Film Storytelling

How do master storytellers compel us? There have been many attempts to understand what makes a good story, but few have used a scientific approach. In The Science of Storytelling, Will Storr applies dazzling psychological research and cutting-edge neuroscience to our myths and archetypes to show how we can tell better stories, revealing, among other things, how storytellers - and also our brains - create worlds by being attuned to moments of unexpected change.

No one comes out of a movie talking about structure. What audiences love and remember about a movie are great scenes. Marlon Brando in the back seat in On the Waterfront giving his "I could'a been a contender" speech. Meg Ryan's fake orgasm in Katz's Deli in When Harry Met Sally with the climactic punch line: "I'll have what she's having." In Superbad, Jonah Hill professing "I love you" to his friend Michael Cera by touching his nose with a "boop".

Following up his perennially best-selling writers' guide Story and his inspiring exploration of the art of verbal action in Dialogue, the most sought-after expert in the storytelling brings his insights to the creation of compelling characters and the design of their casts. Character explores the design of a character universe: The dimensionality, complexity and arcing of a protagonist, the invention of orbiting major characters, all encircled by a cast of service and supporting roles.

Thanks to this guided storytelling course, you will learn how to create and structure a story from beginning to end, following the archetypes of storytelling. If you have a book in your drawer, if you are missing some incipits or some narrative features, this is the path for you. You will learn to create blocks to build in order to make your story compelling and exciting, and to characterize protagonists, antagonists, and secondary characters following a functional narrative scheme that has been used on many occasions, from TV series to novels and ancient literature.

Eric Lax has been with Woody Allen almost every step of the way. He chronicled Allen's transformation from stand-up comedian to filmmaker in On Being Funny (1975). His international best seller, Woody Allen: A Biography (1991), was a portrait of a director hitting his stride. Conversations with Woody Allen comprised interviews that illustrated Allen's evolution from 1971 to 2008. Now, Lax invites us onto the set - and even further behind the scenes - of Allen's Irrational Man, which was released in 2015, and starred Joaquin Phoenix and Emma Stone.

In an evolving networked era, social-issue documentaries like Blackfish are art for civic imagination and social critique. In Story Movements, producer and scholar Caty Borum Chattoo explores how documentaries disrupt dominant cultural narratives through complex, creative, often investigative storytelling.

Robert Altman and the Elaboration of Hollywood Storytelling reveals an Altman barely glimpsed in previous critical accounts of the filmmaker. This re-examination of his seminal work during the "Hollywood Renaissance" or "New Hollywood" period of the early 1970s (including M*A*S*H and Nashville) sheds new light on both the films and the filmmaker, reframing Altman as a complex, pragmatic innovator whose work exceeds, but is also grounded in, the norms of classical Hollywood storytelling rather than someone who rejected those norms in favor of modernist art cinema.

Alternating between personal anecdote, hilarious insight, and smart analysis, Luke Skywalker Can't Read contends that Barbarella is good for you, that monster movies are just romantic comedies with commitment issues, and that Dracula and Sherlock Holmes are total hipsters and, most shockingly, shows how virtually everyone in the Star Wars universe is functionally illiterate.

John Gaspard's More Popcorn Principles: The Sequel! (Further Cinematic Storytelling Strategies for Novelists) is an illuminating guide that takes you on a cinematic journey, revealing the secrets to crafting compelling narratives and characters that resonate. This book is an invaluable tool for any aspiring or seasoned novelist, blending Gaspard's deep understanding of the art of storytelling with inspiration from the world of film.

Introducing Attack on Titan and the Human Condition: A Beyond the Wall Companion Guide: Comparing Attack on Titan’s Fictional Society with Real Life Issues, Politics and Culture, a thought-provoking exploration of the popular anime manga series and its connection to our own human experiences. This book delves into the themes that make Attack on Titan so captivating and relatable, using examples from the story to shed light on the universal truths of our own lives.

Welcome to The Ghibili World: The Enchanted Films of a Beloved Studio, an in-depth exploration of the world-renowned animation studio. This book delves into the magic behind Studio Ghibli's iconic films, providing listeners with a comprehensive guide to their themes, characters, and techniques.