SCREEN 714 : Advanced Screenwriting: Drama

Arts

2020 Semester Two (1205) (30 POINTS)

Course Prescription

Focuses on screenplay writing for feature films. Through a combination of lectures and workshops, students will take individual feature-length projects from pitch to step outline. The course emphasises plot, structure, character, and dialogue. Students will also gain skills in analysing screenplays and writing treatments.

Course Overview

This course is an introduction to feature film screenwriting (SCREEN 714) and development (SCREEN 715). Taught concurrently with a combination of lectures and workshops, it builds upon the foundations of SCREEN 705. Three times a semester, the last hour of the four-hour lecture is exclusively dedicated to script developers. All other times the lecture material applies to both writers and developers. As you work on your own original feature (writers) and analyse others’ work (developers), a better sense of structure, plot, characters, dialogue, genre, and nuance must emerge. 

This course will also enable you to understand and explore the dynamics of constructive feedback and rewriting, known in the film industry as the ‘development process.’ Each writer will be assigned one or more script developer. Developers will read writers' work at various assigned stages and profess honest and critical feedback. This symbiotic relationship between writer and developer almost always leads to improved writing. Developers’ skills of both identifying and communicating problems with the screenplay will progressively improve. The writer and developer are both learning their craft so while writers can lean on developers to give them feedback, they cannot hold the developer responsible for not pointing out all the issues with their story.

Course Requirements

Prerequisite: SCREEN 705 or equivalent Restriction: FTVMS 759, SCREEN 706

Capabilities Developed in this Course

Capability 1: Disciplinary Knowledge and Practice
Capability 2: Critical Thinking
Capability 3: Solution Seeking
Capability 4: Communication and Engagement
Capability 5: Independence and Integrity
Capability 6: Social and Environmental Responsibilities

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
  1. Create a feature-length scripted story (Capability 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5.1, 5.2, 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3)
  2. Develop skills for dramatic screenplay writing for feature/long-form films (Capability 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 5.1, 5.2, 6.1 and 6.3)
  3. Understand the relationship between screenplay writers and developers in the film and media industries (Capability 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 6.2 and 6.3)
  4. Develop an understanding of the local and international funding opportunities for feature films (Capability 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 3.1, 4.1 and 4.3)

Assessments

Assessment Type Percentage Classification
Long Screenplay Treatment 20% Individual Coursework
First Act Step Outline 20% Individual Coursework
Full Step Outline of Screenplay + 3 scenes 50% Individual Coursework
Assignments for Credit 10% Individual Coursework

Workload Expectations

This course is a standard 30-point course and students are expected to spend 20 hours per week working on it. 

For this course, each week you can expect 3 hours of lecture with discussion and 1 hour of workshop. You are expected to prepare and submit work for the course in a timely fashion, including draft assignments for credit, in order to meet the demands of the development process for a screenplay project.

Digital Resources

Course materials are made available in a learning and collaboration tool called Canvas which also includes reading lists and lecture recordings (where available).

Please remember that the recording of any class on a personal device requires the permission of the instructor.

Academic Integrity

The University of Auckland will not tolerate cheating, or assisting others to cheat, and views cheating in coursework as a serious academic offence. The work that a student submits for grading must be the student's own work, reflecting their learning. Where work from other sources is used, it must be properly acknowledged and referenced. This requirement also applies to sources on the internet. A student's assessed work may be reviewed against online source material using computerised detection mechanisms.

Inclusive Learning

All students are asked to discuss any impairment related requirements privately, face to face and/or in written form with the course coordinator, lecturer or tutor.

Student Disability Services also provides support for students with a wide range of impairments, both visible and invisible, to succeed and excel at the University. For more information and contact details, please visit the Student Disability Services’ website at http://disability.auckland.ac.nz

Well-being always comes first
We all go through tough times during the semester, or see our friends struggling. There is lots of help out there - for more information, look at this Canvas page (https://canvas.auckland.ac.nz/courses/33894), which has links to various support services in the University and the wider community.

Special Circumstances

If your ability to complete assessed coursework is affected by illness or other personal circumstances outside of your control, contact a member of teaching staff as soon as possible before the assessment is due.

If your personal circumstances significantly affect your performance, or preparation, for an exam or eligible written test, refer to the University’s aegrotat or compassionate consideration page: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/academic-information/exams-and-final-results/during-exams/aegrotat-and-compassionate-consideration.html.

This should be done as soon as possible and no later than seven days after the affected test or exam date.

Student Feedback

At the end of every semester students will be invited to give feedback on the course and teaching through a tool called SET or Qualtrics. The lecturers and course co-ordinators will consider all feedback and respond with summaries and actions.

Your feedback helps teachers to improve the course and its delivery for future students.

Class Representatives in each class can take feedback to the department and faculty staff-student consultative committees.

Student Charter and Responsibilities

The Student Charter assumes and acknowledges that students are active participants in the learning process and that they have responsibilities to the institution and the international community of scholars. The University expects that students will act at all times in a way that demonstrates respect for the rights of other students and staff so that the learning environment is both safe and productive. For further information visit Student Charter (https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/student-charter.html).

Disclaimer

Elements of this outline may be subject to change. The latest information about the course will be available for enrolled students in Canvas.

In this course you may be asked to submit your coursework assessments digitally. The University reserves the right to conduct scheduled tests and examinations for this course online or through the use of computers or other electronic devices. Where tests or examinations are conducted online remote invigilation arrangements may be used. The final decision on the completion mode for a test or examination, and remote invigilation arrangements where applicable, will be advised to students at least 10 days prior to the scheduled date of the assessment, or in the case of an examination when the examination timetable is published.

Published on 06/07/2020 12:21 p.m.