The Screenplay Tree
The Screenplay Tree
Movie Structure Made Easy (and "Kyd's Game", an Annotated Script)
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About
The ‘Screenplay Tree’ is a new way to structure a movie script. It is easy to understand, suits any writer’s style, is efficient and effective. Having taught screenwriting all over the world, I was encouraged to write this book by my students. ‘The Screenplay Tree’ uses ‘reverse engineering’ to create a structure that gives the screenwriter’s ideas purpose and direction without inhibiting their creativity. It is a reasonable way of planning a screenplay or diagnosing one that’s written. Included in the book is my annotated feature film script, “Kyd’s Game”.
Praise for this book
The author claims the “tree” approach to screenwriting provides clarity, facilitates creativity and brings confidence to a writer. As a beginning writer working on my first feature, I have found this to be true. I was about to include a character (and related subplot) that I felt the story needed, but was extremely unsure about how (and even why) to do it. McKee, brilliant as he is, only left me confused, with no real idea how to proceed. In contrast, The Screenplay Tree is an easy read with a relatively simple approach. By working back from a thorough understanding of the story climax, using the tree approach I came to understand and clarify the subplot and how it could be written to add nuance to the final scene. This single understanding was worth the price of the book by itself, and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone struggling with structure or characterisation.
"Read the Screenplay Tree if you want to know how screenplays work or you want to be a professional screenwriter. Read it."
"Marc knows what he's talking about, his guidance is clear and concise."