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Remembering Screenwriting Guru Syd Field

November 19, 2013 - Visual Storytelling

Syd Field helped teach the art of making movies.

The movie making community lost a prominent member this week when screenwriting guru and author Syd Field passed away. From his workshops and seminars to his ideas on how a screenplay should be structured, including the proliferation of the “three act structure”, he was an influential force in how the art of the screenplay was both taught and practiced.

SydFieldScript Magazine collected some quotes from some of today’s most influential screenwriters about the influence of Field.

“I’ve gone from reading his books, to being taught by him in courses! I think one of us must have done something right! I thank him all the time for inspiring me.” said Frank Darabont, writer of the “Shawshank Redemption.”

Judd Apatow, writer of “This Is 40″, “Funny People”, “Knocked Up” and “The 40-Year Old Virgin” said “”What I learned in Syd Field’s class was here’s how Annie Hall works, and here’s how Witness works, and then I begin to think, ‘OK now how would I do it differently than that?’ That concept of ‘Always being in learning mode’ has stuck with me to this day…”

An author of more than 7 books on screenwriting, Field also taught the Master of Professional Writing for the acclaimed University of Southern California. Syd Field died at age 77, having advanced the development of screenwriting and left his influence on the film industry.

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