Script Reading

Script Reading

Few people can read a script well and yet the skill is a crucial one - whether to improve your own material or to find work as a script reader in film or TV.

In this five-session course you will learn the essentials of a good, marketable treatment and script, from an experienced writer-director and script consultant. You will work with real treatments and scripts to strengthen your reading and analytical skills. You will practise delivering professional reports and refine your ability to give constructive feedback for further development.

The course

Week by week, we will take you through the core skills of script reading and evaluation.

We start with how to evaluate an underlying premise/concept and its potential for further development. In subsequent sessions you will read and assess short and long treatments and full length film and TV scripts, and evaluate key elements including structure, characterisation, genre and personal voice. We will show you the best report formats to use, and how to target your comments, depending on whether you are giving "coverage" to a producer or constructive feedback to the creative team.

Between the sessions, you will be given material to read and will be expected write up brief professional reports in the correct format and to a deadline.

Each session will involve a mix of theory and practical discussion. By the end, you should have a thorough grasp of how to read treatments and scripts of different kinds, assess their marketability and their creative strengths and weaknesses and convey that assessment in clear and appropriate language.

Includes

Evaluating the Underlying Concept
Understanding the TV and film marketplace
Cinema Treatments
TV Treatments and Series Proposals
Cinema Scripts
Structure and Character
Style, Voice and Individuality
Genre
Niche markets