Description
The goal of this course will be to develop, workshop, and write a short screenplay—approximately 15 pages. Students will pitch stories in an open roundtable process that will provide an opportunity for them to understand the potential and feasibility of their ideas. The course will explore the elements of screenwriting—including dramatic story structure, character development through action (behavior), dialogue, visual storytelling, and point of view—in order to expand and deepen the writer's narrative craft. We will schedule table readings of the work in progress, followed by critiques and discussions of the work. The course will culminate in a table read of the completed screenplay with classmates as actors in each role, leading to a final production-ready draft. For conference, students may choose to develop another idea for a short script or begin work on a feature screenplay. Those who need extra attention on their in-class projects may also work towards its completion as part of their conference work.