framingham state university screenwriting comm … · screenwriting . comm 312 summer 2016 . prof....

Framingham State University

S Y L L A B U S

Screenwriting

COMM 312 Summer 2016

Prof. Robert Johnson, Jr.

Office: TBD

Email: [email protected]

Hours: 2 hours/day, Mon-Fri

Credit: 4

Teaching Hours: 60 Disclaimer: This syllabus is intended to give the student guidance in what may be covered in the course and will be followed as closely as possible. However, the professor reserves the right to modify, supplement and make changes as needs arise.

Course description: This is an advanced course that examines the craft and the business of screenwriting. The course explores the theoretical and the practical perspectives involved in creating, developing, and marketing scripts based on original ideas or those adapted from existing stories. Students study classic as well as modern approaches to the process of writing for feature-length as well as short film. Screenings, group discussions and critiques, along with selected readings supplement the learning process as students progress toward completion of semester-long writing projects.

Recommended Text The Screenwriter's Bible, 5th Edition by David Trottier

Supplemental Texts Story: Substance, Structure, Style and Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee The Poetics by Aristotle Writing the Romantic Comedy by Billy Mernit Aristotle’s Poetics for Screenwriters by Michael Tierno Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect by Claudia Johnson

Multiple Scripts including: “A Simple Plan” by Scott Smith

“Lifeboat” by Jo Swerling

“State and Main” by David Mamet

“The Maltese Falcon” by John Houston

“Will Penny” by Thomas Gries

“Underworld” by Danny McBride

“The Brother From Another Planet” by John Sayles

“White Oleander” by Mary Agnes Donoghue

“The Big Lebowski” by Joel and Ethan Coen

“Seven” by Andrew Kevin Walker”

Additional Readings on Reserve in my office:

“F*ck Jay Leno” by Casey Boyd & John Wells

“Untitled” by Cassandra Mueller & Adam Cook

“Persephone” by Stephanie Crugnola & John Hurley

Most of the scripts students will study in this course are available on the course website or are downloadable at many sites on the Internet. By logging onto the course website and/or using those resources, you are acknowledging that these scripts (as well as those handed out in class) are the personal property of the Instructor, and that they may not be copied, duplicated, and/or distributed in any fashion without the express written permission of the Instructor and the copyright holder. (The penalty for violating this policy ranges from receiving a failing grade for the related assignment, to receiving a failing grade for the entire course, and possible legal action by the copyright holder.) ALL students are expected to turn in original work and should be familiar with the University’s policies and penalties on plagiarism, as they will be applied to violators without exception. (See the Ram handbook.)

Collaboration vs. Plagiarism: By definition writing for film and television production is a collaborative enterprise.

In this course you will be expected to work in teams on various assignments where collaboration (and creativity) are required. Tests, however, are a different matter. As we are in an academic environment where scholarship and intellectual inquiry are paramount, you MAY NOT collaborate in any way, shape, or form with another student on quizzes, tests, and exams.

Course Policies: Attendance is mandatory. Students have two, unexcused absences anytime during the semester. Starting with the third unexcused absence, the final course grade lowered by one full step. With each subsequent unexcused absence, the final course grade will continue to be lowered by one full step. In the event you are absent for religious observances or holidays, you will be given one class meeting (per absence) to complete written assignments or tests.

Class begins five minutes after the scheduled time. Anyone arriving after this grace period will be considered 'late'. Two 'lates' count as one absence. In the event you know you will be late for class CALL well before the class meeting hour and leave a message on my office phone--be sure to tell me who you are somewhere in your message. Beware--leaving a message 5 to 15 minutes before class begins will not excuse your lateness. Should it be necessary for you to leave class early, please seat yourself as near to the door as possible so as to minimize any disturbance to the class, films, or lectures. As with late excuses, you must alert the instructor before the beginning of class of your need to leave. Students whose work hours, athletic schedules, and other activities force repeated early departure, or late arrival must re-schedule these activities so they don’t conflict with the published course schedule. Repeated early departures will be counted against your final course grade.

The use of cell phones is prohibited during class meeting hours. Please set your phone to vibrate or turn it off altogether.

All paperwork must using Microsoft Word. They must also be spelled checked, neat in appearance, and well organized or it will not be accepted and a "0" will be permanently marked in the grade book for that assignment. All written assignments are due on the date assigned unless otherwise noted in the syllabus. All writing assignments will be uploaded to the course Blackboard Website and may be presented orally to the class. As all assignments are deadline-oriented, unless excused as noted above, missed and/or late assignments will not be accepted or made up. If you have a valid excused absence, you will be given one class meeting per excused class to make up assignments or tests. Where feasible, students will be allowed to rewrite and re-submit assignments for a final grade.

Note: ALL written assignments must follow the rules of grammar and spelling as outlined in the College's "Standards for Oral and Written Performance" (see FSC Catalog).

Class Assignment Format: Assignments will be downloaded from and uploaded to the course website, and are not accepted by email unless permission is given by the instructor. DO NOT USE THE DIGITAL DROPBOX. If you are working in a group, ALL submitted assignments MUST follow the class format rules unless otherwise indicated. The procedures are:

OPEN the software and create your assignment following instructions as given. SAVE your document by using the last name of each writer and the name of the assignment. (For example, “ford_buick_saab_exercise_1.doc” is the name of a saved script file that includes the last names of each scriptwriter, along with the name of the assignment.)

ALL ASSIGNMENTS THAT DO NOT FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES WILL BE RETURNED TO THE SENDER UNCREDITED.

ALL SCRIPTS ARE TO BE SUBMITTED USING MICROSOFT WORD

Course Grading: All assignments and exams are returned with a numerical grade (see below). The final course grade will be total all your assignment grades divided by the total number of assignments. Of course, absences or missed assignments or tests are factored in as well.

The Instructor reserves to right to give unannounced pop quizzes on the lectures and readings that count towards the final course grade. Please see WRITING RUBRIC for this course online at Blackboard.

A 4.0 100 – 95

A- 3.7 94 – 90

B+ 3.3 89 – 87

B 3.0 86 – 83

B- 2.7 82 – 80

C+ 2.3 79 – 77

C 2.0 76 – 73

C- 1.7 72 – 70

D+ 1.3 69 – 67

D 1.0 66 – 63

D- 0.7 62 – 60

F 0.0 59 – 0

Office Hours: College faculty office hours are for students to use to discuss issues relating to their progress in a given course. They may be used for advising, but their primary purpose is for class-related discussion. You are required to see me at least once during the semester (preferably before the mid-semester warnings) so that you become more familiar with my grading system, your progress in the course, and to minimize any errors recorded under your name.

There will be a variety of films screened in this class that may contain strong language and subject matter that may be offensive to some students. Students who enroll in this course must understand that these materials are being presented for scholarly investigation, discussion, and study -- not as entertainment. As such, the option to avoid viewing these materials is limited. It is incumbent upon the student to notify the instructor of any objection to the program(s) before orduring screening. Should a student wish to be excused from viewing any program they will not be penalized. In such cases, an alternative screening assignment will be set up.

Special Needs: Students with special needs and/or learning disabilities are to place on file at CASA, acceptable documentation. CASA personnel will determine the validity of documentation. The student is to inform this course instructor, in writing of the existence of a special need and/or learning disability as soon as possible after the beginning of the semester. The instructor will determine that the required documentation is on file. The instructor, the student, and a CASA counselor will then develop a written agreement as to how the student's special needs will be addressed. The instructor, the student, and CASA will keep a copy of this agreement.

Framingham State University is committed to the assessment of student achievement regarding academic outcomes. This process addresses the issues of what you need to learn in your program of study and if you are learning what you need to learn. The assessment program at FSU has four specific and interrelated purposes:

(1) to improve student academic achievements;

(2) to improve teaching strategies;

(3) to document successes and identify opportunities for program improvement;

(4) to provide evidence of institutional effectiveness. Students enrolled in this course may be asked to participate in the FSU assessment effort. This might involve submitting copies of assignments for review, responding to surveys, or participating in other measurements designed to assess the FSU student learning outcomes. No identifying information will be reported and only aggregated data will be used. If you do not wish to participate in any assessments, please notify your instructor.

COURSE MEETING SCHEDULE (film selection & meeting schedule subject to changes)

Week Lecture/Subject Readings Due

1

Course introduction & overview The Western. Script Format. The Writer’s Vocabulary. The Traditional: “My Darling Clementine”, “The Searchers” Short Film Assignment 1 (Western)

Course Documents: Georges Polti (online)

The Poetics for Scriptwriters & Principles of Story Design The Popular: “Winchester 77”, “Shane”

Trottier: pgs. 3-32

Principles of Story Design – Character and Climax The Revisionist: “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly”, “Billy Two-Hat”, “Butch Cassidy/Sundance Kid” DVD: “Seraphim Falls” (In class writing exercise)

Trottier: pgs. 33-69

Short Film Assignment 1 due – Class Reading

2

Elements of the Story – Film Noir (“Romeo is Bleeding”). Scenes Build to Acts (Chris & Andy) Character & Characterization – The Femme Fatale The Classics: “Maltese Falcon”, “Double Indemnity”, “Out of the Past” “Seraphim Falls” due Short Film Assignment 2 (Film Noir)


Elements of Story – The Object of Desire Script Format & 12 Stages of Story Development The Classics: “Casablanca” DVD: “Body Heat” (In class writing exercise)


Short Film Assignment 2 die – Class Reading QUIZ (online)


3

Worlds within and Without – Modern Science Fiction The Classics (DVD excerpts from): “Frankenstein”, “Dracula”, “The Wolfman”, “War of the Worlds”, “Creature from the Black Lagoon”, “Them”, “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” “Body Heat” Due. Short Film Assignment 3 (Science Fiction)

The Elements of Modern Science Fiction-Principles of Story Design & Development DVD excerpts: “Forbidden Planet”, “Star Trek”, “Night of the Living Dead”, “The Terminator”, “Aliens”, “Predator”, “The Matrix”, “Chronicles of Riddick”, “Underworld”, “The Dark Knight”.

4

The Elements of Modern Sci-Fi – Dialogue, Character and Climax DVD: “Her” (In class writing exercise)

Trottier: pgs. 164-185 Trottier: pgs. 186-207

Short Film Assignment 3 due – Class Reading Comedic Design and Structure – Aristotle & the Comedic Character


DVD/Tape classics: “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad World”, “Big Lebowski”, “Cross Point Blank”, “Her” Due MIDTERM (online) The Contemporary Comedy: Story Concept, Theme, and Structure. Writing The Romantic Comedy: Fun with Dialogue DVD: “Little Miss Sunshine” Short Film Assignment 4 (Mystery/Thriller)


5

The Mystery Thriller – Taking The Story Further “Psycho”, “North By Northwest”, “Seven”


The Thriller – Structure, Approaches and Characterization. DVD: “Nick of Time”, “Phone Booth”, “Snakes on a Plane” Script Readings and Class Critiques


The Thriller – More Approaches and Characterizations. Script Readings and Class Critiques DVD: “Insomnia” (in class writing exercise)


Short Film Assignment 4 due – Class Reading Trottier: pgs. 354-400

6

Selling Your Script. Adapting the Foreign Film-The Trouble With Translation DVD: Memory of a Killer, The Lives of Others

Agents & Lawyers. Adapting the Foreign Film-The Trouble With Translation. DVD: “Locke”

FINAL SCRIPT RE-WRITES DUE Final Exam (online)

Bibliography Any student who has serious interest in the discipline and techniques associated with writing for film should become acquainted with the following titles:

A MANUAL FOR WRITERS OF TERM PAPERS, THESES, AND DISSERTATIONS, 6th ED. by Kate Turabian

THE CRAFT OF RESEARCH by Booth, Colomb, and Williams

RULES FOR WRITERS by Diana Hacker

ADVENTURES IN THE SCREEN TRADE by William Goldman

THE AGENCY by Frank Rose

WHO THE DEVIL MADE IT by Peter Bogdonovich

HIT AND RUN by Nancy Griffin and Kim Masters

THE MOVIE BUSINESS BOOK edited by Jason E. Squire

SPIKE, MIKE, SLACKERS, AND DYKES by John Pierson

COMEDY WRITING STEP BY STEP by Gene Perret

THE ART OF DRAMATIC WRITING by Lajos Egri

THE WRITER’S JOURNEY by Christopher Vogler

THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES by Joseph Campbell

PLOTS UNLIMITED by Tom Sawyer and Arthur Weingarten

THE SCREENWRITER'S BIBLE, 5TH EDITION by David Trottier

*STORY by Robert McKee (I highly recommend attending any of Mr. McKee’s workshops!)

THE POETICS by Aristotle