Writing Features -- An Introduction
Instructor: Michele Adams
October 17 to December 5, 2009, Saturdays, 12 PM – 4 PM
$380 +GST Non-Members (includes Praxis Membership)/
$330 +GST Praxis Members
Michele Adams
Michele Adams has an across-the-spectrum interest in writing. She has scripted three feature screenplays — Lady S (adapted from Jane Austen's first novel, Lady Susan), Sex Lives of the Saints, The Kindest Thing — and is currently at work on a fourth. Her screenwriting has received development and support from Harold Greenberg, Movie Central, Telefilm, Manitoba Film and Sound. One of her short scripts won the first Praxis Out-of-the-Hat contest; another won the CBC/BC Film Signature Shorts competition. She also freelances as copywriter/editor, has worked for CBC Radio as writer/broadcaster, and recently co-authored a commissioned radio drama, Year of the Crab, for the Mother Corp. Her stories have been published (Geist, Fiddlehead, Event, Canadian Fiction), dramatized on CBC Radio, and performed at arts festivals (Banff, Harrison, etc.). In 2005 she won The Fiddlehead’s short fiction prize; her novel Grim Sausages was short-listed for the Metcalf-Rooke Award, and her collection Bright Objects of Desire was recently published by Biblioasis. In addition to writing, Michele has an ongoing commitment to teaching; she has taught Literature, Communications, Creative Writing, and Screenwriting at UBC, VCC, OLA, VFS, and SFU. She is also a script analyst for Praxis and is on the Harold Greenberg, Praxis, and Telefilm lists of story editors.
Writing Features - An Introduction
Want to write for the movies? A feature script is an exciting creative achievement – it is also a lot more than a great idea. Screenwriters must develop special skills to connect the images, emotions and words that will bring their unique visions to life on the page.
In this eight week workshop, we will explore the basics of screenwriting as you work ahead on your own feature project. The course will begin with examinations of idea development, research, genres, creation of character, arcs, outlining and treatments, scene structure, evocative writing, and the importance of visual style in your screenplay. Exemplary film excerpts will be screened to support and illustrate, and participants will be encouraged to pitch their story ideas and begin work towards completion of a first draft. Opening sequences (15 pp) of participants’ screenplays will be workshopped in class with special focus on the creation of an engaging protagonist and the delineation of dramatic conflict. By the end of the course, participants will have achieved a deeper understanding of screenwriting practice and be on their way to completing a feature script.
Course Aims
* To help you develop an understanding of screenwriting basics
* To support your creation of a feature screenplay
* To develop your ability to participate in critical workshopping of your own and other writers' work
* To encourage critical self-awareness and an inquiring, analytical, creative approach to your work
* To kick-start your development as a screenwriter
Course Breakdown
Week 1
Introductions: Writing for a visual, dramatic & reality-based medium / Project intros / Finding your story – treatment and scenario writing
Week 2
Story Structure Basics: Conflict and resolution / Screenplay formatting / Workshop reading and critiquing etiquette review
Week 3
Story Structure - The Elements: Acts, Sequences, Scenes, Opening Sequence Readings
Week 4
What's Your Story?: Loglining, Opening Sequence Readings
Week 5
Logline Review: Developing a sense of audience, Opening Sequence Readings
Week 6
Character: Protagonist, Antagonist, Major, Secondary, Opening Sequence Readings
Week 7
Dialogue: Creating varied, lifelike, individual voices, Formatting for Feature Screenplays Revisited - Q & A, Opening Sequence Readings
Week 8
Rewriting: Strategies for Second Drafts, Opening Sequence Readings
Please note this is a PROPOSED SCHEDULE dependent on variables including class experience level, size, interests, etc. Some aspects of organization and content may be modified as we move forward.
Refund Policy
$100 cancellation fee prior to October 10, 2009. $150 after October 10. No refund after October 25.