Dan O’Bannon’s Guide To Screenplay Structure
Inside tips from the writer of Alien, Total Recall and Return of The Living Dead
Book Review
Written by: Dan O’Bannon & Matt Lohr
Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions
Released: January 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1615931309
A book about screenwriting isn’t for everyone, at least that is what I told myself before reading this one. This is not just another self-help book or a textbook for a course at the Learning Annex or a local University. Due to the generous insight of Mr. O’Bannon and the persistent work of Matt R. Lohr, this is a straight shooting, not stuffy, cut the crap book about the creation of a screenplay…a really good screenplay that works. He shares the system he created that he called “dynamic structure.” This should certainly be valuable to those who are currently trying to write a script or those contemplating doing so. Nevertheless it is also more than that.
In as economical way possible the reader is led through the process of breaking out a story into usable parts and moving the story and its characters along while entertaining an audience. Pull back the curtain and you can see the underlying structure and a system that can take a less than stellar story and weave it into a watchable entertainment. While the author is teaching he is also peppering the materiel with amusing anecdotes and cautionary tales that are all helpful in their own way. At 272 pages you are not likely to get bored before finishing and isn’t that what O’Bannon was all about? Thou shalt not bore thy audience or thy reader lest they never return. Matt R. Lohr needs to be commended for sticking with this project even after Mr. O’Bannon died. Without his dedication and his filling in those portions that had not yet been committed to print, this work would never have been available to the rest of us. Make no mistake about it, this book is a keeper and one that never bored me for a moment.
Anyone who enjoys film and is curious as to what goes into creating a work that successfully engages an audience would find this Guide of value.
by June K. Williams
V.P. Buzzy Multimedia
Get Your Copy Of
Dan O’Bannon’s Guide to Screenplay Structure:
Inside Tips from the Writer of
ALIEN, TOTAL RECALL and RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD
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