Books by Robert McKee
Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting
by Robert McKee
Robert McKee's screenwriting workshops have earned him an international reputation for inspiring novices, refining works in progress and putting major screenwriting careers back on track. Quincy Jones, Diane Keaton, Gloria Steinem, Julia Roberts, John Cleese and David Bowie are just a few of his celebrity alumni. Writers, producers, development executives and agents all flock to his lecture series, praising it as a mesmerizing and intense learning experience.
In Story, McKee expands on the concepts he teaches in his $450 seminars (considered a must by industry insiders), providing readers with the most comprehensive, integrated explanation of the craft of writing for the screen. No one better understands how all the elements of a screenplay fit together, and no one is better qualified to explain the "magic" of story construction and the relationship between structure and character than Robert McKee.
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Dialogue: The Art of Verbal Action for Page, Stage, and Screen
by Robert McKee
The long-awaited follow-up to the perennially bestselling writers' guide Story, from the most sought-after expert in the art of storytelling.
Robert McKee's popular writing workshops have earned him an international reputation. The list of alumni with Oscars runs off the page. The cornerstone of his program is his singular book, Story, which has defined how we talk about the art of story creation.
Now, in Dialogue, McKee offers the same in-depth analysis for how characters speak on the screen, on the stage, and on the page in believable and engaging ways. From Macbeth to Breaking Bad, McKee deconstructs key scenes to illustrate the strategies and techniques of dialogue. Dialogue applies a framework of incisive thinking to instruct the prospective writer on how to craft artful, impactful speech. Famous McKee alumni include Peter Jackson, Jane Campion, Geoffrey Rush, Paul Haggis, the writing team for Pixar, and many others.
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Adaptation: The Shooting Script
by Robert McKee, Charlie Kaufman
One of the most talked about scripts of the year, Adaptation is the story of an orchid collector (Chris Cooper), a journalist (Meryl Streep, as author Susan Orlean), and the screenwriter (Charlie Kaufman, played by Nicolas Cage) who, in adapting Orlean's bestselling book The Orchid Thief, writes himself and his twin brother (also played by Cage) into the movie.
In the foreword, written exclusively for this Newmarket edition, Orlean reveals her own struggle to tell the story of the orchid, and her delight that “strangely, marvelously, hilariously, Kaufman's screenplay has ended up not being a literal Adaptation of my book, but a spiritual one.”
In a fascinating interview, Kaufman and Jonze take readers behind the scenes of Adaptation and their other films to speak about how they collaborate, where truth and fiction diverge, the challenges of balancing various storylines, why they do not like to comment on the meaning of their work, and Kaufman's approach to writing:"I try to write in the midst of confusion and be strong enough to stay there, rather than swim to the shore of some kind of conclusion."
Finally, screenwriting guru Robert McKee's commentary attempts to analyze Kaufman's work, identifying many of his themes including "that grand twentieth-century preoccupation with the Self."
In the acclaimed Newmarket Shooting Script series format, the book includes the complete screenplay, Orlean's foreword, the interview with Kaufman and Jonze, McKee's critical commentary, 24 black-and-white stills, and cast and crew credits.
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Character The Art of Role and Cast Design for Page, Stage, and Screen
by Robert McKee
The long-awaited third volume of Robert McKee's trilogy on the art of fiction.
Following up his perennially bestselling writers' guide Story and his inspiring exploration of the art of verbal action in Dialogue, the most sought-after expert in the storytelling brings his insights to the creation of compelling characters and the design of their casts.
CHARACTER explores the design of a character universe: The dimensionality, complexity and arcing of a protagonist, the invention of orbiting major characters, all encircled by a cast of service and supporting roles.
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