Department of Film and Television Studies
BA Film and Literature
BA Film Studies
Screenwriting
FI 329
AUTUMN 2016
Module Leader: Lee Thomas
[email protected]
Group A, 9:00 to 10:30 am
OR
Group B, 11:00 to 12:30 am
Summary
This module provides an intensive introduction to the craft of
screenwriting through a combination of writing, reading and viewing
exercises.
Screenwriting is learned through diligent application so we will use
regular, formative exercises along the way. From experience, students
who embrace this work tend, by far, to get the most out of the course.
The sessions draw for illustration from features, shorts and TV drama.
There will be a range of genres and a mix of mainstream and indie output.
We will not be looking at experimental works or installation driven pieces.
This is not a course on screenwriting software, or formatting, although we
will look at this briefly in WEEK 1.
The major assumption is that you have written a successful screenplay if
you can be understood at some level by an audience (cinema, festival, tv
etc) and this is why we focus on craft which can be learned. The freedom
of expression comes through the way you tell your stories and the
application of your imagination and the originality of your ideas.
Each session will typically involve looking at clips, a short formal
presentation on specific dramatic elements; group discussion, pair work,
and review of formative work carried out. You will engage with peers, and
the tutor in a semi-professional basis whereby feedback and re-writing are
an integral part of your process. The more you participate in these
sessions, and share your stories, and listen to those of others, the more
you will take away.
Your learning will be enhanced by developing ideas and then writing a
short film Step Outline (examples provided) and a short film
screenplay (15-20 mins. length). Both will be assessed.
Week by week, you will come to understand and appreciate the critical
and functional elements of a screenplay and how different screenwriting
tools can be used to dramatically craft a ‘story well told’.
No previous knowledge of scriptwriting is required, though focus and
engagement with the form is essential. Students will understand the
techniques of screenwriting and be able to apply them in their own
creative work.
Module Aims
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You will be able to identify and recognise the visual language of
dramatic construction, and tell a story through the use of
uninflected shots and action.
You will be able to demonstrate your understanding of basic
dramatic structure by writing a scenario with a defined character
(protagonist), and a goal, some obstacles (internal and external)
and a resolution.
You will be able to identify the various dramatic functions of
dialogue in a screenplay, and demonstrate this in your own short
film script.
You will demonstrate an understanding of characterisation through
action.
You will be able to identify and understand the uses and potential
abuses of foreshadowing, and its usefulness for your own short film
script.
You will be able to identify and understand how to set up, exploit
and pay off a dramatic irony or series of dramatic ironies in your
short film script.
You will develop the ability to pitch ideas clearly and to condense
and marshal ideas into a dramatic step outline form.
Timetable
Fridays: combined lecture and seminar in one, 90 minute session either
9.00-10.30 (A127) or 11.00-12.30 (A127)
A note on readings
Seminar discussions and learning will be enhanced if you keep up with the
suggested and required reading. These will be a combination of emailed
material, printed material handed out in class or books listed at the end of
this document. It is important that you come to the seminar fully
prepared and willing to participate proactively.
Key Readings will be placed in Short Loan Collection for photocopying and
overnight borrowing. Demand for materials is always high so please be
considerate to your fellow students.
Readings marked * are also available to download at:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/search/extracts/fi/fi329
WEEK BY WEEK MODULE GUIDE
(subject to minor adaption along the way)
**In addition to required reading below, screenplays and other articles
will be shared throughout the course and these are all highly
recommended reading**
Week 1: Introduction to the key functional elements of a
screenplay – writing for the screen.
Required Reading: Screenplay Format by BBC Writers Room
downloads.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scripts/screenplay.pdf
Suggested Reading: ‘On Storytelling’* (Chapter 1) pp. 1-9 +
‘Countercultural Architecture and Dramatic Structure’ (Chapter 2) pp. 957 in David Mamet On Directing (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books).
Themes: Close analysis of a film script in order to appreciate the visual
language of dramatic construction. Thinking through how to go about
telling a story visually. A look at FORMATTING and free on-line writing
software CELTX.
Week 2: Introduction to dramatic structure and the language of
screenwriting
Required Reading: Asif Kapadia’s The Sheep Thief script (copy to be
provided)
Suggested watching: Asif Kapadia’s The Sheep Thief
Themes: A look at the 3 act structure and Frank Daniel’s definition of
drama as “Somebody wants something badly, and is having difficulty
getting it”. An examination of the difference between objective and
subjective drama through clips from key films such as Frenzy (Alfred
Hitchcock, 1972), Die Hard (John McTiernan, 1988) Alien (Ridley Scott,
1979) and Ridicule (Patrice Leconte, 1996).
Week 3: Managing Conflict: a closer look at protagonist, goals,
obstacles and emotions
Themes: Building on last week’s session, we will look more closely at
Character and Task, and what design and actions make a credible and
engaging character for film. We will examine the ways in which action
defines character.
Week 4: Introduction to dialogue
Required Reading: Terri Rossi’s article on “The Task”
(http://www.wordplayer.com/columns/wp30.The.Task.html)
Themes: Using a variety of key examples from Pulp Fiction (1994), The
Doctor (1991), Festen (1998) and Breaking Bad (2008) we will consider
the multiple dramatic functions of dialogue: to convey information,
develop character, and drive drama. We will also discuss what
distinguishes good dialogue from bad and the pitfalls of over-reliance on
expository dialogue in scripts.
Week 5: Creating believable worlds: The use of foreshadowing
Required Reading: ‘Screenwriting Tools’* in Howard, David and Mabley,
Edward. The Tools of Screenwriting: A Writer’s Guide to the Craft and
Elements of a Screenplay, St Martin’s Press, NY, 1995, pp. 41-74.
Themes: A discussion of key examples taken from Alien (Ridley Scott,
1979), The Apartment (Billy Wilder, 1960), Four O’Clock (Alfred Hitchcock,
1957) in order to consider the major uses of foreshadowing in
screenplays.
Week 6: READING WEEK
There is no formal teaching this week but you are invited to make an
appointment for an individual 15-20 minute 1-2-1 Skype session with Lee
between 9.00 and 12.30.
Week 7: Managing Information and Exposition
Themes: How do you keep an audience engaged, but without overloading
them with unecessary backstory or useless, information and how do you
plant the information in a way the audience don’t feel cheated.
Using clips from Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977), The Kings Speech (Tom
Hooper, 2010), Amadeus (Milos forman, 1984) and Rio Bravo (Howard
Hawks, 1959) we will look at how to manage important dramatic or
character information ad exploit conflict so that the audience remains
engaged and connected to the drama while absorbing enough information
to keep track of what is going on.
* SUBMIT rough step outline for PEER feedback.*
Week 8: Managing Audience Point of view: Dramatic Irony
Required Reading: ‘Screenwriting Tools’* in Howard, David and Mabley,
Edward. The Tools of Screenwriting: A Writer’s Guide to the Craft and
Elements of a Screenplay, St Martins Press, NY, 1995, pp. 74-99.
Themes: Using clips from key films including The Apartment (Billy Wilder,
1960), There’s Something About Mary (Farrelly Brothers, 1998) and
Frenzy (Alfred Hitchcock, 1972), we will discuss diverse ways of setting
up, exploiting and paying off dramatic irony. We will also address the
pitfalls of the overuse of this technique.
* SUBMIT draft step outline for Tutor feedback.*
Week 9: Pitching short film ideas: the step outline.
Screenings: A series of short films including: In My Shoes (Christoph
Rohl, 1995); Wet & Dry (John Mckay, 1997); The Voorman Problem (Mark
Gill, 2012).
Themes: The focus of this session will be story-TELLING… it will include
ideas on how to structure a pitch. You will prepare a first draft of your
step outline of a short film and be prepared to share this with others in
your seminar.
We will cover how to give constructive feedback to a writer and how to
receive it from others. You will receive constructive oral feedback from the
module leader and from your peers, and will also provide your peers with
useful feedback.
Week 10: FEEDBACK, RECAP, AND NEXT STEPS…
Themes: We will use this session to explore any remaining questions
about screenwriting you may have, and also to use the time for further
feedback on your formative pieces.
We can also use the last 20-30 mins to talk more generally about the
industry and working practice as a writer in the UK. This session will come
into sharper focus as we move through the module and we respond to
what arises.
Reading List
Core Reading:
There are many and varied 'how-to' guides about the process of
screenwriting, but reading a wide range of scripts and watching a diverse
range of films will offer you a broader, more instinctive understanding of
the craft. We will be providing screenplays throughout the course for your
reference and to reinforce class sessions.
That said, these foundational texts will provide a useful technical
understanding to build on.
All titles listed on this page are stocked in the university library
and copies will be made available in the Short Loan Collection.
Howard, David and Mabley, Edward. The Tools of Screenwriting: A
Writer’s Guide to the Craft and Elements of a Screenplay, St Martin’s
Press, NY, 1995)
Mamet, David. On Directing, (ISBN: 9780140127225 Penguin Books Ltd;
Reprint edition)
Additional Reading:
These titles offer interesting and useful broader frames of reference for
your screenwriting and can also inform your developing responses to the
aesthetics of film. How you watch a film can play its part in how you write
a screenplay.
Mcdonald, Brian. Invisible Ink: A Practical Guide to Building Stories that
Resonate. Libertary Company, 2010.
Field, Syd. Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting, (Third Edition),
Bantam Doubleday Bell, 1998.
Scher, Lucy. Reading Screenplays, Creative Essentials, 2011.
Aristotle. Poetics, Penguin Classics, 1996.
Goldman, William. Adventures In The Screen Trade: A Personal View of
Hollywood, 1983.
King, Stephen. On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, Hodder & Stoughton,
2000.