Alternative Screenwriting

Catalog description

This course explores unconventional storytelling and the screenwriters who have reshaped story norms and possibilities. Over the course of the semester, we will deconstruct critically acclaimed Hollywood outliers, indie and international films, and on occasion, unconventional television shows that have cumulatively pushed the boundaries of what a story can be. Directors are often hailed as the auteurs of a film, but in many cases what was most engaging about a film was already on the page. We will explore how these unorthodox stories deviate from traditional narrative structure and deconstruct how and why these deviations were successful in sustaining and engaging mass audiences. We will examine what techniques were used and how character, plot, dialogue, time, theme, pacing, and much more have been reimagined to bring audiences provocative new work.