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Me and You and Memento and Fargo: How Independent Screenplays Work
Me and You and Memento and Fargo: How Independent Screenplays Work
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Author: J.J. Murphy Publisher: Continuum Format: Softcover # of Pages: 290 Pub. Date: 2007 ISBN-10: 0826428053 ISBN-13: 9780826428059
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About the Book:
Me and You and Memento and
Fargo presents a unique vision for the aspiring
screenwriter. Most screenwriting manuals and guidebooks on the market
rely on formulas believed to generate saleable Hollywood films. Many
writers present a "three-act paradigm" as gospel and
proceed to lay down very stringent rules for characterization,
plotting, timing of climaxes, and so on, while others who appear to
be more open about such rules turn out to be just as inflexible in
their advice. Through in-depth critical analysis of some of the most
significant independent films of recent years, J.J. Murphy
emphasizes the crucial role that novelty can play in the
screenwriting process.
An enormous burst of creative production has recently emerged from
American "independent" filmmakers. From Stranger than
Paradise and Slacker to Miranda July's Me and You and
Everyone We Know, indie cinema has become part of mainstream
American culture. But what makes these films independent?
In Me and You and
Memento and Fargo: How Independent Screenplays Work, filmmaker and scholar
J.J. Murphy argues that the independent feature film
from the 1980s to the present has developed a distinct approach of
its own, centering on new and different conceptions of cinematic
storytelling. The film script is the heart of the creative
originality to be found in the independent movement. Even directors
noted for their idiosyncratic visual style or the handling of
performers typically originate their material and write their own
scripts. By studying the principles underlying the independent
screenplay, you gain a direct sense of the originality of this new
trend in American cinema.
What people say:
"US academic J.J. Murphy
argues that the meteoric rise of indie filmmaking in the last 25
years has necessitated a different style of storytelling. His
analysis of a variety of indie scripts will chiefly be of interest to
aspiring screenwriters." — Empire
"With J.J.
Murphy's insightful look at American independent
screenwriting [in] Me and You and Memento and Fargo: How Independent
Screenplays Work ... Murphy focuses on independent cinema in clear,
engaging prose, tracking how a series of seminal independent features
were developed and written and his case studies include scripts and
films by Jim Jarmusch, Hal Hartley, Allison Anders, Miranda July,
David Lynch and Gus Van Sant." — Journal of
Screenwriting
"Me and You and Memento
and Fargo is absolutely appealing far beyond just being
a typical screenwriting 'manual' such those written by Syd Field and
his ilk. Murphy is clearly zeroing in on the way these films are
written, but even those not interested in writing their own
screenplays should find this book totally engrossing.... Hopefully
it'll give food for thought to a new generation of screenwriters who
truly want to push the storytelling envelope again." —
The Journal of Underground Film
"Lately,
we've all been pondering the same question: Are independent films
really independent anymore? Author Murphy asserts that independent
films are determined more by their missions than their budgets."
— Script Magazine
About the Author:
J. J. Murphy is Professor of Film Production and Film
Studies and Affiliate Professor of Art at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison. A filmmaker and curator, his films have played at
major international film festivals and have been screened at the
Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the
Austrian Film Museum (Vienna), the Barbican Film Centre (London), and
the Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris). He is also the author of Me
and You and Memento and Fargo: How Independent Screenplays
Work.
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