What is a movie? What does every screenplay have? The introduction lecture for TRF 211

1. Professor
Keith Giglio
WRITE YOUR NAME ON PIECE OF PAPER AND PLACE
IN FRONT OF YOU SO WE CAN READ IT - THANKS

2. On a piece of paper…
 IF MY LIFE WAS A MOVIE OR A TV SHOW…. IT
WOULD BE…..
 ON THING THAT IS TRUE
 ONE THING THAT’S A LIE..

3. Who am I?

4. How to reach me…
Email: kegiglio@syr.edu
Office Hours:
NEWHOUSE 3 Room 442
M/W 3:45-5:00pm
W 8am-9am

5. What Movie Are You?

6. A quick look ahead…
 Syllabus
 My approach
 The Script to Screen Project
 Writing. Reading. Watching.
 Assignments are due one week after being assigned.

7. WRITING.

8. RULES OF THE CLASS
 Encourage, don’t discourage
 On the page notes

9. READING
“THE WEEKEND READ”

10. What happens to your script

11. WATCHING

12. SITES YOU SHOULD – HAVE TO -
READ
 www.deadline.com
 www.studiosystemnews.com
 www.hollywoodreporter.com
 SIGN UP FOR STUDIO SYSTEM NEWS

13. FINAL DRAFT
 Please have your students request the
 Final Draft 9 EDU Trial by using
 their school issued e–mail address
 on this webform:
 trial.finaldraft.com/edutrial
 DO NOT LOAD ANY OTHER TRIAL
 IF YOU HAVE ONE ALREADY ON - REMOVE

14. In proper format please….
 Wrong format = instant rejection
 If you have problems - contact me

15. PAGE COUNT COUNTS

16. Screenwriting is….
 …a hard way to make an easy living.

17. START BEING A WRITER
 The Well
 A Journal
 Read
 Watch

18. Assignment:
 FOR NEXT CLASS
 Download, install & play around with Final Draft.
 Read proper format handout on BB
 Format exercise on BB

20. Professor
Keith Giglio

21. What is this?

22. The Printing Press

23. Radio

24. Silent Movies

25. “The Talkies”

26. Animation

27. Television

29. Writers are in the age of…
 TRANSMEDIA
 CROSS-PLATFORMING
 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

30. WGA Strike, 2007-2008

31. What is a screenplay?
 A movie in written form
 Reading it should elicit the same emotional response
 Not a blueprint

32. Visual mediums
 Television
 Motion pictures
 Graphic novels
 Motion Comics
 Webisodes
 Video Games

33. How to read a screenplay
 SLUGLINE
 INT. LOCATION – DAY
 EXT. LOCATION - NIGHT
 ACTION
 CHARACTER
 One page = one minute

34. What does every screenplay have?

35. ACT ONE

36. ACT TWO

37. ACT THREE

38. ACT ONE ACT TWO ACT THREE

39. Genres

40. Same in tv…

41. Same in games…

42. PLOT DEVICE

43. Resources

44. What movie is this?

45. What’s the tone?
 What other movie is it like?

46. What does every good story do?
 Questions
 Will the King deliver his speech in the King’s Speech?
 Will Ree find her Dad in Winter’s Bone?
 Will Jules and Nic survive in The Kids Are All Right?
 Is Neo the One?
 Will Marlin find Nemo?
 What is Rosebud?

47. The Two Greatest Screenwriting
Gurus in the world are…
You can’t always get what you want…
but if you try something, you just
might find, you get what you need
It Don’t Come Easy

48. All screenplays are…
 Someone wants something and is having trouble
getting it

49. What is driving the plot?

50. All screenplays are…
 CHARACTERS in…
 CONFLICT make….
 CHOICES that lead to….
 CONSEQUENCE that leads to…
 CHANGE

51. Conflict
 Adaptation

52. The One Page Screenplay
 Can you tell a story in one page?

53. The Power of the Script

54. Audiences
 Writer wears two hats.
 Writing for the writer & the audience
 Don’t write what you think they want
 Write what you want
 What you want to see

55. What does the audience want?
 They want to be involved.
 The want to go on a journey.
 They want to laugh, cry – an emotional experience.
 They want characters and stories they can relate to.

56. Sympathy vs. Empathy

57. Sympathy

58. Empathy

59. Primal Emotions
 Survival
 Shelter
 Food
 Love
 Hate
 Revenge

60. UNIVERSAL IDEAS

61.  COMMON ELEMENTS

62. THE STUDIO SYSTEM

63. Traditional Model
Agent
Writer
Producer
Studio

64. ASSIGNMENT FOR NEXT CLASS
 No class next Wed. – will make up
 Read the screenplay for AMERICAN DRIFTER &
another screenplay TBD
 Come to class prepared to discuss what was primal
about the screenplay.
 Write a 3-2-1 scene using proper format
 3 pages, 2 characters, 1 location
 Break-up.
 Baseline of writing
 Use DRIFTER as stylistic guide