1. MODULE HANDBOOK UPDATES
Schedule wk 11 (Thu 26 April)
11am-12.30pm Guest speaker (Roland Moore)
pm Module evaluation
Seminar assessment
- 25% Class presentation
- Any active contribution to class discussion will be considered when assessing general learning outcomes

2. U64022 SCREENWRITING ADVANCED
WEEK 6
COMPLEX NARRATIVES Case study: Mulholland Drive
SHORT FORMATS (1):
SIT-COMS
Case study: Friends
SCRIPT FORMATS

3. COMPLEX NARRATIVES Case studies: Pulp Fiction Memento
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- Mulholland Drive

4. MULHOLLAND DRIVE ? Blonde Girl’s dream – Who is she?
No exposition until late into third section
Protagonist introduced 17’ into the film
Asleep
(dream)
Awake
(reality) ? 1
2 (1h53’)
3 (25’)
(2’30’) 4

5. MULHOLLAND DRIVE Jitterbug dance
- Solid color blue screen, no wall, no floor
Superimposed images of dancers
Further superimposed images (Blonde Girl and parents?)
- Overexposed, out of focus, jittery
STYLISED, UNREALISTIC NARRATION...
POV shot, s’one heading towards bed
Handheld, moving camera
O.S. breathing sound
Selective focus on red sheets and pillow
Superimposed images (glimpse): link to Blonde Girl and parents
Closing in on pillow, fade to black: character’s loss of consciousness (falls asleep)
SEQUENCE MOTIVATED BY CHARACTER’S PSYCHOLOGY
Are these dreams, fantasies, memories ???? 5

6. MULHOLLAND DRIVE CREDIT SEQUENCE
Closing in on pillow, fade to black: character’s loss of consciousness (falls asleep)  DREAM STARTS
Road sign shimmering (effect motivated by cause: i.e. Cadillac headlamps flashing on and off in next shot)
ROAD SIGN = FILM TITLE (Credit sequence started) 
Film ‘born from’ blackness (dream state)
Dream length = 1h53’
Section 2 as a focused chain of events  when does the dream stop?
Lynch is equating the film to the dream state of a character (still unknown) in the film.
But because 6

7. MULHOLLAND DRIVE DREAM, SECTION 1 (DARK-HAIRED WOMAN)
Cadillac, Dark Woman threatened, car crash
Narrative disequilibrium (disturbance)
- Who is this woman?
- Why is she being threatened?
- How has the crash affected her? (amnesia)
Stumbles into apartment (whose?)
Falls asleep (dream within dream – Winkie’s) 7

8. MULHOLLAND DRIVE First meeting two protagonists (turning point)
Betty: blonde, smiling, positive
Rita: dark-haired, mysterious, passive
- Naked, injured, amnesiac  vulnerable
- Identity made-up
- Often falls asleep (whose dreams?) 8

9. LINEAR-TRADITIONAL NARRATIVE 3-act pattern  cause/effect logic
MULHOLLAND DRIVE
LINEAR-TRADITIONAL NARRATIVE
3-act pattern  cause/effect logic
MULHOLLAND DRIVE (complex narrative)
Own pattern/logic (?) 9

10. MULHOLLAND DRIVE Cadillac on Mullholland Dr. scenes ? Asleep (dream)
Awake
(reality) ?
No Acts. No traditional model.
Complex but THERE IS a pattern: 3 parts, relations between large-scale portions?
And there are turning points! LET’s start from these 1
2 (1h53’)
3 (25’)
(2’30’) 10

11. MULHOLLAND DRIVE PATTERN  REPETITIONS W/DIFFERENCES
Important events in Section 2 are repeated in Section 3
Different characters (played by same actors) repeat same actions/event/piece of dialogue in different context
- Significant and mysterious in Section 2
- Mundane and ordinary in Section 3
Car crash; Winkie’s; Coco (landlady, Adam’s mother); mysterious cowboy; Diane’s rundown apartment; lovemaking; Silencio Club; blue key; etc.
MEANING (through spectator’s mental activity)
Priming in Sections 1 and 2
Link up repetitions and compare differences (Section 3) 11

12. MULHOLLAND DRIVE DREAM REALITY Naomi Watts Betty (+) Diane Selwin (--)
Laura Herring Rita (-) Camilla Rhodes (+)
Diane’s dream  idealized image of her lover (Camilla) and of herself, with reversed power dynamics
Section 3 exposition: jitterbug contest, inheritance, audition, Camilla, lovers and paranoia
Dream and repetition pattern to tell story of thwarted dream 12

13. MULHOLLAND DRIVE - MAP 13

14. SHORT FORMAT - STRUCTURE
TV FORMATS (series)
Long = 1-hour slot, 42 minutes ca. (4-5 acts, up to 7)
Short = ½-hour slot, 22 minutes ca. (2 acts)
+ teasers and epilogue/coda
TV terminology  Act

15. 22-minutes format, Sit-com
FRIENDS
Set characters
Chandler, Joey, Ross, Rachel, Monica and Phoebe
Recurring minor characters: the Gellers, Gunther, Janice, Carol and Susan, Ben, Estelle
Other characters: boyfriends and girlfriends, other friends and relatives (the Bings, the Tribbianis), employers, etc.
Set locations
Monica and Rachel’s apartment
Joey and Chandler’s apartment
Central Perk
Ross’s and Phoebe’s apartments (less frequent)
Workplaces (may change over time)
Others 15

16. 22-minutes format, Sit-com
FRIENDS
Stories
Ongoing major narrative threads (Rachel and Ross, Ross’s ex wives, Monica and Chandler, Chandler and Janice, Chandler and Joey, Rachel and Monica, Joey and Rachel, Rachel’s pregnancy and daughter, Phoebe’s brother’s children, Phoebe and David/Mike)
One-off stories (episodes)

17. FRIENDS – EPISODE STRUCTURE#
PLOT A (Chandler & Joey)
Plot B (Monica)
Plot C (Rachel & Ross)
Location
Transitions 1
J pays back C and gives him a “best buds” bracelet - 1’40”
Boys apartment
CREDITS - 0’50” 2
M’s job interview – 1’10”
Kitchen 3
M, Ross & P see C’s bracelet and make fun
M took a shower. Ross suggests borrowing money from parents
Ross takes a phone call for Rachel and worries - 2’25”
Girls apartment
NY street 4
The Gellers bring boxes(*). Rachel arrives too – 1’05” 5
C’s bracelet the women-repeller. J gets upset – 1’30”
Central Perk
NY Skyline 6
Ross “saves” Rachel from a guy. They argue over the lobsters thing: “no us” – 2’40”
FADE OUT
11’20” 7
J and C argue. C has lost the bracelet – 1’20” 8
Ross helps M to ask money to the Gellers – 1’20” 9
C bought a new bracelet. Now they have two: best buds again – 1’15” 10
Ross lends money to M
Rachel arrives: cold w/Ross.
* The prom video in the boxes: Ross does not want to watch it, Ross in love w/Rachel, Rachel realizes that, they kiss – 5’55”
+ Gellers’ house
21’10” 11
Epilogue – M watches the tape, the Gellers in bed – 0’30”
END CREDITS – 0’10”

18. FRIENDS – EPISODE STRUCTURE
Total duration 21’50”
2 credit sequences: 1’ in total
Actual story duration: 20’50” in total
11 scenes(ie. 10 scenes incl. teaser + tag) (but scenes 3 and 10 include multiple narrative threads each)
3 narrative threads (plots A, B and C)
14 narrative units
6 main characters + Gellers + Guy at cafè + Hot girl + Chip&Roy
3 usual locations (INT.): girls’ apartment, boys’ apartment, Central Perk
2 other locations (INT.): kitchen, Gellers’ house

19. FRIENDS – EPISODE STRUCTURE
Avg duration per scene: 2’ ca.
PLOT A  5 narr. units: 6’45”
(Chandler + Joey) + Phoebe
friendship + incomprehension = gags (funny)
PLOT B  5 narr. units: 4’35”
(Monica + Gellers) + Ross
Work/money + family = everyday life (serious)
PLOT C  3 narr. units: 9’40”
(Ross + Rach) + Phoebe
Love  anticlimax / expectations (emotions)

20. SIT-COM - DIALOGUE Fixed structure Set characters Set locations
Where is creativity?  DIALOGUE
How many lines per episode?
How many lines per character?
How many laughters?
How many ooohs?

21. SIT-COM - DIALOGUE Fixed structure Set characters Set locations
Where is creativity?  DIALOGUE
How many lines per episode?
How many lines per character?
How many laughters? per episode
How many ooohs?

22. SIT-COM - DIALOGUE Fixed structure Set characters Set locations
Where is creativity?  DIALOGUE
How many lines per episode?
How many lines per character?
How many laughters? per season
How many ooohs?

23. SIT-COM - DIALOGUE Fixed structure Set characters Set locations
Where is creativity?  DIALOGUE
How many lines per episode?
How many lines per character?
How many laughters? total (over 10 yrs)
How many ooohs?

24. SCRIPT FORMATS Samples Feature films TV series
- US sit-com (30-min slot)
- UK 1-hour slot

25. SCREENPLAY FORMAT/STANDARDS
HEADINGS (scenes, shots, slug lines)
BUSINESS (action, direction, description)
DIALOGUE
TRANSITIONS
PUNCTUATION
DRAFTS & SPECIAL PAGES
U Screenwriting: Advanced Level

26. SCREENPLAY FORMAT – SCRIPT ELEMENTS
SCENE HEADING / SLUG LINE (all caps)
Scene intro (location) EXT./INT.
Description (location)
DAY/NIGHT (DAWN/SUNSET
Info for production manager
Production plan
Production design (sets)
Photography
ACTION / BUSINESS
Description of action, people, places
Single-spaced
Margin-to-margin (not justified)
Sound effects capitalized

27. SCREENPLAY FORMAT – SCRIPT ELEMENTS
DIALOGUE
Character’s name (capitalized)
Character’s extension (O.S. or V.O.)
Parentheticals (stage direction; keep to a minimum, only if essential, e.g. reactions)
Dialogue lines: single-spaced
TABS (from left margin)
Action / Business = 0
Dialogue = 2
Parentheticals = 3
Character’s name (before dialogue) = 4
TRANSITIONS
Only if/when necessary
...