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The Citizen Kane of Filmmaking/Screenwriting books

Jacob

over 1 year ago

Pretty self explanatory. I’m looking for the Bible of DIY filmmaking and screenwriting. (2 separate books) Is there any consensus about these types of books? Any help would be appreciated.

Ryan Clark

over 1 year ago

Although some will tell you that guide books are unnecessary for screenwriting, since you asked:

Story by Robert McKee

Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting by Syd Field

Ryan Clark

over 1 year ago

And I don’t know what is widely considered the bible of filmmaking, but The Filmmaker’s Handbook is as good as any.

Polaris​DiB

over 1 year ago

I second McKee’s Story . My boss kept telling me about it and I kept ignoring him but then I stumbled across a free copy and had a lot of time on my hands, and it is really good. Not only for screenwriting—it is a very useful technical book for writing in general, and story design in specific.

—PolarisDiB

JP. Schmidt

over 1 year ago

The Screenwriter’s Bible by Trotter is a must.
Film Directing Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen by Katz
I 2nd the Filmmakers Handbook
The Writer’s Journey by Vogler . . .

all great places to start.

Uli Cain, Cinefid​el¹³

over 1 year ago

A friend from high school married McKee’s son, I did her video when she was trying to get on to the Real World: San Francisco.

I like Field’s book, once that foundation is there it’s easy to break from that structure, but always have it there to fall back on if you lose your way,