Bath Spa University School of Humanities and Cultural Industries. Master of Arts in Scriptwriting for Theatre, Radio, Television and Film

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1 Bath Spa University School of Humanities and Cultural Industries Master of Arts in Scriptwriting for Theatre, Radio, Television and Film Student Handbook, (Full and Part-time students)

2 Contents Welcome to the MA 1. Name of award 2. Admissions requirements 3. Normal minimum and maximum duration 4. Teaching location 5. Outline of curriculum The first trimester The second trimester Final script module Second year for part-time students Programme for the year 6. Workloads, disabilities, integrity and range of work Workloads, attendance and deadlines Disabilities Professionalism and integrity The range of work 7. Calendar of the Year 8. Programme specification Main and subsidiary aims Learning outcomes Attributes fostered by the programme 9. Assessment Submission of coursework Who will the examiners be? Criteria for marking in creative writing Special considerations in scriptwriting Criteria for essays, critical commentaries and project proposals Plagiarism 10. Teaching and learning 11. Subject counselling and guidance 12. Quality assurance 13. Typical career destinations 14. Staff profiles 15. Module outlines! 2

3 Welcome to the MA in Scriptwriting This handbook describes the way the course is organised, how we will work together and what you are entitled to expect. The aim of this course is to train professional scriptwriters who can work across stage, radio, television and film. Students write and rewrite scripts for at least two of these media. By the end of the course you will understand the market, know how to pitch, and have a polished full-length script you can use as a calling card. Most of the teaching is done in workshops, not by lectures or tutorials. This method takes a bit of getting used to, but in our experience it is the most powerful way to teach creative writing. Each workshop has one tutor and normally between 6 and 10 students. All of your teachers are working writers. There are also visits to workshops by agents, producers, directors or script editors. The workshops are taught in intensive weekend courses over a year for the fulltime course. This is not a low residency course students have as many contact hours as in our other MAs. But it does allow students to live anywhere in Britain and commute to Bath for the weekends. Bath Spa University has long been recognised as a pioneer in the teaching of creative writing at undergraduate and postgraduate level. When Creative Studies in English began here in , it was one of the very first undergraduate creative writing programmes in the country. Since then the University has continued to build a specialist team of experienced teachers and writers, including distinguished writers who continue to publish novels, poetry, narrative non-fiction and drama for theatre, television and radio. The MA in Creative Writing, which started in , has become one of the most highly respected courses of its type. The newer MA in Writing for Young People has built on this tradition will be the tenth year of the Scriptwriting MA.! 3

4 1. Name of Award Master of Arts in Scriptwriting. 2. Admissions Requirements Applicants are selected for interview on the basis of a completed application form and a sample of up to 20 pages of creative writing. This writing should be printed, in English, and may include already published work. The sample does not have to be script just send us your best work. It can be one piece, two, or three. Normally at least two members of the course team see all samples. Successful applicants will usually but not invariably have a first degree in an academic subject or a professional training in a relevant discipline such as acting or directing. Applicants with no first degree will be accepted if their writing is of sufficient quality and promise, and they can satisfy their interviewers of their ability to meet the intellectual demands of a Masters-level course. The final selection is normally made on the basis of an interview with two members of the permanently contracted course team. In the case of overseas applicants the Course Director will sometimes interview by telephone, and take the advice of other members of the team. The interview will explore the strengths and weaknesses of the writing sample, the ambitions and aspirations of the writer, the suitability of the course for this writer and the ability of the writer to participate fully in workshops. In the judgement of the interviewers, all successful applicants will show a clear potential to become working professional writers. They will show a willingness to accept and give criticism in workshops, to devote the equivalent of full-time work to their writing and to meet the intellectual and practical demands of the course. 3. Duration The full-time course lasts 12 months from October to the end of September. The part-time course lasts two years. Extensions beyond the term of the course may be granted by the Examination Board on the basis of evidence of illness or other personal problems. The Registrar may also grant longer periods of intercalation withdrawal from the course and resumption in a subsequent year. 4. Teaching location Classes are held at Bath Spa University s beautiful Corsham Court facility in Corsham, Wiltshire. Directions and parking information may be found by visiting Please select contact info and then directions.! 4

5 5. Outline of Curriculum The full MA course consists of six modules Dramatic Structure, Theatre and Radio Workshop, Professional Skills, Screenwriting Workshop, and the Final Script Workshop double module. Full details of these appear, in the grid form required for academic validation, in Section 14. All modules are compulsory and must be passed. Each module carries 30 credits, except the Final Script double module, which carries 60 credits. Successful completion of all six modules and 180 credits earns the MA in Scriptwriting. 5.1 The first trimester The first trimester lasts from October to January. We will describe the way it works for full-time students first, but part-time students need to read this section carefully as well. Full-time students take two modules this semester, over a total of six weekends. There are 30 to 36 hours of workshop time in each module. One module is Dramatic Structure. The basic skill of scriptwriting is telling a story and keeping the audience on edge to know what happens next. This module teaches the student how to build this foundation. In addition we introduce the other key skills dialogue, character, subtext, objectives, conflict, climax, symbol, rhythm, space, scenario and step outlines. By the end of the trimester the student should know something of all of these, but at this stage the essential point is being able to tell a story. Students will read classic and contemporary scripts to prepare for each weekend. They will also read theoretical and practical guides to writing. Part of each weekend will be devoted to close discussion of these texts. The other part will be discussion of the scripts students are working on for the concurrent theatre and radio module. These discussions will be rather different in approach from that usual in literary criticism. Instead, we will be going for writerly readings. The central questions are - What is the writer doing? What problems are they trying to solve? What choices are they making? What new problems do those choices create? Students will also learn to write, edit, rewrite and polish a coherent story outline. The other module in this trimester, Theatre and Radio Workshop, is entirely devoted to students own work. Each student writes either a radio play or a stage play. Workshop time is split roughly equally between developing a scenario, writing and rewriting. As with the Dramatic Structure module, the focus is on telling a story that works on stage or on air.! 5

6 There are normally ten or fewer students in each workshop, and each gets a chance to workshop their script each weekend. Ordinarily, you send your work a scenario, a script, or part of a script to the tutor and all the other students in the workshop before the weekend. When the class meets, each person s work is discussed, and where appropriate read. During this trimester students may, if they wish, also learn how to use the sound recording and editing equipment in our well equipped Arts Lab on weekdays. We have a performance, capture and editing facility at Corsham,. At the end of this trimester you submit three pieces of work. One is a 5,000 word essay for the Dramatic Structure module. This may be an essay discussing the structure of your script for the semester in the light of your reading on classical, contemporary and critical work. Or the essay may take the form of directors notes for a classical or modern play not discussed in class, with scene by scene dissection of the characters intentions, and highlighting any likely problems in performance. The other piece of work submitted is your script for the trimester. This can be a radio play of 30 to 60 minutes, a stage play of 45 to 75 minutes, or the first draft of a longer stage play plus a polished version of the first 45 minutes. These two pieces of work will be marked by tutors, and returned to you with written comments. At this point in the course everything is work in progress, so the mark will be either Pass or Fail. For more on the assessment criteria, see section 8.3 to 8.5 of this handbook. Part-time students take the Dramatic Structure module in the first trimester of their first year, and submit the 5,000 word essay in January. As part of that module, they also begin work on the film or television script they will continue with in the next semester. They may learn to use the recording and editing equipment in the Arts Lab. 5.2 The Second Trimester Again, we will start with full-time students, but part-time students need to read this section. The trimester runs from February to early June. Full-time students take two modules. One is Professional Skills. The rationale here is that competent, even inspired, writing on its own is not enough to build a career as a scriptwriter. It is also necessary to know the ever changing market, to be able to pitch, and to know how to develop a script with other professionals. Writing scripts is not, and never has been, a solitary profession. All the dramatic arts are collective work. The downside to this is that you have to be prepared to compromise. The joy is the energy and transformational possibilities of working together. So we try to help a scriptwriter develop skills for collective work.! 6

7 Moreover, it is difficult to write good drama without a sophisticated grasp of group dynamics, micropolitics, and the realities of society, money and power. One tutor from the University staff chairs the Professional Skills module. Different professionals from the industry will attend as visiting tutors. The visiting tutors will be agents, script editors, producers and directors, from a range of radio, stage, film and television. These are people whose jobs involve selecting, commissioning and working with scripts. The visitors will not be talking heads they will be there to teach. Different tutors and visitors will find different workshops methods useful. But the ordinary way of working will be for each student to prepare a pitch before the workshop. Then the visitor will talk about how the market works in the part of the industry they know best and answer questions. After that students will take turns to pitch an idea to the visiting tutor. The tutor will react as she would in her working life. Then, still in role, the student and visiting tutor will discuss the project, and the student will try to talk intelligently and flexibly. After each pitch the student and visiting tutor will come out of role and workshop the pitch along with the other students. Over the course of the module, each student will normally have an opportunity to pitch to a variety of professionals working in various areas. As part of the Professional Studies module every student must research one carefully selected part of the industry. This will usually, though not always, be the target market for their final script project. At the end of this module students will submit a 2,500 word essay describing that one part of the market from the point of view of a professional wanting to sell work there. The second module in this trimester is the Screenwriting Workshop. The form is similar to the Theatre and Radio Workshop in the previous term. Ordinarily students distribute their work on several days before the weekend, and read and edit each other s work before the class. Each student s work is discussed each weekend. For this module students will choose one of four projects. They can write 30 to 60 minutes of television one or two programmes. OR they can write a short film of 30 to 60 minutes. OR they can write the first draft of a full-length film and polish the first 30 minutes. In the first trimester the emphasis was on telling a story. That skill is honed in this module. But now we develop and deepen skills in the areas that were only touched on before character, subtext, dialogue, and genre. Because film is a visual art, we pay particular attention to telling a story on screen through images and actions rather than words. By this point in the year students will be relaxing into the workshop method and beginning really to use it. The key here is the gradual understanding that work is! 7

8 not presented for the public criticism and humiliation of the student. Rather, writing is workshopped to improve it, and then brought back to the workshop in better shape. So students learn that constructive criticism is in fact help, and that it is good both to give and to receive. At this point students are also learning to monitor, discuss and reshape the dynamics of their workshops. The structure of the course is such that tutors come and go, but the student group remains pretty steady. The result is that it becomes their group much more than the tutor s. Students will also be reading, viewing and listening widely to contemporary and classical drama, and probably reading novels and poetry. There is no assessment of this, though it will constantly enter into workshop discussion. When students start the course we assume a familiarity with The Sopranos, West Side Story, Pulp Fiction, various British sitcoms and EastEnders. However, most working writers on sitcoms or soaps are familiar with the wide range of the dramatic tradition, and you should become so as well. At the end of this trimester students will submit a 3,000 word essay on a selected market and the script from their workshop. Again, this is work in progress and will be marked as Pass or Fail. Part-time students take the Screenwriting Workshop module in the second trimester of their first year, and submit the script at the end of the module. 5.3 The third trimester Full time students and second year part time students take Final Script, a double module, between the middle of June and the end of September. For this module there are normally 30 hours of contact time (though this can vary depending on group size). This module has three assessments and is graded summatively. This means that it is necessary to pass all three assignments in order to pass the module. Each student finishes ONE of the following: radio script of minutes stage script of minutes documentary of 30 minutes one or two television scripts totalling 60 minutes film script of minutes Each student will also develop a pitch for their script and be able to discuss in their pitch exam where it will fit in the industry. The industry will be widely defined. It will include scripts aimed at Hollywood and UK film industry, but also sitcoms, soaps, theatre in education, school! 8

9 plays, works for amateur dramatic groups, documentaries, physical theatre, action films, rom-coms, devised work, and much more. Each student will present one of the following realisations of their original writing: 5-10 minute short film/excerpt the rehearsed reading of an minute short play/ excerpt the recording of a minute radio play/excerpt Students can begin work on this creative realisation element of the module at any time during the MA. They will be provided with a separate handbook that clearly details what is required including the specifications, standards expected and assessment criteria. The students will also be able to discuss their project with their personal tutor in advance of commencing. Students are expected to collaborate with students from the relevant departments across the university and draw upon its resources in the realisation of their project. Students will be marked on the quality of the end product and on a short 1000-word document that clearly lays out a strategy for realising their project. This part of the module is driven entirely by the students themselves and is designed to equip students with the skills needed to produce their own work. This module will be entirely devoted to the students work. Teaching will be done by a mixture of workshops and individual tutorials. The students will present their work at a showcase even in September By 29 th September students will submit their final script and a 1,000 word supporting document/ folder for their practical project. In the last two weeks of September they will also do pitches for their script under simulated market conditions. This work will be examined, and the final mark for the MA will be awarded on the basis of script (60%), practical presentation (30%) and pitch (10%). 5.4 Part-time students in the second year In the first trimester of the second year, part-time students take the Theatre and Radio Workshop, the details of which are given above. Their place in the workshops and modules now changes. In the first year they will to some extent have been running to keep up with the full-time students in their modules. Now the part-timers in their second year are more experienced, and likely to be helping the first-year full-timers along. In the second trimester part-timers take the Professional Skills workshop. They are also thinking hard about their final script, and have probably begun work on it. In the third trimester part-timers take the Final Script module.! 9

10 5.5. Programme for the Year Full-time Students: Trimester One (October 2016 January 2017) Dramatic Structure module 3 workshops of two days each Theatre and Radio Workshop module 3 workshops of two days each Optional training in Arts Lab on weekdays 5,000 word essay submitted by Monday of week 14 Theatre or radio script submitted by Monday of week 14 Trimester Two (February 2017 June 2017) Professional Skills Module 3 workshops of two days each Screenwriting Workshop 3 workshops of two days each Optional training in Arts Lab on weekdays Research into a corner of the market, and possibly a placement 3,000 word essay submitted by Monday of week 14 Film or TV script or rough cut of documentary submitted by Monday of week 14 Trimester Three (June 2017 September 2017) Final Script double module either 3 weekends or 5 separate days Simulated pitch examination in second half of September Final script and practical presentation folder submitted by last week of September Part-time students: Part-time students take the same course over two years. They do one module each trimester, and complete the same six modules. First Year, Trimester One (1 October 2016 January 2017) Dramatic Structure module 3 workshops of two days each Optional training in Arts Lab on weekdays 5,000 word essay submitted by Monday of week 14 First Year, Trimester Two (February 2017 June 2017) Screenwriting Workshop 3 workshops of two days each Optional training in Arts Lab on weekdays Film or TV script or rough cut of documentary submitted by Monday of week 14 Second Year, Trimester One (1 October 2017 January 2018) Theatre and Radio Workshop module 3 workshops of two days each Optional training in Arts Lab on weekdays Theatre or radio script submitted by Monday of week 14 Second Year, Trimester Two (February 2018 June 2018) Professional Skills Module 3 workshops of two days each Optional training in Arts Lab on weekdays Research into a corner of the market, and possibly a placement! 10

11 3,000 word essay submitted by Monday of week 14 Second Year, Trimester Three (June September 2018) Final Script double module. Simulated pitch examination in second half of September Final script and practical presentation folder submitted by last weekday in September 6 Workloads, disability, integrity and the range of work 6.1 Workloads and attendance The University assumes that students will devote about 300 hours of work to each module, or a total of 1,800 hours. This includes the time spent in classes and placements. You need to think in terms of making space for 600 hours of work in each four month trimester. This works out at an average of thirty-five hours a week. Part-time students have to find an average of 18 hours a week. The length of the scripts submitted is specified in minutes. Learning how to judge the length of a script almost to the minute is a basic skill in the trade, and will be taught in the workshops. Attendance at workshops is not compulsory, but it is expected. There are three reasons. One is that because the workshops are intensive, missing one means much more than missing one class. There is no way to make up for a missed workshop with lecture notes or personal tutorials. The second reason is that a workshop is a collective project, and requires shared commitment to each other to work well. The third reason is this is training for show business, where the show must go on, and people turn up for work on time. Deadlines are deadlines. Extensions will be given in unusual circumstances, such as illness or personal troubles, but will under no circumstances be given just because you re having problems with your script. One of the key reasons for taking this course is to develop strategies to deal with those kinds of difficulty. 6.2 Disabilities We make an effort to recruit writers with disabilities to this MA. We do not, however, hold them to a lesser standard. The thousands of distinguished creative artists with disabilities include Homer, Milton, Beethoven, Dostoevsky, Van Gogh, Ray Charles and Hank Williams. We will not ignore difficulties with, for instance, vision, hearing or mobility. In all cases, the job of handling the disability belongs to the students and tutors in the workshop collectively, not to the particular student and the tutor. Of course any student may choose not to reveal a disability. On the other hand, a student with dyslexia or other writing problems is expected to get their work in on time and in good shape. This will always mean allowing time! 11

12 for someone else to read and correct their work before handing it in. Help will also be available from the University s Student Support Services. There may be some students whose disability means that they have difficulty handling the full workload in the time allowed. In these cases, we much prefer that the student does the course part-time over two years. This will allow them the full benefit of the course. 6.3 Integrity This MA lays stress on fitting a writer s work to the market. However, every writer brings some combination of artistic, moral, political and even religious purposes to their work. We do not expect you to forget this. Your tutors have their own purposes in their own work. The workshops will discuss the very real dilemmas of negotiating these purposes with the market, and talk about both compromises and bottom lines. There are also parts of the industry where integrity and artistic vision are valued and rewarded. 6.4 The range of work Although we lay emphasis on the market, we define it very broadly. Some students will write for Hollywood, some for the London stage, some for their local amateur dramatic group or the school play. We are also open to students working in a wide range of forms. Between them our tutors have expertise across theatre, radio, television and film. There are also smaller areas where we have particular expertise, for instance physical theatre, devised work, musicals and theatre in education. But we will do our best to go where students lead. In some cases, this may necessitate changing the submission guidelines, in ways that will be negotiated with the course team. 7. Calendar of the Year October to January, Semester One CW7101 Dramatic Structure: Robin Mukherjee and Gavin James Bower October 1st and 2nd November 5th and 6th December 3rd and 4th CW7102 Theatre and Radio: Sharon Clarke and Rachel Bentham October 15th and 16th November 19th and 20th! 12

13 December 10th and 11th February to June, Semester Two CW7103 Professional Skills February 11th and 12th March 11th and 12th April 22nd and 23rd CW7104 Screenwriting Workshop February 25th and 26th April 8th and 9th May 6th and 7th Late June to end September, Semester Three CW7105 Final Script Project June 17th and 18th July 22nd and 23rd September 9th and 10th Showcase 30th September 8. Programme Specification 8.1 Aims of the MA in Scriptwriting 1. To help students develop a comprehensive facility with the core skills of scriptwriting, enabling dexterity and flexibility across all standard forms of broadcasting and stage production. While any student may choose to specialise in a particular field, a robust sense of story-telling, combined with agility of craft, allows for more opportunity of career progression in a varied broadcasting environment. 2. To acquaint students with the realities of the broadcasting and performance industry, its disciplines, rigours and expectations. With knowledge comes the power to develop coherent and realistic strategies for professional progress, supported by extensive training in key skills such as verbal pitching, and the preparation of compelling proposal documents. 3. To help students develop their technical, critical and personal skills in the field of scriptwriting through workshop discussion. By giving and receiving a critical response to creative work, students develop the insight necessary to manage both their own work as creators, and the efforts of others in an editorial capacity. Workshopping also develops valuable skills of listening, the interrogation of propositions, the testing of material, and the constructive framing of an argument.! 13

14 4. To help students discover and develop their own writing voice, founded on a passion for their innate stories, and to equip them to navigate the demands of an essentially collaborative industry without losing their uniqueness and integrity. 5. To take students, by means of the showcase project, through the complete production process from inception to presentation, meeting the many challenges of such an undertaking in the relative security of the university environment, while nevertheless confronting the ultimate test of seeing one s own work through the eyes of a public audience. 6. To understand and develop some of the skills ancillary to the writing process such as camera-work, sound, lighting, editing, performance, and visual design. 7. To complete at least one script, in any standard medium, of a sufficient quality to gain any or all of the following: literary representation from an established agent; an offer of production development from a recognised company; an offer of writing opportunities within an existing production; an opportunity to move straight to production either with an established company or via joint enterprise. The timeline for script development varies depending on the medium; a television script may be ready within three months, a film can take five years from inception to production. We therefore do not expect, as a base-line, a finished script ready for immediate production. It should, however, demonstrate the potential to move forward sufficiently to solicit industry engagement and professional support. 8.2 Learning Outcomes The following definitions are given by Quality Assurance Agency: Characteristic outcomes of Masters degrees i) A systematic understanding of knowledge, and a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights, much of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of their academic discipline, field of study, or area of professional practice. ii) A comprehensive understanding of techniques applicable to their own research or advanced scholarship. iii) Originality in the application of knowledge, together with a practical understanding of how established techniques of research and enquiry are used to create and interpret knowledge in the discipline. iv) Conceptual understanding that enables the student: to evaluate critically current research and advanced scholarship in the discipline; and to evaluate methodologies and develop critiques of them and, where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses.! 14

15 Typically, holders of the qualification will be able to: a) deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgements in the absence of complete data, and communicate their conclusions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences; b) demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems, and act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks at a professional or equivalent level; c) continue to advance their knowledge and understanding, and develop new skills to a high level; and will have: d) the qualities and transferable skills necessary for employment requiring: the exercise of initiative and personal responsibility; decision-making in complex and unpredictable situations; and the independent learning ability required for continuing professional development. Programme Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) (NB These ILOs are at level 7 of the FHEQ) A Subject-specific skills and knowledge In successfully completing the programme, the student will have acquired: A1 the ability to plan and write to a finished standard, from the point of conception or near that point, an original script of a length appropriate to its medium, or a single thirty minute episode of a series with suitable formatting materials for the remainder, such as to demonstrate practical and conceptual knowledge of the relevant field. A2 the ability to produce a substantial work as defined above that responds to complex questions and finds solutions to practical problems concerning the form and subject matter pertaining to scripts. A3 the ability to write short pieces of creative writing in the chosen mode that demonstrate a practical understanding of appropriate techniques and are suitable for editorial discussion. A4 the ability to reconsider and revise their creative work in response to precise, comparative and analytical discussion in groups and one-to-one, in a way that demonstrates practical and conceptual understanding as relevant to the chosen mode. A5 the ability to write analytically about scripted materials, in terms of technique, form and content, and in response to complex questions at the forefront of the discipline as relevant to their chosen writing project. A6 the ability to produce scripts that demonstrate an understanding of technique, methodology, genre and industry context as relevant to their chosen writing project. B Cognitive and Intellectual Skills! 15

16 In successfully completing the programme, the student will have acquired B1 Creative, observational, analytical, language and imaginative skills as required for the effective conception, design and substantial achievement of a completed script. B2 The relevant methodological skills for examining incomplete or fragmentary experience and shaping it into coherent form for producers and the audience. B3 Analytical, language and imaginative skills as required for the critical analysis and practical problem-solving assessment of their own and other writers work, and for the precise and helpful articulation of criticism of other writers work. B4 Analytical and imaginative skills as required to understand how experience may be translated into dramatic story form, how writing can engage with tradition, literary convention and language as well as with the observed facts of the world; and how work can engage with the consumer of the dramatic experience. B5 Skills of literary and cultural analysis to demonstrate the effective use of literary media and forms with reference to reading, research (as appropriate to the discipline) and systematic study. C Skills for Life and Work C1 Autonomous learning (including time management) that demonstrates the exercise of initiative, personal responsibility and decision-making in complex and unpredictable situations and the independent learning ability required for continuing professional development. C2 Team working skills necessary to succeed in the global workplace, with an ability both to work in and lead teams, as well as the ability to act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks at a professional or equivalent level. C3 Communication skills that show the ability to communicate clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences knowledge at, or informed by, the forefront of the academic discipline, field of study or area of professional practice, and the conclusions drawn from dealing systematically with complex issues. C4 IT skills and digital literacy that demonstrate the ability to develop new skills to a high level and to approach complex issues systematically and creatively. Intermediate awards PGCert (60 credits) PGDip (120 credits) PgCert ILOs A3 - A6 B1 - B3 C1 - C4! 16

17 PgDip ILOs A3 - A6 B1 - B4 C1 - C3 Graduate Attributes Bath Spa Graduates Will be employable: equipped with the skills necessary to flourish in the global workplace, able to work in and lead teams Will be able to understand and manage complexity, diversity and change Will be creative: able to innovate and to solve problems by working across disciplines as professional or artistic practitioners Will be digitally literate: able to work at the interface of creativity and technology Will be internationally networked: either by studying abroad for part of the their programme, or studying alongside students from overseas Will be creative thinkers, doers and makers Will be critical thinkers: able to express their ideas in written and oral form, and possessing information literacy Will be ethically aware: prepared for citizenship in a local, national and global context In Scriptwriting this means Will be equipped to complete works of creative writing to the best of their ability as informed by knowledge of the relevant techniques and professional contexts Will have practical experience in responding to the complex technical, emotional and intellectual challenges presented by the planning and development of a work of creative writing in a diverse and rapidly changing cultural and professional context Will be creative: able to innovate and to solve problems by working across disciplines as professional or artistic practitioners of creative writing Will be digitally literate and able to work at the interface of creativity and technology as required by their chosen mode of creative writing Will be internationally networked by studying alongside students from overseas and by encountering a diversity of international creative writing and creative concerns Will be critical thinkers, able to express their ideas in written and oral form, and possessing information literacy, having honed these skills in creative writing workshops, tutorials and the written analysis of their own and others work Will be critical thinkers, able to express their ideas in written and oral form, and possessing information literacy, having honed these skills in creative writing workshops, tutorials and the written analysis of their own and others work Will be ethically aware and prepared for citizenship in a local, national and global context, having encountered, discussed and found practical responses to diverse ethical questions arising from their own and other writers creative work! 17

18 9. Assessment A pass in the MA in Scriptwriting will be given one of two grades. A Pass is for an overall mark of between 50 and 69, and a Distinction is for an overall mark of 70 or above. These grades are awarded at the discretion of the Examination Board, subject to the normal rules and appeal procedures outlined in the Taught Postgraduate Framework Submission of coursework Coursework should be placed in the secure box provided by the School of English and Creative Studies by 4.00 pm on the final day of the submission period. All coursework should be printed and laid out in professional format. Coursework must also be submitted electronically in accordance with University policy. A random selection of work will be submitted to a plagiarism detection service. It is in all cases the student s responsibility to ensure that coursework is submitted according to these regulations. 9.2 Who will the examiners be? Assessment of your work will never be the matter of one marker s subjective opinion. All marking is done with reference to the agreed Criteria for Marking (section 8.3 and 8.4 below) and within the discipline of a second-marking system in some cases of a sample, in others all the work. Where formal second marking is done, as in the Final Script double module, it is done blind. This means that two markers read and comment independently, without knowing each other s opinion, before they meet to discuss and finalise a mark. If they cannot reach genuine agreement, a third marker will be called in. In the first two semesters all coursework is marked by the module tutor. A sample of the coursework, including all Fails, will be second-marked by another member of the course team. All scripts and essays submitted for the Final Script module will be marked by one tutor and second-marked by another. A sample from every module will be sent to the External Examiner, who is a respected teacher of scriptwriting from another institution with wide experience of marking elsewhere. The External may ask to see any piece of marking. It is customary in other creative writing MAs at Bath Spa University for student work to be returned during a tutorial with the tutor. The structure of intensive weekend workshops makes this logistically impossible with the MA in scriptwriting. Instead, the work will be returned with a written commentary by the examiner or examiners.! 18

19 9.3 Criteria for marking in Creative Writing Like all professionals in the field of Creative Writing, members of the course team consider and discuss our judgements of the quality of work with each other and with colleagues nationwide. All students on the course will be party to this thinking, both in principle and in the week-by-week practice of workshop discussion. As you have seen from section 7 above, we refer to nationally agreed definitions from the QAA. In the second-marking process, the first marker s reading will be that of a tutor well acquainted with you and your work. The second marker is there to give the view of someone meeting the work for the first time, and to guard against the possibility that a tutor could grow too close to the work. Both examiners will agree upon a mark. If the two examiners are unable to agree, a third examiner will read the work, which will also be sent to the external examiner; this third examiner s decision will be final. In the Final Script module, the work will receive two written commentaries. These may express differing views. This is valuable for the student, who will have the opportunity to reflect upon a range of reactions that their work has produced, and to make their own judgements. The ability to do this is part of the workshop method. Any honest group discussion of work-in-progress will show a variety of responses; the skills we practise are to articulate these in a way the writer can weigh up, consider and use. Creative work earning a Distinction at Masters level will: be worthy of consideration for professional production be presented to fully professional standards have a marked originality in its style, structure, content or implications fulfil the demands of the form and genre it adopts, while also extending its possibilities show an acute sense of its audience Work earning a Pass will have some of these qualities, or all in varying lesser degrees. It may possess wild originality, but not the technical skills or the sure sense of audience or control of tone. Work that is technically faultless and does everything a tutor could advise, yet lacks that spark of something fresh and unexpected will typically receive a mark in the 60s, not a Distinction. Work that fails will fall short markedly in several of these areas, and show no sign of improving to an acceptable standard in response to workshops. Professional standards of presentation include close attention to the nuts and bolts of punctuation, spelling, sentence-structure and grammar. Work that neglects this, however gifted, is unlikely to gain a high mark, just as it is unlikely to receive a charitable reading on a real agent s or editor s desk.! 19

20 Dialogue will be written in the voices, dialect and grammar that fit the characters, but with correct spelling. All scripts will be submitted in accepted formats for that medium. 9.4 Special considerations in scriptwriting Dramatic writing in all its forms is part of a collective work process, and one that puts a high value on performance. An understanding of the market and the ability to present one s own work are not optional extras. For better or worse, they are basic tools of the professional scriptwriter. The distinction between literary work and the lesser forms that is often found in communities of other writers is largely absent among scriptwriters, almost all of whom see both themselves and Shakespeare as labourers in the vineyard. This does not mean that scriptwriters do not recognise and honour serious art. But it does mean that you will be able to gain high marks for writing for soaps as well as for writing a play for Radio Three Criteria for the Essays These assessment items of prose writing may be given high marks for the following qualities: clarity and precision of argument insight and originality of thought resourceful use of evidence to substantiate arguments recognition of alternative viewpoints and willingness to engage with objections critical engagement with set texts in the essay on dramatic structure knowledge of and critical engagement with generalised arguments and theories skilful interpretative close reading of set texts and the student s own writing technical competence in grammar, punctuation and sentence-structure. complete referencing and bibliography where texts have been quoted or referred to (author, title, place of publication, publisher, date of first publication, page number) 9.6 Plagiarism and other forms of unfair practice Although plagiarism is rare at postgraduate level, and rare in Creative Writing, the University is vigilant for any unfair practice, and strict penalties are laid down under Taught Postgraduate Framework regulations. Plagiarism is: the taking and using as one s own of the thoughts, writing or inventions of another (Oxford English Dictionary).! 20

21 Plagiarism can take a variety of forms. The most obvious is copying or paraphrasing sections from one or more books and articles WITHOUT ACKNOWLEDGING THESE SOURCES. The term can also be applied to excessive dependence upon one or a limited number of authors even if the exact wording used by the original author(s) has been modified. At times, you may wish to quote an author, or set out his/her point of view; in such cases, a reference must be given in a footnote. In creative writing plagiarism usually means the pretence that another writer s work is one s own. Please note that we are not concerned with proving the student s intention to plagiarise. Plagiarism may be considered proven if a student has presented another writer s work as if it were the student s own, unattributed, unreferenced, unacknowledged. Of course, creative writing students may wish and sometimes be asked by tutors to experiment with imitations of a writer s style, as in pastiche or parody. The difference is that this borrowing will be openly acknowledged. 10. Teaching and learning The following forms of teaching will be used. Not all will occur in any one module. writing workshops in which students present creative writing for group discussion one-to-one tutorials work on simulated pitches written comments on students scripts and essays module group discussions of set texts and general and theoretical topics presentations by visiting speakers, including agents, producers, directors and script editors question and answer sessions with visiting speakers practical tutorials in using equipment work in rehearsals and productions of their scripts Students will be engaged in the following learning activities. Not all will occur in any one module. planning, writing and rewriting scripts precise and practice-based group discussion of their own and other students creative writing, including reflection on the workshop process itself oral analysis of their own writing in tutorials analytical class discussion of set texts, themes and theories writing argumentative essays and critical analyses listening and responding to guest speakers researching the market in general and in detail if appropriate, research on the background to their writing, which may use libraries, web-sites, participation or interviews! 21

22 reading scripts and books, listening to radio, and watching plays, TV and films performing work on their feet 11. Subject counselling and guidance From the admissions interview to the conclusion of the course, staff are available to give academic and administrative advice to students. All students are allocated a Personal Tutor, who will meet with them each semester to review and monitor progress and discuss professional development. Some of these meetings will be by telephone or internet conversation, if that fits better with the student s circumstances. Your Personal Tutor is the first and most natural contact point for students who have concerns about the course, or who wish to discuss personal matters that may affect their work. However, you may want to contact module tutors, the Course Director or other staff. All permanently contracted staff on the team have regular office hours displayed on their office doors. Specialised non-academic advice may be sought from the Head of the Graduate School, the Finance Office, the Students Union, the Disability Officer or the Student Welfare Officer. If asked, the Course Director or Personal Tutor will communicate with these offices on behalf of the student. At the beginning of each year, two student representatives will be elected by the student group to be members of the Course Committee, which will meet at intervals through the year and invite the representatives to raise questions, concerns and suggestions from students who have consulted them. 12. Quality assurance The MA in Scriptwriting is subject to all the rules relating to quality assurance in the Taught Postgraduate Framework. All students are asked to evaluate each module after its completion, and to evaluate the whole programme once they have completed their final module. The comments made on these evaluation forms are collated and summarised by a member of the course team who then submits a report to the Course Committee, the Creative Studies Subject Board and the School Board. Matters arising from the report will be reported to students in their working groups. The External Examiner attends examination boards, monitors standards of work, marking and procedure and submits an annual report to which the Course Director makes a written response. Samples of assessed coursework, normally comprising a quarter of the total submission in each assessment item, are sent to the External! 22

23 Examiner in advance of each examination board. At the External Examiner s discretion, the nature of the sample may sometimes vary (a larger sample may be taken from a particular module about which questions have been raised, for example). All failed work will be sent. All work receiving a Distinction mark or a Fail, and a sample of work receiving other marks across the range, is second marked within the team. All work submitted for the Final Script double module is marked by two examiners, each of whom writes a report which is sent to the student after the examination board. Permanently contracted tutors participate in the Peer Observation Scheme operated by the School of English and Creative Studies. Each hourly-paid tutor has a permanently contracted member of staff as a mentor, and will have their teaching observed at some point in the year. The Course Committee meets at least twice each academic year to table and respond to matters raised by student representatives, to monitor the general quality and progress of the course, to consider innovations and minor modifications and to discuss long term developments. The membership is as follows: Course Director Chair of the Course Committee, who is a member of the course team Student Representatives The School Secretary, or the secretary s representative In addition, when appropriate the Head of the School of English and Creative Studies, the Head of the Graduate School, a representative of the Library and any additional members of the course team or students may attend. The Course Director reports regularly to the Head of the School of Humanities and Cultural Industries. The Course Director is a member of the Higher Degrees (taught) Committee. 13. Typical career destinations Our experience with our longstanding MAs in Creative Writing and Writing for Young People is that some people go on to become full-time writers. A larger number get professional work, but also have to balance this with a day job and child-care responsibilities. Many of our graduates have also taught creative writing at Bath Spa or other universities. With the Scriptwriting MA we also expect that some students will become fulltime writers, and others regular professional writers. The rewards of scriptwriting can be glittering indeed, and it may happen to you. However, many! 23