Screenwriting via Internet2 BU English 407-02/English 695/ CSULA TVF 365Instructors: Nicholas Thurkettle and Ryan Saul (Cal State L.A.) Thomas Palakeel (Bradley) Dr. Christina Hackel (CSULA)
Tuesdays: 6:00-10:00 PM: GCC 124. This is a Blackboard class.Dr. Thomas Palakeel Office: Bradley Hall 133A.
Phone: 677-2477 Offic: TT 10:30-12:30 and by appointment.
E-mail me as often as you like: tpalakeel@yahoo.comCourse Description: This is Bradley’s third “Screenwriting via Internet2” course offered in collaboration with California State University at Los Angeles. This time we have made some adjustments in the schedule and methodology, mostly to accommodate the technological component and also to manage time. Until Cal State L.A. opens—they are on quarter system—this class will proceed as an advanced creative writing course at Bradley. During the first five sessions, we will familiarize with the basics of the structure of screenplays, and through various writing assignments we will develop a viable story idea and create a narrative treatment of the idea. When the Internet2 component kicks in and we link up with the CSULA screenwriting class, our class will open itself to the “real world” expertise of our brilliant Hollywood based instructors, Nick Thurkettle, a screenwriter and production executive, and Ryan Saul, an agent with Jim Preminger Agency, both of them recent Bradley graduates. The Intenet2 sessions will be held in GCC 124, where each student will be equipped with a monitor and microphone and the technology will enable students and instructors on the two campuses to function seamlessly in a single class environment. The class begins every Tuesday at 6:00 PM in GCC 124 and normally ends at 8:20 PM, but if necessary we will go overtime. This time Bradley students will be paired up for collaborative development of each other’s work. A typical Hollywood script is repeatedly revised and “developed” in self-less collaboration with others. Learn to collaborate. Learn to think boldly and fast. And learn to look at good movies!
Goals for the semester:
Weeks 1 and 2 – Exploring theories, trends, history, craft; exercises for discovery of story.
Week 2-3 – Exploring 4 story ideas; developing the most viable story idea, writing scenes.
Weel4-5 – Developing the “pitch” and treatment in preparation for LA instructors
Week 6-7 – LA instructor presentations on the realities of the art and the business. Discuss your story ideas with L.A. instructors. The first round of conferences with TP on the progress of screenplays will be complete by this time.
Weeks 7-8 – Writing the early segments, work-shopping, and performing scenes utilizing the 15-20 minutes right before the Internet2 hook up is established.
Week 9-10 – Refining the First Act in the context of LA instructor/guest presentations.
Week 11 – Thinking of the profession; living in LA, networking, guest lectures.
Final Exam: Present your best draft; the “pitch” will be your final exam; conference with TP on the First Act, and what next. The above schedule will include a layer of expert commentary by guest speakers. Please allow flexibility to accommodate the assignments by the LA instructors and guests.Writing tasks set for the semester:
1. Story search. Pursue several ideas seriously; write up summaries and present these possible ideas orally to class. Bring news clippings and other sources of inspiration. (5% of the grade)
2. Early on in the semester each student adopts a major film script for in-depth study and a presentation with screening of relevant scenes for class. You must provide all students with a hand-out detailing the genius of the chosen script, film, the structure, dialogue, great quotes, and your personal observations of the success of the film. (10%)
3. The chosen story idea for your screenplay in the form of a prose narrative called “treatment” and an oral summary of it called “Pitch” (6-10 pages; 10% of the grade.). The “treatment” will have at least two drafts, the final draft turned in at the end of the semester. We are trying to set up your final examination as a “pitch” session with Hollywood professionals.
4. In-class screening, discussion, assignments organized by LA instructors. (40%)
A portion of the discussion must take place on Blackboard forum.
5. A 500 word peer review of your team member’s “treatment.” (5% of the final grade)
7. Script – 30 Pages Draft 1 (and revised final draft) (30% of the final grade)Textbooks: No formal textbooks. I will be providing several handouts. You will be responsible for purchasing at least one screenplay. Library has a good collection. If the LA instructors or guest speakers require a textbooks or movies, I reserve the right to require them. Our true textbooks are going to be the great movies out there and your own screenplays and thousands of screenplays available free online. Frequent the Blackboard main page “Announcements” link.
8/31 T First day of classes for Screenwriting via Internet2. Thomas Plakeel (TP)
Introductions: Why you want to be in the movies?
Hollywood paradigm vs. “indie” films.
Write a page about your writing experiences, movies, performance.
Discussion on the Contemporary scene, Project Greenlight DVD, Excerpts from Bresson's classic "A Man Escaped", Bradley student short-film "Express Isle to Glory."
A brief demonstartion of Blackboard and various pages.
Homework: Post your absolute 10 favorite movies on Blackboard.
Bring half a dozen six story ideas generated from newspaper reports, experience, etc. Learn to write a logline. Check out Scriptsales.com website for examples and for data on recent sales.9/7 T Basics of the dramatic structure, a lecture with the aid of movie excerpts. TP
Handouts explain structural analysis; students pick a movie and prepare for a presentation on their understanding of structure. Writing assignments.
Homework: Choose your script for personal study and presentation project. This needs to be printed out, print out at least the First Act so that it serves as your model for formatting. Offer a preview of your project to the class.9/14 T Discussion of sources of story, character, genres. Screening of video screenwriter’s craft.
Homework: Gather at least 5 writing ideas from newspapers and other sources.9/21 T Each student report on the story search and focus on the chosen idea. Your choice of story is constantly tested and reconsidered. Home work: Prepare yourself to discuss assigned readings on film and craft. Blackboard materials.
9/28 T. Cal State L.A. Fall quarter classes begin. Introductions to and from the LA instructors. Internet2 session with Nick Thurkettle and Ryan Saul. A second layer of discussions on the topic of structure and the realities of studios, producers.We start linking up with CSULA via Internet2:
To participate well in the lectures of Nick Thurkettle (NT) and Ryan Saul (RS), you need to watch the following movies in advance: Se7en (for Ryan’s Act structure lectures), The Apartment, Back to the Future, and American Beauty. They reserve the right to have pop quizzes on the movies. All their assignments are worth 40% of the final grade. I will try to run the rest of the class using the first 20 minutes of each session (look for various dialogue exercises and treatment exercises) and through Blackboard Discussion Boards. Please sign up for a meeting with me in the first week of October. The actual writing of your First Act will be done in paired teams, and of course, you will work individually with me.9/28 – We meet in GCC 124. Intro, meet the lecturers, NT – A brief history of screenwriting, RS – Formatting & Terminology – The evolution of idea to outline to pitch/treatment to screenplay, and what a screenplay looks like. TP: Post an expanded version of your story idea on Blackboard treatment thread and update them whenever you have newer version.
10/5 – (NT out of town) RS – Script Analysis & Coverage; Overview of 3-Act structure (with guest Jim McGrath?). TP’s dialogue assignment #1 due. The teams finish posting comments on each other’s treatment-in-progress.
10/12 (BU on Fall Break) NT – Nurturing Ideas, personal voice, emotion/logic/rhythm for CSULA students. Your script coverage assignment is due: RS or TP will provide you a new script.
10/19 – NT – Discussion of Back to the Future; RS – Act I Students will need both Back to the Future and Se7en watched by this date. First draft of a treatment due—this will be revised throughout the semester. Sign up for conferences during this week.
10/26 – NT – Plot – Essential Dramatic Question; RS – Act II
11/2 – NT Visual Storytelling, - RS – Act III. TP’s dialogue assignment #2 due.
11/9 – NT – Discussion of American Beauty- RS – Pitch style & Technique (guests, possibly Ron Friedman and Steve Bencich, the Brother Bear writers). We’re re-configuring the lecture schedule to favor the students working on a more fully-developed pitch through the course of the whole term, so pitching advice will come later as we approach the final. TP’s dialogue assignment #3: turn in a visually intense scene; less focus on dialogue.
11/16 – NT – Character - NT – Dialogue. Turn in a second draft of the treatment incorporating new ideas for scenes, dialogue, set-up and pay-offs, new characters or situations.
11/23 – NT – Discussion of The Apartment, RS – Power structure of Hollywood. Ryan’s power structure lecture might also be handled by a guest. Dialogue assignment #4: read-through.
11/30 – NT – Editing & Re-writing, RS – Writing Strategically. Ryan will talk about genre specifics, awareness of budget; other realities of being a working writer in Hollywood. Dialogue#5: read-through.
12/7 – Pitches. This will be formal pitch session. We are trying to arrange for you to pitch your whole script to a Hollywood professional or guest speaker. Conferences available.
12/ 15. Final draft of the First Act and the fully revised treatment with a clear sense of the three acts, due in office on or before this date. No other final exams.