PROFESSOR: Erica Rowell
EMAIL: proferowell@gmail.com
INFORMATION ON COURSE SECTIONS
| MES153 0902 (Tuesdays) | MES153 1000 (Thursdays) |
| TIME: Tuesdays, 9 AM – 11:45 PM | TIME: Thursdays, 10 AM – 12:45 PM |
| LOCATION: Murray 313 | LOCATION: Fiterman 1202 |
| OFFICE HOURS: Tuesdays, 11:45 AM – 12:45 PM | OFFICE HOURS: Thursdays, 12:45 PM – 1:45 PM |
INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSES
Short film scripts are a medium through which aspiring screenwriters can hone their craft. A good short film script contains all of the elements of a feature script: plot, character, theme, beginnings-middles-ends, conflict, twists, turns, reversals, great dialogue, etc.
Learning the short form helps students grasp the basics of screenwriting which can then serve as a foundation for writing a feature. The focus of this class is to teach you the fundamentals of screenwriting and storytelling to advance one’s knowledge of the craft of writing for the screen.
Our goals will be as follows:
- The fundamentals of storytelling
- The fundamentals of scriptwriting
- Completing a short A/V script and four drafts of a fiction script
Our schedule will be as follows:
Weeks 1-7 will focus on storytelling basics, exercises, and the documentary
Weeks 8-15 will focus on fiction
HOMEWORK AND NOTES
Written homework is due at noon the day before each class meets (unless noted otherwise). Pay attention to the due dates as weekly writing is a requirement of the class. Because the course is a writing class, one big takeaway from the course is that writing is rewriting. And to rewrite, one must first write.
Due dates should be met regularly. There is a two-week grace period during which late work will be allowed. However, any work after that will not necessarily be tolerated or graded. The only way students can learn in a writing class is to do the writing, then work with the drafts as they progress to get to the next draft. The last week work will be accepted is the week before finals. The week of finals the work that will be accepted is the Fiction Project or the Revision Project.
All assignments must be typed and turned in as a PDF. For the documentary script, students must use either the template provided or the A/V script option in Celtx. For the fictional script, students must use Celtx both for revisions and the final draft but also save the work as a PDF and upload to Blackboard.
When we get to the script stage of the course, there will be a color coding of revisions in red with *’s at the edge of the page to indicate what has been changed. This is a standard of the industry. Each new revision should be marked with asterisks, and the work from the previous week should no longer be marked. In this way we can focus only on the most recent changes you have made. Please see me with any questions or problems with this.
NOTE:
To receive credit, all assignments must be posted to Brightspace as a PDF. Do not email
any assignment even if you have problems using Brightspace. Email elearning@bmcc.cuny.edu if you have
technical problems. Only PDFs uploaded to Brightspace will be graded.
GRADING CRITERIA
The work done through the semester will be applied towards your final grade as follows:
- PARTICIPATION (10%)
- WRITING ASSIGNMENTS (15%)
- DOC PROJECT (20%)
- FICTION PROJECT (20%)
- REVISION PROJECT (25%)
- FINAL EXAM (10%)
In general, the following general guidelines should help students think about what type of grade you will receive:
-If you show up to class, and do the minimum required work, you are likely to get a C.
-If you show up to class, and demonstrate a significant effort, you are likely to get a B.
-If you show up to class, demonstrate a significant effort and do exceptional work, you are likely to get an A.
-If you do not show up to class, don’t complete your assignments, or fail to complete your assignments in a timely manner, you are likely to get a D or an F.
Too many absences or late assignments will lower your grade significantly and can lead to an F in the course. There is a grace period for the writing assignments. Assignments that come in too late will receive an automatic F.
Additional notes on how to get an A: From experience, people who get A’s apply the notes they are given by the professor, integrating them into their work to improve the ideas and strengthen the work. They do the work each week not because it was assigned, but because they aspire to get it right and learn the craft of writing by doing it. As such, they go beyond the bare minimum of each assignment.
PARTICIPATION POLICY
Students are expected be on time and prepared for each class. Participating in class is factored into the course grade. Students are expected to be in class and to participate, which includes, but is not limited to, attending class, engaging in in-act activities such as writing and discussions, taking exams, and doing group activities. Students who miss five classes without a valid excuse will likely not be able to pass, as they will have missed one-fifth of the in-class work. Students who miss more than six classes will receive an F.
