KPB215 Advanced Screenwriting
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | KPB215 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisite(s): | KPB116 or KWB102 |
| Equivalent(s): | KPB207 KPB260 KZB260 |
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
|
| CSP student contribution | $2,040 |
| Pre-2021 CSP student contribution | $957 The pre-2021 commonwealth supported place (CSP) contribution amount only applies to students enrolled in a course prior to 2021. To learn more, visit our Understanding your fees page. |
| Domestic tuition unit fee | $4,104 |
| International unit fee | $4,320 |
Unit Outline: Semester 1 2024, Kelvin Grove, Internal
| Unit code: | KPB215 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | KPB116 or KWB102 |
| Equivalent: | KPB207 |
| Coordinator: | Sue Cake | susan.cake@qut.edu.au |
Overview
This unit aids you to better understand screenwriting processes and structural concepts by offering a framework and strategies for the development of a short drama script. Screenwriting occurs within specific socioeconomic frameworks and is supported by specific industry practices. Working within these models, you will become aware of the scope and limitation of scriptwriting for screen projects. In this unit you will have the opportunity to build and extend basic screenwriting techniques and explore topics such as the role of screenwriters in the industry.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Create text suited to the particular requirements of industry screenwriting formats.
- Utilise and be able to justify narrative structure in the composition of a creative work for screen projects.
- Write scripts targeted towards specific media formats, markets and audiences.
Content
This unit addresses content such as the role of screenwriters in the industry; the elements of an effective drama script, dramatic structures for feature films, short films, telemovies & web-series, dramatic structures for television series and serials, mythic structure, experimental structure, visual evocation, characterisation, script layout and language, building and developing scenes, writing dialogue, writing for animation, script editing, as well as current grants and funding opportunities.
Learning Approaches
The unit will support your learning about screenwriting through lectures and scriptwriting workshops. The lectures include some formal instruction, illustrated by video clips and short film screenings. In workshops, you are expected to participate in discussions and workshop exercises in a positive and constructive spirit of learning. The unit program may be revised, depending on the number of students and specific areas of interest.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
Feedback in this unit is provided to you in the following ways:
- a range of formative exercises discussed and applied in class
- generic comments posted to the whole cohort via the unit Canvas website
- feedback from peers as you investigate and discuss issues raised throughout the unit
- comments about summative assessment work included on criteria sheets with your grade.
Assessment
Overview
There are two major individual assignments for this unit. The first is a creative pitch document worth 40%. The second is a creative work, worth 60%, where you demonstrate your developing skills and knowledge as a screenwriter.
Faculty Assessment Information
To access the Creative Industries Faculty Assessment Information see the Canvas site for this unit. This includes information on late assignments and assignment extensions.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Pitch Document
Write a pitch document for a short (10 minute) narrative drama. The key purpose of this document is to create a burning desire in the reader to read your screenplay; so SELL your story concept.
Pitch documents are widely used in the film and television industry to sell your concept to a producer or network.
This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.
Assessment: Original Short-Form Script
This major assignment requires you to build on your previous assessment to write an original script for a short narrative in any genre or an approved concept.
This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.
Academic Integrity
Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.
Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
There is no required text for this unit; however, online resources, readings and activities will be linked from the unit Canvas website as relevant. Screenplays are posted weekly on Canvas, under Learning Resources, relating to the content covered in individual lectures.
The following references are recommended as resources to extend and deepen your understanding of screenwriting. Further recommendations will be provided by teaching staff.
Resource Materials
Recommended text(s)
Aronson, Linda (2000). Scriptwriting Updated: New and Conventional Ways of Writing for the Screen. AFTRS/Allen and Unwin.
Cooper, Dona (1994). Writing Great Screenplays for Film and TV. Macmillan, New York.
Froug, William (1992). Screen-Writing Tricks of the Trade. Los Angeles, Silman-James Press.
Goldberg, Lee and Rabkin, William (2003). Successful Television Writing. J. Wiley, New Jersey.
Hauge, Michael (2011) Writing Screenplays That Sell. Collins Reference: New York.
King, Stephen (2001) On Writing: a memoir of the craft. Pocket Books: New York.
Thompson, Kristin (2003). Storytelling in Film and Television. Harvard UP, Cambridge.
Vogler, Christopher (1998) The Writer’s Journey-Mythic Structure for Writers (2nd ed). Michael Wiese Productions.
Weinstein, Anna (ed) (2017) Writing for the Screen. Focal Press: Boston.
Other
The monthly industry trade magazine, Inside Film.
The following websites have free screenplays, series bibles, treatments and synopses for feature films, TV series and some short films (historic as well as contemporary
www.thescriptshadow.com
www.screenhub.com.au
www.filmscriptwriting.com/samplesscripts.html
www.imsdb.com
www.australianshortfilms.com/scripts.html
www.awg.com.au
www.TableReadMyScreenplay.com
www.wikipedia.org.com
www.screenaustralia.com
www.simplyscripts.com
App: Available for download onto iPad only – Scripted
Risk Assessment Statement
All students and staff are required to complete the Tier 1 CIF General Health and Safety Induction for access to campus buildings and facilities. This must be completed online.
There are no out-of-the-ordinary risks associated with this unit.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.KK34 Bachelor of Fine Arts
- Identify and demonstrate knowledge of the techniques and concepts underpinning your field of creative practice.
Relates to: ULO1, ULO2 - Demonstrate complex problem solving through iterative experimentation and the creative and critical development of ideas and outcomes.
Relates to: ULO1 - Demonstrate technical proficiency in at least one area of your field of creative practice.
Relates to: ULO1, ULO2 - Communicate independent learning clearly and coherently in diverse modes relevant to your field of creative practice.
Relates to: ULO3 - Discern, critically analyse and synthesise knowledge in complex creative practice settings.
Relates to: ULO3
KK43 Bachelor of Creative Industries
- Demonstrate broad and coherent theoretical and practical knowledge required for creative enterprise, career development and interdisciplinary collaborations, supported by depth in at least one creative disciplinary area.
Relates to: ULO1, ULO2 - Demonstrate well-developed cognitive and ideation skills to identify, analyse and evaluate opportunities to address authentic complex problems.
Relates to: ULO1 - Demonstrate technical expertise to support skills and knowledge within the Creative Industries.
Relates to: ULO1, ULO2 - Communicate effectively in a range of forms across multiple media modes, for sharing and disseminating knowledge, skills and ideas, and collaborative practice and navigation of social networks.
Relates to: ULO3 - Apply and adapt creative disciplinary knowledge and skills with agility in a range of industry, community and intercultural contexts.
Relates to: ULO3
Unit Outline: Semester 1 2024, Online
| Unit code: | KPB215 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | KPB116 or KWB102 |
| Equivalent: | KPB207 |
Overview
This unit aids you to better understand screenwriting processes and structural concepts by offering a framework and strategies for the development of a short drama script. Screenwriting occurs within specific socioeconomic frameworks and is supported by specific industry practices. Working within these models, you will become aware of the scope and limitation of scriptwriting for screen projects. In this unit you will have the opportunity to build and extend basic screenwriting techniques and explore topics such as the role of screenwriters in the industry.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Create text suited to the particular requirements of industry screenwriting formats.
- Utilise and be able to justify narrative structure in the composition of a creative work for screen projects.
- Write scripts targeted towards specific media formats, markets and audiences.
Content
This unit addresses content such as the role of screenwriters in the industry; the elements of an effective drama script, dramatic structures for feature films, short films, telemovies & web-series, dramatic structures for television series and serials, mythic structure, experimental structure, visual evocation, characterisation, script layout and language, building and developing scenes, writing dialogue, writing for animation, script editing, as well as current grants and funding opportunities.
Learning Approaches
The unit will support your learning about screenwriting through lectures and scriptwriting workshops. The lectures include some formal instruction, illustrated by video clips and short film screenings. In workshops, you are expected to participate in discussions and workshop exercises in a positive and constructive spirit of learning. The unit program may be revised, depending on the number of students and specific areas of interest.
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
Feedback in this unit is provided to you in the following ways:
- a range of formative exercises discussed and applied in class
- generic comments posted to the whole cohort via the unit Canvas website
- feedback from peers as you investigate and discuss issues raised throughout the unit
- comments about summative assessment work included on criteria sheets with your grade.
Assessment
Overview
There are two major individual assignments for this unit. The first is a creative pitch document worth 40%. The second is a creative work, worth 60%, where you demonstrate your developing skills and knowledge as a screenwriter.
Faculty Assessment Information
To access the Creative Industries Faculty Assessment Information see the Canvas site for this unit. This includes information on late assignments and assignment extensions.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Pitch Document
Write a pitch document for a short (10 minute) narrative drama. The key purpose of this document is to create a burning desire in the reader to read your screenplay; so SELL your story concept.
Pitch documents are widely used in the film and television industry to sell your concept to a producer or network.
This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.
Assessment: Original Short-Form Script
This major assignment requires you to build on your previous assessment to write an original script for a short narrative in any genre or an approved concept.
This is an assignment for the purposes of an extension.
Academic Integrity
Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.
Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Resources
There is no required text for this unit; however, online resources, readings and activities will be linked from the unit Canvas website as relevant. Screenplays are posted weekly on Canvas, under Learning Resources, relating to the content covered in individual lectures.
The following references are recommended as resources to extend and deepen your understanding of screenwriting. Further recommendations will be provided by teaching staff.
Resource Materials
Recommended text(s)
Aronson, Linda (2000). Scriptwriting Updated: New and Conventional Ways of Writing for the Screen. AFTRS/Allen and Unwin.
Cooper, Dona (1994). Writing Great Screenplays for Film and TV. Macmillan, New York.
Froug, William (1992). Screen-Writing Tricks of the Trade. Los Angeles, Silman-James Press.
Goldberg, Lee and Rabkin, William (2003). Successful Television Writing. J. Wiley, New Jersey.
Hauge, Michael (2011) Writing Screenplays That Sell. Collins Reference: New York.
King, Stephen (2001) On Writing: a memoir of the craft. Pocket Books: New York.
Thompson, Kristin (2003). Storytelling in Film and Television. Harvard UP, Cambridge.
Vogler, Christopher (1998) The Writer’s Journey-Mythic Structure for Writers (2nd ed). Michael Wiese Productions.
Weinstein, Anna (ed) (2017) Writing for the Screen. Focal Press: Boston.
Other
The monthly industry trade magazine, Inside Film.
The following websites have free screenplays, series bibles, treatments and synopses for feature films, TV series and some short films (historic as well as contemporary
www.thescriptshadow.com
www.screenhub.com.au
www.filmscriptwriting.com/samplesscripts.html
www.imsdb.com
www.australianshortfilms.com/scripts.html
www.awg.com.au
www.TableReadMyScreenplay.com
www.wikipedia.org.com
www.screenaustralia.com
www.simplyscripts.com
App: Available for download onto iPad only – Scripted
Risk Assessment Statement
All students and staff are required to complete the Tier 1 CIF General Health and Safety Induction for access to campus buildings and facilities. This must be completed online.
There are no out-of-the-ordinary risks associated with this unit.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.KK34 Bachelor of Fine Arts
- Identify and demonstrate knowledge of the techniques and concepts underpinning your field of creative practice.
Relates to: ULO1, ULO2 - Demonstrate complex problem solving through iterative experimentation and the creative and critical development of ideas and outcomes.
Relates to: ULO1 - Demonstrate technical proficiency in at least one area of your field of creative practice.
Relates to: ULO1, ULO2 - Communicate independent learning clearly and coherently in diverse modes relevant to your field of creative practice.
Relates to: ULO3 - Discern, critically analyse and synthesise knowledge in complex creative practice settings.
Relates to: ULO3
KK43 Bachelor of Creative Industries
- Demonstrate broad and coherent theoretical and practical knowledge required for creative enterprise, career development and interdisciplinary collaborations, supported by depth in at least one creative disciplinary area.
Relates to: ULO1, ULO2 - Demonstrate well-developed cognitive and ideation skills to identify, analyse and evaluate opportunities to address authentic complex problems.
Relates to: ULO1 - Demonstrate technical expertise to support skills and knowledge within the Creative Industries.
Relates to: ULO1, ULO2 - Communicate effectively in a range of forms across multiple media modes, for sharing and disseminating knowledge, skills and ideas, and collaborative practice and navigation of social networks.
Relates to: ULO3 - Apply and adapt creative disciplinary knowledge and skills with agility in a range of industry, community and intercultural contexts.
Relates to: ULO3