Book Review: Cinematic Storytelling
Jennifer Van Sijll Discusses Filmmaking Convention For Michael Wiese
Nov 28, 2008
There are countless books on how to write a screenplay for the silver screen; probably as many as there are aspiring screenwriters out there.
However, most of them work the creative angle: how to set up a scene, how to create compelling characters, etc. How many of them look at filmmaking technique as a way of translating the words onto the page to the screen? Given that modern filmmakers have a host of techniques in order to tell a story (without people on the screen babbling at one another), why not introduce the novice screenwriter to some of them?
Jennifer Van Sijll's Cinematic Storytelling
That's the question that Jennifer Van Sijll, a screenwriting teacher from San Francisco State University, addresses in her new book, Cinematic Storytelling. Much like Michael Wiese's previous book, Animation Unleashed, Cinematic Storytelling is an easy-to-read, well illustrated look at how a screenwriter can tell – or reinforce – a story without infodumps and unnecessary dialogue.
Using examples from classic movies like Natural Born Killers, The Piano, Fatal Attraction, Raging Bull, Psycho, Citizen Kane, or Touch of Evil (she certainly likes her Orson Welles, and with very good reason), Van Sijll demonstrates the various techniques available to the director or editor, and how a writer can use those elements to make a good story even better.
What makes this book even stronger is that she juxtaposes the script suggestions with stills from the movie in question: not only does the reader see how concepts like smash cut, chiaroscuro, or sound effects can be used to heighten a film's impact, but also how a top screenwriter would add those details into his or her scripts.
From a purely trivial perspective, it's also interesting to see how the script changed from words on a page to images on a screen.
Quibbles? There are a couple of revealing spelling mistakes in the text; somebody at Copy Editing should have kept a closer eye on things. Some of the images are a little difficult to decipher (that's more a printing issue, though).
The Final Analysis
Make no mistake: scriptwriters are some of the most underappreciated and screwed-over people in Filmdom. Whether it's Harlan Ellison seeing his "City on the Edge of Forever" script butchered, Neil Gaiman's experiences (detailed in his short story "The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories") or the hordes of writers who slaved away on Kung Fu Panda, writing for Hollyweird is a bizarre and often humiliating process.
However, if you feel you're up for the challenge, then this book is a clear and easy-to-read guide on how filmmakers tell a story – or establish mood and character – without dialogue or action.
Whether you're making Super-8 films in your own backyard, or hoping to wave that brilliant idea under the Disney's collective nose, Cinematic Storytelling is recommended reading for those who want to make their scripts even better. 9/10
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