[ecrea] Book Announcement: 'Movies That Move Us: Screenwriting and the Power of the Protagonist's Journey'

Next week sees the publication of this new book that may be of interest to you and your students ...

Movies That Move Us: Screenwriting and the Power of the Protagonist's Journey
by Craig Batty, Bournemouth University

(Published by Palgrave Macmillan: currently in hardback, but hopefully in paperback soon!)

Overview:
Films are not only visual, they are visceral.  They allow an audience to feel the unfolding drama, and psychologically connect with the characters.  Even for the screenwriter, the experience of writing a film can be deeply moving, where a range of character emotions are assimilated and poured back into the narrative.  Written specifically from a screenwriting perspective, this book explores the idea that the narrative journey undertaken by a protagonist is also one that the audience is invited to take, and that the protagonist’s journey is comprised of two individual yet interwoven threads: the physical journey and the emotional journey.  With detailed case studies of the films Muriel’s Wedding, Little Voice, Cars, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Sunshine Cleaning and Up, the book also provides a re-defined version of the Hero’s Journey screenwriting model that will help writers to amplify the emotional power of their screenplays.

Reviews:
'In this illuminating synthesis, Dr Batty improves on the Hero's Journey model by tracing the interaction of physical and emotional dimensions in each stage of the adventure, an exercise I wish I'd thought of doing.  He brings needed clarity and order to the idea that a good story works on at least two interacting levels and demonstrates his thesis with entertaining examples from popular films.  He's made a better map of the countryside of screen storytelling and it will be a useful guide for screenwriters and students of narrative theory alike.'
Christopher Vogler, script consultant and author of The Writer's Journey

'Dr Batty is the perfect guide to the world of screenwriting.  He knows the narrative journey of a character is also a psychological one - how the outer journey is an inner voyage into the depths of human experience.   His great gift is to render this visible. In doing so he provides a guidebook to the inner world of emotions.  He shows how screenwriters can take audiences into the core of their being and over the course of 90 minutes return them, transformed and enriched, back to their everyday lives.'
Professor Luke Hockley, University of Bedfordshire

Link:
http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=407799

Thanks for reading ... !

Best wishes,
Craig

Dr Craig Batty
Principal Lecturer in Screenwriting&
Framework Leader, Media Production (Undergraduate)

The Media School,
Bournemouth University





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