Books

Catalogue

Search our online CATALOGUE for screen art-related-books.

Or use these quick links to directly find commonly-searched subjects:

Creative Writing

Motion Picture Plays — Technique

Motion Picture Authorship

Screenwriters


Recommendations

Our librarians are available to help you find the information you are looking for. Here are some books they recommend for screenwriting.


Writing Diverse Characters for Fiction, TV or Film (2017) by Lucy V. Hay

Call Number: 808.23/331

Contents: What is Diversity? — Heroes, sheroes and vile villains: the protagonist and antagonist — Secondaries, sidekicks and subordinates — Peripheral pointers — Last words — Resources.

 

 


Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting (2005) by Syd Field

Call Number: 808.23/16 (2005 ed.)
Contents: 1. What is a screenplay? — 2. The subject — 3. The creation of character — 4. Building a character — 5. Story and character — 6. Endings and beginnings — 7. Setting up the story — 8. Two incidents — 9. Plot points — 10. The scene — 11. The sequence — 12. Building the story line — 13. Screenplay form — 14. Writing the screenplay — 15. Adaptation — 16. On collaboration — 17. After it’s written — 18. A personal note.

 


Story (1997) by Robert McKee

Call Number: 808.23/84
Contents: Pt. 1. The Writer and the Art of Story. 1. The Story Problem — Pt. 2. The Elements of Story. 2. The Structure Spectrum. 3. Structure and Setting. 4. Structure and Genre. 5. Structure and Character. 6. Structure and Meaning — Pt. 3. The Principles of Story Design. 7. The Substance of Story. 8. The Inciting Incident. 9. Act Design. 10. Scene Design. 11. Scene Analysis. 12. Composition. 13. Crisis, Climax, Resolution — Pt. 4. The Writer at Work. 14. The Principle of Antagonism. 15. Exposition. 16. Problems and Solutions. 17. Character. 18. The Text. 19. A Writer’s Method.

 


 

References:

Field, S. (2005). Screenplay: the foundations of screenwriting. Random House Publishing Group.

Hay, L.V. (2017). Writing diverse characters for fiction, TV or film. Oldcastle Books.

Jerzy Toeplitz Library. (n.d.). Intro to screenwriting. Retrieved January 17, 2021 from https://libguides.aftrs.edu.au/c.php?g=894350&p=6431397.

Library [Illustration], by David Swanson, n.d. Noun Project.CC BY 2.0

McKee, R. (1997). Story : substance, structure, style and the principles of screenwriting. Methuen Publishing, Ltd.