Module overview
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- present ideas effectively in a script
- translate text into performance
- write fluently in a range of styles
- manage deadlines and make effective use of your time
- revise and edit creative writing to a professional standard
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- independently evaluate and apply compositional methods
- demonstrate originality through your writing
- handle complex demands of script composition in an analytic manner
- make literary judgements of scripts in an informed way
- interact effectively with audiences via the performance of a script
Subject Specific Practical Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- create the key structures needed for a script
- explore ways of realising your script in performance
- revise and edit your work effectively
- distinguish your aims as a scriptwriter
- plan the development of a script towards a successful conclusion
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- the process of development and revision involved in creating scripts
- how scripts are developed into performance for different media
- how to achieve originality, linguistic versatility, and form in the handling of dialogue, action, visual effect and overall structural control in your script writing
- how to write a script
Syllabus
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Type | Hours |
---|---|
Teaching | 27 |
Independent Study | 123 |
Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
General Resources
Girls Like That by Evan Placey. Play
Blasted by Sarah Kane. Play
Random by debbie tucker green. Script
Blackbird by David Harrower. Play
Betrayal by Harold Pinter. Play
Desperate Housewives (TV Pilot) by Marc Cherry. Script
People Snogging in Public Places (radio play) by Jack Thorne. Script
Misfits (TV Pilot) by Howard Overman. Script
The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh. Play
Chinatown (Film Script) by Robert Towne. Script
Textbooks
Dancyger & Rush. Alternative Scriptwriting.
Steve Waters. The Secret Life of Plays.
Evan Placey. Mother of Him.
Robert McKee. Story.
David Edgar. How Plays Work.
Assessment
Assessment strategy
Assessments designed to provide informal, on-module feedback • Classroom presentation of work in progress in the form of both scripts and performance • Tutorial discussion of drafts Formal assessments A 15-20 minute script (15-20 pages) for stage, film, radio, or television. While this may be a complete short work, it can (and likely will) be part of a longer piece. i.e. the beginning of a pilot TV episode; the opening of Act 2 of a stage play, etc.** A critical reflection (1000 words), articulating the choices you have made with regards to the medium you are working in, and drawing on techniques learned in class and from scripts studied. **If you choose to write a film or television script, it must be the opening 15-20 minutes of the film or pilot episode, setting up the tone, genre, and world of the story as studied in class. For theatre and radio scripts, you may write an extract from any part of the play as long as you provide a brief context as to what has happened in the play up to that point.Formative
This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.
Class discussions
- Assessment Type: Formative
- Feedback:
- Final Assessment: No
- Group Work: No
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Script | 75% |
Critical commentary | 25% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Resubmit assessments | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External