SCREEN 715

Directed Study


Please note: this is archived course information from 2022 for SCREEN 715.

Description

This class is an introduction to feature film development. With a combination of lectures and workshops, it builds on the foundations of SCREEN 705 or SCREEN 700. As you work on your own original feature and analyse each other’s work, a better sense of structure, plot, characters, dialogue, genre and nuance must emerge. This course will also enable you to understand and explore the dynamics of constructive feedback and rewriting, also known in the film industry as the "development process". If your focus is feature writing, please see SCREEN 714.

Each developer will be assigned one or more script writers. Developers will read writers' work at various assigned stages and profess honest feedback. This symbiotic relationship between writer and developer almost always leads to improved writing and improved analytical skills. Developers also get better at identifying and articulating problems with the screenplay. The writer and developer are both learning their craft so while writers can lean on developers to give them feedback, they cannot hold the developer responsible for not pointing out all the issues with their story.  

Course Objectives

  • Principles of dramatic feature writing
  • Focus on story analysis
  • Collaboration with script writer

Availability 2022

Semester 2

Lecturer(s)

Lecturer(s) Dr Shuchi Kothari

Points

SCREEN 715: 30 points