WRITING FOR TELEVISION AND FILM: SYLLABUS

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1 WRITING FOR TELEVISION AND FILM: SYLLABUS Instructor ERIC REYES LOO (David Myers sub for first four weeks) TFM 110 Spring 2017 Thursdays 3:30 PM 6:10 PM or 7 PM 9:40 PM (office hours with Eric: via Skype, by appointment) Ericloo73@aol.com COURSE OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the elements of storytelling required to write professionally for television and film. Even in production, you have to know what goes into the script you re going to shoot. It all starts with the script. And in order to understand what goes into it, you re going write one. What? Holy s**t! (or Yay! Holy s**t! Finally! ) The class is divided into three sections (or acts, as in three-act structure see what I did there? You re learning already). The first act is dramatic structure. The second act is idea generation and execution. The third act is the Writers Room. More on that soon. Keep reading The focus of the course will be narrative scripted TV and Film no documentaries. It s not my area of expertise, so I m not teaching it. If you re interested in writing documentaries after this class, learning a three-act structure will be a huge asset. We ll break down feature length screenplay, halfhour single camera TV comedy one-hour TV drama and the web series. At the end of the course, you write a ten-minute feature or web series pilot. In order to get there you will write a pitch document or story treatment and a full narrative outline. More to the point, you will rewrite your pitch document and outline until they re fit enough for you to start writing your feature or pilot. By the time we re done, the goal is for your idea to be as air tight as possible as I ll be taking you through a professional-level approval process for each stage. COURSE COMPONENTS The course and class meetings will include the following components: 1) Lecture especially the first five weeks 2) Film and TV watching assignments 3) In-class and take home assignments 4) Reading TV and Film scripts to study format 5) Reading from assigned texts and hand outs 1

2 6) A writer s room format for brainstorming ideas 7) Active Participation in class discussions on assigned reading. First Five Weeks: First Act (Dramatic Structure) The first five weeks of the course will be focused on learning story structure for TV, Film and Web Series. We will start talking about what makes a good idea. Why do you put that TV show or movie in your Netflix or DVR queue? What gets you off your ass to go to the movies? Then we ll talk about what makes a great series or movie. That includes reading a bunch of TV and film for homework, reading about story structure, listening to a five week course in story structure, which includes format, plot, character, motivation, conflict, story sequencing, etc. This will build the foundation to move onto the Second Act. Week One: What Makes a Good Idea? (with David Myers) Professor and Course Introduction Review Syllabus Group Discussion of Favorite Films and TV Shows Classics and Shows within the last five years The Landscape How Film and TV have changed in the past five years. What makes a great story Hooks, Characters Week Two: Character (with David Myers) Discussion of Trainwreck from the POV of the main character. Discussion of reading. Discussion of the obstacles and how character was revealed in the script. Introduction of Three-Act Structure Week Three: Plotting: The Use of Three Act Structure in Film (with David Myers) Script analysis of Hidden Figures. Beat by beat, scene by scene. Week Four: Pilot Structure: Plot, Structure, Conflict, Events (with David Myers) Breakdown of How to Get Away with Murder and Modern Family pilots in terms of its plot, structure, conflict and events. Juggling multiple storylines. How story structure determines the pace and dynamic of a show. In class beating out the story of each pilot. Week Five: Short Form/Web & Digital; How an Idea Gets Developed Discussion of digital formats, by looking at Guidance Season Two. How the show functions as a TV series and as a web series. The development from outline all the way through to what gets shot. TV development from a business POV. 2

3 Second Five Weeks: Second Act (Idea Generation and Execution of That Idea) The second five weeks will start with you making a decision: will you focus on a TV or Film idea in the rest of this course? Then you ll have to come in with five ideas for either a ten-minute series pilot or a ten-minute feature. You ll present these ideas in groups over two weeks in front of a focus group that will rate your ideas. You will then take the top two ideas and write a one sheet, a onepage story document that lists the logline, our protagonist/antagonist, and the basic story in three acts. These story documents will be shared in peer critique groups and given the feedback on the strongest ideas, you be sent to outline. During this part of the course, you should be also be watching films and pilots that feel like the film or pilot you re writing. Your assignment will be to write a beat sheet that details all of the beats of the pilot or film you re writing. In addition, you will be writing a narrative outline of that project. These will be helpful in breaking down how stories track in films and TV shows. This will be like practice or drills or technique class in preparation for the big game or recital. Week Six: Focus Group #1 First half of the class presents their top two favorite ideas. Your logline one to two sentences tops. Class discussion of the ideas Week Seven: Focus Group #2 Second half of the class presents their top two favorite ideas. Your logline one to two sentences tops. Class discussion of the ideas Week Eight: Treatments Discussion of how to put a treatment together: the World, Characters, Summary of Story, Personal Story and the basic pitch. Week Nine: Story Major events of your story: inciting incident, reversals, and major conflicts of the story. Escalation of action suspense, desperation and intensity. Beginning/Middle/End looking at structure of pilot/screenplay. Week Ten: Outlines The Writer s Room discussion Taking the story and dividing each act into scenes Being clear about the characters motivations what do they want? Beat sheets versus Full Outlines 3

4 Last Five Weeks: Third Act: The Writers Room This is where it gets real. After all of the preparation of the first two acts, we ll be ready to go into the writer s room. Each week, we will run a different writer s room, based on your peer critique groups. Several writers will be selected to go each week, where they will each have the opportunity to break out the first sequence of their screenplay or first act of the TV pilot into scenes on a whiteboard with feedback from their peer group. During all of this, your take home assignments will be writing a new draft of your outline every week refining your outline until you are released to go to script. Once you are released to go to script, you will write the first draft of your feature pilot if there is time, you will get feedback so that the draft turned in for your final will be as polished as it can be. It will be rigorous and relentless, much like the real process of outlining and script writing. Weeks Eleven through Fourteen: Writers Rooms 1-4 Each week, a different set of writers will be cleared to beat sheets will present their outlines in front of the class. They will write out the first act of their screenplay or teleplay on the white board and present. One writer will put the first act on the board. The lead writer will explain the story and start breaking down the first act. Professor Loo will be the Showrunner and ask questions. The other writers going that week will act as the room. The rest of the writers will observe and prepare for when they need to go up. After the presentations, writers will be sent back to rewriting their outline. Your order will be based on when you are cleared to head to outline. Then you will be given your weekly assignment. Everyone will be rewriting their outlines after their presentation. Remember, you might be writing several versions of each element before being cleared to advance. This is EXACTLY the studio process of development. You re welcome. Once all writers are approved to go to script, your FINAL will be writing (or rewriting) your script. During these last weeks, we will also go over script format so you know what your scripts should look like. ASSIGNMENTS There will be in-class and take-home writing assignments, which will be read and discussed in class. Please have Xerox copies for each member of the class (when required) and the instructor, and be sure to keep a copy of everything you turn in. 4

5 READ CAREFULLY: All writing assignments must be neatly typed - in Times New Roman or Courier in 12 point font - and on time. LATE WORK WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Handwritten work will not be accepted. ed work will not be accepted (unless you are missing class that day). Please be sure to put your name, the name of the assignment, the date, and number your pages. Points will be taken off if any of these are not on your assignments or handwritten in last minute. Always proof your work!!! That means no misspellings, typos, or grammatical errors. Points will be taken off for excessive misspellings, typos or grammatical errors. This is the PROFESSIONAL STANDARD and the standard you will be held up to. If your work does not meet this standard every time, it will be considered lazy and unprofessional and reflected in your score for each assignment. WARNING: This writing course has a heavy workload. So pace yourself and don t wait to finish your assignments the night before they re due. Give yourself ample time to REWRITE and PROOF. Because it bears repeating NO LATE WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR GRADING. Not even for a lower grade. If you have to miss a class (read the rules on that below) it s your responsibility to it to me before the start of class. And it s your responsibility to get the assignment from your classmates. NOTE: If you re more than 15 minutes late to class, the work will be considered late and not eligible for grading. Late work will be given feedback for your benefit, but graded as a zero (0). HOW TO DO WELL IN THIS CLASS (aka If You Want Higher than a B ) Do everything that s asked of you. On time. Go above and beyond. Meet with me (regarding your work in class) if you have questions. Show your work ethic in your participation, in your assignments, in your comments in class on the assigned reading. Be respectful of your fellow writers and the work they ve put in. Listen, participate and engage in class discussions. Because we only meet once a week, I m a fan of giving notes or thoughts on revisions so you can utilize your time most effectively. Hard work is more important to me than innate talent. Don t get lazy because all of your friends think you re a good writer. Get better. 5

6 GRADING CRITERIA: Specifically, your grade will be based on these factors: 30% - Class participation/ At home assignments (10 pts each class, plus a bonus total) pay attention to this percentage it s probably a lot in comparison to other courses. 50% - TV or Film Development Process during the course of five weeks, you will first turning in a Story Treatment, then an Outline and then your Script. And rewrites of each element. (50 points each week total of 250 points) 20% - Final (100 total) My grading system is very transparent and clear. It s based on 500 points. Everything has a point value (including participation and attendance). Here s the good news, most of your homework assignments are tied to class projects. So the assignments will help you pace your workload and get those projects done. The bad news is: if you blow those assignments off, your grade will go into free fall very quickly. Participation is a big part of your grade. If you don t read the assignments and it s obvious when I call on you: INSTANT ZERO. The films and shows I m assigning are fun, and interesting. They won t put you to sleep. They re fairly easy to read and watch and should give you a lot to think about and to discuss. As I mentioned earlier, promptness counts. Don t push the 15-minute rule. If I find that students are abusing it and consistently showing up late, I will make it a 10-minute rule and then a 5-minute rule. Because this class is so dependent on in-class assignments and participation, you are only allowed two excused/unexcused absences (that s an TO THE PROFESSOR at least one hour BEFORE class). But remember if you miss class (even for an excused absence), you will lose your in-class points for any assignments or participation). If you exceed that, here are the consequences: -- Three absences lowers your final grade by a half letter. Four absences lower your final grade a full letter. Four absences will result in a dismissal from the class. -- FYI: two late arrivals (15 minutes or more) equal an unexcused absence. ONE FINAL WORD ON GRADES: If you do the minimum, you ll get a B. If you work your ass off, you ll do better. If you turn in lazy work and/or miss class, you ll do worse. It s as simple as that. 6

7 ONE FINAL WORD ON CLASS PARTICIPATION: This is the one area that will either take you down or boost your grade. You shouldn t just participate for the sake of getting credit you should have something thoughtful and interesting to contribute. But I have had students who were doing A work and ended up getting Bs as their final grade because they never participated. It s 30% of your grade. REMEMBER: IF YOU MISS A CLASS, CHECK WITH A CLASSMATE FOR THE ASSIGNMENT. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE IF YOU MISS CLASS. TEXTS (ON BLACKBOARD): Trainwreck Hidden Figures How to Get Away with Murder Modern Family Various essays and handouts assigned by Professor CONSULTATION: Office hours with Eric by appointment via Skype (until February 9 th ), then Thursdays 1-3PM, Ericloo73@aol.com. Eric drives in from LA, so if 1-3PM doesn t work, we can Skype. *** David s subbing for me, so he s not required to do office hours. If you have questions, you can always Eric. He will be communicating with you via even during those first four weeks. SCREENWRITING SOFTWARE Final Draft is the industry standard. Otherwise you can use internet software (including Celtx, Montage, Scrivener). SOURCES FOR NEW, INTERESTING SCREENPLAYS n Simply Scripts - n Go Into the Story (by the Black List folks) - 7

8 HELPFUL RESOURCES ON SCREENWRITING/TV WRITING Podcasts n The Writers Panel n Nerdist n The Treatment n The Spin Off n The Business n WTF w/ Marc Meron. n Writers Guild of America DISABILITIES STATEMENT: If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need accommodations for this class, it is your responsibility to contact Student Disability Services at (619) To avoid any delay in the receipt of your accommodations, you should contact Student Disability Services as soon as possible. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive, and that accommodations based upon disability cannot be provided until you have presented your instructor with an accommodation letter from Student Disability Services. Your cooperation is appreciated. 8