Calendar
(Note: This
schedule is subject to change; check
back often for updates.)
Week 1: January 14
- Introduction to Course: The Basic
Elements of Dramatic
Writing and Classical Hollywood Cinema
- Writing/Workshop: Jeffrey
Kallenberg and Jeff Hendricks
Week 2: January 21
- Writing/Workshop:
- 30 second television
commerical (writing #1)
- Reader's Report on Our Town
Week 3: January 28
- Writing/Workshop:
- 3-page scene
(writing #2) -- group 1
- One page
summary/response -- Aristotle's Poetics
Week 4: February
- Writing/Workshop:
- 3-page scene
(writing #2) -- group 2
- Readings:
- review Howard and
Mabley, pp. 1-98
- Trottier, The
Screenwriter's Bible
- Book One: How to Write a
Screenplay--A Primer
Week 5: February 11
- Class Visitor: Eric Stange -- Documentary
Filmmaker
- Eric Stange is an
award-winning independent documentary film producer,
director, and writer specializing in cultural and social history. His
public television credits include Can
You Stop People From Drinking (for
Nova), which contrasted U.S. and Russian
approaches to alcohol policy and treatment; Love in the Cold War (for The
American Experience), winner of a
CINE Golden Eagle and a Chicago Interational Film Festival Silver
Plaque; Picking up the Pieces, one episode of the PBS series Making Sense of the '60s; Children
of the Left,
which received an American Film & Video Festival Red Ribbon and an
American Library Association citation; and several segments of The Health Quarterly, a national PBS documentary series on
health care policy. Before his film work, Stange wrote about art and
culture for The New York Times, The
Boston Globe, The Atlantic Monthly, The
Independent, and other
publications. He is presently the Executive Producer and Director of
Spy Pond Productions. Eric's recent productions includeZamir: Jewish Voices Return to Poland;
Brother Can you Spare a Billion: The Story of Jesse H. Jones; and
Engineering From the Inside Out.
- Spy Pond Productions
- "Past,
Present, and Future: A Conversation
with Producer Eric Stange" -- Rebecca Prime
- "Art and
Politics: An Interview with Eric Stange"
- Writing/Workshop:
- 3-page scene
(writing
#2) -- group 3
- Readings:
- Trottier, The Screenwriter's Bible
- Book Two: 7 Steps to a Stunning
Script
- Feb. 11
-- Wednesday night at 7:00
pm in Jackson Hall 304, Eric Stange will introduce his film Murder at Harvard and answer questions afterwards
Week 6: February 18
- Discussion:
- The Death of a
Salesman
- Aristotle's Poetics
- Writing/Workshop:
- 3-page scene
(writing
#2) -- (continued)
- Reader's Report on The
Death of a Salesman (writing #3)
- One page "treatment" of your final
project (writing #4)
Week 7: February 25
- *** No Class -- Mardi Gras Break
***
Week 8: March 3
- Class Visitor:
Laura Dunn --
Documentary Filmmaker
- Discussion:
- Death of a Salesman
- A
Streetcar Named Desire
- The
Poetics
- Writing/Workshop:
- Reader's Report on A
Streetcar Named Desire
(writing #5)
Week 9: March 10
- Writing/Workshop:
- 5-10 page
scene
-- group 1A (writing #8)
Week 10: March 17
- Discussion:
- Anton Chehkov, Five
Comic One-Act Plays
- Writing/Workshop:
- 5-10 page
scene
-- group 1B (writing
#8)
- Reader's Report on
Chehkov's plays (writing #6)
Week 11: March 24
- Discussion:
- The Importance
of Being Earnest
- Writing/Workshop:
- 5-10 page
scene
-- group 2A (writing
#8)
- Reader's Report on The
Importance of Being Earnest (writing #7)
Week 12: March 31
- Writing/Workshop:
- 5-10 page
scene
-- group 2B (writing
#8)
Week 13: April 7
- Writing/Workshop:
- 5-10 page
scene
-- group 3A (writing
#8)
Week 14: April 14
- Writing/Workshop:
- 5-10 page
scene -- group 3B (writing #8)
Week 15: April 21
- Reading: Trottier, The Screenwriter's Bible
- Book Five: How to Sell Your
Script--A Marketing
Plan
Week 16: April 28
- *** Class Meets at 6:30 pm
for Public Performance of 3 page scenes
- Final Project:
24-26
page tv/film script or stage play due Friday, April 30 in room
307 by 2:00 pm
