Screenwriting

Course review:

Students will learn to write scripts for: feature films, documentaries, broadcast news, factual entertainment shows, TV movies and interactive webshows. This program teaches students how to write for different genres such as drama and comedy are taught in this program and students learn the creative, technological and psychological aspects of writing for film and TV. Each term will have a writing workshop for students to further strengthen their writing style. Students will learn how to work independently, and on writing teams and will collaborate with students from the Film Production programmes to develop their scripts into working projects on film.

Upon completion of the course, graduates will have a portfolio of written work for Film and TV, have legal knowledge pertaining to screenwriting, understand the business of screenwriting and learn how to market themselves. Students will not only leave this program with skills as a screenwriter but also with a depth of knowledge in film, TV and new media production that will help them launch an exciting career.

Learning Objectives

• understand classic screenplay structure, character arcs, theme, conflict, flashbacks, voiceover, subtext, style, tone, visualization, and discipline.
• have a clear understanding of the different approaches to genre including comedy and drama.
• be able to write and perform a pitch.
• know critical concepts in film history.
• write the entire script for a one hour dramatic fiction.
• peoduce a scene from a script they have written and direct it.
• will be able to write a treatment for a feature length film.
• understand the fundamentals of film directing.
• have a clear understanding of copyright law and other legal matters pertaining to script development.

Modules Film History

Students will gain Is an in depth retrospective look at the past 100 years of Film History and its many influential films and events. The course will deal with directors, actors, writers and other important figures and events responsible for the shaping of today's film industry .

Script Analyses

Students will discover and understand effective storytelling principles by studying successful film and TV scripts (which build on successful dramatic storytelling principles) and then apply those storytelling principles to individual creative projects. This course will allow the students to understand the differences between short films and feature films; how to plan out a short film project and a master shooting script format.

Story Editing

Students will engage in constructive criticism as a process in the development of film and television scripts. In this fundamental course students will learn the role of the Story Editor in the creative process, namely how to critically analyze the scripts and development materials of others. This in turn will give them an all new perspective on their own writing. The course will focus on the collaborative process of writing and the role of notes from story editors, executives, producers, directors and actors.

Following on the course will expand on the tools needed to analyze the premise, story, characters and controlling idea of a script, and how to present concerns to the writer in the most effective way. This course will also focus on the formal written reports one might be called upon to write in the industry, and the face to face meetings that may be called for in the role of story editor, producer or executive. Students will learn how to do "Written Coverage' and how to present their notes in a organized form.

Feature Writing

This course introduces students to the unique considerations of writing for the big screen. Students will delve further into the creative process, looking at how words translate into images, and how filmic elements create a visual narrative. Focus will be on continued examination the concepts of conflict, theme, subtext, tone, dialogue and genre, as students are introduced to the traditional three act story structure for film. Portions of classic and modern films will be screened and analyzed, to reinforce the theory learned.

Building upon this the course will focus on story structure, as students learn to construct and deconstruct story in various ways. More complex structures will be examined, to give students a solid foundation in the language of feature film story. Students begin writing a first draft of their script. before rewriting and polishing their feature film script. Students will workshop their first drafts rethinking and rewriting as they receive feedback from instructors and their peers. Focus will be on the increasingly collaborative nature of feature writing today, and how to make the most of the criticism of others. The logistics of writing a commercially saleable script will be examined, as will the art of producing a compelling feature adaptation from a novel or other medium. Modern story structures for current saleable genres will be studied, including romantic comedies and thrillers.

Students will experience the challenges faced by the auteur, writer-director filmmaker. The course is heavily weighted to the practical.Towards the end of the course students will collaborate with other students to shoot selected scenes from their original feature script. Students will begin with the table read, then cast their film, and manage their actors on set as they watch their words brought to life.

Production

Learning the essential tools and rules that allow us to take on idea (the written word) and interpret it to produce a visual creation that can be fully understood and appreciated by an audience. It is learning and understanding the building blocks of visual story telling (8 Contact Hours).

Documentary Writing

This section provides practical writing skills that will benefit any student considering a career in the field of television and film documentary production. Subject areas include television writing as a collaborative process, working with researchers, executives, directors and editors, knowing and understanding your (or the broadcaster's) audience, writing outline and treatments, writing the pitch and pitching your idea, research, the art of the interview, understanding tone, writing in different voices, editing and dealing with feedback.

Writing Workshop

All students will take part in screen-writing workshops throughout the course where students will work together to develop important connections between creative expression and the writing process.

Comedy Writing

This course will introduce students to the fundamentals of sketch, talk-show, and sitcom writing, and to the required elements of a sitcom script. Students will be familiarized with the language and process of television comedy writing and rewriting, as they analyze the various formats for television comedy, and study current sitcoms (animated and live-action), talk and sketch shows. Students will be encouraged to develop their own comic voice and point-of-view, while preparing a series of monologues, desk jokes, sketches and a spec script of an existing sitcom, for their portfolio.

Drama Writing

In this area, students will be introduced to the unique style and structure of dramatic television series, with a focus on storyline and story development. Plot structure, narrative unity, characterization, dialogue, exposition and setting will all be studied in depth, as students analyze various dramatic series currently on the air, including some children's programming. The traditional four act structure for hour-long series will be introduced, as students examine the 'rules' in some of their favorite series, and the regimented way in which each functions.

Film Contract/Copyright

Students will looks at the essential provisions of copyright, including terms, coverage, exclusive rights, ownership and royalty payments. To study and discuss the various contracts (License., distribution, artistic, etc) and the terms to all these agreements.

Distribution and Marketing

To introduce Film and TV students to the business side of the industry and understand the processes required to get your project sold and shown around the world.

Finance for Film and TV

This course is designed to introduce the student to the various ways and means in which to finance a Film or Television project. It will familiarize them with the terms and workings of the film finance world and the different funds that are available to them.

New Media Writers

This course focuses on the various new forms of media as they apply to the writer/creator of interactive content. Students will learn the basic creative affordances offered by the key formats, specifically transmedia narrative, digital games, interactive cinema, installation-based media, web-based content, and mobile applications. In addition, the student will become familiar with the key business issues related to the creation of such content. Students will develop practical skills in both the creative and business sides of the development of new media concepts. Current best practices will be studied, and students will gain experience in working within standard industry processes, such as solution-based ideation and user experience design. The student will have a knowledgeable grounding in the history of new media and its key theoretical underpinnings.

Career Development for Writers

This course will focus on building a career in the film & television industry, both from a business standpoint and a creative one.

On the business side, how to obtain and/or deal with agents, lawyers and managers will be examined, as will the role of these people in the industry and one's career.

On the creative side, the type of portfolio needed for various goals will be focused on, as will the benefit of having both original and spec scripts, and the appropriate balance.