Film Story Analysis:

Catalog description

This text analysis course is designed to provide a platform for an in-depth study of how the story of a film is presented, what choices are made by the author, how information is offered or withheld and what effect this has on the drama. This class will be an “anthology” of different works, each selected for a different aspect of storytelling, exploring how the stylistic choices, themes, and dramatic devices reveal themselves within the body of work. The course is designed to better help students organize their own narratives by analyzing the techniques employed by various screenwriters in constructing their screenplays. A selection of films will be screened and discussed in terms of continuity of theme; delineation of plot, development of structure, protagonist’s story purpose, dialogue as action and character. After each screening, the instructor will lead a group discussion and analysis of the film, focusing further on the techniques, conventions and devices employed by the screenwriter to both tell a good story and satisfy the demands of the audience.