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Aristotle’s Poetics for Screenwriters
by Michael Tierno
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Long considered the bible for storytellers, Aristotle's Poetics is a fixture of college courses on everything from fiction writing to dramatic theory. Now story analyst Michael Tierno shows how this classic work can be an invaluable resource for beginning and advanced screenwriters, or anyone interested in studying plot structure. Tierno examines the fundamentals of screenwriting using techniques outlined in the Poetics, then applies these concepts to modern movie classics, including Citizen Kane, Rocky, Pulp Fiction, and many more. This guide covers a multitude of topics, from plotting and subplotting to dialogue and dramatic unity. Along the way, Tierno also gives tips based on his years as a story analyst, where he has learned what studios look for when they read a screenplay.…
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"I’m surprised that I’m recommending this because it has affectations that I find off-putting. It has lots of exclamation points!! Oh gosh!! Oh golly!! It’s self-conscious and he’s trying to be droll and wry. But he really helps make Aristotle practical. The mistake that people make with Poetics is the same as they make with the Bill of Rights. The first amendment defends free speech, and people don’t like that it appears to protect pornographers and Nazis. And that is exactly who it protects. I’m huge on civil liberties and people say to me: ‘Why are you in bed with pornographers and Nazis?’ My answer: Night doesn’t fall all at once. When they’re arresting Jews on the streets it will be too late. The first amendment doesn’t need to protect people who say, ‘Have a nice day.’ People in those days were saying all sorts of jerky things, like, ‘Let’s overthrow the British!’ I hope you’ve gotten over it? Good. It’s the same with the second amendment about the right to bear arms. People always conveniently forget that it is the right of a well-regulated militia to bear arms. A militia. And not just any militia but a state militia. And not just a state militia but a well-regulated state militia. Where was I? Yes! Tierno’s book. Well, it’s the same with Aristotle. People try to interpret him when they should just follow his rules. I compare it to a Honda manual telling you how to clean the fuel injector. You wouldn’t look for underlying meaning there and you shouldn’t look for it in Poetics . Beginning. Middle. End. The end is the part after which you need nothing. How many movies do you see that just end and end and end again? They just don’t know when to get off the stage! Even Spike Lee and Scorsese."