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His examples are few and are purpose picked to support the tenuous thesis of his own 'paradigm' and anyone with any knowledge of films and a broad literacy of cinema can see that the same old Aristotelian dogmatism is adhered to in spite of theories and practice to the contrary. Syd Field who is heralded as a 'Messiah' of screenplay writing and has manifold votaries testifying to the popularity of his cult has written with `Screenplay' what can only be described a book full of heresies.Not only is his book written in a prosaic and unimaginative style it is replete with tautologous phrases, often capitalized, and annoyingly dispersed every couple of pages. Syd Field's `Screenplay' is nothing more than a Hollywoodized catechism that demands refutation and yet, even after thirty years, is still blindly and detrimentally pursued. Syd Field is a proponent of what I would term Hollywood 'Catholicism' where dogma is blindly adhered to and preached from the pulpit despite evidence to the contrary. Mr. Field lacks intellectual substance and rigour thus his book reads as if written with only simpletons in mind.
I appreciate that he covers each aspect in depth with examples from his own classes as well as award winning films. The points he makes are simple, but not necessarily easy. Syd Field is at the top of my screenwriting professor's list of recommended books and after reading it I can see why. While the films he uses as examples are becoming a bit dated, at least in the edition I purchased, they still hold up to examination.
Awesome speedy service. This book I ordered too late to have it arrive for the first class I needed it for. It got there early anyway.
I recommend wholly. He nicely spares you the hyper technical and all details desperate writers of ''how to'',love to fill in; leaving you more confused and less inspired then when you began. to the fundamentals of screen writing. The writer lays out the necessary formula needed to craft a script.
Sadly, in spite of the title, Field does not give the reader any explanation as to what these foundations are. Is the author seriously suggesting that, for example, plot point 1 MUST happen on a certain page. Knowing the principles of storytelling is mandatory for a writer; applying a formula without understanding the foundations is simply useless. This book turned out to be the worst book on screnwriting I had ever read (and I read quite a few being a UCLA film student).
Well. Field simply offers you crutches. Here, if you fear you story will fall down, use these - make something important happen on page 27 (or is it 29). Can a truly inspiring script be written by following Field's rules. Two years ago I was so anxious to read this "most sought after" screenwriting book I could hardly sleep until the Amazon courier knocked on my door. My God. Why don't let a good solid story take care of that. Rigid, frosen, still formula.
What Field is offering is not a structure but a formula. Again, many reviewers said how helpful this book could be for a beginning screenwiter. I seriously doubt it.Finally, o God, his writing style is so impossibly dull. Field does not present a clean solid introduction to what a story is, does not show the driving forces behind a good story - something any writer must know. The problem is that a good solid story is not usually based on the plot point/page correlations. Frankly, I don't see how.
What a disappointment. And not in the least creative. Alas, no. That every 10 pages we MUST have a car chase, an explosion, a death - anything to keep the audience interested. Many reviewers here have praised Field's book for analyzing the structure of a story.
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