[****] ISBN: 9781586217198 (audio)
Blink is a fascinating survey of how the human mind perceives the world, especially in the first two seconds of an encounter. The author balances examples of the mind's incredible power to almost instantly and unconsciously thin slice a situation and reach amazingly accurate conclusions on the slimmest of evidence against it's own tendency to fool itself by semi-consciously over analyzing and yielding to irrelevant input.
Gladwell is a journalist, not a scientist. But that allows him the freedom to wonder far afield to bring together amazingly varied and seemingly unrelated research to build his case. When viewed together, the studies and anecdotes create a tantalizing glimpse of what seems to be happening inside our heads.
Oh, and this is one of the few times when having the author read the audio book works.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Oscar-Winning Screenwriters on Screenwriting (Joel Engel)
[***] ISBN: 9780786886906
This book gives some insight into the grit, heart and soul of writing for film. Mr. Engel interviewed 11 Oscar-winning writers about their craft and edited the result into 11 monologues that often provide zesty insight into the life of a screenwriter. A common lament is the lack of recognition that the writers get in the industry (and by film fans). A common bond is the love of storytelling. Here and there the reader can also pick up some tips on how to write and sell a good script.
This book gives some insight into the grit, heart and soul of writing for film. Mr. Engel interviewed 11 Oscar-winning writers about their craft and edited the result into 11 monologues that often provide zesty insight into the life of a screenwriter. A common lament is the lack of recognition that the writers get in the industry (and by film fans). A common bond is the love of storytelling. Here and there the reader can also pick up some tips on how to write and sell a good script.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting (Syd Field)
[****] ISBN: 9780385289153
This book is very solid stuff. It's exactly what someone (like me) getting started writing screenplays needs in order to get started and not fly off in the wrong direction. Syd tells you about structure. He tells you about character. He tells you about emotion. This book even gives you a peek at what it will take to market your screenplay (except I haven't read that section because I'm doing Script Frenzy and needed to do more writing). There's a reason why this book is almost always mentioned as a resource to people that want to write for film. I will probably have to get a (more up-to-date) copy of this for my writing bookshelf.
This book is very solid stuff. It's exactly what someone (like me) getting started writing screenplays needs in order to get started and not fly off in the wrong direction. Syd tells you about structure. He tells you about character. He tells you about emotion. This book even gives you a peek at what it will take to market your screenplay (except I haven't read that section because I'm doing Script Frenzy and needed to do more writing). There's a reason why this book is almost always mentioned as a resource to people that want to write for film. I will probably have to get a (more up-to-date) copy of this for my writing bookshelf.
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