Field - The Definitive Guide to Screenwriting

"the Guru of all screenwriters"

CNN

"the first prophet of writing for the screen"

The Los Angeles Times Magazine

"A true Hollywood character...no one sees films quite
the way Field does. An engineer's report on film construction
and the view of an original thinker worth appreciating."

Kirkus Reviews

"The most sought after screenwriting teacher in the world."

The Hollywood Reporter on Syd Field

"If I were writing screenplays... I would carry Syd Field
around in my back pocket wherever I went."

Steven Bochco, writer/producer/director, L.A. Law, NYPD Blue

"Full of common sense, an uncommon commodity."

Esquire

"Syd writes both with passion and an astute understanding."

Hanz Zimmer, film composer, Thelma & Louise

"Impressive... His easy-to-follow step-by-step
approaches are comforting and his emphasis
on right attitude and motivation is uplifting."

Los Angeles Times Book Review

"Syd Field is the preeminent analyzer in the study
of American screenplays. Incredibly, he manages to
remain idealistic while tendering practical 'how to' books."

James L Brooks, scriptwriter, The Mary Tyler Moore Show,
Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News

"Syd Field takes us on a fascinating journey through
30 years of movie goingasking the questions we all ask:
'What makes a movie work?' and finding the answers."

Fay Kanin, former President of the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

"Those of us who've wondered why Syd would devote
himself to raising the bar for screenwriting now learn why
a lifelong and passionate love for movies and filmmaking."

Marc Norman, Academy Award-winning
co-screenwriter for Shakespeare in Love

"I based Like Water For Chocolate on what I learned in Syd's
books. Before, I always felt structure imprisoned me, but what
I learned was structure really freed me to focus on the story."

Laurel Esquivel

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO
SCREEN
WRITING

SYD FIELD

Acclaimed as "The guru of all screen writers" (CNN), Syd Field is regarded by many Hollywood professionals as the leading authority in the art and craft of screenwriting in the world today. His internationally acclaimed best-selling books Screenplay, The Screenwriter's Workbook, and The Screenwriter's Problem Solver have established themselves as the "bibles" of the film industry. They are used in more than 395 colleges and universities and have been translated into 19 languages.

Field is currently on faculty at the USC Masters of Professional Writing Program. He chaired the Academic Liaison Committee at The Writer's Guild of America, West, has taught at Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, the AFI and many other noted institutions. He has been a special script consultant to 20th Century Fox, the Disney Studios, Universal and Tristar Pictures and has collaborated with such noted filmmakers as Alphonso Cuaron (Y Tu Mama Tambien), James L. Brooks (Broadcast News, As Good As It Gets), Luis Mandoki (When A Man Loves A Woman), Roland Joffe (The Killing Fields, The Mission), and Tony Kaye (American History X).

Field has taught screenwriting workshops in South America, Mexico, Europe, and South Africa, and has conducted workshops for the Canadian Film Industry. He was chosen as the President of the International Film Jury at the 1999 Flanders International Film Festival, Ghent, Belgium.

Syd Field was the first inductee into the prestigious Screenwriting Hall of Fame of the American Screenwriting Association in 2001. Some of his former students include Anna Hamilton Phelan (Mask, Gorillas in the Mist), John Singleton (Boys In the Hood, Poetic Justice), Randi Mayem Singer (Mrs. Doubtfire), Laura Esquival (Like Water For Chocalate), Michael Kane (The Color of Money), and Kevin Williamson (Scream, Scream 2 and 3).

This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author's and publisher's rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

ISBN 978-1-4090-2413-2

Version 1.0

www.randomhouse.co.uk

The Definitive Guide to Screenwriting
first published by Ebury Press in Great Britain in 2003

Screenplay, the Foundations of Screenwriting
first published by Dell Publishing in 1979

The Screenwriter's Problem Solver
first published by Dell Publishing in 1998

5 7 9 10 8 6

Text 2003 Syd Field

Syd Field has asserted his right to be identified as the author of
this work under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

This electronic book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

Ebury Press, an imprint of Ebury Press.
Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA

The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009

www.randomhouse.co.uk

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-4090-2413-2

Version 1.0

Grateful acknowledgement is made to the following for permission
to use selected materials from the following films:

David Hare, Stephen Daldry and Michael Cunningham for The Hours

Frances Walsh, Peter Jackson and J.R.R Tolkien for Lord of the Rings:
The Two Towers and The Fellowship of the Ring

Alan Ball and Sam Mendes for American Beauty

Ronald Harwood, Wladyslaw Szpilman and Roman Polanski for The Pianist

Quentin Tarantino for letting me quote from Pulp Fiction

Robert Towne for excerpt from screenplay of Chinatown

MDP Worldwide for granting me permission to discuss Loved.

Jerry Bruckheimer for supporting my efforts to analyze Crimson Tide

Alan Sargent for his great insights. David Koepp for
letting me quote from Jurassic Park

Jim Cameron and Will Wisher for their keen
insight in Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Doug, Cherry, and Joan for letting me pick apart
and analyze their screenplays

Frank Darabont for The Shawshank Redemption

Copyright 1994 Castle Rock Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.
Reprinted by permission of Castle Rock Entertainment.

Thelma & Louise Copyright 1991 Metro-Goldyn Mayer Inc.
All Rights Reserved.

The Silence of the Lambs Copyright 1991 Orion Pictures Corporation.
All Rights Reserved.

From Network by Paddy Chaefsky: Printed by permission of Simcha
Productions, Inc. Copyright Simcha Productions, Inc., 1976.

Colin Higgins for excerpt from the screenplay of Silver Streak. McDonald's
Corporation for "Press On," the motto of McDonald's Corporation.

Lisa Chambers and Patricia Troy for letting me quote from the article "Lethal
Weapon" from Written By, the Journal of the Writers' Guild of America.

"Sitting" by Cat Stevens: 1972 Freshwater Music Ltd.
London, England. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

To all the Siddha Saints and Masters
who walked the path and keep the flame burning ...