165, 166, 257, 271–276
structure in, 166
tone in, 167
Lamorisse, Albert, 21–22
Land and Freedom (Loach), 174, 175,
179
motifs in, 177–179
Langer, Susanne, 13
Last Supper (Boxer), 226
Lauzon, Jean Claude, 189
Law, Clara, 210, 214
Lawrence of Arabia (Lean), 157
Lean, David, 157
Leaving Las Vegas, 161
Lee, Spike, 102, 163, 223, 224
Legend (Scott), 191
Leolo (Lauzon), 189
Lester, Richard, 3, 207
Letter writing, 75
Liebesman, Jonathan, 227
The Lion King, 189
Little Red Riding Hood, 108
Loach, Ken, 172, 174, 175, 179
Location, 34
exploring, 77
sound and, 35
Lodge, David, 59
Logan, Joshua, 198
The Loneliness of the Long Distance
Runner (Richardson), 156, 173
Long film
short film v., 4–6
Long shots, 104
Lorentz, Pare, 2
Lorenzo’s Oil (Miller), 101, 155
Loving (Kershner), 156
Lucas, George, 3, 131, 228
Macbeth, 118
Mad Max (Miller), 198
Magnolia (Anderson), 231
Mailer, Matt, 182
Main character. See also Characters;
Protagonist
antagonist and, 131–132
definition of, 105
in docudrama, 173
as motif in docudrama, 175, 177
as motif in experimental
narrative, 210, 212–213
as motif in hyperdrama, 192–193,
195
as motif in melodrama, 158, 159
narration by, 130
objectives of, 160–161
plot and, in docudrama, 180
plot used against goals of, 161–162
positioning of, 129
secondary characters and,
130–131
352 Index
Index.qxd 9/27/04 6:13 PM Page 352
in shortfilm hyperdrama, 200
in shortfilm melodrama, 164
struggle of, in melodrama, 155
Main conflict
definition of, 48
Makiewicz, Joseph, 153
Malamud, Bernard
on first drafts, 79
Malcolm X (Lee), 102
The Maltese Falcon, 11, 41
idioms in, 98
Mamet, David, 102
A Man Escapes (Bresson), 62
Man of Aran (Flaherty), 171
Man With a Movie Camera (Vertov),
171, 205
Manchevski, Milcho, 216
Mandel, Geoffrey, 184
Marathon Man, 56
Marat/Sade (Brook), 208
Marker, Chris, 206, 207–208
Martinez-Zaldivar, Juan Carlos,
200, 202
Marx Brothers, 187
Master scene format, 107
example of, 110–111
Mazursky, Paul, 156
McKelwee, Ross, 3
McLaren, Norman, 3, 118,
121, 205
McLean, Norman, 102
Medium Cool (Wexler), 171
Melodrama, 114
adaptability of, 155–156
character case studies in, 166
comedy and, 81
contemporary issues explored in,
156–157
definition of, 153
main character in, 155
motifs in, 158–159
as multi-genre, 157
objectives in, 160
plot case studies in, 167
plot used in, 161–162
psychology explored in, 156
realism in, 153–154
relationships as story elements in,
154–155
resolution in, 162–163
structure case studies in, 166–167
structure in, 163
summation of, 168–169
tone case studies in, 167–168
triangulation in, 161
writing devices for, 160–163
Mercer, David, 117
Merchant, Ismail, 102
Meshes in the Afternoon (Deren), 206
Messina, Philip, 11
Metaphor, 229
sound as, 31–32
Middle
in dramatic strategy, 124
Miller, Arthur, 153
Miller, George, 101, 155–156, 198
Miller, Rebecca, 4
Minghella, Anthony, 154
The Mirror (Tartovsky), 206
Mix, Tom, 11
Mockumentary, 114
definition of, 115–116
Modern Times (Chaplin), 11, 187
Momma Don’t Allow (Reisz and
Richardson), 171
The Money Shot (Mailer), 182–183
Morahan, Christopher, 156
Morality tale, 114
centrality of, 188–189
definition of, 118
Morris, Errol, 117
Motifs
in docudrama, 175–178
in experimental narrative,
210–214
in melodrama, 158–160
in Priest, 158
Mulligan, Robert, 154
The Mummy, 225
Music Box (Eszterhas), 132
My Name is Rabbit (Rosthal), 153
character in, 166
My Own Private Idaho (Van Sant),
160
Index 353
Index.qxd 9/27/04 6:13 PM Page 353
. 184–185
tone of, in short film, 182
writing devices for, 178–179
Documentary
docudrama and, 179–180
short film and, 228–229
Dogma 95 films, 172
The Double Life. 183–184
plot in, 173–174
plot in short film, 181
structure of, 180–181
structure of, in short film, 182
style in short film, 181
time case study in, 184
tone