Delivery Type	Delivery length / details
Lecture	Lectures 1 x 2 hour per week
Other	Workshop 1 x 3 hour per week

Delivery Type

Delivery length / details

Lecture

Lectures 1 x 2 hour per week

Other

Workshop 1 x 3 hour per week

Assessment Type	Assessment length / details	Proportion
Semester Assessment	STORY OUTLINE	70%
Semester Assessment	STORY BREAKDOWN	30%

Assessment Type

Assessment length / details

Proportion

Semester Assessment

STORY OUTLINE

70%

Semester Assessment

STORY BREAKDOWN

30%

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module, students should be able:

Show a writer's working knowledge of the purpose and effects of good storytelling;
Demonstrate an understanding of classic story structure, which forms the basis of most film and television drama;
Understand and work with the various elements necessary for the construction of dramatic narratives;
Begin to display a professional attitude towards writing for the film and television industry.

Content

Lecture 1:

Overview of the course
Expectations placed on the student
Scriptwriting as a career
Our primary focus " fiction writing" and its relevance to other forms of scriptwriting
Attitudes to writing
About creativity
Introduction to story & structure

Lecture 2:

What makes an effective story?
Importance of making choices: period, duration, location, level of conflict, etc
Obeying internal laws of probability
Three types of conflict
Commercial ideas: high concept & the hook
Brainstorming
Classical story structure: crisis, climax & resolution
Premise & controlling idea
Change: story events & story values

Lecture 3:

Scenes, beats, sequences & acts
Story arcs
Subplots
Text & subtext
Conventions of genre
Introduction to 3-act story structure

Lecture 4:

What is character?
Character: revealed by choices
Character vs. characterisation: a mismatch
Structure & character
Character arc
The protagonist
How the protagonist determines all other characters
Characters & genre

Lecture 5:

Working within genres
Distinctions of genre
A look at specific genres
Description
Dialogue vs. conversation
Purposes of dialogue

Lecture 6:

Comments about Story Breakdown assignments
Review

Lecture 7:

Introduction to Mythic Structure
Stages of The Hero's Journey

Lecture 8:

Archetypes;
Outlining

Lecture 9:

Introduction to scripts & formatting
Writing to a brief vs. original writing
Types of assignments
Career decisions
Taking a brief
Flexibility
Audiences & genre
Collaboration & rewriting
Script Editors

Lecture 10:

Review: good storytelling; brainstorming ideas; three-act story structure; character & characterisation; genre; types of scriptwriting

Parting thoughts: working in the Industry; agents: when to get them, how to get them & what they're looking for

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 foundational knowledge of, and practical experience in, the use of various writing techniques, including established story structure, as it relates to creative scriptwriting.

Skills Type	Skills details
Communication	Story Breakdowns and Outlines 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 Outline is how well students have improved the work from Breakdown 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.
Subject Specific Skills	The module culminates in an assessed story outline which is expected to be of industry standard. A particular skill relating to screenwriting is, therefore, inherent in the module.
Team work	Students will have the opportunity to access and give feedback on each other's work.

Skills Type

Skills details

Communication

Story Breakdowns and Outlines 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 Outline is how well students have improved the work from Breakdown 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.

Subject Specific Skills

The module culminates in an assessed story outline which is expected to be of industry standard. A particular skill relating to screenwriting is, therefore, inherent in the module.

Team work

Students will have the opportunity to access and give feedback on each other's work.

Course Delivery

Assessment

Learning Outcomes

Content

Brief description

Aims

Module Skills

Reading List

Notes