MA Script Writing

This core module of the MA programme is split into two sections: script development and treatment in the Autumn Term and step outline and dialogue script in the Spring and Summer Terms. During the programme, the student will write a Treatment for a Feature Film or Television Drama Series (in the Autumn Term), which the student will later develop into a Step Outline (During the Christmas Holidays and Spring Term) and First Draft Script (During the Easter Holidays and Summer Term).
These modules have two sides to them. On the one hand, are the industry standard approaches to script structure development, formatting and presentation. On the other, there is the individual writer’s creative process and finding that much sought-after quality of their “distinctive voice.” The modules deal with the industry approaches through seminars using contributions from industry professionals, and address the creative process through workshops that include peer-to-peer feedback.

The reflection essay is part of the script development module which draws on ideas and perspectives that students learn throughout the programme.

It fulfils three functions:

1. It is a reflection by the student upon their creative processes and inspirations.
2. It features an argument which draws upon theoretical ideas taken from one of the MA theory courses as specified by the module handbook.
3. It moves beyond reflection to allow the student to develop a 'road map' for the further development of the long-form script once the degree has been completed.

Ellin Stein

This course develops the creative skills students bring to script writing through the completion of their first writing assignment over the first term. Students start the course with several premises for short films and then select one to develop to final draft during the module.

The module also emphasises analysing what makes a short script effective by looking at screenplays as much as finished films. We will consider the different requirements of shorts and features, how shorts can offer more latitude in terms of formal experimentation, genre and tone, and the useful discipline imposed by the short format’s limitations.

The course will develop students’ script editing skills, along with their ability to listen to notes, through ongoing workshops in which they will provide feedback on each other’s work. In addition, we will consider avenues for distribution and exhibition, and what role shorts play in a screenwriter’s career development.

All student scripts on this module receive a rehearsed reading from professional actors prior to completion of the script. The Department runs an annual script competition for which scripts completed on this course are eligible. Two scripts are then selected to go into production as part of the undergraduate film production course and another two for MA Film Production.

Reading:

Aronson, Linda The 21st Century Screenplay (Allen & Unwin, 2010) (Good exploration of alternatives to the three-act structure and unlocking character through action)

Cooper, Patricia and Dancyger, Ken Writing the Short Film, (Focal Press 2004) (based on NYU course, has interesting short screenplays)

Cowgill, Linda J Writing Short Films - Structure & Content for Screenwriters (Lone Eagle Publishing Co., 2005) (good practical guide with exercises and sample screenplay)

Egri, Laglos The Art of Creative Writing (Kensington Publishing Corp., 2001) (especially good on motivations and how they shape character. Former teacher of Woody Allen)

Goldman, William Adventures in the Screen Trade (Abacus, 1996) (Still the most perceptive book about the screenwriter’s life in Hollywood, and the funniest)

Mackendrick, A, On Film-making, (Faber and Faber, 2006) McGilligan, P, Backstory 2, Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1940s and 1950s (Univ. of California Press, 1997)

McGilligan, P, Backstory 3, Interviews with Screenwriters of the '60s (Univ. of California Press, 1997)

Parker, P, The Art and Science of Screenwriting (Oxford Intellect, 1997)

Phillips, W Writing Short Scripts (Syracuse University Press, 1991) (comprehensive overview of short films)

Yorke, John, Into the Woods: How Stories and Why We Tell Them (Penguin, 2013) (good overview of structure from one of UK’s best television producers and story editors)

Photography has been understood as the founding innovation for all that we have in our visual world today. But what was that innovation? To bring a world in motion to a halt? The first verifiable evidence that there is such a thing as the past? The start of an all-out mania to get hold of an object or an experience with an image? When these static images were aligned in a sequence and run through a projector, we called them movies.

This module will examine the values and meanings once attached to photography and film as regards their relationship to objective reality, to history and to the part they play for our sense of intimacy in being in the world. Much of photography and film theory have required a second thought these days, as the way we make, look at, and more importantly value images has changed significantly many canonical texts. This module will question the differences between still and moving images and assess their significance in today’s visual social world.

This module will reflect on filmmakers who were/are also theorists: their
film work has an edifying relationship to their theory, which offers a unique
opportunity to see theory in action. Moreover, the intimacy such artists have
with the image-making process makes for passionate writing and strong,
compelling ideas. Not coincidently, these are important ideas with currency
for the problems one faces in both making and understanding moving images.
The course will address the work of five theorists drawing from a large pool
that includes Maya Deren, Stan Brakhage, Jean Epstein, Germaine Dulac,
Sergei Eisenstein, Hollis Frampton, Hito Steyerl, Robert Bresson, Raul Ruiz,
and Bela Balazs.

Reading List:

Brakhage, Stan (1963) Metaphors on Vision, special issue of Film Culture,
n.30, Fall; extract republished in Sitney, P Adams (ed) (1978), The Avant-Garde
Film: A Reader of Theory and Criticism, Anthology Film Archives, New York.
Bresson, Robert (1986), Notes on the Cinematographer, Quartet Books
Limited.
Deren, Maya (2001) Maya Deren and the American Avant-Garde, ed. Bill
Nichols, University of California Press.
Eisenstein, Film Form: Essays in Film Theory, ed and trans Jay Leyda, Harcourt
Brace Janovich New York.
Epstein, Jean. (1981) ‘Bonjour Cinema and other writings’ trans. Tom Milne,
Afterimage no. 10
Epstein, Jean. (Spring, 1977) ‘Magnification and other writings’, October 3.
Espinosa, Julia García (2000), ‘For an Imperfect Cinema’ trans Julianne Burton,
Jump Cut, no. 20, 1979, pp. 24-26; reprinted in Robert Stam and Toby Miller
(eds) (2000), Film and Theory: An Anthology, Blackwell, New York, 287-297
http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC20folder/ImperfectCinema.
html
Frampton, Hollis (2009), On the Camera Arts and Consecutive Matters, ed.
Bruce Jenkins, MIT Press.
Gidal, Peter (1989), Materialist Film, Routledge, London.
Gidal, Peter (ed) (1976). Structural Film Anthology. BFI, London.
Ruiz, Raul (1995), The Poetics of Cinema trans. Brian Holmes, Paris Editions
Dis Voir.
Sarah Keller and Jason N. Paul (eds) Jean Epstein Critical Essays and New
Translations, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. 287-310.
Solanas, Fernando and Octavio Getino (1976), ‘Towards a Third Cinema’
in Bill Nichols (ed), Movies and Methods, Volume One, University
of California Press, Berkeley, 44-64; also available online at http://
documentaryisneverneutral.com/words/camasgun.html
Steryerl, Hito (no date) The Wretched of the Screen, Sternberg Press, e-flux
journal
Steyerl Hito (November, 2009) ‘In defense of the poor image’ e-flux journal
Vertov, Dziga (1984) Kino Eye trans. Kevin O’Brien, University of California
Press.

Can film and digital media bring about social and political change? How do such films work, and what models are there for how filmmakers might relate to their subjects? Further, how are such films funded and distributed - how does their reach differ from conventional cinema and broadcast products?

This module will introduce you to activist filmmaking and digital media for social change. The module will be relevant for you both if your interest is primarily theoretical, and/or practical - for instance if you are interested in working in this area.

The module will give you a grounding in current debates in the field and, as well as exposing you to a range of contemporary projects and practices, some of the history of activist media.

Amongst the sessions and topics covered will be current film representations of activism, the history of activist and alternative media, a workshop in participatory media techniques, and case study sessions and in contemporary web-based projects.

The module will help you gain a practical and critical knowledge of contemporary approaches to activist media practice across different platforms, as well as the history of activist/community/participatory media.

This module considers the relationship of documentary to re-presenting ‘reality’ and its various ‘truth claims.’ It explores documentary production in its changing social and historical contexts, and across its different distribution platforms, and deals with current debates about documentary ethics and aesthetics. Taught by a range of lecturers (mainly) from the Media & Communications Department, it encompasses both Anglophone and some international documentary traditions, and historical examples from the early Soviet avant-garde to contemporary documentary.

This module introduces you to the fundamentals of sound recording.

In the first five weeks you will learn recording, manipulation and editing techniques that are appropriate to the design of sound for narrative film and television.

For the remainder of the term you undertake a practical project with tutorial support. You present your completed project to the class in the final week and evaluate your work in a short reflective essay.

This module introduces you to the fundamentals of video camera operation. Over 5 practical hands-on workshop sessions you learn how to effectively operate a video camera. A new topic is introduced each week and you spend the majority of classroom time developing operational skills and completing hands-on assignments.

For the remainder of the term, you work in pairs on two shooting exercises. In one exercise, you will perform the role of camera operator, and on the other you will perform the role of focus puller. Tutorial support is provided and you will participate in a group screening of completed film exercises in the final week.

This practice module gives an overview of what a film producer needs to understand about the development, production and distribution of film content.

Working in teams, the module enables you to develop a critical view of the different roles of a producer. The development skills include understanding the principles of script analysis and script editing; developing a project from source material; collaboration with writers and directors; pitching; negotiating the deal; publicity and marketing; sales, distribution and exhibition; co-production; financing; legal and financial.

The production skills include budgeting and scheduling; managing the production; post-production techniques; editing, sound and music. The module will provide an introduction and context for the development of a ‘reflective practitioner’ approach to the producing process.

Visual Storytelling invites you to make an engaging visual sequence consisting of between 8-12 still images. Inspired by artist-photographer Duane Michals, the module challenges you to create a sequence of still images that conveys a story, an idea, an impulse or an emotional tone that develops between the opening frame and the end-frame. And beyond.

Module Premise:

1. Only the impossible is worth attempting. Only the invisible is worth photographing.

2. The cut (between frames) is the primary locus of meaning in sequential art.

3. Arranging your images to prioritise meaning in the cuts (not vice-versa) is the path to engaging visual story content.

Your sequence may be linear or non-linear and may be classically structured, circular or experimental in nature.

Tanya Nash

This module will look at adapting stories for a variety of platforms – film,
television, the web and gaming. Each week will focus on a specific case study. Students will discover how to assess the components of the source material: its concept, its characters and its story potential for both a marketplace and a specific platform.

The adaption of ideas, stories and characters is happening continually across a range of screen media and platforms. Understanding adaptation is key to working successfully in media industries today. This module will look at adapting stories for a variety of platforms – film, television, the web and gaming. Each week will focus on a specific case study. Students will discover how to assess the components of the source material: its concept, its characters and its story potential for both a marketplace and a specific platform.

The process of adaptation also involves the skills of script editing and rewriting. And this will also help students to edit and rewrite their own original material.

Reading List:

Aronson, Linda (2010) The 21st Century Screenplay, Allen and Unwin (Ch 19, pp155 - 158)

Seger, Linda (1992) The Art of Adaptation: Turning fact and fiction into film
(Henry Holt & Co)

Krevolin, Ricard W (2003) How to Adapt Anything into a screenplay, John
Wiley and Sons

Hutcheon, Linda (2012), A Theory of Adaptation, Routledge

This module is a practical course in writing audio/radio drama by adaptation, dramatisation, and original dramatic writing based on an idea that could be documentary, life experience or other artistic inspiration.

The module explores the common aspects of sound narrative in different practice media and critically investigates to an advanced standard how audio-genic techniques transfer intertextually between radio, prose, theatre, and film.

This module explores broad questions including what narratives are, how they differ from non-narratives, what forms they may take and what functions they serve. It also looks at how elements of narrative creation and screen production contribute to the intellectual and emotional impact of various screen narrative examples.

The speakers include a mix of practitioners who work in the screen industries and theorists who study narrative in traditional, alternative, cross-cultural and new media forms. Examples will be drawn from a range of fiction and non-fiction sources, depending on the speakers’ own interests, and include short films, documentary and feature films, tv drama, and online media.