Stage and Film Resources


Stage and Screen Writing Tips

NT Discover's How to Write Dialogue
London UK's National Theatre playwrights talk about how to use dialogue.

NT Discover's How to Create Characters

Every Story Needs a Hero
Michael Hauge — Screenplay Consultant, on why every story needs a hero — and the five qualities that hero needs. (These qualities apply to characters in fiction, too!)


Playwriting

National Theatre — Playwrights talking about their craft

All About Theatre
A series of videos covering subjects such as: What is Theatre? Theatre Style, Set Design, Acting, and structural elements including: Point of Attack, Inciting Incident, etc.

Playwrights Guild of Canada
PGC is an organization that promotes and supports playwrights.

How to write a one-act play
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRTuslMz2Rw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFWthwofpVs


Love to Write: The Playwright's Tips

Beginnings of Playwriting
In this clip about one of Canada's most celebrated and influential experimental theatre artist, Robert LePage, we get an image of how dialogue, and theatre, began — with larger than life figures made from shadow, and a story told aloud. LePage describes this starting about 50 seconds in.


Play Scripts Online

One-Act (10 minute) Play Scripts
http://www.one-act-plays.com/
http://www.10-minute-plays.com/
http://www.theatrehistory.com/plays/

Simply Scripts — Plays, Radio plays


Formatting your Play

How to format a stage play (Note: there are many more examples of formatting a stage play online)
http://www.playwrightsmuse.com/
http://nycp.blogspot.ca/p/playscript-formatting-template.html

Guide for writers

How to format a stage play in Microsoft Word

Stage play and screenplay formatting


Screenwriting

How to Write a Screenplay that Doesn't Suck

The Writer's Journey and Mythic Structure with Christopher Vogler

Screenwriter's Salon
Alan Denman — Writing, Director, Producer: Identification with your protagonist: (Starting around 1:10)


Books

Published books of plays

Field, Syd. Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting. New York. Bantam Dell, 2005.

Hauge, Michael. Writing Screenplays that Sell. New York. Harper Collins, 2011 3rd ed.

McKee, Robert. Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting. New York. Harper-Collins Publishers, 1997.

Seger, Linda. Making a Good Script Great. Beverly Hills, CA. Silman-James Press, 2010.

Seger, Linda. Creating Unforgettable Characters. New York. Henry Holt and Company, 1990.

Snyder, Blake. Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need. Studio City, CA. Michael Wiese Productions, 2005.

Trottier, David. The Screenwriter's Bible: A Complete Guide to Writing, Formatting, and Selling your Script. Los Angeles CA. Silman-James Press, 2010, 5th ed.

Vogler, Christopher. The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers. Saline, Michigan. McNaughton & Gunn, Inc., 1998.


Screen Scripts Online

Simply Scripts — Plays, Radio plays

Screenplays for film and TV

Short film screenplays

BBC Script Library: TV, Radio and Film


Short Films

How to make a short film

New Boy

The Return

True Face (No dialogue)

Apricot


Shoot your short film on a smart phone? It can be done:

Framed — a short film shot with an iPhone 4S

6 Short Movies Shot With and iPhone

Movies at Home: A Guide to Film Editing


Formatting your Screenplay

Trottier, David. The Screenwriter's Bible: A Complete Guide to Writing, Formatting, and Selling your Script. Los Angeles CA. Silman-James Press, 2010, 5th ed.

Stage play and screenplay formatting

Screenplay Formatting Software — Final Draft
Final Draft software is the standard for much of the film industry. This link redirects to the product versions for sale.