The definitive guide to cinematic storytelling―featuring practical analysis of sixteen classic films.
In The Tools of Screenwriting, David Howard and Edward Mabley illuminate the essential elements of cinematic storytelling and reveal the central principles that all great screenplays share. The authors address dramatic structure, plot, dialogue, character development, setting, imagery, and other crucial topics that can be applied to the art of filmmaking.
Howard and Mabley also demonstrate how these tools work on a practical level through in-depth breakdowns of sixteen notable films, including Citizen Kane, E.T., One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Rashomon, The Godfather, North by Northwest, Chinatown, and Sex, Lies, and Videotape.