This article is about the screenwriting guru; for information on the British comedian, see Sid Field.
Syd Field is an American writer who has become one of the most popular screenwriting gurus in the movie industry. Field has written several books on the subject of screenwriting, and holds workshops and seminars around the world that help aspiring and professional screenwriters produce the kind of screenplay that will sell in Hollywood. Field's ideas about what makes a good script have become very influential for Hollywood film producers, who have increasingly used his ideas on structure as a guideline to a proposed screenplay's potential. Field wrote and produced the television series Men in Crisis, "Hollywood and the Stars,""National Geographics" and Jacque Cousteau Specials from 1963—1965 for David L. Wolper Productions.
Field's most important contribution has been his articulation of the ideal Paradigm "three act structure". In this structure, a film must be set-up within the first twenty to thirty minutes before the main character protagonist experiences a 'plot point' that gives him or her a goal that must be achieved. Approximately half the movie's running time must then be taken up with the character's struggle to achieve his or her goal: this is the 'Confrontation' period. Field also refers, sometimes, to the 'Midpoint', a more subtle turning point that happens at (approximately page 60 of a written screenplay) in Act II, the Confrontation which often has an apparently devastating reversal of the main character's fortune. The final quarter of the film depicts a climactic struggle by the protagonist to finally achieve (or not achieve) his or her goal and the aftermath of this struggle.
While Field's structures have helped many screenwriters tailor their ideas to the Hollywood model, his guidelines have sometimes been accused of stifling innovation and experimentation, but as Laura Esquivel (Like Water For Chocolate) pointed out; "Before I met Syd Field, I often felt that structure imprisoned me, but what I learned was structure really freed me to focus on the story."Many studio executives now refuse to even consider a screenplay that does not embody the three-act structure.
In addition to his occasional workshops, Syd Field currently teaches screenwriting at the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California and travels around the world giving seminars and workshops to film professionals.
Field is also included in the screenwriting software program Final Draft under the section "Ask the Expert" which gives help on writing screenplays.
In Jan 2007, Field began a series of interview webcasts with screenwriters called Screenplay Series with Syd Field. The project will attempt to give a voice to the generally silent, creative force behind today's films - the screenwriters. The series will focus on writers and films whose work is current, relevant and challenging. Interviews will cover a broad range of topics surrounding a particular film & the specific writer's career.
