U64022 SCREENWRITING ADVANCED WEEK 1 MODULE CONTENT AND COURSEWORK REQUIREMENTS APPROACH TO NARRATIVES

TODAY Module handbook Content, syllabus Schedule Coursework and assessment Narratives and storytelling 4 narrative models Homework for wk2

WEB PAGE Updated handbook Lecture PPTs All other relevant info and materials (but NO transcripts of lectures, clips, screenshots, images or any other copyrighted materials). Check out weekly No VLE Wiki page, for schedule updates, deadlines U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level Week 1 - Module contents & requirements

TIMETABLE Lectures/Seminars/Tutorials: Wednesday 9am-12noon in wks 1,5,8,10, in wks 2,3,4, in wk 7 9am-2pm in wk 11 Check weekly schedule in handbook Lectures/Seminars: Room RH G.30 Tutorials (during seminar slot): Digital Video Editing Suite in RH G.23 (next to G.30) Week 1 - Module contents & requirements U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

CONTACTS Room RHB 1.02, Headington Hill Hall campus Office hours: Wednesdays 12-1 pm Tel. (48)3168 (only available during office hours) Dr Alison Kahn Technical support: Govind Chandran Room RH G.32 (next to G30), Mon-Fri (no Tue), 2-4pm Week 1 - Module contents & requirements U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

MODULE Level and status: Level 5 Advanced double module acceptable/recommended for FT and alternative compulsory for FM. Film Studies Field students only. Prerequisites You MUST have passed modules U64001 and U64006 before taking this module. Prerequisite for U64027 Film Production Management and Practice. Attendance required for all class activities. Sign in/out Week 1 - Module contents & requirements U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

MODULE CONTENT / SYLLABUS Storytelling techniques in feature films and shorter formats; Constituent elements of story design in both classical and complex narratives; Analytical study of screenplays, by watching a selection of films also discussed in class; Various genres and narrative paradigms (romantic comedy, crime thriller/noir); Exercises and problem-solving situations; Hands-on experience from professional screenwriter; Work at own script to develop creative writing skills; Scriptwriting software – standards required by the film and TV industry at professional level. Week 1 - Module contents & requirements U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

READING & VIEWING Week 1 - Module contents & requirements No set readings, but weekly set viewings. Weekly homework in preparation of following week session: repeated viewing and close analysis of the films. Obtain DVDs and watch films. All: Shrek 2 Se7en When Harry Met Sally Sets:Four Weddings and a Funeral Notting Hill Pretty Woman U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

SCREENPLAYS Week 1 - Module contents & requirements Posted on module Web page Library Web sites: (free scripts and screenplays, but sometimes just transcripts from finished films or shooting scripts) U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

IT TOOLS AND SOFTWARE Week 1 - Module contents & requirements Final Draft 8 (in G23) – for tutorials and final assignment Book G23 through Govind Chandran or Adrian Pawley Software for purchase: (PC and Mac) (Movie Magic Screenwriter for Mac) (Mac) VLCMediaPlayer Grab screenshots from DVDs for homework/seminar exercises. Any media player or VLCMediaPlayer for free at: Instructions on module Web page U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

ASSESSMENT Week 1 - Module contents & requirements 100% coursework 1)Written assignment (60%) a)2-page story outline (10%) b)Feature film Screenplay (Act 1, 30 pp. + outline) – (50%) 2) Pitch (10%) 3) In-class test – (30%) IMPORTANT – ALL 3 components mandatory or Technical Fail U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

COURSEWORK 1a – STORY OUTLINE (10%) 2-page story outline 3 acts Narrative steps (paragraphs) Seminar in wk4: guidelines. Genres – Romantic comedy or thriller noir. DEADLINE – 2 November (wk6), start of class. Nov 2 version assessed May be amended for script Week 1 - Module contents & requirements U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

COURSEWORK 1b - SCREENPLAY (50%) Feature film Screenplay (Act 1): first act of a screenplay for a feature film story developed from story outline. Industry standards (Final Draft, PDF) Wordcount – 30 pages (+/- 2 pp.) in script format. DEADLINE – Wed 7 December (wk11), during pitch Week 1 - Module contents & requirements U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

COURSEWORK 2 - PITCH Tutorials in wks 5 and 6, guidelines 10’ pitch DATE – 7 December (wk 11), by appointment. Videotaped Week 1 - Module contents & requirements U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

COURSEWORK 3 – IN-CLASS TEST 30 questions All topics covered in class, all films/TV series episodes Instructions in handbook DATE – Wed 14 Dec (wk12) Week 1 - Module contents & requirements U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

WRITTEN COURSEWORK SUBMISSION Week 1 - Module contents & requirements Printed copy of ALL your written coursework (i.e. story outline and screenplay) by relevant deadlines. You must ALSO send an electronic copy (outline in DOC, script in PDF format) on the same day of submission, to be used for Turnitin checks. Via to specifying “Coursework submission” as subject and including clear details of individual students or all group You MUST keep my receipt notification as a record of your submission at least until publication of grades on PIP. U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

ASSESSMENT - REGULATIONS Week 1 - Module contents & requirements OTHER REQUIREMENTS No late submission of coursework or non-participation to the in- class test will be accepted without a medical certificate. Always via AMO (Academic Management Office). Medical Resit following semester. Any extenuating circumstance other than medical reasons must be clearly motivated, documented and processed according to the University’s “New Regulations for the Consideration of Mitigating Circumstances” (Academic Regulations: Appendix ew). ew U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

PENALTIES Week 1 - Module contents & requirements Non attendance: 2% per missed session Non attendance at script doctoring session: 10% Late submission of story outline: 10% Non submission of either printed or electronic version of coursework: 10% Incorrect wordcount of script: 3% (of 50%) (per page) Non submission of any piece of written coursework: Technical Fail (or lowest mark where applicable) Non attendance at pitch: Technical Fail (or lowest mark where applicable) Non attendance at test: Technical Fail (or lowest mark where applicable) Note – Deadlines MUST be met. No extensions will be granted for Coursework 1b except for documented medical reasons or acceptable mitigating circumstances (see Regulations on following pages). Any late submission will be regarded as non-submission. U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

APPENDIXES TO HANDBOOK Week 1 - Module contents & requirements Edit suites, booking procedures and regulations (via Govind Chandran) Instructions for in-class test Assessed elements and sample assessment sheet FAQs Feedback Module statement (to be signed and returned in week 2) U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

EXCHANGE PROGRAMMES CALLING ALL UNDERGRADUATES With over 100 partner universities worldwide in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Europe, Hong Kong, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Thailand, Uruguay and the United States you have the opportunity to study abroad for up to two semesters. Interested in finding out more? Come to: EXCHANGES HOT DESK Monday, 10 th October Tuesday, 11 th October Wednesday, 12 th October Thursday, 13 th October pm Main Campus Reception, Gipsy Lane or check out the Exchanges web page: universities worldwide

END OF NARRATIVES? From Paul Schrader's Screenwriting Masterclass, 3 July 2009, ScreenLit: Festival of Film, TV & Writing, Nottingham. A screenwriter creates stories Many complains about the exhaustion of narrative. Limited number of storylines? Christopher Booker  only 7 basic plots Robert McKee  6 Rudyard Kipling  69 Krevolin  15 narrative steps John Truby  22 narrative steps Others say  20, 36

END OF NARRATIVES? STORYTELLING Prehistory and Ancient times  from ceremony to ritual Middle Ages and Renaissance  commercialized (invention of print and mass theatre) 19 th Century  big business (e.g. think of Dickens) 20 th Century  international/global industry Today  ubiquitous, proliferation of media Does this mean that it is harder to be original today than it was 50 years ago? Well, yes.

END OF NARRATIVES? Today's viewers live in a biosphere of narrative. Twenty-four-seven, multimedia, all the time. Take a media-aware person of, say, 30 years of age. Middle Ages  images in a lifetime Last 100 years Great-grandfather = 2,500 hours of audio- visual narrative (plot). Grandfather = 10,000 hours. Father = 20,000 hours. You (in 2009) = 35,000 hours of audio-visual narrative

END OF NARRATIVES? That's 35,000 hours of plot. Movies, television shows, cartoons, streaming video, YouTube clips, social networks, etc. Storylines long and short: teen comedies, soap operas, love stories, crime shows, historical dramas, special-effects extravaganzas, horror, porn, highbrow, lowbrow, etc.

END OF NARRATIVES? So... What's a writer to do? Movies were the art form of the 20th century. The traditional concept of movies, a projected image in a dark room of viewers, feels increasingly old. Narrative will mutate and endure. 1) Work increasingly outside the confines of traditional storytelling, for one thing. 2) Know the confines of traditional storytelling.

GENRES AND FORMATS Romantic comedies When Harry Met Sally (USA 1989, by Nora Ephron) plus: Four weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, OR Pretty Woman Thriller/ noir Se7en (USA 1995, screenplay by Andrew Kevin Walter) Short formats CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (USA 2002 – episode 2.13 ‘Identity Crisis’, 2002, screenplay by Anthony E. Zuiker, Ann Donahue) Friends (USA 1995 – episode 2:14 ‘The One with the Prom Video’, 2002, screenplay by Alexa Junge)

4 MODELS Field’s 3-act paradigm (Aristotle) Vogler’s 12-step hero’s journey 7-step pattern (comedy) Krevolin’s 15-step pattern (crime) Short formats (TV) Simple TO complex TO very complex narratives

THE HERO’S JOURNEY Week 1 U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

THE HERO’S JOURNEY  Ordinary world VS Special world  fish out of water, familiar VS alien  Call to adventure  problem, challenge, adventure to undertake  can no longer remain in the comfort of the Ordinary World  establishes the goal (and path of action to be taken)  Action, sci-fi, epic: quest/mission to restore balance of the universe  Revenge plots: offense against natural order of things, wrong to be set right  Detective stories: crime to solve to right wrongs  Romantic comedies: first encounter with special but (initially) annoying someone U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

THE HERO’S JOURNEY  Refusing the call: reluctance, fear of the unknown, back-story  Detective story: turn down the case  Romantic comedy: pain of a previous relationship  Mentor (wise old man): symbolic value, parent/child, teacher/student, doctor/patient, god/man bond  Function: to prepare the hero to face the challenge (advice, guidance, equipment, a kick in the pants)  Eventually the hero will have to face the unknown alone  Crossing the 1st threshold: decision to act  the story takes off (the ships sails, the spaceship soars off, the romance begins, etc.) U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

THE HERO’S JOURNEY  Tests, allies and enemies  Learn the rules of the Special World  Importance of locations and of secondary characters  Approach to the inmost cave: i.e. dangerous place or situation, where the object of the quest is hidden  The Ordeal: direct confrontation with fears/antagonistic force  “black moment”  hero at the bottom  hold tension and suspense  live or die, win or lose, succeed or give up  Romantic comedies 3 acts: boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl  Action 3 acts: hero accept the challenge, hero almost dies, hero wins the challenge  Crime ?  Reward: object, love (reconciliation), greater knowledge, justice/order restored  hero becomes a “hero” U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

THE HERO’S JOURNEY  The road back (to the Ordinary World): deal with the consequences of confronting the vengeful forces  chase scenes  Resurrection: second life-and-death moment, final exam, purification, hero is reborn (new with new insights)  Return with the elixir: treasure, love, knowledge, crime punished U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

EXERCISE FOR WK 2 -Watch and analyse Shrek 2 plot and apply Vogler’s hero’s journey model (12 steps) -Grab screenshots for every step to use as slideshow/storyboard; write down your analysis of the 12-step pattern. Save on pendrive and bring to class -Be ready to discuss your findings in class at next week’s seminar U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level

WHY SHREK? -Shrek (2001) (Elliot, Rossio, Stillman, Schuman, Cameron, Miller, Vernon) -Budget: $60M -Gross: $455M -Won Oscar. Another 29 wins & 44 nominations -Shrek 2 (2004) (Adamson, Stillman, Weiss, Stem, Miller) -Budget: $150M -Gross: $880M -Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 34 nominations -Shrek the Third (2007) (Miller, Adamson, Price, Seaman, Warner, Gohrn, Zack, Gould, Klausner, Cameron, Porter, Smith) -Budget: $160M -Gross: $790M -Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 34 nominations U64022 Screenwriting: Advanced Level