29 August 2004
instructor information
Professor: Kathleen Fitzpatrick
Office: Crookshank 203
Phone: 71496
E-mail: kfitzpatrick at pomona dot edu
Office Hours: T 1.15-4.00
course description
In this course, we will focus intensively on the craft of screenwriting, with the goal that each of you will produce by the end of the semester a complete, polished, flawless, 90- to 120-page original screenplay. In the process of developing your scripts, we'll focus together on story structure, dialogue, character development, and cinematic methods. We will, throughout, both explore and problematize the conventions of Hollywood film. These conventions, despite all the multiplex evidence to the contrary, do not prevent the creation of art; rather, the art lies in figuring out how to make what appears to be a rigid structure work for instead of against you.
In order to understand those conventions in a way thorough enough to use them skillfully, we'll spend some time analyzing films, both classic and contemporary, taking them apart in order to figure out how they were put together. You'll also do a number of writing exercises intended to help you imagine your own script and build your skills as a writer.
texts
All required books are available at Huntley Bookstore.
David Trottier, The Screenwriter's Bible
Robert McKee, Story
Linda Seger, Creating Unforgettable Characters
Michael Halperin, Writing the Second Act
Recommended:
Syd Field, Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting
William Goldman, Adventures in the Screen Trade
Richard Walters, The Art, Craft, and Business of Film and Television Writing
Many, many screenplays are available online at Script-o-rama.com; you should read as many as you can get your hands on, and particularly those for which we're watching the film. (Films incidentally, should be watched on your own; there is no scheduled screening time for this class. What you can't find on the network [ahem] can be checked out from the Media Studies library.)
There is also a software requirement for this class: The English department owns a limited number of copies of Final Draft, which you should use to write your script. You can check one of these copies out from the department office for the semester. At the end of the semester, you must return the software intact, in the original packaging, with the instruction guide; failure to do so will result in your Pomona account being charged a $100 replacement fee.
course requirements
Your requirements are few; take them seriously. Being a workshop, what you get out of this class will derive in great measure from what you put into it.
Attendance, preparedness, and participation. As our work here will revolve around discussion, your participation and preparedness are indispensable, and will be graded. You will be permitted one unexcused absence; each additional unexcused absence lowers your final grade one step. Moreover, chronic late arrivals will not be tolerated; for every three late arrivals, one unexcused absence will accrue. Finally, be aware that presence without preparedness does not count. Do the reading; do the writing; do it on time. (10%)
Workshop responses. Each of you will be required to respond in writing to the work of your peers at several stages of the semester. I'll distribute more information about these responses soon, but I warn you in advance: take them seriously. I will. (20%)
Brief writing assignments. Throughout the semester, you will be given a number of brief writing assignments; some are listed on this syllabus, and others may be added as called for. Some will be directed toward the analysis of the films we watch and screenplays we read. Some will be preliminary stages in producing your own screenplay. None of these will be graded individually, but all are required, and they will receive a cumulative grade at the end of the semester. (20%)
Screenplay. This will comprise by far the bulk of the work you do this semester; no later than the last week of class, you will turn in a revised version of a workshopped full-length screenplay in flawless screenplay format. There are a few intermediate deadlines along the way, at which point you'll turn in pieces of the script. A full-length screenplay is a huge undertaking; in order to get this done, you must immediately establish a writing schedule that allows you to produce 10 or so pages per week. (Seriously: start immediately.) Please note, too, that I'm serious about the flawless screenplay format thing: errors in format, spelling, grammar, etc., etc., etc., will lower your final grade. Scripts with egregious formatting or typographic errors will be returned unread, and will incur late penalties until resubmitted. (50%)
Discussion Question: discussion space
I hope that we'll use this space for two purposes: to continue discussions that are left incomplete in class, and to begin discussions that you intend to continue as part of your in-class presentations. Any time you'd like me to post a discussion question for you, simply email it to me; to respond to a discussion in progress, click on "comments" below the entry.
