About the Book:
Acclaimed by CNN as the "guru of all screenwriters," and by The Hollywood Reporter as "the most sought after screenwriting teacher in the world," several generations of screenwriters have used Syd Field's bestselling books to ignite successful careers in film.
No one knows more about screenwriting than Syd Field — he spent his life in film. He had an extraordinary career. Going to the Movies: A Personal Journey Through Four Decades of Modern Film is an unforgettable story — from the celebrated lecturer, teacher, and bestselling author.
What makes a great movie great?... An actor legendary? ... A screenplay extraordinary or just ordinary?
Syd Field spent a lifetime seeking answers to these questions. His bestselling books on the art and craft of screenwriting have become the film industry's gold standard. In Going to the Movies he tells his own remarkable story, sharing the insight and experience gleaned from an extraordinary career. Using classic movies from the past and present — from Orson Welles' Citizen Kane to Andy and Larry Wachowski's The Matrix — Syd Field provides a guided tour of the basic elements common to all great films.
In Going to the Movies you will learn:
• What makes La Grande Illusion a groundbreaking, timeless classic
• How Casablanca teaches one of the most important elements of creating memorable characters for the screen
• Why Pulp Fiction might be one of the most influential films of our time.
In Going to the Movies you will discover the legendary filmmakers, films, and stars who shaped Field's understanding of the medium:
• Meet Jean Renoir, the great French director who steered his young Berkeley protégé away from medicine into film
• Watch a dazzling young Francis Ford Coppola as he directs his thesis film at UCLA
• Spend an amazing summer with Sam Peckinpah as he shares the screenwriting techniques behind his classic western The Wild Bunch
Rich in anecdote and insight, Going to the Movies will both entertain and inform, deepening every moviegoer's appreciation of the magic behind the silver screen.
What people say:
"Featuring insights ... analysis ... great films and filmmakers from the most-sought-after screenwriting teacher in the world." — The Hollywood Reporter
About the Author:
Syd Field (1935 − 2013) was an internationally acclaimed teacher, lecturer, and popular speaker who held workshops and seminars for writers hoping to grasp Hollywood's magic formula. Writers who learned from Field — including Tina Fey, Alfonso Cuaron, Judd Apatow, John Singleton, and Frank Darabont — worked in all genres of film and television. Born in Hollywood, he grew up immersed in the film world. He attended Hollywood High School and UC Berkeley, where he received a degree in English literature in 1960. He began his career at Wolper Productions in the shipping department before writing for the original Biography TV series. He was also a script consultant for 20th Century Fox, Disney, Universal and TriStar Pictures. In the mid-1970s he began teaching screenwriting at Sherwood Oaks Experimental College on Hollywood Boulevard and went on to became a lecturer at USC and the American Film Institute. He was the American Screenwriting Association's first inductee into the Screenwriting Hall of Fame.