Rating: 
Summary: Great Book!
Review: A short film runs less than 45 minutes. Short films may be transformed into Hollywood success. This book tells how to have a completed script to initiate the venture into short film. The reader is given an idea of the labor involved to produce this art form. The book uses "Life Lessons" written by Richard Price and directed by Martin Scorsese, part of THE NEW YORK TRILOGY, to illustrate points she wants to make about writing a script. She also makes reference to other short films readily available to a reader.
The steps involved are that a hero, with desires, acts, encounters conflicts, and moves to the climax and resolution in the course of the film. Film is visual. Film has fluidity of movement. Show don't tell is a maxim of film-making. Significant films have universality. Most short films are character pieces. The audience must willingly suspend disbelief. It may be necessary to do research.
Basically there are five types of genre, comedy, farce, drama, tragedy, and melodrama. In the best films plot is character. A character biography is a description. This includes physical appearance, sociology, and psychology. The backstory is not the same thing. A story tells a sequential action. Plot emphasizes causal relationships. Story and plot usually comprise part of a total narrative. Drama is structured action. A good plot evolves naturally. The writer should not be afraid to change the plan as he moves ahead with the project. It is useful to think of the film's story in broad blocks.
The opening should be visual, convey important information, and be interesting. Voice over narration is more common in short film than in features. It is a means of exposition. Other means are dialogue and written presentation through signs or cards. The main expostion has a direct relationship to the climax and an indirect relationship to the theme. Screen stories open near a point of decision or crisis. Many films introduce the protagonist immediately.
The problem with the middle is to keep the story alive. The worst enemy of suspense is predictability. One of the strongest surprises occurring in film is the reversal. Reversals work best when there is a connection to emotion. In film, fiction, and theater story revelation is most often character revelation. The point of greatest intensity is called the climax.
Writing a scene is the fun part of screen writing. Writing a great scene takes a lot of practice. Scenes have to perform functions of advancing the flow of events, advancing the audience's understanding of the main characters, and providing expository information of the overall story. Film characters move through space and time. Every good scene has one main point. Where a scene takes place affects the mood. Before writing clarify who, where, what characters want, need, and what are their attitudes in the scenes.
What characters need is relevant to the subtext. Physical action is considered the best revelation of character in film, but sometimes only dialogue can expose real motivation. Effective dialogue has simplicity and economy. Dialogue too clear and direct may ring false. Always read dialogue aloud. The screenwriter walks a fine line between telling too much and telling too little.
Rating:
Summary: A How -To Book with Pizzaz
Review: A short film runs less than 45 minutes. Short films may be transformed into Hollywood success. This book tells how to have a completed script to initiate the venture into short film. The reader is given an idea of the labor involved to produce this art form. The book uses "Life Lessons" written by Richard Price and directed by Martin Scorsese, part of THE NEW YORK TRILOGY, to illustrate points she wants to make about writing a script. She also makes reference to other short films readily available to a reader. The steps involved are that a hero, with desires, acts, encounters conflicts, and moves to the climax and resolution in the course of the film. Film is visual. Flim has fluidity of movement. Show don't tell is a maxim of film-making. Significant films have universality. Most chort films are character pieces. The audience must willingly suspend disbelief. It may be necessary to do research. Basically there are five types of genre, comedy, farce, drama, tragedy, and melodrama. In the best films plot is character. A character biography is a description. This includes physical appearance, sociology, and psychology. The backstory is not the same thing. A story tells a sequential action. Plot emphasizes causal relationships. Story and plot usually comprise part of a total narrative. Drama is structured action. A good plot evolves naturally. The writer should not be afraid to change the plan as he moves ahead with the project. It is useful to think of the film's story in broad blocks. The opening should be visual, convey important information, and be interesting. Voice over narration is more common in short film than in features. It is a means of exposition. Other means are dialogue and written presentation through signs or cards. The main expostion has a direct relationship to the climax and an indirect relationship to the theme. Screen stories open near a point of decision or crisis. Many films introduce the protagonist immediately. The problem with the middle is to keep the story alive. The worst enemy of suspense is predictability. One of the strongest surprises occurring in film is the reversal. Reversals work best when there is a connection to emotion. In film, fiction, and theater story revelation is most often character revelation. The point of greatest intensity is called the climax. Writing a scene is the fun part of screen writing. Writing a great scene takes a lot of practice. Scenes have to perform functions of advancing the flow of events, advancing the audience's understanding of the main characters, and providing expository information of the overall story. Film characters move through space and time. Every good scene has one main point. Where a scene takes place affects the mood. Before writing clarify who, where, what characters want, need, and what are their attitudes in the scenes. What characters need is relevant to the subtext. Physical action is considered the best revelation of character in film, but sometimes only dialogue can expose real motivation. Effective dialogue has simplicity and economy. Dialogue too clear and direct may ring false. Always read dialogye aloud. The screenwriter walks a fine line between telling too much and telling too little.
Rating:
Summary: A terrific guide for short film writing
Review: A wonderful introduction to screenwriting for a shorter format. Filled with tips and strategies on structure, constructing scenes, developing characters. The book takes the writer's perspective, from start to finish. And it all starts with story. Author also gives examples you can find in video stores. Another bonus. And all the information in this book is transferable to writing feature length screenplays. A real find.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: As a new and aspiring screenwriter, I have purchased many books on screenwriting. Next to "The Screenwriter's Bible," this is by far the best book I have read on screenwriting. The title of this book is misleading...this book isn't just about writing short films, this book encompasses feature films too. It's an easy read. You won't be bombarded with complicated, super intellectualized talk or spending waaayyyy too much time giving props to the elders. I mean, I like Aristotle like the next guy, but come on, cut to the chase. She really does that in this book. (Admittedly she does do a little Aristotle but it's tolerable and presented in context). So, for a good solid foundation, I definitely recommend this book. Good luck.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: As a new and aspiring screenwriter, I have purchased many books on screenwriting. Next to "The Screenwriter's Bible," this is by far the best book I have read on screenwriting. The title of this book is misleading...this book isn't just about writing short films, this book encompasses feature films too. It's an easy read. You won't be bombarded with complicated, super intellectualized talk or spending waaayyyy too much time giving props to the elders. I mean, I like Aristotle like the next guy, but come on, cut to the chase. She really does that in this book. (Admittedly she does do a little Aristotle but it's tolerable and presented in context). So, for a good solid foundation, I definitely recommend this book. Good luck.
Rating:
Summary: ...like striking gold
Review: As Head of Film and Media Production at a British college I had been on the look-out for a long time for a book that would really excite aspiring screenwriters - and now I've found it. Anyone hoping to make their breakthrough short film should read this book cover to cover and see how successful filmmaking is dependent on strong scriptwriting. Linda Cowgill has a tremendous ability to illustrate the need for both structure and originality when writing for what is, in truth, a very difficult format to get right. The book covers the entire writers journey from 'starting out' to producing a lean, focused, innovative screenplay. Through observing the impact it has had on new writers I would say that this book is in a league of its own.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent textbook for short and full length scriptwriting
Review: I have used Linda Cowgill's book, Writing Short Films, for a three-hundred level course, which I have taught at the University of Arizona, for over four years. It continues to be an excellent basic text for my students even though I have read many of the other books on the market. Linda defines all the important tools of a writer and their uses within the craft. She uses many short films in the book to exemplify her points directly and easily. The short films are excellent references and are accessible for showing--which is a perfect visual teaching tool. Even though the title is for short scriptwriting, she talks about full length films in comparison and, of course, all of these elements and tools are equally important for the full length form. It remains my favorite reference book for my own writing of screenplays and recommend it as the best of the screenwriting books on the market.
Rating: 
Summary: Short Films, the best calling card for Hollywood today
Review: Short films have always been made, especially at Universitycampuses where they are used by students to hone their filmmakingskills. In Europe, the short has been a respected and popular form of filmmaking, where films are released in collections and shown in theaters. But in the US, shorts have rarely been given the recognition they deserve. Until now. Short films are growing in popularity, thanks to the internet and cable channels like Sundance and the Independent Film Channel. Before these outlets, the only places people could go to see short films were at film festivals, museum retrospectives, and University screenings. The internet has changed all this. And short films are all in demand. companies are providing the public with a chance to view this little before seen type of filmmaking, which at its best can be every bit as satisfying as a feature film, and sometimes more provocative. Like satisfying feature films, a great short depends upon the story it tells. And if you spend any time viewing shorts, you'll find that here is where many of them fall down. It doesn't matter, in most cases, how accomplished the filmmaking style is if the story doesn't hold up. For it's the story that holds our interest. "Writing Short Films" not only addresses the basics of writing a short script, but discusses different story telling strategies, depending upon the length of your film. It covers concepts such as suspense, surprise, and discusses dramatic conflict in detail. It introduces you to the concept of the psuedo-problem, a device that allows you to start your story with conflict as you take a little more time to set up the real problem of the film. Conflict needs to engage quickly in a short. If a short film takes too long for its main problem to engage, it often flounders. A great short starts with conflict and uses it to pull the viewer into its story and keep them interested until the end. This book also provides you with a number of video rentals that, with a little looking around, can be found at Video stores. Or you can hound your local library and get them add these titles to their video selections. "Writing Short Films" is the number one selling screenwriting book at universities and colleges. The information it contains is applicable not only for the short film writer/director, but for the beginning screenwriter. All of the topics covered here are transferable to feature screenwriting. A great short is now the best calling card a director/writer can have in Hollywood. "Writing Short Films" will help you make one. Linda Cowgill
Rating: 
Summary: Not laid out too well...
Review: This book has a lot of good information, but the layout doesn't make it very accessible. There's some redundancy in the text, and everything just seems to flow into everything else. If it were sectioned off better, it would be great.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific.
Review: This is a terrific how-to. It's a great guide for going from a concept to a story and script, a well-developed story. It goes into the importance of content for the short, with excellent strategies for structuring a good story around your idea. It details not only the difference in structure of shorts vs. features, but examines the structure of scenes as well. It is not a formula book. It doesn't lock you in with the only types of stories that work. It's a book with strategies for approaching and developing your idea. It gives you the tools to take your notion and run with it. And it's full of examples you can find in the video stores. This book is great, you'll love it.
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