the first act of an original screenplay

the first act of an original screenplay

For this project, you are to write the first act of an original screenplay. The screenplay concept has to be yours and yours alone. It cannot come from a book or television show or any other pre-existing material. And while it’s important to be creative in this project, your grades will not be based on my subjective appreciation or disapproval of your original ideas. It’s your screenplay. You can write exactly what you want to write and I will not be grading based on whether or not I like your idea. Instead, I will assess your project based upon how well you seem to understand and apply the different aspects of motion picture production in your screenplay, and how well you follow the instructions below. So, to clarify, your grade does not depend on your creative writing skills and you will not receive feedback about the script idea.

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This project is in many ways a final exam of sorts. In your screenplay, I am looking for evidence that you are thinking about all the aspects of filmmaking that you have learned about in the textbook. You should consider how not only the dialogue functions to create your film but also other tools of cinema such as the cinematography, the shot selection and how the shots will be assembled in the editing room, the setting or locale, costumes, lighting and other factors of the mise-en-scene. As you’re beginning to see, films are comprised of so much more than what the actors are saying on screen. If all your screenplay does is provide dialogue, then it’s not really a screenplay.

You do not have to write out the entire screenplay from start to finish!
As stated above, you are responsible for writing a first act of the screenplay. You can provide a treatment of the rest of your script, but it isn’t a requirement. By act, I mean to say that there should be a substantial beginning or setup of the film contained in your screenplay that establishes your main character(s), sets up the setting or locale, and provides readers an awareness of the main thesis or conflict of the film to be resolved (or not) in subsequent acts. Most people are comfortable with the traditional Hollywood method of storytelling for this project but you can approach this project from any angle you wish. In later weeks, we will be examining alternative genres and avant-garde cinematic practices that question the rules and regulations of Hollywood filmmaking strategies. These methods may be of more interest to some of you and you can explore them in your screenplays. Please know that you can certainly be experimental with this project! If you have an idea you think doesn’t fit with the parameters described above, email me so we can discuss.

Grading Criteria: