Making the Scene- Intro to Script Writing
In this six-week course, we'll explore how to write a short five to ten-page script using script analysis, plot points, and creating intriguing characters.
Kelley Cody-Grimm
Average rating:
5.0
Number of reviews:(1)
What's included
6 live meetings
6 in-class hoursHomework
1-2 hours per week. The students will be writing projects individually but will read them as a group and offer feedback. Homework might take an hour or more per week to bring to class the following week.Class Experience
US Grade 8 - 11
Week 1 – Intro to Script Writing • Play vs. Screenplay • Screenwriting software - Drama Queen, Final Draft, and formatting in Microsoft Word. • Look at Script Analysis with objectives, obstacles, beats, and scene structure. • Assignment: Pick a short screenplay to read. Week 2- What’s in a Logline? • Discuss the assigned screenplay and the logline. • Simple building block – a character’s monologue: is it a confession, a confrontation or a casual story? • Genre – review of genres to write a monologue. • Look at film clips with genres and monologues. • Look at character development sheets – for fiction and screenwriting. • Assignment: Write a monologue and logline for the monologue in two genres – one you’re comfortable with and one you’re not (i.e., Drama, Medical Drama, Rom-Com, Horror, Crime Drama, Comedy, etc.) Week 3 – What’s your story? • Read loglines and monologues. • Discuss building a scene around a monologue. • Look at two-person scenes. What are their objectives and obstacles? • Assignment: Write a two-person scene – one to two pages with objectives and obstacles for the characters and a logline. Week 4 – It takes Two • Class members volunteer to read their scenes out loud. • Feedback on scenes. • Look at character prototypes from comedies and dramas – what works and what doesn’t. • Character status - is one character higher or lower status? • Assignment: Students will come up with a logline and summary for their project. Week 5 – Developing Scenes with Multiple Characters • Review loglines and summaries and get feedback. • Develop a scene with three characters and five to ten pages. • Review the short film structure and observe how good scene work is essential to solid storytelling. • Assignment: Students will develop a scene or short film with three or more characters. Week 6 – Pulling it together • Do a table read with students reading each other's scripts and giving feedback. • Offer suggestions on developing and honing to submit to film festivals. • Discuss film festival submissions and what to look for.
Other Details
Parental Guidance
The only outside content that would be shared would be script writing software and scripts to download.
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
Sources
We will refer to software such as Final Draft, Microsoft Word as well as DramaQueen.
Joined August, 2022
5.0
1reviews
Teacher expertise and credentials
Kelley Cody-Grimm is an award-winning screenwriter and actress. Her screenplays have won film festivals in the Southeast and Milan, Italy. She produced a pilot episode of one of her scripts which was featured in an Australian film festival. She has appeared on shows such as The Resident, Queens, and Judge Dad, as well as creating a catalog of over 200 monologues for demo reels with her daughters for her acting students. She recently co-wrote a holiday screenplay which is in pre-production. Kelley has a BA in English from Florida International University. Reviews
Live Group Class
$14
weekly1x per week, 6 weeks
60 min
Completed by 1 learner
Live video meetings
Ages: 13-18
3-10 learners per class
