The course explores the art and craft of writing a feature-length, narrative screenplay. Participants present three story ideas to the class, develop one concept into a detailed treatment, and write the first act of the script in professional screenplay form. The focus is on rewriting, with regular presentations of outlines and scripts to fellow writers. The emphasis is on story structure, character development, and screenplay form.

Students explore the art and craft of developing and writing a feature-length, narrative screenplay. Each writer pitches story ideas, develops a plot outline and completes a portion of their screenplay. All students workshop outlines and scenes in class. There are weekly writing assignments that guide the writer forward with their own project and highlight the rewriting process. Lecture topics include narrative feature concept development, analysis of a variety of story structures, plot outlining, character development, openings, scene structure, dialogue, screenplay form/style. Prerequisites: No screenwriting experience needed. Consent of instructor required. The class is open to juniors and seniors. Preference is given to Film & Media majors. A writing sample is required (a creative piece such as short story, poem, screenplay, etc. or an academic essay). Interested students should fill out an application form at https://forms.gle/Two5R4G8yD8ZKTQd8 by Friday July 19. Students considered for enrollment may be contacted by the instructor for a short zoom interview. Applicants will be notified of enrollment by Friday August 2. Note - there is no need to place yourself on the waitlist for this course. Instead, due to the limited space in the class, enroll in a back up course. Thank you!

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills