Screenwriting For Beginners Course Outline Week 1: The Basics: CHARACTER •What is a screenplay? What makes writing for the screen different to writing a novel or short story? •Importance of film genres -- from RomCom and Historical to Horror, Comedy and Adventure. •What to avoid in Screenwriting. •Basics of screenwriting including screenplay format. Screenplay Characters and how to create them
Week 2: CHARACTER VS PLOT Characters and Plot are totally dependent upon each other. Without an interesting character, your story will fall flat and without a good story your hero or heroine will have nowhere to go. The course will outline the core ingredients and best approach to create memorable screen characters within a plausible and engaging story. Topics covered this week will include: •Writing the screen story. •Writing a memorable hero and heroine. •Creating villains and establishing conflict. •The Function of Secondary characters in screen storytelling. •Showing the External World of the characters: The importance of thinking Visually. •Writing memorable Scenes. Backstory and how to use it.
Week 3: The Three Act Structure The Three Act Structure is the basic working model for 95 per cent of movies. This lesson will cover the basics of a storytelling structure that has been the foundation of nearly all successful films since movies began. No Screenplay can work without conflict. The hero or Heroine wants something badly or passionately and he or she must overcome obstacles if they are to achieve their goal. the more difficult the obstacles the more engaging the story. Areas covered will include: •Three Act Structure and How to Use It. •Importance of Plot Points. •Setting up the story and characters in Act One. •Internal conflicts for your characters. •External conflicts affecting your characters. •Laws of Conflict Narrative technique
Week 4: Dialogue Dialogue needs to be believable as well as memorable. Topics covered this week will include: •Writing Dialogue for key scenes. •When Less is More. How to avoid the pitfalls of over elaboration and cliche. •Importance of Sub-text. •Emotional Writing and Dialogue. Dialogue Exercises
Week 5: RomComs and other Genres This lesson will focus on the art of Romcoms writing and analyse successful examples of the genre such as 'When Harry Met Sally', Four Weddings and a Funeral' and 'The Diary of Bridget Jones'. Topics covered this week will include: •Creating Chemistry between characters. •The Secrets of RomCom. •Movie Genre Audiences and their expectations •Character Flaws. •.Opposites Attract
Week 6: THE BIG IDEA, TREATMENTS and LOGLINES Learn how to write an effective prose treatment for your feature film or TV drama. Also, how to reduce your story to the bare essentials of a logline i.e. twenty five words or less. Topics to be covered this week will include: •Resolving your screenplay •Themes in your screenplay •Importance of a good Logline What is a Treatment and why is it important? |
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