STUDY PROGRAMME
Media Design and Multimedia Arts

AFAM CODE
ABPC67

DISCIPLINARY AREA
Methodologies and techniques of communication

DISCIPLINARY FIELD
Creative writing

CREDITS
8

APPROACH
Theoretical/project based

This course, created as a workshop, promotes the development of writing skills for the screen and adaption of scripts for audio-visual products and their enactment, and is divided into a script and a direction module. The Screenwriting module is based on the advanced tools of cinematographic writing. The research area includes the in-depth study of the narration structure in order to devise a suitable concept for audio-visual series screenwriting. During the Film directing module, the strong link between the writing phase and the staging phase will be analysed, guiding the students’ experience through two crucial moments of the fictional production: writing a script and the and its découpage, and the following staging work.

The programme grants 8 credits, divided as follows:

• SCREENWRITING: 4 CFA

• FILM DIRECTING: 4 CFA

Successful students will be able to:

• Identify and analyze the contribution of all the structural elements to the cinematographic narration

• Develop a personal narration based on technological and multimedia contexts

• Analyze the link between textual and audiovisual language

• Develop complex screenplays that meet the needs of the audience and the market

• Create a staging concept starting from the script

• Judge the feasibility of a script

• Carry out a short fictional audio-visual production

SCREENWRITING:

• Creation of a character in serial narration

• Writing for screen

• The point of view in the narration

• Writing dialogues

• Text and subtext

• Main narrative structures

• Presentation of a subject and a script

FILM DIRECTING:

• Creation of a character in serial narration

• Writing for screen

• The point of view in the narration

• Writing dialogues

• Text and subtext

• Main narrative structures

• Presentation of a subject and a script

This is a theoretical/project based course.

Students will take part in the following activities, which may vary depending on the development of different projects:

• Classroom lectures

• Use of tutorials, videos or other media tools

• Exercises and revisions

• Workshops

• Individual or group projects

• Individual or group study and research

Assessment tools may include:

• Completion of a project

• Graded exercises with a final oral exam

Further details about the exams will be provided by the professors.

The final grade will result from the weighted average of the programme modules.

• Gotham Writer’s Workshop (2009) Writing Movies: The Practical Guide, Bloomsbury USA.

• Gotham Writer’s Workshop (2009) Writing Fiction: The Practical Guide, Bloomsbury USA.

• King, S. (2001) On writing, Splerling paperback.

• Mamet, D. (2000) Three Uses of the Knife: On the Nature and Purpose of Drama, Vintage.

• McKee, R. (1997) Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting, Regan Books.

• Snyder, B. (2005) Save the cat, Michael Wiese Film Productions.

• Truby, J. (2008) The anatomy of story, Faber and Faber.

• Wood, J. (2009) How Fiction works, Picador.

Many of the recommended sources, together with additional material, are also available online on MyNaba, in the Library section.

Books and resources might be requested or suggested by the professors.