AustLit
Degrees
Description
This subject offers postgraduate screenwriting students an opportunity to investigate new and diverse storytelling strategies for both the big and the small screen. It investigates contemporary experiments in narrative structure, new storytelling possibilities opened up by digital technology, adaptation and visual storytelling. Students can write short- or long-form drama or dramatised documentary, and either develop a new idea or continue developing an existing screenplay.
Subject objectives/outcomes
At the completion of this subject, students are expected to be able to:
a. Write a clear and concise industry standard, script development proposal that engages the reader and maps out an achievable work plan for the semester.
b. Engage critically and creatively with their own work and the work of their colleagues.
c. Investigate a variety of strategies in order to develop the visual and structural aspects of their screenplay.
d. Understand how the production process and performance may change the written text.
Assessment
Assessment item 1: The development proposal
Objective(s): a, b, c
Weighting: 40%
Task: Students write an industry standard script development proposal for their creative work this semester. This should include: a one-paragraph synopsis, approximately two pages of writer's notes detailing why you have chosen this idea, the themes, visual style, genre, audience, what stage the project is at and what its strengths and weaknesses are, a detailed outline, step outline or treatment of the project (length to be negotiated with the lecturer) and a concise work plan for the rest of semester.
Assessment criteria:
* Accomplishment in writing an industry standard development proposal that is clear and engaging.
* Articulation of visual style and themes.
* Clarity in communicating the scope and depth of the project.
* Critical engagement with the work and achievability of work plan.
Assessment item 2: The project
Objective(s): b, c, d
Weighting: 60%
Task: To research and develop a screenplay taking into account the Development Proposal submitted earlier in semester. A short film should be a second draft and written in screenplay format. A long form drama may contain script, step outline and/or treatment and should contain the key emotional scene that was workshopped with the actors.
Assessment criteria:
* Creative engagement with the work.
* Development of the cinematic and visual storytelling aspects of the work.
* Understanding of scene and sequence structure and achievement in writing a key emotional scene.
* Integration of critical feedback.
* Adherence to script format.
Minimum requirements
Students are expected to read the subject outline to ensure they are familiar with the subject requirements. Since class discussion and participation in activities form an integral part of this subject, you are expected to attend, arrive punctually and actively participate in classes. If you experience difficulties meeting this requirement, please contact your lecturer. Students who have a reason for extended absence (e.g., illness) may be required to complete additional work to ensure they achieve the subject objectives.
Attendance is particularly important in this subject because it is based on a collaborative approach which involves essential workshopping and interchange of ideas. Students who attend fewer than ten classes are advised that their final work will not be assessed and that they are likely to fail the subject.
Supplementary Texts
Aronson, A (2000) Scriptwriting Updated, AFTRS Allen and Unwin, Australia,
Brady, J (1981) The Craft of the Screenwriter interviews with six celebrated screenwriters, Simon and Schuster, New York.
Bachelard, G (1958) The Poetics of Space, Beacon Press, Boston.
Benjamin, W (1970) Illuminations, Jonathan Cape Ltd, Great Britain.
Dancyger, K (2001) Global Scriptwriting, Focal Press, USA..
Egoyan. A (1993) Speaking Parts, Coach House Press, Toronto..
Engel, J (1995) Screenwriters on Screenwriting, MJF Books New York, USA,
Horton, A.S. Magretta, J (editors), (1981) Modern European Filmmakers and the Art of Adaptation, Frederick Ungar Publishing Co, USA.
Kaufman, C (1998) Being John Malkovich, photoreproduction of screenplay.
Lynch,D (1999) Mulholland Drive, photoreproduction of screenplay.
McGilligan, P (ed) (1991) Backstory 1 & 2 Interviews with screenwriters, University of California Press, Berkeley.
McKee, R (1999) Story - substance, structure, style and the principles of screenwriting, Methuen, Great Britain.
McQuarrie. C (1994) The Usual Suspects, photoreproduction of screenplay.
Ondaatje, M (2002) The Conversations Walter Murch and the art of editing film, Bloomsbury Publishing, Great Britain.
Peary. G And Shatzkin,R. (1978)The Modern American Novel and the Movies, Frederick Ungar Publishing Co, New York, USA.
Seger, L (1992) The Art of Adaptation turning fact into fiction, H. Holt and Co, New York.
Stok, D (ed) (1993) Kieslowski on Kieslowski, Faber and Faber, Great Britain.
Stuart, A (1999) The War Zone - Introduction by Tim Roth, Film Four books, Macmillan Publishers Ltd, Great Britain.
Tarkovsky, A (1987) Sculpting in Time; reflections on the cinema, New York, Alfred A Knopf, Austin: University of Texas, USA.
Ulmer, G (1994) The Logic of Invention, John Hopkins University Press.
Wees, W.C. (1992) Light Moving in Time - studies in the visual aesthetics of avant -garde film, University of California Press, Oxford, England. 1992
Wolff, J. and K. Cox, K (1993) (complied by) Top Secrets Screenwriting, Lone Eagle Pub Co Los Angeles, USA. 1993
Serials:
Projections Filmmakers on Filmmaking
Storyline The Journal of the Australian Writers Guild
Written By The Journal of the American Writers Guild West.
Other Details
Levels:
Postgraduate
Coordinator:
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