Practical Screenwriting: From Title to Draft

Six weeks on Thursdays from 11 June 2020, 7:00 - 9:00pm

Lecturer: David Lemon

This 6 week course is designed for screenwriters who have already started working on a script for a feature, TV series or short film. Whether it’s developing a structure, refining character or finding ways to approach the inevitable rewrite, this course is exercise rather than lecture based and will help you to develop your craft. The course will suit those who attended the ‘Introduction to Screenwriting’ course, but this is not a requirement. Just bring your idea/work in progress, a laptop/tablet/notepad, and be prepared to both give and receive feedback from your fellow writers.

WEEK 1: IDEA GENERATION

Whether it’s refining an existing concept or developing new ideas for a portfolio, this session will look at the key components of compelling script ideas and how to make sure that the central dramatic question of your story is both clear and compelling.

WEEK 2: OUTLINING

Whilst every scriptwriter works differently, having a ‘road map’ for your story is always a good idea. This session will look at ways to build your screenplay’s underlying structure and some of the pitfalls to avoid.

WEEK 3: CHARACTER AND CHARACTER ARCS

In this session, we will be interrogating the central characters of our stories. What’s their journey? Do they even have one-or are they, as in the case of many TV characters, trapped by their situation and patterns of behaviour? Through a series of exercises we will working out what makes our characters tick, so be prepared to be tough with them! WEEK 4: GENRE AND TONE What’s the atmosphere you want to create within your story? What do you want your audience to feel? This session will look at the ways in which we can convey the ‘feel’ of our screen story on the page.

WEEK 5: SCENE WORK

With everyone (hopefully!) moving forwards with their projects, this session will focus on specific scenes from the group’s work, with read throughs and discussions on character intention, scene construction and the ways in which we can make any scene memorable.

WEEK 6: PITCHING AND THE WRITER’S PORTFOLIO

The final session will be about pitching our projects, whether they’re features, pilots or shorts. Being able to summarise and communicate our ideas is an essential skill for all screenwriters. Whether pitching from memory or using a presentation to show log lines, image references etc. this session will be about giving the writer the confidence to share their work and take on board constructive feedback.

Tickets are £80 for the full six-week course (£75 concession / £70 Picturehouse Members).