SP - Screenplays (Module Overview)

Screenplays

Introduction

What is a screenplay? Is it a guide, or an outline, for a movie? A blueprint, or a diagram? Or maybe it’s a series of images, scenes and sequences strung together with dialogue and description, like pearls on a strand. Perhaps it’s simply the landscape of a dream?
-Syd Field, Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting

Before moving forward, take the pre-assessment to see what prior knowledge you have about the topics in this module.

At the end of this module, you will be able to understand and implement proper formatting technique for screenplays and identify the use of common plot structures outlined by Syd Field.
In this course, you will learn…

1. How to properly format a screenplay

2. The fundamental differences between theatre and film

3. Ten Genres of Screenplay

4. How to use beat cards to structure a screenplay outline

Additionally, review key terms for this module below:

1. Slug Lines: scene headings
2. Parentheticals: clarifying points for the actor placed in parentheses
3. Add in Shots: notes on how a shot should look (closeup, tight on, intercut, montage, tracking)

Module Lessons Preview

In this module, we will study the following topics:

Formatting Screenplays: Screenplays can be more formulaic than theatrical scripts. This microlesson outlines basic expectations about the structure and format that most professionals will assume a script-writer understands.

Reading Screenplays: Dramatic writing is created for the purpose of others interpreting the work for some style of performance. In this way, both theatrical scripts and screenplays are similar. In this microlesson, we will look at the screenplay's similarities to theatrical scripts, how the two mediums differ, and how to read screenplays.