Materials

• Adobe Premiere
• GarageBand - use GarageBand to create your own background music and to use its copyright-free sound effects.
• Digital Images
• Headphones

Resources

• archetypes for literary analysis.pdf
• Screenplay Format Guide (pdf)
• Script Abrieviations (pdf)
• Mystery Writing Resources
• What is a Mystery Short Story? And How Do You Write One?
• Beginings, Middles and Ends: Crafting the Mystery
• The clues to a great story
• How to Write a Screenplay: Script Writing Example & Screenwriting Tips
• See Tutorial Videos below
• https://helpx.adobe.com/ - Adobe Resources & Tutorials
• Dafont.com - download free decorative fonts
• Audio Resources
• FreePlayMusic.com - Use this site to download royalty-free music for your videos

# of Participants

• This is an individual Assignment, 1 person will recieve credit for work on this assignment.

You are getting back your first attempt at script/screenplay writing. Read all the notes on the script; adhere to formatting instructions and consider the other suggestions. If your script doesn’t have tension, drama, comedy,
sincerity, or the like – make it so it does: these are the things that audiences care about. Make changes to make your script even better. Expand the length of your script so that it is at least 3 and no more than 5 pages -- this may not mean that you are just adding on to the end of your script, you may be changing things at the start, or middle... you decid. Note that you are writing a script that you/your classmates could potentially film -- impress them – what
do you like in a movie? How can you bring that to a short film on a zero budget - be thoughtful/creative.

Write a 3-5 page screenplay for your Short Film Assignment in Final Draft

• Must:
  • take place at school, or ask permission for elsewhere.
  • involve some kind of emotion (happy, scared, sad, depressed, surprise, etc.)
  • involve dialog and a mystery element
• Recommendations
  • You can use the characters you just quickly create (giving characters personality before you start writing will be very helpful for your writing)
  • Come up with a scenario/event/situation and attempt to make it a complete scene, simple/straight-forward is good, but make it complete.
• Some General Notes Regarding Your First Screenwriting Attempt
1. Screenwriting is different than most writing you’re used to: you don’t have the luxury of giving background and explanations.
• You cannot write in a script what the audience can't see or hear you can't write: "He thinks about his girlfriend..." in an ACTION line or "(thinking of wife)" in a PARENTHETICAL because we can't see or hear that
• SHOW what you mean, don’t explain it
2. You are used to writing very formally. This is fine in the “action” line but work on writing more authentic dialog – write how people actually talk.
• Many of our sentences are not complete or we have a certain way of talking/certain repeat phrases...
3. Your “scene heading” line (it will be gray when you are writing in the program) is just for location and time (and is all caps)
• Should begin with INT (for interior) or EXT. (for exterior) then location - time of day. -- example: INT. HOSPITAL HALLWAY – NIGHT
4. Break-up dialog with “action” lines...
• Action lines are not necessarily for just action – they can describe the location/room, what your charters are physically doing, etc.
• This makes for better reading and with lets you give characteristics to your characters, it helps you tell your story even more through what is in the room, what the characters are physically like, the habits they may have, etc.
5. Unless it is very essential, do NOT include camera angle or shot types. So you may want to include an occasional “action” line indicating an ECU (extreme close-up), but do not continually dictate where the camera is/should be – that’s the director’s job.
6. And to repeat #1 above – only include in your script what the audience can see or hear – avoid all else. Indeed, it’s a whole different kind of storytelling.
7. Use your Short Story Pitch Answers and Story Clock to help guide you with using the dramatic structure in your story.
• Requirements

• Must be 3 to 5 pages. Properly formatted and labeled with screenplay elements (Circled/underlined elements with titles)
• Attempt to build a story that develops and resolves and set at school or approved location.
• High Quality throughout/exceptional attempt.
• There must be a mystery element used in the story. Examples: someone or several suspects are accused of something or an answer to solve a problem or situation is not yet known or revealed. An identity is not yet revealed.
• Use the archetypes for literary analysis handout and links above in resources for reference, look at screenplays on-line, and general guidelines on the class website. This is your first try – see what you can do!
• You are the screenwriter and you shape the narrative structure and create every character, action, line of dialogue and the setting... with the fewest lines possible. It’s difficult, but the more you do it, the better you will get – the more you will be able to visualize and put into words what you want (ie: keep working!).
• DUE: Export your screenplay as a PDF. Save as 1a_lastnamei_screenplay2.pdf

DUE DATE: Check Skyward for current DUE DATE

Save as period_lastnamei_asssignmentname.pdf (1a_smithj_screenplay2.pdf) in your 3-6wks folder. Export your screenplay as a PDF. Save as 1a_lastnamei_screenplay1.pdf and upload a copy to Google Classroom.