HOW STUDENTS LEARN

ACTIVITIES

Prior Knowledge Ven Diagram

Students break into two groups and each group brainstorms everything they know make up fiction prose (group 1) and playwriting (group 2); we then come back together and students offer forth what they came up with while I'd fill in the blanks for screenwriting.

Using the Venn Diagram for these three modes (fiction, playwriting, and screenwriting), I am able to show them what commonalities and differences there were between the two modes they've been familiar with since primary education to the mode they'll be learning in my class, demonstrating that they were coming into the class with prior knowledge. This can also be modified to analyze similarities/differences among different kinds of screenwriting.

Short Film Mad-Libs

1.I established dramatic principles development model as a starting place

a.“A hero who wants something takes action meets with conflict that leads to a climax and a resolution.”

2.I broke the class into two teams

a.the protagonist vs. the antagonist force

3.The protagonist team would start us off by creating a main character with an overarching desire that would lead him/her to take action.

4.Then the antagonist team would provide some form of obstacle that would stand in the way of the protagonist, forcing a new action.

a.The obstacle can be any antagonist force: antagonist character, nature, self, society, fate.

5.This would go back and forth until they naturally arrived at a climax/resolution or until enough time passed that I would direct them to reach a climax.

a.The climax is reached when the main character ultimately achieves set-up want or doesn’t.

Sample Class Discussion
1.I: “So who is our protagonist and what does he or she want?”

2.P: “What if it’s a guy whose dream is to be a pastry chef…”

3.P: “Who wants to pass his culinary school final exam.”

4.I: “What about stakes? Can’t he just retake it?”

5.P: “He’s already failed it twice. This is his last chance.”

6.I: “Good. Antagonists?”

7.A: “He oversleeps the day of the exam?”

8.I: “Okay, but can we add to that and go a little deeper?”

9.A: “He keeps failing because he can’t make a good croissant and he still doesn’t know how.”

10.I: “Good. Protagonists?”

11.P: “He goes to the local bakery buy store-made ones to cheat.”

12.I: “Hmm, I don’t’ know; that escalated really quickly. Is there anything he can do to pass before it gets to that point?”

13.[Continue back and forth until climax/resolution is reached.]

I facilitated the activity by guiding them in the right direction, providing a Socratic style of questioning to remind them about conflict, escalation, the overarching desire, and making sure the story was moving along. This activity created a sense of comradery and creativity among students since each team would offer multiple suggestions and would have to work together to decide the team’s next action. The activity also still allowed them to apply the lessons of storytelling in a low-stakes, unintimidating forum and offered me multiple teaching moments since it was a collaboration versus solitary offering a personal piece of work. Doing this same activity over the course of the semester also allows me to gauge the class’s learning progress as less guidance from me illustrates increased mastery of concepts. Plus it’s a lot of fun.

assignments

ASSIGNMENTS

Short Script Writing Parameters

Script 1 Parameters

Two (2) Characters MAX
- Only two speaking parts
- Doesn‘t have to include dialogue but can
One (1) Location
- One room OR one building (INT./EXT.)
10 Pages MAX
- Not including Title Page
No Minumum
- MUST still tell a complete story with beg-middle-end
Optional: Aim for only about 10 lines of dialogue for each character
- Can use more lines if needed but be selective
Optional: Try to avoid screens: phone, computer, etc.
- Watching screens doesn't make for compelling storytelling

Script 2 Parameters

No Character Limit
- Doesn‘t have to include dialogue but can
No Location Limit
- (INT./EXT.)
15 Pages MAX
- Not including Title Page
No Minimum Pages
- MUST still tell a complete story with beg-middle-end
Optional: Aim for only about 10 lines of dialogue for each character
- Can use more lines if needed but be selective
Optional: Try to avoid screens: phone, computer, etc.
- Watching screens doesn't make for compelling storytelling

In my short script writing class, students wrote two complete short scripts with one formal revision each.

Initially for Script 1, I set more strict parameters, namely minimal characters, setting, dialogue, and pages to help students focus on the smaller, shorter scale of the short screenplay.

For Script 2, students have almost unlimited freedom, save for a set page count. However, they must still apply the same principles of short script storytelling and steer clear of feature-length ideas.

I set a 15-page max count because 1) many short script contests cap the page count at 15, 2) 15 pages is still feasible for student filmmakers to produce, 3) if produced, short films 10-15 minutes in length are more easily programmed at festivals, and 4) any longer and students risk entering feature script territory. I believe that rather than setting arbitrary assignment parameters, the students will gain more value from parameters that serve them as real-world writers and filmmakers.

Selected Short Film Viewings & Questions

Omnibus

Who is the short film’s protagonist?
What’s the status quo established?
Why do we care about the protagonist? (How are they sympathetic?)
What is the inciting incident (catalyst) of the film?
What desire does the catalyst incite in the protagonist? Do they achieve it?
What’s the dramatic question of the film? And when does it get answered?

Soft

What are instances of positive and negative charges?
How does the film escalate conflict and tension?
What is the climax?
What is the theme?
What is the subtext?

Listen

What are instances of positive and negative charges?
How is dramatic irony used to create suspense?
When does the tension peak?

I have a Google doc on my class website as well as a YouTube playlist linked that list numerous shorts for students to view at their leisure. But overall, I found that sending students home with one or two shorts to watch prior to next class worked better than just showing a multitude in one class. By having them focus on one or two with guided questions, students were able to absorb them better, discuss them more thoughtfully, and recall them as examples more easily. Also, we saved precious class time by not having to view them in class. This guided question model could similarly be applied to feature film viewings in other courses.