WRITE THE FIRST TIME
A WORKSHOP IN FOUNDATION, FORM, AND THE LANGUAGE OF FILM
with Scott Fitzgerald Gray
Scott Gray's technique for developing a screenplay works for writers at any stage from concept to first draft. Instead of getting bogged down in the mechanics of inciting incidents and plot points, you'll learn a simple, organic method of screenwriting based on the natural principles of storytelling. This top-down approach starts with the big idea, then refines it in more and more detail until you end up with a complete blueprint for your script -- with each scene essential to the overall theme and structure of the story you want to tell.
Using film clips and writing exercises in a workshop setting that provides guidance and constructive feedback throughout the process, you'll:
Discuss the general art and craft of writing, learning how to develop plot from the top down, theme from the inside out, and conflict at every level of your story.
Discover how to translate your ideas into effective outlines and treatments.
Trade in the concept of outlining as an aesthetic straitjacket, and learn how the outline stage can and should be as creatively rewarding as any other part of the writing process.
Develop an outline for your own script that frees you to write the story you want to write.
Explore the tools of visual storytelling, learning how to turn limitations into assets in translating from image to word and back again.
You don't need a completed script, but you should be familiar with the basic tools of screenwriting and have a story you are compelled to tell. Whatever your level of experience, be prepared to explore your story to its fullest potential -- and that includes a commitment to work on your project in the week between classes.
Event Date:
October 29 & 30, and November 5 & 6, 2005
Time:
9:30 am - 5:30 pm
Location:
Saturdays - SFU Downtown, Sundays - Vancouver International Film Centre
Cost:
$225/$195 Praxis Members
CityTV will sponsor bursaries for two aboriginal and/or visible minority participants.
For consideration in the course, mail or email a 5-page writing sample (screenwriting or fiction) including at least one paragraph about your current project, and a letter describing your background and commitment to the process. Also, please indicate if you're applying for the CityTV Cultural Diversity Bursary.
Application deadline: October 19th.
Scott Fitzgerald Gray is a writer, story editor, and former core instructor at the Vancouver Film School's Writing for Film and Television program. He's written film, episodic television, and documentary in Canada and England (including the feature Innuendo), was a finalist for the Writers Guild of Canada's Jim Burt Screenwriting Prize in 2002, and has several feature projects in development with support from the Harold Greenberg Fund, Telefilm Canada, and BC Film. He's been a script reader for BC Film and Praxis, has written reviews for the Georgia Straight and the Vancouver Sun, and has recently completed his second novel. For further information about Scott Gray and this course, visit Scott's website
www.museWorks.net/Learning.html
For information and registration, please contact us at 604.268.7880, by e-mail
praxis@sfu.ca
or by ground mail to Praxis/SFU, 3120 - 515 West Hastings, Vancouver, BC V6B 5K3.