Screenwriting 101
Ben Slythe
An introductory course in screenwriting with an emphasis on feature films. The course covers the practicalities of writing for the screen, the formatting of screenplays, structure, character, scenes and dialogue.
How screenplays are presented in formatting terms. How this informs the production and the reader. How to make a screenplay follow the rules of formatting.
How to use computer programs to make screenplays for the standard format.
An introduction to the traditional three-act structure for feature films, explaining the transitions from act to act, the nature of the content for each act and some examples of the structure in action.
What to include when writing the first act of a screenplay. This description is tailored to the classic feature film script, but parts of it are relevant for other formats.
How to construct the second act of a screenplay. What happens and how is it portrayed.
How the third act of a feature film screenplay is constructed. What happens at the end of the movie.
What a scene is, how it's constructed, what it does and how to build it so it drives character and plot together.
What a character needs to have in order to be fully realised for the screen. How this differs from characters used in novels and plays.
How to write good dialogue, making characters seem real and involved in the story. Common mistakes to avoid.
What makes a movie character into a movie hero, why that's different from a protagonist. How a villain differs from a hero and how to write an anti-hero.