FT1ITS-Introduction to Scriptwriting

Module Provider: Film, Theatre and TV
Number of credits: 20 [10 ECTS credits]
Level:4
Terms in which taught: Autumn / Spring term module
Pre-requisites:
Non-modular pre-requisites: Part 1 single honours only
Co-requisites: FT1ATP Analysing Theatre and Performance or FT1ATF Approaches to Film
Modules excluded:
Current from: 2023/4

Module Convenor: Dr Dominic Lees
Email: d.lees@reading.ac.uk

Module Co-convenor: Dr Lucy Tyler
Email: l.s.tyler@reading.ac.uk

Type of module:

Summary module description:

No creative practitioner can make an outstanding screen or stage production without advanced knowledge of storytelling. This is a practice module in which you will create original scripts for the screen or stage.  Learning in this module develops your critical understanding of key storytelling issues such as narrative, character, dialogue, and place.  Scriptwriting practice will include both individual and collaborative forms of writing and rewriting. You will engage with discourses around scriptwriting emerging from screenwriting and playwriting studies, including projects for decolonising scriptwriting traditions.    

Aims:

This module will enhance students' scriptwriting skills, providing them with the creative and intellectual tools that will support their wider ambitions of making outstanding film/television or theatre/performance projects during their degree, as well as beyond graduation. Students will develop a detailed knowledge of scriptwriting, and analytical skills that they can apply to their own and others’ creative work. The module is creatively enabling, encouraging the exploration of personal storytelling. The module develops informed scriptwriting, with students critically aware of the cultural and intellectual context of their creative work. While the learning content will include the study of long-form screen scripts, students’ creative work will focus on short-form project work. A key understanding of this module is that scriptwriting extends beyond the final draft, developing throughout the creative experience of production, and students will be encouraged to take some of their formative scriptwriting work forward into production modules. 

Assessable learning outcomes:

• Construct an original, coherent screen or stage narrative. 


• Demonstrate critical understanding of short form storytelling in film/television or theatre/performance. 


• Write scripts according to the conventions of film/television or theatre/performance. 


• Demonstrate awareness of global trends and critical approaches to scriptwriting. 

Additional outcomes:

• Major script themes of narrative, character, dialogue, and world-building will be studied as creative skills. 


• Close reading of key texts will be used to illustrate issues of structure in the creation of compelling stories.   


• Contextual learning will include the role of the writer within the studio/production company/ensemble, and their key collaborative relationships with script editors/directors. 


• Close attention to the qualities and challenges of short form scriptwriting will support students in developing their own creative writing. 

Outline content:

The module will examine a series of scriptwriting case studies, developing their understanding of short-form and long-form scripts and story structure. Students will apply the knowledge gained from these case studies and develop their own screen writing skills in a series of group and individual writing tasks, for which they will receive tutor and peer feedback. 

Global context:

• Critical attention will encourage the study of scriptwriting outside anglophone screen cultures. 

Brief description of teaching and learning methods:

• Reading of scripts and writing tasks will recur on a weekly basis, with students delivering short writing exercises both in class and as independent learning. 


• Short lectures covering key aspects of scriptwriting will be combined with challenging workshop-based learning, in which students will develop skills in devising and presenting creative ideas, as well as providing informed peer feedback. 


• Screenings of the studied film/television t exts or recordings of theatre performances will reveal the interpretative possibilities arising from the originating script. 


• Project work will relate to students’ ongoing practice in other modules. 


• Real-world briefs will be set, challenging students to write for the constraints of low-budget short film or theatre productions. 

Contact hours:

	Autumn	Spring	Summer
Lectures	3	1
Seminars	7	4
Project Supervision	1	1
Guided independent study:
Wider reading (independent)	35	20
Wider reading (directed)	10	17
Preparation for tutorials	4	4
Preparation for presentations	8
Preparation for seminars	12	6
Preparation of practical report		5
Completion of formative assessment tasks	10
Group study tasks	8
Carry-out research project		39
Reflection	5
Total hours by term	103	97	0
Total hours for module	200

Summative Assessment Methods:

Method	Percentage
Written assignment including essay	40
Practical skills assessment	60

Summative assessment- Examinations:

Summative assessment- Coursework and in-class tests:

Practical skills assessment including a script.

Formative assessment methods:

In class formative feedback from tutors and peers will be given on work in progress.

Penalties for late submission:

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of five working days;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than five working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/cqsd-old-site-documents/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf
You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Assessment requirements for a pass:

40%

Reassessment arrangements:

Resubmission of coursework

Additional Costs (specified where applicable):

1) Required text books: 

2) Specialist equipment or materials: 

3) Specialist clothing, footwear or headgear: 

4) Printing and binding: 

5) Computers and devices with a particular specification: 

6) Travel, accommodation and subsistence: 

Last updated: 26 April 2023