ENG 226 - Introduction to Screenwriting

Course unit(s): 1
Meets GAR (students beginning prior to Fall 2024): Meets general academic requirement AR.
Meets Explore Core requirement (students beginning Fall 2024 and later): CE
In this course, you will develop your understanding and execution of the fundamentals of craft for effective screenwriting. You will be expected to generate a promising premise and logline, multiple outlines and a polished draft of a short narrative screenplay (30 pages or less). Please note, this script should not be the first act of a feature length script. It should be a full and complete story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Each student’s work will be workshopped twice over the course of the semester (20-30 minutes per workshop). Your workshop submission should ideally consist of 12-15 pages of text, ie your first workshop could be the first ½ of your script and second workshop should be the second half of the script. Additionally, you will constructively respond to each other’s work during workshop, focusing this feedback on craft-related elements (character arc, plot/structure, visual-storytelling, dialogue, etc), and you will read, watch, and in-class discuss the selected films below which represent a diverse array of contemporary writers working in various cinematic structures. Satisfies departmental Social Justice and Drama/Transmedia requirement.