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Screenwriting 101: Mastering the Art of Story

By: Angus Fletcher, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Angus Fletcher
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Publisher's Summary

Whether you want to write your own scripts or simply gain a deeper appreciation for the great stories you see unfold on the screen, Professor Angus Fletcher is here to show you the way in Screenwriting 101: Mastering the Art of Story. Professor Fletcher, Professor of English and Film at The Ohio State University, brings both a personal and scholarly perspective to this craft. As a screenwriter himself, he has experienced the ins and outs of the process first-hand. And as a key faculty member in Project Narrative, a think tank devoted to using cognitive science to study the effects of stories on the human mind, Professor Fletcher offers unique insight into storytelling from both a neuroscientific and a literary perspective.

Despite what you may have been told, writing a great script is not about formulas and three-act structure. Great scripts - great stories - are those that create the desired emotional response in audiences, something that can only be achieved by knowing which methods are most effective and how they suit the story you want to tell. As you study the work of over a dozen great screenwriters and several television shows, each story you encounter will use different tools to achieve a variety of psychological and emotional responses. From the redemption arc of the Western Unforgiven to the romantic longing of Annie Hall, each story offers invaluable insights you can bring to your own writing - and viewing - experiences.

There is no cookie-cutter formula for writing scripts and no checklist for what makes a film or television show great. What Screenwriting 101 offers instead is an infinitely flexible storytelling tool that has worked for the greats - from Euripides to Shakespeare to Pixar - and a selection of resources to show you how to put it to use. How you decide to use these limitless creative possibilities is up to you.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2017 The Teaching Company, LLC; 2017 The Great Courses

What listeners say about Screenwriting 101: Mastering the Art of Story

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Learn about life, love & story on-screen!

This is a gem of a course for anyone who likes literature, film or TV. Learn not only about the craft of screenwriting, but also dive deep into iconic scripts to deepen your appreciation of their stories. While at times Prof Fletcher unnecessarily trivialises screenwriting "blueprints", he does so out of a motivation to make the subject accessible and less daunting. For me, it took 2 or 3 returns to the series to complete it, but now that I've done so, I'm glad I persevered to the end!

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Totally worth it

This book is nothing short of amazing. I have listened to it a few times and still get more out of it. I just love that I’m still learning from this book. Would totally recommend it to anyone that is in know more about screenwriting and just taking one step at a time.

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Fantastic!

Great intro to screen writing and really useful breakdowns of popular screen plays and TV shows. Thank you.

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down to earth

This was a fantastic course, so enjoyable to listen to and full of practical techniques that can be applied in so many aspects of life.

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A fantastic, deep dive into the mechanics of screenwriting ✨

This course was delivered in a simple, structured way and was diverse in its approach to the many genres and styles of writing for the screen. All of the popular scripts discussed were award winning, I had seen many of the films / tv shows which created a quickly immersive experience.

This course was a ‘must do’ for any budding screenwriter ✅.

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Fantastic

I began with, "I can't touch this course" to "Looks interesting" to "Let me try it out" to "I'm glad I did." Well worth the time and Credit

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Quality of recording is bad

The recording keeps jumping, cutting out and stuttering throughout the book. This makes it difficult to focus on the content which is pretty good.

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