Print Page
Screenwriting 3: Story Structure and Analysis (CINE 2220)
Total Credits:
3
Lecture Credits:
2
Lab Credits:
1
Description:
This course focuses on mastering the dramatic narrative structure through a combination of lectures, scene rewrites, location scripts and a thorough analysis of professional screenplays. You will develop one short script based on visited locations, rewrite a scene from a produced feature film, and analyze a professional script using advanced storytelling techniques and the three-act structure paradigm introduced in class. Must be taken A - F.
Topical Outline:
1. Epic vs. dramatic: Aristotle’s Poetics, and Lajos Egri’s The Art of Dramatic Writing
2. Point of attack, empathy viewpoint, uncertainty, participation
3. Conflict, obstacles, complications, hope vs. fear
4. Crisis, reversal, climax, resolution
5. The three-act structure, the plot points and other structural forms
6. Professional script analysis and scene rewrites
Learning Outcomes:
1. Thoroughly analyze a script with emphasis on structure
2. Compare scripts and produced movies with an emphasis on modifications
3. Rewrite selected scenes from a movie in the master-scene format
4. Write a short location script intended for production
Prerequisites:
CINE 2110 and
CINE 2120