COURSE SYLLABUS SSW 510 MAD/ONLINE STORY STRUCTURE FOR STAGE AND SCREEN FALL 2012

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1 Mission Statement: Our mission is to serve as a leading center of Christian thought and action providing an excellent education from a biblical perspective and global context in pivotal professions to equip Christian leaders to change the world. COURSE SYLLABUS SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION & THE ARTS DEPARTMENT OF CINEMA-TELEVISION SSW 510 MAD/ONLINE STORY STRUCTURE FOR STAGE AND SCREEN FALL 2012 Gillette Elvgren, Ph.D Fax: gillelv@regent.edu Mon. 1-4 p.m.; Tues. 10-1:30 Rm. 203, Comm Bldg. All students are required to read and have a thorough understanding of the syllabus. Any questions or concerns need to be addressed to the instructor. COURSE DESCRIPTION This course will cover the essential elements of story structure. Primary emphasis will be on scriptwriting for film, but applicability will be made towards the theatre also. RATIONALE/COURSE OVERVIEW 1

2 After the completion of this course, you should be able to: Identify and work through the various plot point moments in a film, television or theatre piece. This will be informative not only to prospective writers but to directors and producers who will be reading and evaluating scripts in the future. Prepare and carry out the work that normally precedes the writing of the script: research, premise and loglines, pitching the story, synopsis, treatment and step-outline. Form the basis for developing critical insights into your own work and fellow student s scripts. Write and re-write various plot point moments and get the opportunity of exploring the requisites involved in re-writing. Develop the hook of a story idea and develop a pitch to summarize and communicate its premise, plot, and characters in an exciting and efficient way. Faith and Learning An on going dialogue will be encouraged in the investigation of one s Christian faith and how it works itself out through creative writing. Areas of investigation will include: Christian world view and the arts what does this mean to you?; the moral stance of the writer as a Christian; how to apply Christian Biblical disciplines in approaching a creative writing project. On ongoing study of the Book of Nehemiah, as it pertains to both the development of story and to the disciplines of writing will be examined. DEPARTMENT OF CINEMA/ TELEVISION PROGRAM OUTCOMES To reclaim the power of "Story" and to weave Christian values and enduring truths in infinitely fresh and relevant ways. To allow students to explore and refine their craft through observation, intense study and practice. To grow artists who can create media infused with the Light to those with eyes to see and ears to hear. COURSE SSW 510 OUTCOMES/ASSESMENTS OUTCOME: Students will create the building blocks towards story 2

3 structure through log lines, synopsis, and treatment. ASSESSMENT : Evaulation through grades of final Treatment submitted, or for MFA students, completed first draft of a full length feature film. OUTCOME: Students will identify and write scenes from a full length structured piece that will include: exposition; inciting incident; first act climax; midpoint crisis; second act climax; third act climax. ASSESSMENT: each scene will be graded during the process of the course. Students will be required to successfully complete take home exams in the area of screenplay formatting. ASSESSMENT: exam will be graded by instructor. OUTCOME: Students will complete and post in a timely fashion all other reading assignments and exercises as required. ASSESSMENTS: students will respond to the readings and to other students responses on Blackboard s DISCUSSION area. OUTCOME: You will be required in the first three weeks of class to write a ten minute to thirty minute screenplay for pitching purposes for Regent productions. ASSESSMENT: this writing assignment will be graded by instructor through pitching session on phone and SKYPE OUTCOME: You will be required to pitch a five to thirty minute film idea at pitching session, date to be announced. ASSESSMENT: professor will evaluate verbally pitching professionalism. COURSE MATERIALS Required Materials: TEXTS: McKee, Robert. Story. Harper, ISBN: Trotter, David. The Screenwriter s Bible. Silman, James Press, 3 rd edition, ISBN: Christianity and Theatre, CITA publication, Fall/Winter (Essay provided by instructor.) Recommended Resources: You will need some kind of scriptwriting format software. Movie Magic or Final 3

4 Draft are recommended. You can also go to Celtx.com and download a free program which is acceptable. I will be incorporating SKYPE this year, so you will need to purchase the small camera to be attached to your computer if you don t already have it built it. COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND ASSIGNMENTS All assignments will be submitted over Blackboard, Course Content : Assignments. For each reading assignment you will post in a question or an observation on any aspect of the information read on the appropriate DISCUSSION BOARD entry.) All audio streaming and other downloads you will find posted on Blackboard under ASSIGNMENTS/DISCUSSION. You will also turn in your assignments here.) In addition you will be required to: You will be required to complete a finished step outline (Treatment) for a full length play. In addition you will be writing several scenes from you treatment which will be handed in and graded. A NOTE: MFA SSW students are encouraged to actually finish the first draft of a feature film: 90 pages or more. You will not be penalized if you don t get this in by Dec. 10, because it s quite a challenge. But it cannot be handed in any later than this date. On the other hand, the instructor looks with great favor on those who are able to complete this extra credit assignment. Hand in all written assignments as listed in syllabus, on time. On time means that your assignment is due by 12 a.m. on the Monday assigned. You will be required to listen to two or more audio streaming assignments per week: one for the main lecture material; one for the Spiritual meditation. You will be required to hand in a minimum of one question/ or comment per streaming assignment. 4

5 GRADING Plot point scene assignments: 20% Treatment/Full length Screenplay 40% Critique Presentation: 5% In-class Assignments; Homework 15% Formatting take home exam: 5% Five to ten minute Filmscript 10% Reviews 5% (NOTE: your grade can be adversely effected by two things (1) Posting your assignments late; (2) Late assignments will be graded off by one letter grade. Grade delineation: A A - B B B - C C F Late Assignments: The instructor reserves the right not to accept late assignments. Late assignments accepted by the instructor may be penalized up to 10% per day for each day late (including weekends). Legitimate emergencies will be addressed on an individual basis. (Being overwhelmed is not considered an emergency. 5 Academic Honesty:

6 Do not present the ideas or work of another person without giving proper credit to the source. Each paper presented in this class must be written exclusively by you and must be written exclusively for this course. (Sections taken from previous papers written by you for other classes should be quoted and referenced appropriately.) Plagiarism is not only unethical, it is illegal, and the discovery of such will result in the failure of this course and recommendation for disciplinary action by the university. Course Evaluation: You will have the opportunity to evaluate this course and the instructor during the last week of classes. You are encouraged, however, to talk with me anytime throughout the semester regarding the content and/or instruction of this course. INCOMPLETE GRADES POLICY Students desiring an incomplete must submit their request to the course instructor and academic dean prior to the end of the term. An incomplete grade will be given in a regular course only for legitimate deficiencies due to illness, emergencies or extraordinary reasons acceptable to the professor, including equipment breakdown or shortages, and not because of neglect on the student s part. Incompletes require the final approval of the school dean or his/her authorized representative. A regular grade will be given by the instructor if all requirements for the course are submitted by the end of the following academic term. The instructor will submit the new grade to the Registrar s Office no later than two weeks after the beginning of the subsequent term. If all work is not submitted by the end of the term following the granting of the incomplete, a grade of FX (NP for pass/fail courses) will be posted automatically unless a Request for Extension of Incomplete has been approved and submitted to the Registrar s Office. The FX shall be counted as an F in the computation of the GPA. COMMUNICATING WITH YOUR PROFESSOR Please post any questions you have concerning personal or assignment issues by ing me privately gillelv@regent.edu. ) I will respond to them. To facilitate a more timely response to your inquiries, please include our course number (i.e. SSW 510) in the subject line of any that you send. Note: I will not be able to respond to every question/comment of every student every week. DISTANCE INFORMATION: All handouts will be posted for your retrieval on Blackboard ASSIGNMENTS.. You need to check your blackboard status on a daily basis. 6

7 Audio links will be provided for each meditation from the book of Nehemiah. Audio links will be provided for various of the lecture titles. All assignments to be posted will be posted on ASSIGNMENTS. There will be various DISCUSSION assignments, so always be checking that category. You will also need to be able to run on SKYPE in order to pitch your ideas and to talk live with professor. Assignment Submission 7 Note: All submitted assignments should be in MS Word Document (.doc) or PDF. Further, in posting material, each student should clearly label their assignments with something that includes their last name and the type of assignment. For example, Jim Smith would submit his synopsis as JSmith-synopsis.doc (or JSmith-synopsis.rtf). Assignment Overview 1. Personal Homepages: Your first task will be creating your homepage using the form under the user tools tab in blackboard course site. Post your picture and a new introductory message. Your homepage will be your my space page and it will help your classmates and I with the few more clues that will help us interact with you better. 2. Readings: Always tackle the readings first before attempting either the discussion questions or the writing exercise. It is crucial that you go through all the readings to gain all the facts you need to properly tackle the questions and exercises for the week. 3. ON DISCUSSION BOARD you will be posting the following: questions or comments based on (1) the readings (2) the audio links (3) other students postings of assignments. I will normally be on the discussion board every week giving feedback to some of your answers and comments and helping to steer and stir up what I am sure will be a very lively discussion board. We are all scholars and Christians and, therefore, debates and arguments are not only in line with the creative process but are also welcomed. Each student has a week (Monday midnight until midnight of the following Monday) to post his/her answers to the discussion questions and give feedback to the comments of other class members. 4. How answers to the discussion questions will be graded: A. I will be grading you for the effort you put into answering the questions.

8 This will be the effort I see on the page in terms of presentation, organization, and creativity. B. Show me you ve done your readings by citing passages from the readings or respond in general to the audio links to support some of the claims you make. So, be conscious of listing page references, possible quotes that you are emphasizing, and so on, so I know that you ve truly engaged the material. C. Quoting facts to support your claims from other sources outside your readings, when relevant and when needed, is allowed and highly encouraged. D. I am also looking out for your own understanding of what you read so give examples and illustrations whenever you can. These should be your opinions, your true questions, not questions that you really know the answer too. E. Points will be taken off for assignments turned in or posted later than midnight on Monday. After four days the assignment will be zeroed out unless it is due to extenuating circumstances, and prior arrangements have been made with the Professor. Writing within the parameters I have set up will help you address some necessary structural elements as you create your short stories. Try to stay within the parameters of each exercise. Each student has a week (Monday midnight until midnight the following Monday) to complete the writing exercises.. If for any reason Bb is down, you can also me directly at gillelv@regent.edu and include your writing exercise(s) as an attachment. Disciplines: 1. Timely Feedback: To maintain the fairness and the tempo of our discussions, every student is required to post his or her work for the week on time and in an efficient manner so that other class members will have enough time to read, digest, and respond before the deadline. You will also be required to respond to a minimum of one other student s comments also. 2. Blackboard Grade book: The blackboard grade book will be updated regularly with the weekly points you earn from the work you do on the weekly Writing Exercises and Discussion Questions/ On-line participation and feedback,. Remember to check the grade book, from time to time, to confirm your work was graded and entered. 8

9 3. Feedback: Weekly discussion questions and writing exercises will be posted on the general discussion board in Bb on or before MONDAY and you will have until the following MONDAY MIDNIGHT to respond. Also, apart from the feedback you will be receiving from the instructor, a vital aspect of this class is the feedback you will all be giving yourselves. Unlike the on campus component of the class, being online gives us the added advantage having virtual around-the-clock access to each others work and enables each of you to give each other feedback on your work and responses every step of the way. Remember that your prompt response ensures that other class members will have enough time to reply to your writing, responses, and feedback every week you are all being graded for your on-line participation and feedback. SO, in summary, you will be responding not only to the Audio links and reading material, but to your fellow students posted assignments. Note: Please know that I monitor discussion threads each week and frequently enter the discussion myself. However, when I choose not to enter the discussion by writing my own post, be assured that it is not because I have not read your posts. I monitor discussion threads, whether my name appears in them or not, in order that by the end of the course I have a firm grasp of the quality of your discussion contributions. Also, Blackboard allows me to call up a quantitative review of each individual s contributions. I m saying here that it is important that you keep up on discussions and that they will be monitored by me. Your participation will be a significant part of your course grade (i.e., 40%). Besides, it is frustrating when the rest of the course members must go back to old discussion threads just because one or two persons did not keep up on reading or bother to make discussion responses when they were due. 4. Please keep in mind the following: MATERIALS for each weeks work can be found under that title; you will submit all your assignments that are graded under ASSIGNMENTS; and you will submit questions to readings in the DISCUSSION BOARD. These will be monitored and a grade given at the end of the term in relation to the quality of your input. COURSE SCHEDULE WEEK ONE: Mon. Aug. 20 Introduction. Syllabus: Read the syllabus thoroughly and become familiar with the course blackboard site, 9

10 the textbooks, and all due dates. If you have a question of a private/personal nature, please me directly. To facilitate a more timely response to your inquiries, please included our course number (i.e. SSW 510) in the subject line of any that you send. Blackboard General Discussion Boards Introduce yourself to your classmates by telling (1) What is your favorite film or play and why? (2) When someone says that they want to write redemptive films or plays what does this mean to you? (3) Why are you taking this course.? Blackboard homepage Create your homepage using the form under the user tools tab. Post your picture and a new introductory message. Like a my space page, your blackboard homepage will give your classmates paint a better picture of who you really are (if you don t know how to create a home page, I ve provided a link in the course procedures section of the syllabus). Assignments 1. Download BEATS material. Essential and Literal Actions. This will include the BEATS/CITA WORKSHOP, the ESSENTIAL/LITERAL BEAT HANDOUT, and the CASABLANCA/WITNESS exercise which is due Mon. Sept Download what to write for Regent short film notes. 3. Download HOW THEN SHALL WE WRITE article by G. Elvgren. 4. Download Truby article. Post questions/comments. 5. Download PITCH material handout. DUE DATE: MONDAY, AUGUST 27 WEEK TWO: Mon. Aug. 27 Text Analysis/ Dramatic Action 10

11 Readings: 1. The Elements of Story: McKee (Part One; Chap. 14) 2. Trotter: 3-29; Blackboard Discussion Board Go to the Blackboard discussion board for WEEK 2 questions. Post your answers to the discussion questions, return feedback, and discuss with others. Assignments 1. In Elvgren s article HOW THEN SHALL WE WRITE world view is discussed in relation to writing scripts. Post your reaction to this essay and also note what you might add to this list. For example, Elvgren notes such things as CHoice, Destiny and Transcendence. What would you add to this list and why? 2. Have read Beats handouts.* Post questions/comments on readings. 3.Have read and Post question/comments on article: COMPARING DIFFERENT PLOT STRUCTURES. Discuss in class. (Vogel). 4.Download Audio lecture : Questions and Comments due. 1. Audio Lecture. Nehemiah: The beginning SSW 510 Nehemiah Seeking the Lord Question/comment due. 2. Audio Lecture. Dramatic Structure: Story 0216 SSW 510 Dramatic Structure Story Question/comment due. 11

12 DUE DATE: MONDAY, SEPT 3 WEEK THREE: Mon. 3 Sept. Script Analysis Beat work. Reading 1. Reading Assignments: Questions/Comments a. Read McKee, part 2. THE ELEMENTS OF STORY. Post question/comment. b. Download Log Line handout.* Read. c. Trotter: read d.download and read essay summary of Barbara Hall s: An Open Letter to Beginning Screenwriters. Behind the Scenes.* (No question or comment due.) WRITING ASSIGNMENT 2. Post your short film for Regent Productions. It should be anywhere from 5 to 10 pages in length. These films will be considered for possible production by the Film Department. The prerequisites: a. Proper film formatting. See Trotter. b. Redemptive, not necessarily confessional. c. Small cast. d. No excessive production requirements. e. IF you want to write something longer it would be welcome, but no longer than 30 pages. 3. Audio Lecture. Beats. SSW 510 Beats Scenes Post comments/questions DUE DATE: MON. SEPT 10 12

13 WEEK FOUR: Dramatic Action. Mon. 10 Sept. Blackboard Discussion Board Go to the Blackboard discussion board for WEEK 4 questions. Post your answers to the discussion questions, return feedback, and discuss with others. Reading Assignments Audio Lecture. Nehemiah. The Journey. SSW 510 Nehemiah The Journey Question/comment 2. Audio Lecture. The Creative Mandate. SSW 510 Creative Mandate Question/comment. 3. Audio Lecture, Dramatic Structure. Bezalel- question/comment. SSW 510 Bezalel SSW 510 Dramatic Structure Action: Question/comment Writing Exercises (WEEK FOUR) 13

14 Provide a brief description of the most eccentric/interesting person that you know. Now, put this person in an environment which you think would best highlight these attributes. Add another character. Example: Tony Soprano visiting a female psychiatrist. Write a short sketch with a beginning middle and end that brings out this character element. You need conflict. Due Sept. 19 Have read and discuss the Hall essay. Post Questions/ Comments. Read pitch material.* DATE DUE: SEPT. 17 WEEK FIVE: Log Lines and Premise Statements. Mon. 17 Sept. Assignments 1. You are required to send in 30 log line or premise statements, fifteen for Week Five, and fifteen for Week Six.. They must come from or be loosely based on the following categories: Childhood experiences: 3 Romantic comedies: 2 (could be but doesn t have to be based on your own experiences.) Some sort of spiritual experience. 3 Modern adaptation of Biblical story or verse. 2 Adaptation of short story. (in public domain) 1 Second Coming: 1 Family experiences, not childhood: 2 Action/Adventure: 2 Horror: 1 Newspaper article: 1 Theme of self sacrifice: 1 A transcendent moment: 1 10 of any idea you want: could be based on eccentric character, overriding theme you are interested in exploring; other film genres; an idea you ve been kicking around; a fantasy that is grounded in a reality; and so forth. 14 Post fifteen original premise statements (log lines) for story ideas that you

15 come up with. A premise statement is essentially one to three sentences that encapsulate the essential elements of a story. Be concise. Frame the action, conflict in your description. Each play/film idea you have come up with should be written as a log line, i.e. a capsule one to two sentence statement that sums up the action line or premise of your work. Examples: A proud young ruler sets out to find the killer of the King of Thebes but he discovers that he is that killer and that the King was his father and he subsequently blinds himself. (OEDIPUS REX). There are three parts to a premise statement: first there is the character A proud young ruler. Second there is the action or premise sets out to discover. And thirdly there is the consequence: blinds himself. Example: A profligate but sane man is sent to a mental institution and learns the hard way-- that the head nurse is a lot more dangerous than the patients. He is driven to leading his own personal insurrection the result? Freedom for another inmate, a lobotomy for his own self sacrifice. (ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO NEST). Reading Assignments 2. SSW 510 Nehemiah Inciting Incident Post Questions/comments SSW 510 Nehemiah Work Begins Post Questions/comments , SSW 510 Inspiration Part 1 Post Questions/comments

16 5. SSW 510 Inspiration Part 2 Post questions/comments POST your eccentric sketch assignment. Respond to another students eccentric sketch assignment. DUE DATE: SEPT. 24 WEEK SIX: Log Lines/ Premise statements cont. Mon. Sept. 24 Assignment/reading 1.Continue Week Five Assignment. Next 15 log lines due. Comment proactively on another students Log Line Ideas. 2. Have read Trotter: Nehemiah #5 Audio download.* SSW 510 Nehemiah Fear Post question/comment Exposition Lecture.* Audio download. SSW 510 Exposition Read: Pitch handout.* Blackboard Discussion Board Go to the Blackboard discussion board for WEEK 6 questions. Post your answers to the discussion questions, return feedback, and discuss with other 16

17 DUE DATE: OCT. 1 WEEK SEVEN: Pitching. Mon. Oct. 1 Assignments Have selected two ideas from the 30 ideas above and based on the instructors feed back, and pitch these ideas written out. The pitch proposals should include: a. Title b. Genre: mystery or gangster or comedy, ect. c. A paragraph that describes the action of your idea. Log line or premise statement. d. A paragraph that describes the climax of your idea. In addition to posting the pages for the two pitch proposals you will present a verbal pitch of these story/action ideas. They should be memorized ( you CAN refer to a single note card) and it should be presented with energy and enthusiasm. You have to sell me on the idea. Pitch session (I) [20 mins] Prepare a pitch for each of the two story ideas you want to work on for your final treatment. Arrange for a pitching session with the instructor during this week preferably on SKYPE, or the telephone. I will be sending you a schedule of 20 minute slots. You respond over which one you would like. First come, first serve. 17 Reading Assignments 1. Download synopsis material.* Read. 2. Nehemiah #6. Audio download. Question/comment. SSW 510 Nehemiah Strategies of Enemy Inciting Incident/Act One climax. Audio download. Question/comment*

18 SSW 510 Point of Attack Comment/question DUE DATE: OCT. 8 WEEK EIGHT: Break. _ WEEK NINE: MON. OCT. 15 : EXPOSITION/POINT OF ATTACK (Inciting Incident) 18 Reading 1.McKee, Part IV, Exposition. Question/comment. McKee, Part III, The substance of story; the inciting incident. 2.Trotter: Audio downloads. Question/comment SSW 510 Exposition SSW 510 Nehemiah Counterattack Assignments A. POST a SYNOPSIS for your favorite film story idea developed in the last few weeks on premise statements. At top of the Synopsis your premise statement should be written out. Using no more than 3 pages (single spaced), communicate in narrative form the dramatic action (plot/sequence of events) of your ideas. Questions to ask yourself: Is there a cause and effect relationship within the plot development of my story? Is there the germ idea for subplots? Is the story worth telling? Is there a reversal or a change of direction for my main

19 character/characters. Do you sense a character arc? Who or what is my antagonist? Is there an effective climax that meaningfully completes the action? Be sure and start your synopsis when you envision your film starting. Don t give a whole lot of backstory. B. Download Treatment examples.* C. Download: How to write character monologues.* D.Download take home Quiz on Trotter: Book III, formatting only.* Due anytime before Thanksgiving. DUE DATE: MON. OCT. 22 WEEK TEN: Mon. Oct. 22 TREATMENT 19 Assignment A. Hand in first 5-8 pages of your treatment for your screenplay. This should go through the opening exposition and inciting incident. The inciting incident should be labeled. Single spaced. See handout examples. Your TREATMENT should describe scene by scene your screenplay/theatre idea. Use scene titles for each scene (slug lines): EXT. WAREHOUSE RIVERFRONT DAY (See examples From MIRACLE MILE). Your treatment should ultimately indicate your Point Of Attack; first act climax;; mid point crisis; Act II climax; Third act crisis/climax clearly identified and labeled in the treatment. Writing Assignment A. Turn in the first five-8 pages of your script written in correct filmscript formatting. Things to be concerned about: Is my exposition organic?

20 Is my environment working for me? Have I pointed the audience towards the kind of genre that I am writing? Do I have too much talk and not enough action? Have I introduced any of my main characters? What are three elements that are causing tension and raising legitimate questions in the audience s mind? Are there any elements of foreshadowing present? Is my film/play correctly formatted? B. Download Environment/Setting: Audio. Question/comments SSW 510 Environment C. Download Theme/Idea* Audio link download Question/comment SSW 510 Controlling Idea D. SSW 510 Nehemiah - Doors Question/Comment DUE DATE: OCT. 29 WEEK ELEVEN: Oct. 29, ACT II COMPLICATION/CHARACTER Reading Assignments 1. Have read McKee, Part 2, Structure and Setting. Have read McKee, Part 2, Chapter 5, STRUCTURE AND CHARACTER; Part 4, Chapters Question/comment. 2. Critique your fellow students Opening Scene. Post 20

21 3. Progressive Complication: Audio downloads*. Question/Comment SSW 510 Progressive Complication Part 1 Question/comment Audio Link. SSW 510 Progressive Complication Part Audio Link. Character. I, II Questions/comments SSW 510 Character Part SSW 510 Character Part Audio Link Nehemiah. Close to Home. Question/comment. SSW 510 Nehemiah Close to Home CHARACTER Post character descriptions of characters in your script. (Protagonist/antagonist). Should include: a. Characters conscious and unconscious desire or objective. b. The primary external and internal obstacles that stand against accomplishing this desire. c. Note how characters change or how they become more conscious, i.e. what do they begin to realize about each

22 other and themselves that they didn t know before? d. List the 10 major milestones or events in time that have had a profound effect on these two characters. POST THIS 5. Have written a monologue for ONE character in which an important back story element is revealed. Single spaced. One to two pages. POST. DUE DATE: NOV. 5 WEEK TWELVE Mon. Nov. 5 CHARACTER CONT. Assignments 1. Post inciting incident scene through Act I climax of your screenplay. This should be 5-8 pages minimum. Include the page or two leading up to the Inciting Incident and a page or two afterwards. 2. Post Treatment through Act One climax and the beginning of Act II. 3. Audio links. Character. III and IV. Question/comment SSW 510 Character Part 3 Villain SSW 510 Character Part 4 Character Arc Have read McKee, Part 2, Chapter 5, STRUCTURE AND CHARACTER; Part 4, Chapters DUE DATE: NOV. 12 WEEK THIRTEEN Mon. Nov. 12, CHARACTER AND DIALOGUE 22

23 Assignments. 1. Post 7-10 pages of the middle of of your script. It should include any of the following: a reversal; a turning point; mid point crisis; the crisis/ climax of Act II 2, Dialogue: Audio download. Question/comment SSW 510 Dialogue Dialogue assignment: this is a subtext assignment. Using either of the scene ideas below write the ONE you choose with an eye toward subtext. Subtext is language which implies meaning. In other words, like a huge ice-berg, the part that is showing is the tip (the dialogue) but the real meaning is submerged. (Subtext.) So in this scene people talk around what they are feeling. a. A MATTRESS WAREHOUSE: a couple in their sixties is going to buy what will probably be their last mattress: or, a middle aged couple near separation are buying a mattress, the wife s last ditch effort to hold things together; or two teenagers are thinking of moving in and living together but they aren t married. Create a scene in which they talk about their feelings through the way they relate to the mattress. You can add a third character of a salesman. b. AN ATTIC; in which a middle class couple is rummaging around in the attic and the wife or husband discover the original wedding dress. Describe what is going on between them primarily by writing about the wedding dress. c. Post by Nov. 19 d. 5. Audio link. Questions/comment. SSW 510 Nehemiah Complication

24 DATE DUE: NOV. 19 WEEK FOURTEEN: Mon. Nov. 19 IMAGERY AND SUBPLOT Assignments 1.Your comments on a fellow students Act II scene should be posted. 2. Imagery audio download. Questions/comment SSW 510 Image Systems Send in Treatment through Act II midpoint. (approx. 60 pages into the script. 4. Post a brief list of the subplots that you have created. Note how just one functions in relation to the goal of the protagonist. 5. Post a description of the imagery that you have created in your treatment. For example: you might have an overriding image of water in your piece. You would then refer to several instances where water plays a part; how does water become imagistic? i.e., how does it become something more than just H20? How does it help tell the story. Create mood? DUE DATE: NOV. 26 WEEK FIFTEEN: Mon. Nov. 26 ACT THREE CLIMAX 24 Assignments 1. Treatment due through Act II Climax. 2. Act III, audio download. Question/comment SSW 510 Third Act Climax

25 Audio Link. Nehemiah. Third Act Climax. Question/comment. SSW 510 Nehemiah Act 3 Climax DATE DUE: DEC. 5 WEEK SIXTEEN: Mon. Dec Finished Treatment due, through Third Act Climax and Denouement. Due Dec Your final Climactic Act III Scene due pages. Have written out your Third Act climactic scene. Due Dec. 10. DUE Dec. 10 WEEK SEVENTEEN: Mon. Dec. 10 All assignments due. Finished treatment with all your plot points listed in the treatment and identified. Also include all your plot point scenes that you have already been graded on: inciting incident; act one climax; mid point crisis or reversal in Act II; Act II climax; Act III climax. Those students, MFA or otherwise, who were able to finish a rough draft this must be posted no later than December 10. You will get feed back on your effort before the beginning of the next semester. Have a Merry Christmas. 25

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