screenwriting

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The course will follow the process ideal for developing all creative writing:  read, write, revise, edit.

You will undertake numerous screenwriting exercises and tasks, using a range of stimuli, themes, styles and starting points.

You will look at:

• Writing visually
• Writing mise-en-scene
• Characters
• Dialogue
• Creating the world of your film
• Genre
• Structure
• Shaping and Refining scene
• Writing your own screenplays

At the end of each course you will have a small writing portfolio, including key scenes written for the screen, or in the case of the Developing the Screenwriting course a screenplay for a short film and in the Advanced Screenwriting course, a longer, possibly full length screenplay.

The nature of writing for the screen is a little more complex than prose at its foundation, and is also different that scriptwriting for the stage, and we have therefore found that the best success comes from those aged 13 and over. We have worked with students younger than this in Key Stage 3 but on the whole find the session more accessible for those at the older end of this age bracket. Exceptions can of course be made.

The course structure is similar for both the An Introduction to Screenwriting course and the Developing the Screenplay course. The main differences are depth and building on the foundations you will already have in place, but at then of this second course you will be in a position to start the writing of a full screenplay.

At the end of the Advanced Screenwriting course you will build on this work and have a fully drafted screenplay that you are happy with as a final product. 

Our recommendation is for all young writers to undertake the An Introduction to Screenwriting course first of all, even if they have prior experience of creative writing. It may be that they have undertaken creative writing classes before and even specific sessions for writing for the screen, but the course builds specifically from the main foundations of writing scripts to the creation of well-formed scripts and ensures nothing is missed. Therefore we recommend this as the starting point for all writers.

You can, however, start at Stage two - Developing the Screenplay - if you believe that you have that solid foundation already in place.

Advanced Screenwriting can only be taken once the Developing the Screenplay course has been completed.

The course has 10 sessions, with each session released at the start of a week. 

You then have the week to work through the content of the session which means you can do so at your own pace and at any time that suits you.

You will then complete and submit the assignment on the forum by the session deadline. The majority of weeks this will be a practical piece of work that needs to be uploaded to the forum.

That is completely up to you! However, the more you put in, the more you will get out.

The course is essentially a minimum of one hour per week in terms of the material for the session, but there is always additional work and assignments set, as well as extension tasks and interaction with the forum.

You should also be spending time on your writing, with a piece of writing set each week which should be worked on after the session.

Each week there are 7 steps to undertake:

1. Complete the session. The session materials come in the form of videos, podcasts, written notes, and extracts to read and work on.

2. You complete the assignment set - usually a practical piece of work.

3. You share this assignment with the rest of the group and the tutors.

4. You receive feedback from the other people in your group as well as giving feedback to others.

5. Your tutors give you detailed, professional feedback.

6. You reflect on the assignment and your feedback, and share / discuss what you have learnt.

7. You review and improve your work using all of what you have learnt and the feedback you have received from the previous steps.

Yes! This is a key part of your development 

You will receive feedback from tutors on a weekly basis, as well as from other members of the group. You will also receive detailed and extended feedback about your monologues when these are submitted at the end of the course.

Our tutors are experienced writers with MA level Creative Writing experience and full PGCE teaching qualifications. 

At points in the course you may have questions and that you would like to ask your tutors. To make this easy for you, we have clear set times when a tutor is online and can be asked any questions you may have so that an immediate response is given, as well as questions being able to be posted on the forum for tutors to answer.

Our coaches are all well qualified, both as teachers and as experts in their disciplines. They are all fully DBS checked to ensure care and safety.

The nature of the work being recorded and set as assignments means that parents and guardians can have full access to all that is being sent out to students.