Short Films: Writing the Screenplay

Every award-winning short film begins life with a clever idea, a good story and a screenplay. Patrick Nash analyses the process of writing short film screenplays and gives advice on:

• Story and structure
• Ideas generation
• Plot and pace
• Screenplay format
• Dos and don'ts
• Eliciting emotion
• Dialogue and subtext
• Character design
• Protagonists and antagonists

• Character motivation and goals
• Conflict, obstacles and stakes
• Clichés and Stereotypes
• Beginnings, middles and ends
• Hooking the viewer
• Screenplay competitions
• Loglines, outlines and synopses
• Rewriting and length
• Practicalities and budgets

The book also includes a number of award-winning scripts and interviews, advice and contributions from their award-winning screenwriters and a discussion of the benefits to writers of writing short screenplays.