Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect, Third Edition -

By 

Dick Oliver (Wilton, NH United States) –

  

Ms. Johnson has some terrific, if not-quite-revolutionary, insights and ideas on screenwriting. Her central idea is that connection is more important than conflict, and she eloquently presents and defends this approach. I really appreciated the inclusion of the DVD, which shows the results of her exercises and approach with some good (not great) student films.

On the down side, the good-not-great-ness of these films reveals quite clearly the greatest weakness of her approach. The resulting films are warm and fuzzy and “work” on the level of human connection, but consistently lack exactly those elements of drama that she says aren’t important–namely the tension and conflict that make you care what happens next when actually watching a film. Her ideas are so good it saddened me that the films seemed to prove the most obvious and naive argument against her central premise: Won’t films that emphasize connection at the expense of what is traditionally called “conflict” come across as BORING and predictable? Sorry to say it, but yes these films are just that and I was left more than a bit skeptical that her approach as presented would really generate films that didn’t share the same flaw.

Bottom line: As a filmmaking teacher, I’m very glad I bought this book. It opened my mind to some great new ideas and practical approaches to teaching. On the other hand, I would not show any of the films from this book as examples for my students to emulate and learn from, and I would be very cautious about taking the approach presented in this book too far when writing either student or commercial screenplays.

Buy it despite its limitations–it’s really worth a read!

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I stumbled on it recently when I was at the Samuel French bookstore on Sunset Blvd. In the heart of Hell-A (oops, scratch that – L.A. has no heart!) Anyway, there are tons of screenwriting books in that store. Tons. But I happened to pick this one up and start reading the Introduction. Very insightful. So I bought it (should’ve bought it here, though – it’s cheaper), and I ended up devouring it pretty damn quickly. The writing is terrific – very conversational, accessible, smart, and at times bust-a-gut funny. But most impressive, the author sheds light on the importance of “connection” in the storytelling process. It made me think back about how many times in writing classes CONFLICT CONFLICT CONFLICT had been shoved down my throat. Okay, okay, I got it already! But, she points out, it’s only half the story (the yin to the yang, or ya know, vice-versa…) – as she goes on to wonderfully illustrate and illuminate. Also, the sample student scripts are great additions. I especially got a big laugh out of “The Making of ‘Killer Kite.’” I may have to spring for the companion video just to see how that film turned out.

Yeah, yeah, the book has “short screenplays” in the title, but the points she makes are applicable to scripts of any length. You can bet that even this jaded L.A. feature film writer will be incorporating a lot of her insights in his own creative process.

I’m looking forward to any follow-ups from this author, because she’s finally brought something new – and important — to the endless discussions (and how-to books) on screenwriting.

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What I liked most about this book was its conversational style. Very down-to-earth, but it maintains a sense of professionalism as well. Claudia really knows what she’s talking about – not only book knowledge, but also life experience. Of course, that isn’t all there is to like about this book. Her insights are well-thought-out and well-defined. It’s good to see something in the genre that doesn’t focus on Conflict as the sole driving force in the narrative form. And, finally, on a practical level, I believe the book is well-ordered and well put together. And the length of the chapters is inviting, rather than daunting. You can read a chapter easily in one sitting; because so much of the learning process is not *reading*, but *doing*, I feel that the brief chapters allow much more time to get to the ‘doing’ portion of learning, the really meaningful stuff. In short, I wish all text-books were this accessible and enjoyable.

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