FT3SSS: Scriptwriting for Stage and Screen

Module code: FT3SSS

Module provider: Film, Theatre and TV; School of Arts and Comm Design

Credits: 20

Level: Level 3 (Honours)

When you'll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Dr Faye Woods, email: f.woods@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: No

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 18 July 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

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.  Learning in this module develops your critical understanding of key storytelling issues such as narrative, character, dialogue, and place.  Scriptwriting practice will be individual, with collaborative forms of reviewing in industry-reflective script surgeries/seminars. You will engage with discourses around scriptwriting emerging from both theatre pedagogy and screenwriting studies, including projects for decolonising stage and screen writing traditions. 

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Construct an original, coherent stage or screen narrative.
2. Demonstrate critical understanding of short form storytelling in film and theatre.
3. Write scripts according to the conventions of film, theatre or television.
4. Demonstrate awareness of global trends and critical approaches to scriptwriting.

Module content

Major script themes of narrative, character, dialogue, and world-building will be studied as creative skills that can be transferred across both stage and screen.

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/dramaturgs/directors.

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

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Reading of scripts and writing tasks will recur on a regular basis, with students delivering short writing exercises both in class and as independent learning.  The texts examined will embrace a culture of decolonisation.

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 stage and screen texts will reveal the interpretative possibilities arising from the originating script.

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

Formative project work in the first part of FT3SSS will relate to students’ ongoing practice in other modules.

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

Study hours

At least 22 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

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

Assessments with numerical marks

• 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 three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/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.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Students will receive tutor and peer feedback in class.

Reassessment

Additional costs