Film writers discuss the art and craft in "Masterclass"

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Want to make it as a Hollywood screenwriter? Then (1) buy a lot of index cards and fill your walls with exactingly mapped-out plots and characters, (2) don't show anyone your first draft, and (3) don't tell the director where to put the camera.

Plenty of directors, producers and actors might disagree, but most writers quietly believe (or wish) that they are central to the filmmaking enterprise, a sentiment that runs through the interviews Kevin Scott collects in "Screenwriters' Masterclass: Screenwriters Talk About Their Greatest Movies." But more than argue their importance, those interviewees pass along plenty of helpful hints about the writer's work, so that Scott's book lives up to its title.

Scott, who logged time in the mailroom of New Line Cinema before moving on to Fine Line and who is now a London-based literary agent, delivers a nicely international blend of interviews, and the films he covers range from such pop successes as "Silence of the Lambs" and "Die Another Day" to art-house favorites "Rushmore" and "Amores Perros." Whatever the filmed work, though, most of the writers give evidence to support the famed sportswriter Red Smith's quip, "There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein."

Ted Tally, whose "Silence of the Lambs" scared audiences silly, speaks knowingly of that dark moment when it dawns on the writer that "you've faked your way into getting the job and now you've got to actually sit down and do it." The "it" in question begins with the act of wrestling at least the first half of the first act onto the page, after which the job becomes, if not cake, then perhaps a touch easier. That's because, Tally adds, there's some truth to the adage that the only thing that matters in a screenplay is the first 10 pages, whereas all that matters in a film are the last 10 minutes. The trick is to get the first 10 pages right.

In the same vein-opening vein, Lisa Cholodenko ("High Art") recounts the process of rewriting the opening scene "for like the seven hundredth time," tinkering with four words of dialogue until it's time to lie down on the couch -- or until the right four words come. "Page one is always terrible," Carlos Cuaron ("Y Tu Mama Tambien") confesses, until the writer finds the rhythm of the work and settles in for the long run.

Scott's interviewees offer varying takes on some fundamentals. Expositional dialogue, most standard texts agree, is a no-no -- unless, Michael Haneke ("Code Inconnu") observes, it works, in which case all bets are off. Conversely, Alex Garland ("28 Days Later") inclines toward trimming away every ounce of backstory, which leaves more room for in-the-moment action. He adds that the pitch for his movie, over a pizza, was, "I'd like to make a zombie movie where zombies run." (It worked.) And

Alexander Payne ("Election") reminds the textbook writers that voice-over has its uses -- just think of "Sunset Boulevard" and "A Clockwork Orange," to name two very different films, and the never-use-voice-over rule falls apart.

For all its tales of terror and admonition, of clashing executives and rules that scream to be broken, Scott's anthology is refreshingly optimistic, demonstrating many times over that talent and hard work sometimes really do win out in the end. "I think endurance is a big part of being able to be a good writer," says

David O. Russell ("Three Kings"), words that budding screenwriters will want to take to heart.

They'll want to remember the bits about not telling the director where to put the camera, too.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter