Creative Writing for Film and Theater

Creative Writing for Film and Theater

“Congratulations! You have reached the end of this Domestika course. It has been a genuine joy sharing my knowledge and experience with you. Thank you so much. I sincerely hope you have enjoyed the course. Now I'd like to remind you of some of the most important steps we took during the course that you should remember when doing your course project: 
 The Central Dramatic Question Every script has a central dramatic question at its core; a question that drives not only the plot and characters but is a sort of thematic North Star—something that ties the story together and can help the writer stay on track. Take a few minutes to brainstorm a question you are excited about and think about what you would like to write.

The Form The first step in bringing your story to life is deciding which form it will take. So how do you choose? You have to start by understanding the different strengths of each form and how meaning is communicated in each of them. Then, you can identify which one matches closest with the story you have in mind! Once you've looked at all of these different forms available, it's time to ask yourself: How do YOU want to communicate meaning in your own story? Do you mostly see it? Hear it? Do you want it to exist intimately in the audience's ears and imagination? Do you want there to be music? The Primary Characters By now, you should have your central dramatic question and know why it matters to you. The next step is to identify your characters! You will have to focus on just two characters for your final project. Begin by looking at your central dramatic question and writing down two opposing answers to that question that two different people might have. Once you can feel two distinct personalities and characters emerging, it's time to decide who they might be and—even more importantly—their relationship to each other. Decide on their relationship by asking yourself: What is the relationship that will potentially generate the most conflict, stakes, and story? Exploring Through Dialogue Once you know more about both of your characters, explore how they speak to each other. What are the ingredients that make up their language recipe? Before you can put these two characters in a scene together, you need to decide on some context for the scene you're going to write: Where does it take place? What happened before this for each of them, and how does that affect their mood, energy, or needs? Then, figure out the engine of this scene. What is driving them to communicate? What do they need from each other? What is the urgency? Why does this scene have to happen right now? In one sentence, write down what each character wants from the other person by the end of this scene. Ideally, what they want from each other should be in conflict. With the preparations in place, it's finally time to write the scene! Keep in mind the language recipe of each of the characters and the subtext. If you're unsure about how to begin, try starting with that same subtext exercise for your two characters and see where that takes you. Remember to let the two characters' opposing answers to the central dramatic question guide you. Oh, and one more thing—be sure to have fun! The Rewrite and Rehearsal Writing is rewriting. Take time to celebrate the enormous accomplishment of writing your first draft! Then, it's time to rewrite. This process can feel overwhelming, so be sure to revisit the content covered in this course. The more you learn about story structure and the fundamentals, the easier it becomes to apply these techniques to your draft. The best way to familiarize yourself with these techniques is to watch movies and read plays, asking yourself the same questions you ask yourself as you read your drafts: What do the characters want in this scene? Where are they on their journey towards what they need? Is what they need clear? What is at stake? Then, rewrite the final dialogue, improve the scene, and rewrite the script after the rehearsal. And that's all! Thank you so much for taking part. I can't wait to see your scripts! You can share your project with all of us by clicking on "Create your project." Remember to share both the final result and the steps that have led you to it. It would be great if you showed a picture of each step and added a brief explanation about what you have done in each one. If you have any questions, be sure to ask them! I will reply as soon as I can, but in the meantime, I encourage you to interact with each other. Communication fuels creativity. So, don't be afraid to reach out and collaborate with others. But most of all, have fun! See you in the forum!”

Partial transcription of the video

“ Final Project We've reached the end of this course. Thank you for joining me on this journey. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have. Before you go, I'd like to leave you with some final thoughts. First of all, writing should be fun. I don't know if I've said that yet, but here it is. Writing should be fun. At the same time, it can be really easy to find so many excuses not to write. It can be easy to get into our heads or to stop ourselves before we begin, and to convince yourself that your writing is bad, or nobody will want to listen to it and you have nothing to say. Trust me, I'm...”

This transcript is automatically generated, so it may contain mistakes.

Course summary for: Creative Writing for Film and Theater

• Level: Beginner
• 98% positive reviews (52)
• 3403 students
• 4 units
• 13 lessons (2h 16m)
• 16 downloads

• Category

  Writing

• Areas

  Communication, Creative Writing, Script