Oct 11, 2017 - This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Our partners will collect data and use cookies for ad. In this three-day 'rite of passage' seminar, Robert McKee teaches the substance, structure, style, and principles of story. Past students include Peter Jackson,.
Robert mc kee-story • 1. STORY Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles ofScreenwriting ROBERT McKEE •-ReganBooks An Imprint ofHarperCollinsPublishers • STORY. Copyright © 1997 by Robert McKee. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quota- tions embodied in critical articles and reviews.
For information address Harper- Collins Publishers, Inc., 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022. HarperCollins books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promo- tional use. For information please write: Special Markets Department, Harper- Collins Publishers, Inc., 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022. FIRST EDITION Designed by Laura Lindgren Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McKee, Robert, 1941- Story: substance, structure, style, and the principles of screenwriting f Robert McKee. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN: o-o6-o39168-5 I.
Valjs doga moj laskovij i nezhnij zverj noti lyrics. Motion picture authorship. Motion picture plays-Technique. PN 1996.M465 1997 8o8.2'3-dc21 97 98 99 00 OI •!•jRRD IO 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I • CONTENTS Acknowledgments 1 ix Notes on the Text I xi PART r: THE WRITER AND THE ART OF STORY Introduction I 3 r. The Story Problem I rr PART 2: THE ELEMENTS OF STORY 2. The Structure Spectrum I 3I 3- Structure and Setting I 67 4 Structure and Genre I 79 5 Structure and Character 1 roo 6. Structure and Meaning 1 no PART l THE PRINCIPLES OF STORY DESIGN 7 The Substance of Story I 135 8. The Inciting Incident 1 r8r 9 Act Design I 208 ro.
Scene Design I 233 n. Scene Analysis I 252 12. Composition I 288 13- Crisis, Climax, Resolution I 303 PART 4: THE WRITER AT WORK •4 The Principle ofAntagonism I 3!7 •5 Exposition I 334 r6. Problems and Solutions I 346 17. Character I 374 r8. The Text I 388 •9 A Writer's Method I 4IO Fade Out I 418 Suggested Readings I 421 Filmography I 423 Index 1 457 • PART I /i/;,~ 1 }~~;.
WRITER AND THE ART OF STORY Stories are equipmentfor living. -KENNETH BURKE • INTRODUCTION Story is about principles. A rule says, 'You must do it this way.'
A principle says, 'This works. And has through all remembered time.' The difference is cru- cial. Your work needn't be modeled after the 'well-made' play; rather, it must be well made within the principles that shape our art. Anxious, inexperienced writers obey rules. Rebellious, unschooled writers break rules. Artists master the form.