Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
 A MUST HAVE FOR INSPIRATION! Jul 04, 2008
I just got the book and it really helps me get more focused on what I need to do to help keep my spec script out of the reject pile! The author really has done his homework and makes it easy to understand the concepts of successful movies. I'm just a beginning writer so this book is a great mentor to show me which road I should travel and with what tools to have on hand.
Reading the chapter ''Plotting for Audience Emotional Responses" helped my hero become a character with more emotional needs that will make the audience want to help him beat his flaws.
The author really helps to make clear the key ingredients that helps to make a successful movie. His analysis and insight is something that I did not have myself since I am not an analytical writer but a emotional writer. I have now learned that I have a lot of work to improve on and this book will help me on the journey.
This is a must have for writers like me who are trying to learn as much as they can without going to USC or UCLA.
Brilliant Story Design book Mar 22, 2006
This is perhaps the most brilliant story design book ever written. It is destined to be a classic and a must read book for all screenwriters. It takes the theory of screenwriting to a completely higher level than anything ever written by McKee, Field or Seger. Stefanik is an innovator who focused of the principles of creating emotional reactions in the audience, years ahead of such derivative works as Iglesias. Stefanik gives constuctive techniques that a script writer can use to create excitement and unpredictability in stories. He draws on examples from the most popular event tentpole movies of the past twenty years, those which he rightly calls megahits. His seminal theories are being recognized by the Oxford International Festival of Films, where he is scheduled to speak in the Sheldonian Theater in May 2006. Visit his website at www.TheMegahitMovies.com
14 of 16 found the following review helpful:
 Empty Mar 19, 2003
I'm stunned by all the people that recommend this book. Yes, it doesn't talk about formatting, or the three act structure, or snappy dialog. But it says almost nothing valuable about what it professes to educate on. It's a constant reminder, near dogmatic, of simple statements: "Your audience must like the protagonist." "You should have a payoff at the end of the script." Well, no kidding.
The other flaw of this book is how little it takes into account of why these megahit films TRULY succeeded. A huge rash of them were surrounded by enormous hype and marketing. Sometimes upwards of $100 million alone in advertising. Independence Day was sold on the concept of the trailer alone, and went into production before even one word was typed on a page. What are the chances that the rules that applied to those films, will apply to the spec script you are trying to break in with? Even if he did clearly explain those rules, which I felt he did not.
Skip this book. I won't recommend any other books, but I'll recommend something else. I'll recommend to you what Mike Rich did before he came out of nowhere to win the Nicholl's and sell his first script,[...] Read spec scritps and early drafts if possible. And read the scripts that not only succeed, but succeeded not on raw financing power, but on merit.
3 of 5 found the following review helpful:
The Alternative Nov 24, 2002
The Megahit Movies by Richard M. Stefanik is the alternative to the traditionally structured screenplay. If you are interested in the principles of story design and construction, the Megahit Movies is the book to read. I found it to be interesting how he structured his book because I have actually seen movies that complied to a similar pattern. Stefanik starts off the body of his book by introducing the protagonist-the hero, the antagonist-the villain and then the love interest-the girl. Once he establishes who the major players are, he begins to expound on audience empathy. He is detailed in expressing that the filmmaker must get the audience to love the protagonist and absolutely loathe the antagonist. Although the villain is shown as having more power than the hero and as the one who creates dangerous obstacles, Stefanik alerts the reader to the importance of establishing supportive emotions in the audience for the protagonist. He touches on the motivation, objectives, decisions, codes of behavior and personality of each character. The Megahit Movies teaches you how to establish plot, subplot, events, action and scene structure. He substantiates his argument by making reference to the blockbuster movies such as Batman, The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars, Jurassic Park and Forrest Gump, which seem to employ this particular method. I highly recommend this book to all filmmakers, screenwriters and novelists. It is a healthy alternative the the Three Act structure. Megahit Movies is indeed a megahit. Kudos!
5 of 6 found the following review helpful:
A Brilliant Book May 22, 2002
The MEGAHIT MOVIES book is probably the most brilliant book ever written on Story Design, and will outlast the books written by Robert McKee, Syd Field and Linda Seger. Stefanik breaks new ground by focusing on the psychology of the audience and arguing for the position that movies are popular because they create an "emotionally satisfying experience" for the audience. But he gives so much more in this book: by applying the cognitive theory of emotions to popular movies, he gives the writer concrete techniques for placing characters into situations that will elicit specific emotions in the audience. This is something that McKee, Seger or Field never discuss. Stefanik also introduces the importance of SUBGOALS in the creation of PLOT TWISTS as a tool for creating unpredictable stories, a topic not even discussed in any previous screenwriting text. Then there is Stefanik's theory of humor in which he provides writers with specific instructions on how to create humorous dialogue, characters, and scenes, topics not included in the books by the above mentioned story gurus. It should also be mentioned that THE MEGAHIT MOVIES book is an expanded version of Stefanik's book, STRUCTURES OF FANTASY, in which he published all of these ideas in 1992, five years before Robert McKee published his book STORY, in 1997. Stefanik's THE MEGAHIT MOVIES book is destined to become a classic text on the craft of story design, comparable in influence to Lajos Egri's THE ART OF DRAMATIC WRITING. Buy the book. It is great!
|
