Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Going beyond the conventional three act structure and exploring more inventive approaches, Alternative Scriptwriting challenges readers to take creative risks with genre, tone, character, and structure. It explores mainstream, personal, and experimental narrative forms, surveying both American and international films. In a field where novelty often equals commercial success, scriptwriters frequently strive to create screenplays that are innovative and exceptional. Alternative Scriptwriting links scriptwriting to other forms of storytelling, and discusses issues including the three act structure, working with and against genre, character identification, and the implications of screenplay form. Key issues, examples, and case studies demonstrate what works, what doesn't, and why. Exercises encourage writers to explore new ways of viewing their work and to test the limits of their skills. Additions to the third edition include: * a comparative study of how two very different filmmakers handle different types of film. * a look at ways in which narrative tension, story structure, and perspective can be used when writing for the digital film * a study of adapting contemporary literature for film

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface (p. ix)
• Acknowledgments for the Third Edition (p. xi)
• Acknowledgments (p. xiii)
• Chapter 1 Beyond the Rules (p. 1)
• Chapter 2 Structure (p. 17)
• Chapter 3 Critique of Restorative Three-Act Form (p. 30)
• Chapter 4 Counter-Structure (p. 39)
• Chapter 5 Narrative and Anti-Narrative: The Case of the Two Stevens: The Work of Steven Spielberg and Steven Soderbergh (p. 50)
• Chapter 6 Working with Genre I (p. 69)
• Chapter 7 Working with Genre II: The Melodrama and the Thriller (p. 91)
• Chapter 8 Working Against Genre (p. 116)
• Chapter 9 Reframing the Active/Passive Character Distinction (p. 141)
• Chapter 10 Stretching the Limits of Character Identification (p. 156)
• Chapter 11 Main and Secondary Characters (p. 171)
• Chapter 12 Subtext, Action, and Character (p. 182)
• Chapter 13 The Primacy of Character Over Action: The Non-American Screenplay (p. 197)
• Chapter 14 The Subtleties and Implications of Screenplay Form (p. 213)
• Chapter 15 Character, History, and Politics (p. 234)
• Chapter 16 Tone: The Inescapability of Irony (p. 256)
• Chapter 17 Dramatic Voice/Narrative Voice (p. 279)
• Chapter 18 Digital Features (p. 287)
• Chapter 19 Writing the Narrative Voice (p. 304)
• Chapter 20 Rewriting (p. 314)
• Chapter 21 Adaptations from Contemporary Literature (p. 322)
• Chapter 22 Personal Scriptwriting: The Edge (p. 335)
• Chapter 23 Personal Scriptwriting: Beyond the Edge (p. 352)
• Index (p. 363)