Description

This subject offers postgraduate students the opportunity to develop advanced skills in writing for the screen. Students can develop short or long-form drama or animation. Students develop an idea through industry-accepted stages of development and formats and through workshops with professional actors. Students gain skills in research, visualisation, structuring, storytelling and character development. Students also improve their ability to read, develop and script-edit their own work and the work of their colleagues.

Subject objectives/outcomes

At the conclusion of this subject students are expected to be able to:

a. Develop a screenplay through researching an idea, pitching, writing an outline and/or step outline and then developing a screenplay.

b. Understand the three-act dramatic structure as well as alternative approaches to dramatic structure.

c. Present their work in industry standard screenplay formats

d. Understand scene and sequence structure.

e. Understand subtext and sub plots.

f. Critique and script edit their own work and that of their colleagues.

Assessment

Assessment Item 1: Script/Step Outline. 40%; Assessment Item 2: The Screenplay. 60%;

Supplementary Texts

Aronson, L 2000 Scriptwriting Updated: New and Conventional Ways of Writing for the Screen. Australian Film Television & Radio School ; Allen & Unwin.

Dancyger, K and Rush, J (1995) Alternative Scriptwriting Boston : Focal Press

Dancyger, K 2001 Global Scriptwriting Focal press

Hillis R, Cole 1983-1988 The complete guide to standard script formats CMC Publishing.

Halperin, M 2000 Writing the Second Act Building Conflict & Tension in Your Film Script. Studio City : Michael Wiese Productions

Ondaatje, M 2002 The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing film. Bloomsbury Press.

Lucey, P 1996 Story Sense: Writing story and script for feature films and television McGraw-Hill.

McKee, R 1999 Story - Substance, structure and style and the principals of screenwriting Methuen

Seger, L 1992 The Art of Adaptation: Turning Fact and Fiction into Film. An Owl Book Henry Holt and Company New York 1992

Seger, L 1987 Making A Good Script Great Dodd, Mead and Company New York

Stempel,T 1982 Screenwriting Tantivy Press

Stok, D ed 1993 Kieslowski on Kieslowski Faber and Faber

Thompson, D and Christi, I ed (1989) Scorsese on Scorsese Faber and Faber

Trottier, D 1998 The Screenwriters Bible Silman James Press Los Angeles

Truffaut, F 1984 Hitchcock Dialogue between Truffaut and Hitchcock New York Simon and Schuster

Ward, V 1990 Edge Of The Earth - Stories and Images from the Antipodes Heinemann Reed

Wolitzer Fitzgerald, M 1999 Did It: The Writer's Guide to Mastering the Screenplay Penguin

Other Details

Offered in: 2009
Current Campus: City campus
Levels: Postgraduate
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