Final Class: Exam, Fiction Script Pitches

MES153 0902: 5/26/2026 | MES153 1000: 5/21/2026

REVISION PROJECT

The last possible date to turn in your REVISION PROJECT — which must include the fourth and final draft of your script which should address all issues from the professor’s feedback on the previous drafts along with revised final versions of the other project writings — is:

Section 1000: 5/24/2026 at 11:59 PM

Section 0902: 5/26/2026 at 11:59 PM

This is a hard deadline; any work submitted after this will NOT be accepted. This is includes trying to email a late draft. Work sent via email is not accepted and will NOT be graded or count toward the overall course grade. Brightspace is the only way to submit work for this class. 

Be sure to revise and submit all of the necessary documents for the Revision Project.

ENDING THE COURSE ON A STRONG NOTE

WRITING IS REWRITING

Note that the work in this class is designed for students to understand the screenwriting process by taking part in it. The process of screenwriting involves getting to know and figure out characters and story through writing loglines, beats, outlines and treatments and then a first draft followed by revisions. Key to the course is doing.

Other parts of the screenwriting process involve knowing the different formats for nonfiction and fiction scripts — the A/V format and screenplay format, respectively. Pitching is also an important part of the script-writing project, and the final class will be both the final exam and the fiction pitchfest.

FINAL EXAM, THEN PITCHES

During the first part of the last class, students will take the final exam. After the exam there will be a 10-minute break. Following the break is the PITCHFEST in which student writers will have three minutes to pitch their fiction scripts to the class. Below is a tip sheet to prepare a strong pitch

Final Exam Study Guide

There will be several documentary questions on the exam, and they will pertain to this documentary film proposal, which students should read prior to class to be familiar with the proposal so that students can answer questions without having to read the propsal during the exam. What to review for the final:

• Essential story elements, including
  • protagonist
  • protagonist want
  • antagonist
  • obstacles/conflict
  • setting
• Three-act Structure
  • what structure is
  • what happens in each of the three acts
  • terms such as (but not limited to) inciting incident, rising action, beat, climax, falling action)
• How to write for the screen
  • using visual language — showing, not telling
  • writing scenes of action as well as visuals and sound
  • how to include that necessary ingredient of conflict
  • how to make sure a character wants something and has trouble getting it
• How to write a proper logline
• How to write a proper treatment
• Proper screenplay formatting
  • scene headings (know the three parts and how to punctuate them, how to properly capitalize them, and when they are required)
  • capitalization – when character names should be in all caps and when they should just be regular proper nouns
• Documentary script writing and filmmaking
  • visual elements that can be used in a documentary including interview footage, types of b-roll (footage shot by doc filmmaker, archival, stock, event, etc.), photos, graphics, animations, etc.
  • audio elements that can be used in a documentary including interview recordings, audio recordings, source music, score, sound effects, narration, etc.

Note: Again, the Final Exam has a hard time limit to be completed. Students who comes to class late will have less time to take the exam. Thus, students should arrive early to maximize the time they have to take it. There is a lot of reading and writing on the exam, so students will need all the time they are afforded.

PITCHFEST

Each student will have three — and ONLY three — minutes to pitch their projects. This is the elevator pitch. As Albert Einstein said, If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough. At this point, your story should be in excellent shape to encapsulate it in a short, perhaps even thrilling introduction to the class.

Use this tip sheet to prepare a good pitch. Then in class, DO NOT READ directly from it. You can refer to it, but you should practice it enough — and know your story and the highlights that you will focus on so fluently — that you don’t read it as that diminishes the power of the pitch.