Introduction to Screenwriting

8 Thursday evenings: Oct 9, 16, 23, 30, Nov 6, 13, 20 & 27
19:00 - 21:00
£130

Whether you are a complete beginner or have written before, this 8 week course will help you develop key screenwriting skills. The course combines practical & fun writing exercises, discussions, and analysis of film examples. You will also develop your own original ideas and write your own short screenplay.

Course overview.
Week 1: Introduction to screenwriting and to other participants. Where do we get screen ideas from? What is a premise?
Week 2: The short film – three acts, three types of short film.
Week 3: Characters and characterisation. Developing approaches to characterisation and the character arc.
Week 4: Visual style. What is the difference between a writer’s style and a director’s style? Tools of visual scene writing. Develop an outline for a short film.
Week 5: Theme and genre. How do theme and genre work to create emotional engagement in a narrative?
Week 6: Dialogue. Its uses and functions in a screenplay. The relationship between dialogue and action in scene writing. Subtext.
Week 7: Workshop on first draft screenplays.
Week 8: Pitching and selling your ideas. Next Steps.

Julie Everton is a professional script writer and script editor. She has written for TV, films, theatre, and radio. She has taught screenwriting for 20 years and is a Senior Lecturer at University of Brighton.