The Art of Storytelling

This is a yearlong course in which students will develop a single, feature-length story outline in the first semester and a completed first draft of a feature screenplay in the second semester. The emphasis is on your imagination—not your capacity for invention but your ability to observe and develop what you see around you. The first phase of this course will focus on finding the story that you want to tell and knowing and understanding your characters. You are encouraged to draw upon people and experiences that are familiar to you and to find a character that excites your imagination. We will also examine the importance of creating conflict and the creation of emotional arcs as a way of letting your characters help you develop an organic, believable story. The next step will be the development of that story into sequences—the building blocks of feature screenwriting. You will write the first act of the script. The next phase of this semester concerns completing the full screenplay. We will explore issues of escalating action, the role and the use of subplots, and some different ways to create narrative forward movement (use of events, advertising, planting/payoff, preparation/aftermath), as they relate to the stories under consideration. We will learn about the basic structure of traditional American movies, “the main tension,” culmination, and resolution, as they relate to the stories under consideration. The give and take of classroom discussion is a substantial part of the course; it is expected that you will participate and engage in the development of the stories of the other members of the class in a constructive, supportive, and enthusiastic manner.