Q1:
In 200 words or less please outline your goals, desires – what you want to get out of this semester. You will review this later in the course. Many will rethink this dramatically – this is a good thing.
Consider Jasmine’s lecture on Screenwriting and briefly describe one point that you have taken from it.
A point that excites you, something that was completely new to you, perplexes you or even one you take issue with.
Select from one of the readings from week 1 or 2 and briefly describe two points that you have taken from that reading. Points that excite you, something that was completely new to you.
A3:
From the week 2 reading ‘Writing for the Screen: Beyond the Gospel of Story’ by Kathryn Millard
The first point I found intriguing was the point on central conflict theory by Raul Ruiz. One of the key points is that the current central conflict theory that dominates screenwriting is a US perspective and one which excludes other story formats from other cultures. I also found the points outlined by Jean-Pierre Geuens about the over-emphasis of scripts in contemporary american cinema to be of great interest. The notion that script writers only care about giving a good pitch because after they sell the story they lose a lot of creative control and input. This last point changed my mind of script writing from a creative writing process into a more sales and advertising oriented process.
The last point of interest for me was made by Wong Kar Wai and others about the role of a script. The way these directors use scripts could be called unorthodox as they use them more like outlines or post production docs and they devote more time working and fleshing out the story through the production process. I found this to be an unusual an alternate view on the role and use of the script.