Designed to guide students through the process of writing a film script, this book is an analysis of eight classic screenplays and one novel written in cinematic style, which may serve as models for screenwriting. Each chapter in the book, except the last, is devoted to one script emphasizing a certain aspect of screenwriting. The focus is on how scripts are written; cultural or scholarly examinations are not presented. The book was designed to take the film student through one semester of classroom or independent study. While studying the book, reading the suggested scripts, and viewing the films based on them, the student should develop an original project: a screenplay for a short or full-length dramatic film. Examination of the scripts included will provide both the teacher and the students with points of reference for problem solving in the students' original projects. The sequence of the chapters should help students proceed from general problems of screenwriting to more specific problems in developing details. Chapter titles include: (1) The Beginning of Screenwriting; (2) Script Composition; (3) Opening, Climax, Resolution; (4) Character Development; (5) The Construction of Suspense; (6) Transforming Literature into Cinematic Space and Time; (7) Details, Motifs, and the Director's Commentaries; (8) Screen Dialogue; and (9) The Screenplay as a Model for Literature. Appendixes include exercises and script sources. (MG)