26 Screenplays

Please join me in congratulating Mrs. Denton from Rugby Middle School in Hendersonville, North Carolina. She received an educational donation of ’26 Short Screenplays for Independent Filmmakers’ for her 8th grade filmmaking class.

With a little luck, we will feature some videos from the class on our web page.

Remember that every month we give away one copy of ’26 Short Screenplays for Independent Filmmakers’ to an educational institution or library. For more information, see our educational donation page.

We are proud to announce that, once a month, we will be donating a copy of the book for educational purposes. If you are instructing a class and would like a sample book, simply visit the Educational Donation page of the web site, and complete the form. You will be submitted in our monthly drawing for a free book. All you have to do is complete the application form once, and you will be entry will carry over to the next drawing if you do not win.

The form asks your position, how many students you plan on having in your class, and how you plan on using the book in a classroom setting.

‘26 Short Screenplays for Independent Filmmakers‘ is an ideal workbook for a film or drama class. If you are an instructor who wants to incorporate the book into your classroom, please apply for a donation. We will even feature the resulting films on the 26 Screenplays when your class concludes.

In keeping with the theme of providing free fake trailer scripts on the bulletin board and blog, the MacGuffin script makes its debut.

A MacGuffin is a term coined by Alfred Hitchcock, meaning the object of the film that everyone is pursuing. Sometimes the object can be a big pile of money and sometimes the object can be an abstract concept. For example, in North by Northwest, the villain makes his trade in “secrets.”

These fake trailers use the same format and information that is in the book, giving everyone a free sample.

This MacGuffin fake trailer (and all the fake trailers, for that matter) are also available on Docstock and Scribd.

A good way to start thinking in visual terms is watch movies with an eye towards the cinematic storytelling.

Every once in awhile, this blog will discuss certain films that a filmmaker should watch and learn from.

The Seven Samurai is a great example of cinematic storytelling. It even transcends spoken language (while the spoken word in the film is Japanese, it works like a silent film in many places; every thing you need to know is available visually).

What to watch for:

Composition.

In many places a perfectly composed image pans to another perfectly composed image. While the acting seems a little exaggerated and stylish, it works because the visual language of the film is exaggerated and stylish. There is a lush, emotional world being explored here, and it is being explored visually.