INTRODUCTION

CINE 75A, Introduction to Screenwriting, will be taught as an online hybrid course in Spring 2025. We will meet most weeks on Zoom on Wednesday evenings from 6:00-8:00 PM.

We will meet once a month in person on the following Wednesday evenings: 1/22, 2/19, 3/19, 4/23, and 5/21. In-person meetings will be from 6:10-9 PM in Cloud Hall 269 on the Ocean Campus.

Screenwriting is a unique storytelling form, different from any other form of writing. In screenwriting, the large and small actions and behavior of the characters are at least as important as dialogue in unmasking who the characters are and what their story is.  Dialogue, in turn, focuses on revealing rather than on explicitly telling.

The work of learning beginning screenwriting in this class will be both practical and intuitive. You will be studying a specific format and basic elements of the craft, including dramatic structure, plot, theme, conflict, developing multidimensional characters, creating authentic dialogue, and point of view. Along the way, you will be developing your voice as a dramatic writer.

You will use words to paint a vivid picture of the film you envision and to render multi-dimensional conflicts and characters.  

We will cover conventional screenplay formatting and practice analysis of a range of screenplays and film clips from mainstream and independent films.

Using our discussion boards to implement our Writers' Workshops, each student will workshop script pages with other students once during the semester, and will receive instructor evaluations of their work three times during the semester.

The ultimate goal of the course is to write a 20-30 page draft of the first act of a feature screenplay.

TEXTBOOK

The required text will be The Screenwriter's Bible, 7th Edition, by David Trottier.

(ISBN: ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1935247212 ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1935247210)

SCREENPLAY FORMAT

Final Draft, the industry standard script formatting software, will not be required for these courses. However, you must write scripts in standard screenplay format.

Final Draft will be available in the CCSF Cinema Department Lab on campus and is usually available for purchase at a student rate. Free formatting programs such as Highland and Celtx are also available. 

However you choose to format your scripts, you will need to submit them to me in PDF format for student workshops.

The following is a standard screenplay format sample from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 

Screenplay Formatting 

COVID & REGISTRATION

CCSF students are no longer required to provide proof of COVID vaccination in order to register for classes. However, masking for indoor classes for both students and faculty remains highly recommended. I plan to remain masked and to keep the classroom door open during In-Person sessions.

WAITLIST

If the course is full before the semester begins, you'll be able to sign up for the waitlist. On the first day of the class, the waitlist will no longer appear, and students interested in adding the course will have to request to add the class. Add/Drop Procedure. Though you will not see the waitlist once the semester begins, I will keep a copy of the list and approve Requests to Add in that order.

ATTENDANCE & DROPPING THE COURSE

Our course will begin with Module 0, which will include an assignment to introduce yourself and to respond to another student's post. 

Students who have not posted to this assignment by the beginning of our SECOND WEEK, when Module 1 will be published, will be dropped from the course as "no-shows."

Students who miss assignments for more than two weeks must contact me to discuss their situation to avoid being dropped for non-participation.

CANVAS SUPPORT CENTER HUB

Please use the following link to access the Canvas Support Center Hub:

https://ccsf.instructure.com/courses/39802

DISABLED STUDENTS PROGRAMS & SERVICES

Please use the following link to access Disabled Students Programs & Services (DSPS):

https://www.ccsf.edu/student-services/support-programs/disabled-students-programs-services

Important Dates

We will meet once a month in person on these Wednesday evenings: 1/22, 2/19, 3/19, 4/23, and 5/21. In-person meetings will be from 6:10-9 PM in Cloud Hall 269 on the Ocean Campus.

I do not give a midterm or a final; instead, students are responsible for turning in short writing assignments, critiques of their fellow students' work, an segments of their scripts in progress at regular intervals.  Most of the grade for the class will be a combination of points for writing comments in response to your fellow students' work and completing your own 20-30 page first act of a feature script by the end of the course -- with sections due three times over the course of the semester.

Course Syllabus