For all PROMPTS, RUBRICS, OUTLINES, and MODELS, go here.

To go to CeltX, the program we will use to write our scripts, visit http://www.celtx.com

Unit Readings

Back to the Future (dir. Robert Zemeckis)

Excerpts from Syd Field's Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting

Excerpts from Robert McKee's Story

Student Models of Short Scripts

Opening Scene of Inglorious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino) (pp. 1 - 18 of script)

Class Selection Between Silence of the Lambs (Ted Tally) and American Beauty (Alan Ball)

In this Unit...

We will learn the principles that professional screenwriters use when creating short and feature-length scripts. After practicing the principles of Character, Setting, and Plot Design, we will practice writing scripts using screenwriting software in multiple workshops. Then, each student will write a short script of their own, inspired by an embarassing or difficult moment in their own lives.

As we write, we will read a professional feature-length script.

Core skills

1) Craft professional-level narratives, using proper screenplay format.

2) Read and analyze scripts for their craft and style.

3) Use the revision process to create multiple drafts of a project.

Essential Questions

Supplemental Texts and Helpful Links

• Here is a video on a helpful revision technique, called the "Coffee Filter method."
• Here is a link that analyzes the first ten pages of Silence of the Lambs.
• Here is a video analyzing Quentin Tarantino's use of suspense in Inglorious Basterds.

Final Projects

To prove your overall understanding of the narrative elements we have learned this year, you will write an individual short script that is inspired by an embarassing or difficult moment from your life. The genre of choice is entirely your own, and the amount of creative liberty you take on the assignment is up to you. What's important is that you create meaning and significance in your story.