Writing Short Scripts

Rating:
Summary: Phillips de-mystifies creative writing
Review: As a former creative writing student of Dr. Phillips, I can attest that this book is the next best thing to having the man on retainer. Each step of the creative writing process, from brainstorming to final draft and submissions, is de-mystified and broken down into a series of manageable activities. The most important thing he taught me is that writing, like most things worth doing, is simply a matter of frequent practice. Do the work and the muse will come to you! Very highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Phillips de-mystifies creative writing
Review: As a former creative writing student of Dr. Phillips, I can attest that this book is the next best thing to having the man on retainer. Each step of the creative writing process, from brainstorming to final draft and submissions, is de-mystified and broken down into a series of manageable activities. The most important thing he taught me is that writing, like most things worth doing, is simply a matter of frequent practice. Do the work and the muse will come to you! Very highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Insightful Book About Short Film Scripts
Review: WRITING SHORT SCRIPTS by William H. Phillips

WRITING SHORT SCRIPTS is a very insightful book about writing short scripts.

The Author has included his perceptive comments about the structure of short film scripts, and has thankfully included the texts of the short film scripts that he writes about.

THE RESURRECTION OF BRONCHO BILLY (1970) is one of the short films included in the book. A number of photos from the film are included as well. "BRONCHO BILLY" is the classic Academy Award Winning live action short film starring JOHNNY CRAWFORD and KRISTIN NELSON. JOHN CARPENTER created the Original Music and was the film editor. NICK CASTLE was the Cinematographer. It is shot like a classic western, but the setting is the big city in present time. The hero dreams of being a cowboy, and actually rides off into the sunset with the girl. It is a movie, with some cinematic wonderful license.

The entire shooting script is included in the book. It is simple, straight forward, and it includes JOHNNY CRAWFORD'S improvised dialogue from the famous "Park Bench Scene" with KRISTIN NELSON, where he goes on about John Wayne, and Gary Cooper, and when asked if he has a horse, says: "Well, not all cowboys have their own horse."

THE RESURRECTION OF BRONCHO BILLY (1970) was released by Universal Studios, to motion picture theaters across the U.S. and Canada for 104 weeks, and holds the record as the most financially successful live action short film in the history of the studio. Ironically, as the book tells us, the filmmakers were all just starting out on their motion picture careers and were attending classes at the Cinema Department at the University of Southern California at the time they made the picture. That is inspiring for young filmmakers everywhere.

If you are interested in short films, this book includes details about "BRONCHO BILLY" and several other excellent short films as a reference on short film script writing. If you may write a short film yourself, this is one book that you should own and read.