Postgraduate MA Screenwriting - Curriculum
The course is designed to accommodate students in full time work, and classes take place one evening a week 6pm-9pm over four 11-week taught terms. After taught sessions finish in March, students will complete a full length screenplay for submission at the beginning of June.
Following the final assessment students will be invited to submit short scripts. The best of these will be performed by BA (Hons) Acting students and filmed and edited by the ArtsEd film department for use by students on both programmes as showreel dvds.
Term One – January to March
The study of archetypes, combined with analysis of the 12-stage models of Vogler and the more complex 24-beat model of Snyder, enables students to create stories that will resonate with modern audiences and stimulate strong emotional reactions.
The module is divided into three components:
Analysis of story structure
Students are introduced to the structural theories of writers such as Vogler, Snyder and McKee. They will then apply these theories to the analysis of the structure of a selection of films, in group discussions and in individual written assignments.
The socio-political function of story
A tutor led group analysis and discussion of a selection of films, focusing on the social, political and historical context; the combination of factors underlying the films’ commercial success; and the impact they have on the audience.
Storytelling practice
A tutor-led analysis of treatments and log lines. Students will be given source material from which to create an outline for a screenplay in a genre chosen by the tutor. They will work in groups to write and present one-page treatments from this outline.
Assessment
After the Analysis of Story Structure component students will each be allocated a film, and will write an analysis of it (one page, 225-250 words) based on the popular film theories of practitioners like Vogler, Snyder and McKee. Students will be given verbal feedback on their written work.
Over the Easter break each student will be required to write a one-page treatment (no more than 250 words) from their own original idea.
Term Two – April to June
The Art and Craft of Screenwriting
The successful screenplay has a unique story arc, original characters and innovative subtext. The combination of expressive visual imagery, effective action and realistic dialogue, creates memorable and stimulating screenplays which stand the test of time.
Discussions will include:
• Dialogue versus action. Which has the biggest impact on the subconscious?
• Character driven or plot driven. An examination of pace, direction and style
• The story arc. Examining the range and possibilities in the basic structure of a screenplay
• The pacing and intensity of climax
• Story - form not formula
The module is divided into two components, Screenings and Analysis and Treatments, Breakdowns, the First Ten Pages.
Screenings and Analysis
A selection of films will be screened and the screenplays will be used as a basis
for discussion and analysis under the following headings:
• opening image
• central image
• theme stated
• the first ten pages
• positive and negative progressions
• multiple plot lines
• story construction
• climactic confrontations
• the ‘B’ story
• ‘dark night of the soul’
• transitions
• breaking to three
• finale
• final image
Treatments, Breakdowns, the First Ten Pages
With tutor and peer support, students will analyse selected script breakdowns and screenplays. They will work in groups to develop ideas into script breakdowns. Over the summer break each student will develop the original treatment they submitted at the beginning of term 2, adapting it to producer’s notes given in tutorial, and will create a detailed script breakdown of not more than six pages together with the first ten pages of script.
Assessment
Over the summer break, students will write a detailed script breakdown of not more than 6 pages, together with the first ten pages of the script. The breakdown will be based on the treatment submitted at the beginning of term 2, and will incorporate the tutor’s modifications given in tutorial.
Term Three – September to November
Writing for Television
Students will take part in masterclasses with current television writers and producers. They will write scripts for single episodes of a variety of television genres, which may include soap, sit-com, single dramas or serials, and will write an original pilot episode.
Assessment
Over the Christmas break students will write a pilot episode for a series in one of the genres studied in this module. The pilot episode should be no longer than 30 pages of dialogue (average 200-250 words per page) for submission at the beginning of term 4.
Term Four – January to March
The Art of Creating Marketable Scripts
Only a profound understanding of the economic and industrial context of film and television production, distribution and exhibition, together with a detailed awareness of the role of the writer and the script within that context, will enable the screenwriter to bring his or her artistic vision to realisation.
A series of lectures, masterclasses and professional practice workshops in the art of marketing television scripts and screenplays, and the role of the screenwriter in the context of film and television production, will prepare students for the commercial realities of the business, and give them practical experience of pitching their work to industry professionals.
Assessment
Students will pitch an original idea for a screenplay half way through the term. They will not be assessed on this first pitch but will be given feedback. They will then submit a one-page treatment and a six-page script breakdown, which they will present as a pitch at the end of term to a panel of industry professionals.
Term Five – April to June
During this term of self-directed study, students will choose a theme and/or genre, apply appropriate research, and write an original screenplay. Students will be offered tutorial support but there will be no taught sessions in this final term.
Assessment
Students will submit an original screenplay of between 90-110 pages (average 200-250 words per page).
