Overview
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
Table of contents (13 chapters)
-
Front Matter
-
Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
This book will offer you a richer theory of plot structure than the one Field outlines. It will do this not by contradicting anything Field has to say about the Hollywood paradigm, but by complementing it with a deeper level of analysis. Plot genotypes are the compositional schemas of particular stories. They are sets of instructions, written in the language of the plot function, for executing particular plots. This book outlines the plot genotypes for The Frog Prince, The Robber Bridegroom, Puss-in-Boots, and Little Red Riding Hood and then shows how these genotypes provide the underpinnings for the film screenplays of Pretty Woman, Wrong Turn, The Mask, and Psycho. By means of a detailed study of these four Hollywood screenplays, you will be able to offer a much richer description of what is going on at any particular point in a screenplay. In this way, you will become much sharper at understanding how screenplays work. And you will become much better at learning how to write coherent screenplays yourself.
Reviews
“Murphy’s analyses of both the fairy-tale genotypes and the corresponding Hollywood film genotypes are generally well explained, with tables at the culmination of each chapter outlining the progression of functions within the narratives. … His simple and easy-to-follow prose makes it a suitable text for the novice screenwriter hoping to aid their writing with plot genotypes … .” (Amy Crockett, Folklore, Vol. 128 (1), March, 2017)
“I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in folklore, functional analysis, screenwriting, or even a more general interest in the ways in which both fairy-tale and movie plots work. … The combination of the two takes steps forward in the applicability of Propp’s functional analysis for those in the field of folklore and provides a new tool for screenwriters, and it is a stimulating read for story lovers and moviegoers alike.” (Kylie Schroeder, Marvels & Tales: Journal of Fairy-Tale Studies, Vol. 31 (1), 2017)
'In clear and readable prose, Dr Terry Murphy demonstrates and compares the common structures, themes and characters found in several important fairy tales and movies. His comparison of the major steps in Vladimir Propp's analysis of the classic fairy tale and Syd Field's analysis of a screenplay's Three Act Structure is ingenious and illuminating. Further, his examination of plot genotypes is an important contribution to dramatic theory. It's good to read someone who is taking a big bite out of an important topic.' - Rob Pope, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, USA"An unacknowledged, and 'commonsense' notion of formalism has long underlined the way in which screenwriters think and talk about movie stories. Screenwriting manuals habitually break down the structure of narrative into articulating beats of many sizes, for example, and usually without offering context or a rigorous defense of the value of such an approach. Terry Murphy's achievement is to have applied the formalist rigor of Vladimir Propp's Morphology of the Folk Tale both to the analysis of movie stories and of the para-industrial texts that seek to explain them, and train new screenwriters in emulating them.'
Julian Hoxter, Associate Professor of Cinema, San Francisco State University
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: From Fairy Tale to Film Screenplay
Book Subtitle: Working with Plot Genotypes
Authors: Terence Patrick Murphy
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137552037
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London
eBook Packages: Palgrave Media & Culture Collection, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2015
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-55202-0Published: 14 September 2015
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-56129-2Published: 14 February 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-55203-7Published: 15 September 2015
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XI, 197
Topics: Creative Writing, Screenwriting, Morphology, Media Studies, Literary Theory, Arts