Extra Credit Post

Post your extra-credit blogs here via the comment link below. Extra-credit is granted for reading a chapter of your choice from Story or Adventure in the Screen Trade and blogging on it. You may also receive extra-credit for ready the screenplay Chinatown. Define the plot-points in a given act. You will receive 5 points of credit for each act.

Blog Make-Up Spot

You may post your make-up blogs in the comments section below. They are worth 1/2 credit (5 points) each.

Week VIII

Wow!

Time is flying, isn't it? Now that you have completed your short story package, it is time to start contemplating your final project. Your mission is to write a treatment and outline of a feature-length story, complete with logline and character biographies / descriptions. This is no small task, so resist the temptation to procrastinate over these last few weeks.

Now, I don't expect you to come up with an Academy Award winning concept. A "B-movie" is fine. However, I do want to see that you have processed the process outlined in the movie we watched with Syd Field and from your reading throughout the course. The treatment does not need to be extensive. Think along the lines of coverage with the exception that it will be broken down into a three-act structure. Five pages is the maximum length (double spaced, 12 pt. font, Times New Roman or Courier).

YOUR FINAL PROJECT INCLUDES STORYBOARDS. THERE SHOULD BE A MINIMUM OF ONE PAGE PER ACT (use the templates you downloaded). These don't have to be fancy (although I know many of your are exceptional artists). Stick figures are fine so long as they convey the story/POV.

For homework:

• Write a draft of Act I for your final project, with storyboard, and bring it to class printed out. It should be about one page long. It should include character intros (in ALL CAPS the FIRST TIME ONLY) and give the reader (me!) an understanding of what the plot is.
• Ready Story, Structure and Genre.
• Choose a chapter in Adventures of the Screen Trade (yes, YOUR choice).
• Blog on both.

This is your last week of blogging! However-if you have failed to post previous blogs (worth 10 points each):

• You can receive 1/2 credit (5 points) for making up those posts between now and week 11 in the "Make-Up" section of the blog (above).
• You may choose additional chapters from either Story or Adventures in the Screen Trade and blog on them for extra-credit of 5 points each.

Week VII

Hello, Class,

First off, let me say I am very impressed with your midterms (and very proud). I know it was challenging, but now you know you can do it.

For homework:

• Read Story, Ch. 5 Story Structure and Character
• Adventures in the Screen Trade, Ch. 4 & 5
• Complete your five minute short script that you began two weeks ago. Turn in your treatment, character descriptions, and script (stapled). It should be in the narrative format.

If you didn't download the script templates, here is the site where you can:

http://www.media-academy.net/yacco/templates/index.htm

Have fun!

Truly,
Mariah

WEEK VI

Greetings, Class,

This week, we continue reading and blogging.

Read Story, Chapter 10 and Adventures in Screen Trade, the Strengths of the Screenplay.

Homework:
Read a one hour drama from the website link below (in week V) and write your own character descriptions and plot points. Print it out and bring it to class (stapled please).

You should have a short story identified by now. Next week you will outline an adaptation for it and turn it in Week 8.

Week V MIDTERM TIME!

Greetings, class,

I hope the documentary scripting process was both challenging and rewarding for you. As you have probably discovered, documentary, broadcast, and narrative scripting is drastically different!

I must say, I have been impressed with your concepts and intuition on the genre thus far. Keep it up!

This week, we will resume reading and blogging on what you have read:

Story, Chapter 8, The Inciting Incident
Adventures in the Screen Trade, Chapter 16, Weaknesses of the Screenplay

For your homework:
Find a short story and begin a treatment of how you would adapt the short story into a functional screenplay. Refer back to your previous reading in Adventures in the Screen Trade
and to the handout provided in class.

Also, check out the following site, which provides TV drama screenplays in the correct format:
http://www.dailyscript.com/tv.html

Here is another site with all kinds of script goodies:
http://www.simplyscripts.com/treatments.html

Here is the expanded outline for Big Fish:
http://johnaugust.com/downloads_ripley/bf-outline.pdf