1. Intro to Screenwriting

2. What is a Movie?
• Movie = A story told in images and
sounds, story incites emotion, connection
• Movie = Doing/Seeing
• Play = Talking
• Novel = Thinking
• Construct of fiction, documentary,
experimental

3. Externalizing Ideas
• Externalize: To take an idea that is
internal and make it visual and action-
oriented
• For example, to show love onscreen, we
can hug, kiss, hold hands, ect.

4. Elements of Drama
• Dramatic conflict: Core question
• Characters: Protagonist, antagonist
• Setting: Locations, place
• Theme: What the audience learns
• Plot: Order of the story

5. Writing the Short Film
• Shorts films are anything under 45 minutes
• In this class, you will write films that are
around 30 minutes in length
• Show a moment into a world--insight into
some deeper truth, the world of
characters, delve into emotion

6. Producing the Short Film
• Limit the number of locations
• Keep the number of actors low
• No animals and kids
• No period pieces, science fiction,
adventure, fantasy
• Minimum/simple special effects

7. Successful Short Films
• Emotional--Incites deeper feeling, makes
us think, question something
• Unique concept, but still familiar
• Memorable characters
• A unique moment in the world/lives of the
characters
• Visually stimulating/interesting

8. Developing Ideas
• Ideas start with something different for
everyone--character, place, theme
• Basic premise for a short film is a
character with a problem or a question
• Or, a character wants something, but
there is an obstacle. Obstacle can be
another person or something else. Must
be externalized!

9. Writing the Short Screenplay
• Structure: How the idea is formulated
• Content: The characters and the
connection the audience might have to
their dilemmas and struggles

10. Story Structure
• Story structure is a question of plot--how
do we put our events together to form
the most cohesive, dramatic story?
• With screenwriting, structure is critical--it is
stricter than novels, plays because time is
compressed
• Screenplay is a document of dramatic
structure

11. Three-Act Structure
• Act I: Story setup
• Act II: Confrontation
• Act III: Climax and resolution

12. Screenplay Structure, Syd Field

13. Developing Structure
• Causality is key: One event must lead to
another
• Should be told from one character’s POV
• Twist/reversal is when the audience
expects one outcome by gets another

14. Story Pitches
• Write a brief paragraph or two
about a character is who is facing
an obstacle or problem. Roughly
use the three act structure to flesh
out this idea. You will present each
of these ideas in class, then we will
discuss them.