Gwybodaeth Modiwlau

Module Identifier
TF34300
Module Title
ADVANCED SCRIPTWRITING
Academic Year
2008/2009
Co-ordinator
Terence F Bailey
Semester
Semester 1
Mutually Exclusive
FT32330 Sgriptio Uwch
Pre-Requisite
TF21220

Course Delivery

Delivery Type Delivery length / details
Lecture 10 x 2 hour lectures
Other Workshop 1 x 3 hour at times to be advised
 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment STORY OUTLINE  30%
Semester Assessment CRITICAL APPRAISAL  20%
Semester Assessment FIRST ACT SCRIPT  50%
Supplementary Assessment A completed or revised story outline  30%
Supplementary Assessment A completed or revised critical appraisal (one or both of the above may have been submitted previously)  20%
Supplementary Assessment First Act Script based on the most recent outline and critical appraisal  50%

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module, students should be able to.
1. Demonstrate a detailed working knowledge of the story structure, and the ability to choose from and adapt various established structures in both outline and script
2. Demonstrate an ability to explain and critique one's own choices
3. Show an ability to explain and critique one's own choices
4. Show an ability to write concise and effective description and dialogue
5. Understand the requirements placed upon the writer in the industry
6. Display the professional attitude required of a working scriptwriter

Content

Lecture 1
  • Overview of TF34330
  • Notes on TF21220 - the importance of ideas, and other things to remember
  • Review of 3-act Structure
  • Notes on Archetypes and the Hero's Journey
  • The four tools to hold audience attention
  • Introduction to the Sequence approach.
Lecture 2
  • How sequences work: an overview
  • Sequences and the 3-act Structure
  • Sequence A: exposition and point of attack
  • Sequence B: posing the dramatic question
  • Film analysis number one
Lecture 3
  • Sequence C: first attempts;
  • Sequence D: desperate measures, leading to the first culmination;
  • Sequence E: facing the new complication;
  • Sequence F: answering the dramatic question; the second culmination;
  • Film analysis number two.
Lecture 4
  • Sequence G: Unexpected consequences, a new angle
  • Sequence H: resolution and coda
  • Film analysis 3
Lecture 5
  • Outlining techniques
  • Notes on character
  • Character and characterization: introducing the "core quality"
Lecture 6
  • Review of assignments;
  • Scripting: description and image systems
  • Dialogue.
Lecture 7
  • Introduction to comedy writing;
  • What's so funny? Why we laugh
  • Jokes
  • Writing sketches
  • Sitcom: the characters
  • Sitcom structure
  • Developing sitcom ideas
  • The sitcom script
  • Working in comedy: the market
Lecture 8
  • Introduction to soaps & serials
  • Settings
  • Characters
  • Storylines
  • Writing to a storyline
  • Working in serial television: the market.
Lecture 9
  • Writing to a brief
  • Where freelances find work
  • Broadcast writing
  • Non-broadcast writing: training and corporate
  • Pitching
Lecture 10
  • Script consultation and review
  • Agents
  • Final thoughts
Seminars

Seminar 1: Evaluating Structure. Discussion of how various structures can be combined, with reference to students' ideas to date. A list of questions help students to evaluate possible structural elements. Students divide into pairs to critique each other's choices of elements.
Seminar 2: Outline Analysis. Students to arrive with a completed first draft outline. Students are led through a checklist of points to help evaluate their own and others' outlines. Students divide into pairs to offer critiques.
Seminar 3: Script analysis. Students to arrive with a completed first draft Act One script. Students are led through a checklist of points to help evaluate their own and others' scripts, followed by peer critiques in pairs.

Brief description

Students will learn the skills necessary to create ideas suitable for development into screenplays, to structure professional story breakdowns, to create credible characters, to construct effective scenes and to write outlines to industry standard.

Aims

This module provides students with advanced knowledge of, and practical experience in, the use of various writing techniques, including established story structure, as it relates to creative scriptwriting.

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Communication All assessed assignments require a high level of written communication. Lectures include segments on how to communicate effectively in these media, and the overall assessment of a piece includes assessments on how well the concept has been communicated.
Improving own Learning and Performance Students are expected to drive their own learning and to develop their own unique creative approaches. Part of the assessment for the Script is how well students have improved the work from Outline stage.
Information Technology Not assessed, although it is the Department's expectation that students present their work in word processed format.
Personal Development and Career planning Career planning is not assessed. However, it will be developed through discussion of the expectations the media places on a writer, what types of approaches to the media are construed to be professional, and what type of work is most likely to enhance the student's writing prospects
Problem solving This element is not assessed directly. However, all scriptwriting involves problem solving: what type of character will best convey a particular theme? What plot devices will most effectively propel the story to the next plot point? The effectiveness with which the author has solved problems is evident in the quality of the finished product.
Research skills The element is not assessed directly. However most scripts involve some form of specialized knowledge that the student must research independently
Team work Students will have the opportunity to access and give feedback on each other's work

Reading List

Recommended Text
Field, Syd (1979) Screenplay Dell Primo search Field, Syd (1984) The Screenwriter's Workbook Dell Primo search Friedmann, Julian (1995) How to make money scriptwriting Boxtree Primo search Gulino, Paul Joseph (2004) Screenwriting: The Sequence Approach Continuum Primo search McKee, Robert (1999) Story Methuen Primo search Vogler, Christopher (1992) The Writer's Journey Boxtree Primo search Wolff, Jurgen (1988) Sucessful Sitcom Writing St Martins Press Primo search

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 6