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Screenplay Basics for the New Screenwriter
Instructor: Candace Sinclair
5-Week Writing Course
Prerequisites: None
NOTE: You can expect your first
lesson to arrive by e-mail within 24 hours after submitting payment.
Thanks.
View the Syllabus
Writing Course Description and
What You Can Expect to Learn
Course prerequisites: No
previous screenwriting experience, but you will need access
to a screenwriting
software package such as Final Draft, Movie Magic, or
Scenewriter Pro.
This five-week introductory course to screenwriting provides
all the basics you need to know before you can begin
writing a screenplay.
The course begins the day after you register, and
then each week a new lesson is sent to your e-mail address.
No classes to attend. No lessons to submit by a specific
deadline. No need to leave your home or office. You can
learn at your own pace, and apply what you've learned at
your convenience.
No feedback or critiques of your writing
are provided with this e-mail course since it's all
preparatory work for writing your first screenplay.
However, it's important to say, that unless you know,
understand and can apply the basic screenplay writing
elements, you most likely won't make it as a successful
screenwriter. Correct formatting, and screenwriting rules
known within the industry are mandatory.
This
e-mail course substantially shortens your learning curve so
you can start working on various elements of your
screenplay in Lesson 1.
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Syllabus
Screenplay Basics
Lesson
1
How to
develop an Idea
The
Importance of What’s at Stake
How to Tell
Your Story
Defining your Audience
Identifying
your Genre
The High
Concept
Pros and
cons for Writing a Period Piece
How to
Protect your Ideas
Creating an
Outrageously Great Title
Creating
the Logline
The Seven
Essential Elements of Screenwriting
Writing
Assignments
Action Plan
to Prepare for Lesson 2
Lesson 2
-
Creating your story's structure
-
Establishing your primary
characters
-
Creating a Treatment
-
Creating a Scene-by-Scene
Breakdown
-
Creating your Script's outline and
why you need one
-
Creating a storyline and how it's
different than an outline
-
Writing Assignment
-
Action Plan to Prepare for Lesson
3
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Lesson 3
-
Script
formatting elements: Sluglines, Scene Descriptions and
Action Lines, and Dialogue
-
Creating
Your Cover Sheet
-
Understanding
how screenplay writing is very different from book writing
-
Learning
the technical terms and screenwriting abbreviations
-
Learn what
will get your script rejected even before it's read
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Screenplay
Length
-
Writing
Assignment
-
Action Plan
to Prepare for Lesson 4
Lesson 4
-
Analyzing
Scripts
-
What to
look for when you buy or download a script
-
Viewing
samples of correct script formats
-
Understanding
the in's and out's of what script buyer's look for
-
Common
mistakes beginning screenwriters make
-
Writing and
Research Assignment
-
Action Plan to Prepare for Lesson
5
Lesson 5
-
Scriptwriting
Terms you Must Know
-
What is it
that makes a movie work or not work?
-
The
importance of revision
-
The
screenplay submission package
-
Registering
and copyrighting your script
-
Scriptwriting
software
-
Adapting a
novel into a screenplay
Web site
resources
Script
doctors and readers
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Ready to start?
For information
about how the courses work, see our FAQ.
If your question isn't answered there, or you'd like further information about any of our
courses, please write to us.
Thank you and I look forward to working with you.
Candace
Sinclair
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