Storytelling in the New Hollywood: Understanding Classical Narrative Technique Paperback – November 5, 1999

I have read some three dozen books on screenwriting -- most just rehashes of what others have already said. They tend to be mostly accurate but never helpful or illuminating. But Kristin Thompson's book is different and here's my analogy explaining how: If screenwriting was a foreign language then those other manuals might be able to teach you the mechanics (vocabulary and grammar), but Thompson will make you fluent. I can not recommend this book highly enough.

I'm surprised this book hasn't received more attention.Through detailed analyses of several popular films, Thompson argues that effective films feature a major turn near their midpoint (where less effective films tend to sag). This turning results in a structure of 4 acts of roughly equal length, rather than the uneven 3 acts (Syd Field's quarter, half, quarter) typically touted in screenwriting books. If true, Thompson's theory could revolutionize the way young screenwriters approach their stories, and spare countless filmgoers the watch-glancing and bun-shifting that occurs during the drawn-out 2nd acts we often sit through.If you find your 2nd act running out of steam, and/or want a fresh perspective on filmic plot structure, read this book. Better yet, test its theory first: skip to the middle of some of your favorite films and see whether a major turn occurs near the halfway point, pushing the story in a new direction and reinvigorating it. (E.g., Ghostbusters: first half is fun & games, but at the midpoint the demondogs grab Dana and Louis and the Gozer story kicks in.)(To be sure: Thompson's book isn't a how-to or a simple cure-all; there's much more than that going on her analyses. I just wanted to comment on this one aspect.)

Very useful.