Writing for the Screen I

Catalog description

A beginning course in narrative Screenwriting emphasizing analysis, creativity, and critiquing skills necessary for the development of storytelling. COMM 346 Writing for the Screen I (3) The course is about the creative process of conceiving and fashioning films that wish to order experience into a meaningful and expressive narrative structure. It is designed for students who wish to delve more deeply into screenwriting and those wishing to develop a script for senior-level production. It continues to develop screenwriting and storytelling skills introduced in Introductory Film and Video Production and Media Writing, and seeks to further hone their creative skills as writer-filmmakers. A large part of classroom sessions will be conducted in a traditional writers workshop structure, focusing on the presentation, discussion, and critiquing of written work; other sessions will concentrate on the analysis and critiquing of professional screenplays, with particular emphasis on close-reading of individual scenes, and study of screenwriters writing about the process. Scripts produced will be limited to short-form work, target length being no more than 15 pages maximum. Such a length combines both the virtues of disciplined, sharply-focused perceptions with a length sufficient for developed narrative arcs and tonal and thematic complexity. Scripts produced in this class will be appropriate for all of the advanced single semester advanced production courses and submission as part of a student's application for the two-semester advanced production for groups course. Assessment is based on the progress of creative written work throughout the semester, as well as participation within the critiquing process, both verbally in class discussions and in critical writing submitted to each other and the instructor. Each individual will be expected to: (a.) display an understanding of the various creative elements of filmic storytelling - including visual story-telling, character, dialogue, narrative structure, and theme - and how those elements create and amplify meanings in the work; (b.) thoroughly develop original and meaningful narratives and effectively convey them cinematically; (c.) hone the specific writing and (most especially) re-writing skills needed for successful screenwriting through their application and practice; (d.) illustrate the ability to thoughtfully and constructively critique their own work as well as that of their fellow writers in the class. During the semester students will be expected to learn to write original and creative constructed pitches, treatments, and scripts.