Scripting Futures – new workshops announced

SCRIPTING FUTURES

Script is delighted to announce the first stage of a programme of screenwriting activity over the next few  months. The programme is funded by Screen WM and delivered in partnership with Red Room Films, Animation Forum West Midlands and Hello Digital.

The programme is aimed at writers who would like to develop their skills and learn the tools of the trade. With topics ranging from laying out your screenplay, to writing sitcom, animation, and feature film genres, the programme offers a wide variety of opportunities for writers to hone their skills with input and support from writers and producers currently working in the industry.

Delivered at venues across central Birmingham, the programme is an ideal opportunity for writers to get to grips with the film-making community in the region and to further develop their careers. To this end, Script will also be offering script surgeries and career advice clinics in partnership with Business Link.

So if you’re a writer just starting out, or a professional writer looking to expand your portfolio, do get in touch and find out if there’s anything for you.

For further information and booking details, contact Script at:catherine.edwards@scriptonline.net

SCREENWRITING BASICS

Developing Ideas for the Screen (Lynn Davies)
Saturday 27^th February 2010, 10am-4pm
Venue tbc (Central Birmingham)

Many common problems with scripts can be avoided during the process of working up an idea before starting work on the screenplay.  Through a series of games and exercises, this one-day workshop explores the process in order to give students a guide to the pitfalls and possibilities of script development.

Screenplay Format (Lynn Davies)
Saturday 6^th March 2010
Venue tbc (Central Birmingham)

Many would-be screenwriters find the required format a stumbling block.  Most resort to screenwriting software to do it for them.  This is often a mistake, as the format of a script is a result of the screenwriter’s thought processes and cannot be artificially imposed. A thorough grasp of format is essential for the creation of a professional screenplay.  In this one-day workshop, the intricacies (and simplicities) of format are explored and examined, proving that screenwriting software is unnecessary and its use can be counter-productive.

GENRE

Four day-long workshops looking at different genres in feature film. Delivered in partnership with Red Room Films

Claire Ingham is a producer and film and television script developer. She works on projects at all stages of development – currently ranging from the adaptation treatment of Eoin Colfer’s bestselling novel The Wishlist to the final draft of Helen Cross’ original feature Stratford Road. Claire has previously worked for a number of film and television companies in development roles. She was Head of Drama Development at Impossible Pictures for four years where she headed a small team, commissioning and developing a range of TV and film projects for all the major broadcasters, including Jed Mercurio’s contemporary retelling of Frankenstein and Michael Chaplin’s family film Pickles.

Rom-Com
Saturday 13^th February 2010
BVSC, Digbeth

The Romantic Comedy is one of the most popular genres at the box office and often appears to be one of the most effortless – but for writers, this genre can be one of the most challenging.  How do you persuade an audience to care about two people falling in love one more time? This 1 day course will examine how to construct plots and characters that are sexy, funny, entertaining and that appeal to large audiences. It will examine the conventions that define the genre and look at some of the ways that filmmakers are stretching and challenging the ‘rules’ to create new and original stories. By the end of the course you should have acquired a deeper knowledge of the genre, along with specific tips and techniques from clips and exercises to move your own romantic comedy scripts and ideas on. The following films will be referred to in discussions; it is recommended that participants view them prior to the workshop:

When Harry Met Sally
Bridget Jones’ Diary
It’s Complicated (on general cinematic release)

The Biopic
Saturday 13^th March 2010
BVSC, Digbeth

Biopics are crowd pleasers and regular Oscar winners – with bankable actors often attracted to the challenge of playing a real and notable figure. But while the facts of someone’s life might offer elements of plot, how can writers prevent biopics becoming episodic documentaries – and how far can or should a screenwriter ‘stretch the truth’? This 1 day course will examine how to find the best story in a ‘life’, how to develop gripping character stories and how to approach those legal and copyright issues that might arise. It will also examine the conventions that define the genre and look at some of the ways that filmmakers are stretching and challenging the ‘rules’ to push the genre forward. By the end of the course you should have acquired a deeper knowledge of the biopic, along with specific tips and techniques to progress your own scripts and ideas. The following films will be referred to in discussions; it is recommended that participants view them prior to the workshop: Hilary and Jackie, The Damned United, Nowhere Boy

Science Fiction and Fantasy
Saturday 10^th April 2010
BVSC, Digbeth

Eight of the top ten grossing movies of all time are from the science fiction or fantasy genres.  Science fiction transports audiences to worlds light years away, to alternate realities, fantastic technologies and new social orders. Fantasy opens the door to new possibilities, transforms science with myth and magic and re-examines the spiritual. But how can screenwriters take the world and twist it so convincingly that audiences come back to escape again and again? This 1 day course will examine the conventions that define the science fiction and fantasy genres and look at some of the ways that filmmakers are breaking the ‘rules’ and splicing genres together to create new and original stories. By the end of the course you should have acquired a deeper knowledge of the science fiction and fantasy genres along with specific tips and techniques to progress your own scripts and ideas.

Crime and Detective Thrillers
Saturday 24^th April 2010, 10am-5pm
BVSC, Digbeth

Crime is a massively popular and commercially successful genre – and our fascination with it has deep cultural and psychological roots. Crime stories play on our fears, allow us into the dark places of the criminal mind – and permit us to test ourselves against those that hunt and investigate. But within ‘Crime’ there are several subgenres each with their own set of principles and conventions. This one day ‘Crime Thrillers’ course will look particularly at those stories that combine Detective or criminal protagonists with the action and suspense of the thriller, assess how these films are structured – and look at some of the ways that writers are moving the crime thriller genre on. By the end of the course you should have acquired a deeper knowledge of crime and detective stories, along with specific tips and techniques to further your own thriller scripts and ideas.  The following films will be referred to in discussions; it is recommended that participants view them prior to the workshop: Seven, Silence of the Lambs, The Usual Suspects

SITUATION COMEDY AND OTHER C WORDS

Beginners’ Workshop (Keith R Lindsay)
Saturday 20^th March 2010
Woodward Room, Birmingham & Midland Institute

In this hands-on workshop, participants will engage in the process of creating a situation comedy from the initial concept all the way to writing the first and most important page of the script. The conclusion of the workshop will offer instructions on the technical side of putting together a script and suggestions for a professional approach to finding a market for the participants’ own work. By the end of the session those attending should have a set of guidelines to help them avoid many of the pitfalls of the newer writer setting out on his or her sit com script.

Advanced Workshop (Keith R Lindsay)
Saturday 27^th March 2010
Woodward Room, Birmingham & Midland Institute

The Advanced Workshop offers the same hands on approach as the beginners’ workshop and covers topics in greater detail, with extended reference to the participants’ own efforts at situation comedy. The conclusion of the workshop will include advice on markets for those already armed with scripts and the best type of scripts to write for the current market.
ANIM@TE

Four day-long workshops on devising and developing scripts for animated films. Delivered in partnership with:

Presented by Professor Paul Wells

Professor Paul Wells, Director of the Animation Academy at Loughborough University, and author of ‘Understanding Animation’, ‘Fundamentals of Animation’, ‘Re-Imagining Animation’ and ‘Scriptwriting’, presents four workshops on aspects of writing for the animated form. Wells has toured Europe and United States conducting these workshops, and contributing to script development on a range of animated film and television projects. Combining his experience in writing for theatre, radio, TV and animation, Wells explores approaches and techniques particular to working in animation, but pertinent to many aspects of moving image practice in general, and the re-thinking of the ‘screen-play’.

Devising Animated Narratives
Wednesday 17^th February 2010, 10am-5pm
The Bond, Fazeley Street

Using a range of devising exercises and development strategies this workshop will seek to create the conditions for the preparation of structuring and pre-visualising an animated narrative.

Visual Storytelling in Animation
Wednesday 3^rd March 2010, 10am-5pm
The Bond, Fazeley Street

This workshop will explore and experiment with the purely visual characteristics which enable the development of animated narratives. This will take into account approaches to storyboarding and the construction of pictorial storytelling elements.

Writing Animated Narratives for Children
Wednesday 17^th March 2010, 10am-5pm
The Bond, Fazeley Street

Looking at a range of animated material directly produced for children, this workshop will seek to engage with approaches to creating narratives in animation dedicated to a children’s audiences. Using various devising exercises, the workshop will look at character building and child-centred storylines.

Creating Animated Documentary
Wednesday 31^st March 2010, 10am-5pm
The Bond, Fazeley Street

Using a variety of ‘real world’ materials and ‘live’ issues, and deploying a range of devising strategies, this workshop will look at the relationship between animation and documentary, creating a visual treatment for a proposed animated documentary.

FEES: All workshops are £50 each (£40 concessions).

If you book any FOUR workshops at the full rate, you can receive a 15% discount of the total price (i.e. total cost of four workshops is £170)

ENQUIRIES/BOOKING: Contact catherine.edwards@scriptonline.net