James Bonnet's Storymaking

WRITING AND SCREENWRITING SEMINAR
in LOS ANGELES

FEBRUARY 20-21, 2010
OCTOBER 23-24, 2010

WRITERS and FILMMAKERS
James Bonnet's Storymaking:
Master Class

The Quintessential Screenwriting and Storymaking Seminar
by the Author of Stealing Fire from the Gods

Whether you are a professional or novice writer or filmmaker, this intensive story seminar will take you beyond Classical Story Structure and The Hero's Journey to a more complete understanding of the principles that you need to create your own successful stories and story films.

Whatever you hope to accomplish with your storymaking -- be that a meaningful self-expression, a significant artistic success, make a lot of money, win Academy Awards, or have a career that rivals Steven Spielberg's -- you have to become a master of the craft. This new state-of-the-art story knowledge will give you that mastery and guide you to a more complete understanding of the fundamentals that drive the world's most powerful art forms -- storytelling and film.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Screenwriters, Directors, Producers, Novelists, Playwrights and anyone else whose livelihood depends on knowing what makes a story great and successful.

PART ONE:
A review of basic concepts and important story patterns and an introduction to high concept storymaking and the creation of ideas that will be talked about, generate excitement and compel the right people to get involved.

The Anatomy of a Great Idea

• The Fascinating Subject
• The Intriguing Title
• The Inciting Action and The Hook

Structures of the Whole Story

• The Entity Being Transformed
• The Nine Essential Characters
• The Cycles of Transformation
• The Upside and Darkside of the Passage
• The Hero and The Antihero Compared
• Character and Plot
• The Marvelous and Terrible Elements
• The Whole Story, Frame Story, and Back Story Compared

The Structures of the Story Focus

• The Structures of the Principle Action
• Classical Structure and the Structure of
• Action in Real Life
• Genre and the Entertainment Dimensions
• The Creative Process
• The Six Essential Creative Techniques
• Choosing the Right Metaphor

PART TWO:
A step by step journey from the fascination to the final draft, including a thorough analysis of today's most powerful and sucessful stories and films.

Creating the High Concept Great Idea

• Probing the Fascination
• Finding the Subject
• Finding the Problem of the Story
• Finding the Entity and the Threat
• Finding the Inciting Action and the Hook
• Finding the State of Misfortune and the Real Cause of the Problem

Creating the Larger, Whole Story

• Creating the Downside of the Cycle
• Creating the Negative Characters
• Creating the Hero and the Antihero
• Making Your Characters Charismatic and Merchandisable
• Creating the Marvelous Element
• Creating the Upside of the Cycle
• Creating the Positive Characters
• Creating Character Chemistry and Conflict

Creating the Structures of the Story Focus

• Creating the Structures of the Principal Action
• Creating the Crisis: the True Middle of the Story
• Creating the Scenes
• Finding the Emotional Core of the Scenes
• Imitations of Real Life
• Creating Outstanding Dialogue

Creating the Narrative Structure

• Creating the Aesthetic and Technical Dimensions
• Creating Excitement, Passion, Suspense,
• How to bring all the powerful dimensions together to create one magnificent effect.