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Writing a Great Movie by Jeff Kitchen

Before I move on with structure, I really have to apologize to , the author of the book who’s image you see on the left… I had written a review of Jeff’s book, but never got around to uploading it here to the site… As a result of my recent hard drive failure, the review was somehow converted into some kind of binary bullshit text…

My mistake?

I wrote the review in Microsoft Word instead of …

All my Word docs somehow became corrupted and converted and I’ve tried everything I can think of to get them back to where they were… Unfortunately, even Open Office couldn’t open them and make them read right.

However, all my Open Office docs are in pristine condition…

Sometimes FREE IS BEST.

What’s interesting here is that I have now lived with Jeff’s book for several months now… Often referring back to it when I’ve wanted to do a little brainstorming using the . In Writing A Great Movie, Jeff has really expanded Polti’s 36 Dramatic Situations with modern terminology as well as some explanation as to how to use them to assist you in plotting out your story and screenplay.

Jeff discusses how to use the 36 Situations in several different ways…

On top of using the 36 Dramatic Situations for the tools outlined above, Jeff then goes into a discussion of how the 36 were used in such films as:

After a fairly thorough discussion of using the 36 in these films, Jeff ends the 36 by giving you a little HOW-TO… This how-to goes into the actual utilization of 3 X 5 cards and your own story and screenplay…

Did I say THOROUGH?

Hmmm. Other descriptive words also come to mind… Comprehensive. Conscientious. Dare I say almost encyclopedic?

In other words, if you’re a seasoned screenwriter, you may find yourself wanting to skip and or scan certain areas where the discussion tends to keep on going like the bunny in the commercial… God knows I did it here and there… Having said that, as time went on, I found myself going back to those very same passages that I had scanned some months earlier and read them with absolutely no interruptions. After reading them the second time around, I was glad I did. Dare I say that I picked up a few more insights to the craft and how to go about improving what I already know?

I dare.

So… If for no other reason than to jump start your own brainstorming when it comes to plotting out your story, Jeff’s book is worth the squeeze.

But there’s more…

Another outstanding chapter in the book: Chapter 4, The Enneagram: Creating Deep, Complex, and Distinct Characters.

You already know that I subscribe to the CHARACTER IS STORY mode of screenwriting so I took a special interest in this chapter… The is not Jeff’s invention of course but he does the same thing with it here that he did with the 36. He goes into the 9 personality types:

  1. The Reformer
  2. The Helper
  3. The Achiever
  4. The Individualist
  5. The Investigator
  6. The Loyalist
  7. The Enthusiast
  8. The Challenger
  9. The Peacemaker

–and within those 9 types, each type has 3 aspects:

Writing A Great Movie goes into each of the personality types… Giving adequate explanations about each personality type as well as going into their key motivations and rounding it up with some outstanding examples of those personality types so you can achieve focus on your own characters…

What I like best about Jeff’s discussion of each personality type are their character traits within each of the 3 aspects i.e., Healthy, Average, and Unhealthy. In other words, you quickly find out what is the best, worst, and average of each personality type. Outstanding material when it comes to giving your characters dimension.

Chapter 4 ends with Jeff using the Enneagram to analyze the characters in TRAINING DAY… Afterwards, he goes into the actual creation of a character, utilizing the Enneagram and lays out an additional 9 points of thought utilizing the Enneagram in your own scripts.

Eye opening reading and even IF you subscribe to different personality types as I personally do, these same 9 points of thought can easily be used within my own method of creating characters.

Really good stuff.

Writing A Great Movie does NOT get into traditional explanation of structure which was one of the other aspects I loved about this book… In other words, even if you find it a little too dry at times, it’s refreshingly DIFFERENT from the slew of screenwriting books out there on the market…

I found myself going back several times to gain a better understanding of Jeff’s discussion about DILEMMA. He does lay it out structurally but trust me… If you simply read his discussion of character dilemma and then threw the book away, you’d know more than 80% of the screenwriters working today.

Am I serious?

Deadly fucking serious.

Which takes me back to Chapter 1: Dilemma, Crisis, Decision & Action, and Resolution: Dramatizing a Plot

This is, WITHOUT A DOUBT, the very best analysis of DILEMMA you are ever going to read when it comes to screenwriting.

Bar none.

Jeff thoroughly goes into DILEMMA here… What it is… When it should approximately occur. When it reaches a CRISIS point which requires the Protagonist to make a decision and act, which of course leads to a final resolution. He of course gives examples of movies that use dilemma as a driving structural force i.e., TRAINING DAY, WHAT WOMEN WANT, MINORITY REPORT, THE GODFATHER, TOOTSIE, and BLADE RUNNER. Read these examples and I think you will definitely have a grasp of how important dilemma can be to your story.

*NOTE: I don’t think Jeff knew this but I attended one of his Screenwriting Expo workshops a couple of years ago and he discussed the use of DILEMMA in THE FIRM. It was this workshop that caused me to go back to the drawing board with my own form of structure and weave dilemma into it because yes, I think it’s that important.

Weaving Jeff’s analysis of dilemma into your own structure will certainly strengthen your story… No doubt about it but Jeff goes deeper with equal discussion of CRISIS and RESOLUTION and how all three work together to strengthen a plot.

Fascinating reading but I warn you up front… It’s more discussion oriented than it is HOW-TO. Don’t get me wrong… You’re definitely going to learn from this book but I suspect that a lot of screenwriters will find themselves wanting to skip to sections that get into the HOW-TO. Fine. Go ahead. I did it but do yourself a favor and go back and reread the material a few times from beginning to end because for me… It was the rereading that solidified the importance of Jeff’s book.

Not to breeze over the other areas of the book but the above discussions are what I found most profound inside Writing A Great Movie. Jeff also gets into THEME and the value of KNOWING your theme.

Last but certainly not least…

Chapter 7: Sequence, Proposition, Plot: Constructing and Tightening Your Plot

Once again, Jeff discusses his encyclopedic knowledge here but what I found most fascinating in this chapter was Jeff’s discussion of REVERSE CAUSE AND EFFECT. Most likely, a lot of us are doing this instinctively… i.e., know your ending first and work backwards in a CAUSE AND EFFFECT mode to brainstorm plot ideas. I know I’ve been doing this since the first day I started writing but in Writing A Great Movie, Jeff Kitchen deconstructs the process in a way that I think will make perfect sense for most of us writing movies today.

This is the first time I’ve seen the process broken down and explained and after I read it, I throroughly agreed with it since I’ve been doing it from the get-go. I think I probably received some kind of subconscious validation after reading Jeff’s breakdown of it…

What does that tell you?

Well, it tells me that Jeff knows screenwriting. It tells me that this is one of the books I tend to carry around with me. On some days, I’ve picked up Jeff’s book and simply read a couple of paragraphs and that information made something click in my head and made so much sense that I was immediately able to go back and tweak something I wasn’t feeling good about. Yes, Writing A Great Movie is that good.

*NOTE: Jeff also had someone send me his workshop on DVD. I was able to finally sit down and watch the DVDs after a couple of months of having read his book. The two really compliment each other and had I had BOTH the DVDs AND the book, I think my preference would have been to watch the DVDs FIRST and then read the book.

Why?

Because watching the DVDs got me very excited to learn MORE. Because I think I know myself fairly well… I’m almost positive I would have gotten more out of Jeff’s book on the first read if I had watched his DVDs first. Watching the DVDs and then reading the book seemed to make the book less… How do I say this?

Copious.

And I mean copious in a nice way… LOL.

Get the book AND the DVDs:

Jeff Kitchen’s Full Day Seminar

Unk

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Monday: 30 July 2007|1828|Under Books

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36 Responses to “Writing a Great Movie by Jeff Kitchen”

  1. cinephile on Monday: 30 July 2007|2024

    Please take a moment to remember the great Ingmar Bergman who passed away today (07/30/07). Sorry Mr. Kitchen!

  2. dave michaels on Monday: 30 July 2007|2208

    Outstanding review. I’ve seen his Expo ads and wondered how good the info was in the dvd. Perhaps I’ll pick these up as yet another diversion.

    I think it’s about time to publish the site to a PDF and sell it online for $4.95 isn’t it? “Don’t have time for the web? Pick up the book now and print it out! Take it anywhere!”

    So much great information and interaction. You’ve grown in leaps and bounds from my first discovery of the site. Congratulations and thanks!

  3. Moviequill on Tuesday: 31 July 2007|0711

    also congrats to Jeff, I see he has a fresh new movie in production according to IMDB “The Second Coming”

  4. Dante Kleinberg on Tuesday: 31 July 2007|1028

    Wow, high praise indeed. Might have to pick this up. Was there anything you didn’t like about it?

  5. Unk on Tuesday: 31 July 2007|1205

    Dave,

    Where the hell have you been? I can’t charge for this stuff…

    Not my style.

    MQ,

    Absolutely! Congrats, Jeff!

    Dante,

    To be honest, there’s really nothing I did NOT like about the book and the DVDs. Upon the first read, I admit that I was in a little bit of a hurry and because of that, found myself skipping ahead here and there. But after now having had the book in my possession and carrying it around in my backpack all these months, I have to say that I have gone back and reread the sections on DILEMMA and the 36 Situations more than a few times. I think what I’ve enjoyed MOST about the book is being able to refer to it when I’m feeling lazy and not very creative yet knowing I still have to sit the fuck down and write. I’ve gone back to the 36 Situations and DILEMMA and got my creativity jump started more than a few times just from rereading those sections.

    Draw your conclusions from that…

    And to answer 16 emails this morning…

    NO, I AM NOT JEFF KITCHEN… LOL.

    Unk

  6. Laura Reyna on Tuesday: 31 July 2007|1241

    I was in Borders the other day a skimed thru this. I’ve been curious about Kitchen for a while.

    I didn’t buy it. I’m not a fan of Polti’s writing or the Enneagram system, and he devotes a lot of space to these two philosophies. That kinda turned me off.

    Frankly, i find them too convoluted. Same reason i don’t find McKee all that useful. I have a hard time understanding all the terms & keeping them straight.

    I like things clean, simple & self-evident. I don’t want to have to learn a whole new vocabulary just to find out the author is full of shit to begin with.

    But now you’ve made me curious about Kitchen’s take on ‘dilemma’. While skimming, I saw he devoted some space to it. I’m gonna go back and read some more on that.

    And the reverse cause and effect exercise is neat. Here’s an article i found at the Writer’s Store, which is what got me intersted in finding out more about Kitchen’s work. I don’t think you linked it in your post.

    http://www.writersstore.com/article.php?articles_id=754

    Unfortunately, he examines TRAINING DAY, a movie i really dislike (i know i’m the only one! ;-) ). Oh well.

  7. Dante Kleinberg on Tuesday: 31 July 2007|1357

    Unk,

    re: those 16 e-mails.

    LOL I didn’t even think about that for some reason. You have no real identity to me, you are only Unk. But yeah, given how much you raved about this book, I can totally see why some suspicious folk would put 2 and 2 together on that one.

    BTW, I’m convinced. I want more theory, less “format montages this way.” I’ll order it on Amazon next time I have more than $25 of stuff I want.

  8. Unk on Tuesday: 31 July 2007|1510

    Laura,

    Ah yes… Copious in nature and I am very much like you in that I just want to keep it as simple as possible.

    This review was slightly better than the review I lost which mentioned exactly what you’ve mentioned in your comment.

    However NOW that I’ve lived with it for a few months… I can honestly say that I’m a lot more on board with it. While not a huge fan of the 36 Situations myself, I tend to use them to simply help jump start ideas for plots and subplots. However, I am a huge fan of DILEMMA and the price of the book is worth it if for no other reason than Jeff’s treatise on DILEMMA.

    How can you not like TRAINING DAY? LOL.

    Dante,

    One of the reasons I went ahead and reviewed this book was because it was:

    a) One that I had not read yet.
    b) Contained lots of info on DILEMMA.

    I get at least one or two requests for book reviews a month among lots of other shit and many of the emails I receive on a daily basis ask me what books I recommend.

    Rarely do I recommend anything… But be forewarned. Copious. LOL.

    Unk

  9. Christian Howell on Tuesday: 31 July 2007|1842

    Good review, UNK. I can tell you that I found a book that broke down the entire process very definitively.

    It’s a Linda Seger book, “Adavanced Screenwriting – Raising your Screenplay to the Academy Award Level.”

    It is succinct and talks about things like Circular Structure, Reflection scenes, Style, etc.

    I swear by it. Maybe it’s because I agree with her point-of-view, but I don’t think anyone could read this book and not get a lot out of it.

    I will definitely check out Jeff’s book.

  10. Joshua James on Tuesday: 31 July 2007|1951

    You definitely have a real identity to me, Unk – LOL!

    Then again, if we meet an you don’t look and or soundlike William Smith’s scrappier, younger brother, I could be in for a surprise . . .

    Got the book today, based solely on your recommendation, and knew it wasn’t you when I saw the man’s pic . . .

  11. cinephile on Wednesday: 1 August 2007|2012

    Another master director passed away today (08/01/07). Please take another moment to remember Michelangelo Antonioni.

  12. caroline from canada on Friday: 3 August 2007|2324

    Hiya. Haven’t been around for a while … life and my own computer melting down have limited my communications outreach of late. I am so no a techie girl so was fascinated to read about OpenOffice because I had no idea such a thing existed. I am about to go out and replace my trust laptop with a new one, and was debating on what to do about software (keep the old stuff or upgrade) and now I feel like maybe I’ll just not buy anything. So, here’s my question to those of you who are was more computer savvy than me (which is pretty much all of you): aside from OpenOffice, are there other open source or competing programs (even opeating systems so I can ditch Microsoft entirely) that I should look at? Any thoughts gratefully received.

  13. Steve on Sunday: 5 August 2007|1446

    I bought it based on your review — no question, this is the best book on screenwriting I have ever read.

    Incredible.

  14. Michael on Monday: 6 August 2007|0819

    Thanks for the comprehensive review of this, I think I will pick up a copy. I’ve read Story by Robert McKee and a few other books along the same lines but this one sounds like it gives a few different perspectives of how to approach things. That’s why I try to read as many books of the how’s and why’s as possible, in order to fully wrap my head around something I have to be able to see it from as many perspectives as possible, then it’s easier to see what’s best. In theory anyway. Thanks again!

  15. Dante Kleinberg on Monday: 6 August 2007|1041

    Ordered this on Amazon yesterday, along with Writing the Romantic Comedy.

  16. David Mills on Wednesday: 8 August 2007|1439

    Just ordered my copy too.

  17. worried on Thursday: 9 August 2007|2227

    Has anyone seen or heard from UNK? I’m worried…

  18. Unk on Friday: 10 August 2007|0402

    Caroline from Canada…

    Really depends on what kind of software you’re looking for… I love FREEWARE and open source software… I have a decent selection of this stuff under the FREE SCREENWRITING STUFF category but it’s mainly for writing/screenwriting. If there’s anything specific you’re looking for i.e., a particular KIND of software — just ask. I know there’s something out there that will work and I know where most of it is and am always happy to share…

    Steve,

    Glad you like it! NOW USE IT TO WRITE AND SELL A SCREENPLAY!

    Michael,

    A lot of theory never hurt anyone as long as you CHOOSE what works best for you… Glad you liked the review.

    Dante,

    Since you write both books and screenplays, I think you’ll find Jeff’s book invaluable and useful for MANY YEARS TO COME.

    David,

    Kewel.

    Worried,

    Don’t be worried.

    Me all growed up now… LOL.

    Actually, I am in California as I write this and haven’t had internet access for a week since I am at a friend’s house. My friend only has dialup and didn’t get that till last night so here I am. Heading to Scottsdale later this morning and will be there a couple of days and then back to the GRIND. Should have a new post up over the weekend or early next week.

    Thanks for all the emails… Got a LOT over the last week wondering if I’m still alive… Shit, my ex-wife never even cared as much as so many of you do…

    Truly appreciated!

    Unk

  19. Joshua James on Tuesday: 14 August 2007|1209

    Unk, where ya been?

  20. Christina Shaver on Tuesday: 14 August 2007|1959

    The Enneagram was somewhat of a hobby of mine a while back. Having never read the book you’re reviewing, I don’t know how far he discusses the types. But I can say that there is a book that Enneagram-minded writers may want to add to their collection — The Enneagram in Work and Love by Helen Palmer.

    I haven’t read the book in ages, but as I remember she pairs the personality types one by one. So you can see how a “3″ would interact with a “7″ in a relationship or at work. Might be helpful.

    But even an in-depth knowledge of the Enneagram will not produce fascinating characters. The Enneagram does more to generalize…the details are for you to determine.

  21. C.C. Conda on Wednesday: 15 August 2007|2152

    UNK, get back on the ‘net soon…

    !

  22. Dana Hahn on Thursday: 16 August 2007|1425

    Hey guys, we at the Writers Store are big fans of Jeff’s and he’s done events in the store with us before. We have his books and all his DVDs in stock if anyone wants to pick it up. I’d be happy to provide a discount or recommendations on other titles if you’re interested!

  23. Kitty on Sunday: 19 August 2007|0123

    Unk, you alive? No new posts in weeks.
    I’m having Unk withdrawals.

  24. Poke on Tuesday: 21 August 2007|0132

    WTF? Where’s UNK?

    Poke

  25. Poke on Tuesday: 21 August 2007|2330

    See the problem with Unk being Unk is that when I call the Police they refuse to file a missing person’s report on an Unknown person.

    Poke

  26. spatula on Saturday: 25 August 2007|1651

    Unk must be in the land of Unk, where everything is Unk.

  27. Carlo on Sunday: 26 August 2007|0253

    … and Unk runs free all day long.

  28. Danika (OpenChannel) on Monday: 27 August 2007|0349

    Jeff was up here in Vancouver for FTX last year (film and television expo) and will be again this year. I heard great things about his seminar so I picked up his book. I teach at Vancouver Film School and think this book is so useful I’d like to make it required reading. I prefer it to McKee and Sid Field, hands down.

    I like things that are practical and useful and down to earth.

    Laura – if you’d like simple and practical (and funny), try Alex Epstein’s Crafty Screenwriting. I like how he takes a poke at the Hollywood “gurus.”

  29. Moviequill on Monday: 27 August 2007|0917

    great to see the Screenwriter Scoop articles updated, but tell CARTER we have enough news on Superbad’s box office results now…. I think I saw 20+ entries alone for that story

  30. Steve on Tuesday: 28 August 2007|1950

    Where is this guy….this is redUNKulous!

  31. Nick on Wednesday: 29 August 2007|1239

    Ok, this is seriously weirding me out. Tomorrow it’ll be a month since this post went up. Has anyone…ANYONE heard from Unk?

  32. Carlo on Wednesday: 29 August 2007|2015

    Well, he did comment here on August 10th, so it hasn’t exactly been a month yet.

  33. Martin Gifford on Friday: 31 August 2007|0847

    A tip about the Enneagram: It is about our biggest fear i.e. the thing we dread. So it doesn’t really deal with our potential, so there’s no need to feel restricted by it. Use it to expose and overcome fears related to the wholeness of life.

    I’ll check out Writing a Great Movie, especially the chapter on dilemma after reading your review.

    But my tip for a good book is: Making a Good Script Great. It has lots of great tips and is great for ideas or for the last rewrite/tidy-up.

  34. Chris J. Scurria on Wednesday: 22 October 2008|2137

    I am sure the book is great. I love to learn by watching movies whether it is action, thriller, drama, or that other genre that people like. I like seeing the style, putting on the subtitles, and just watching and seeing by taking it in.
    I used to talk movies so much I made a bunch of index cards with “my” movie reviews. I just loved 28 Days L. and other films that relied so much on plot and drama and relied on minimal or needed special effects. I didn’t care for the “DIE HARD MEETS…” flicks though I think Crank (not a die hard flick) was pretty good.
    At 17, I wanted to start making movies. WRITERS AND DIRECTORS. . . Today is now.

    Don’t procrastinate like I did in 2006 and close to ‘07. Today is the day to write and inspire.

    Not A “PC man” like the ads,
    C. S.

    Jesus, the Savior of the World, knew what it was like to be alone.

  35. Chris J. Scurria on Wednesday: 22 October 2008|2139

    Who thinks about a vehicle starring a movie actor that is probably over 50?

    Billy Bob Thorton anyone?

    God Bless writers. Love

  36. Ricky on Thursday: 7 May 2009|2100

    Does Jeff have any screen credits for writing?

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