A Screenplay Exercise

To get us started today, let's take something that we already know and put it in a new context to create something fun and vibrant on the page.

Here's an exercise from Zacuto.com:

The Superhero Effect

Pick your favorite superhero and write an everyday scene for them – IN COSTUME. Maybe they have to go to the dentist or the supermarket. Maybe they’re appealing a parking ticket or attending a child’s recital.

How is everyone around them reacting to them and what do they do about it?

Example: Wonder Woman at the library, or Xena taking her costume to the dry cleaner.

MONDAY we'll be working on your DREAM SCREENPLAY scenario, so this weekend, jot some notes in answer to these questions:

1. If someone offered me a movie deal today, what would I want my film to be about?

2. What might I brainstorm about title, theme, characters?

3. What actors would I hope to get to play my characters?

4. Who would be my intended audience?

5. Since the FIRST SCENE is hugely important, what MOOD do I want to create in my audience with the first scene?

After you finish those ideas, you can also start reviewing for our final exam, which will have a section on every one of our units:

Point of view

Character

Setting and Description

Plot and Pacing

Dialogue

Craft (what makes good writing)
Revision (via your notes on all three stories)

Some things to review for above:

--What elements allow us to flesh out a character?

--What are the points of view? What is vantage point?

--How can setting and description enhance a story?

--What is show, don't tell?

--What is the eight-point-story arc?

--How can one avoid redundancy? Cliche? 

--What is proper dialogue form? How can I study it?

--What are some of the mistakes people make in writing dialogue?

   

Use this blog as an aid to dialogue: http://www.mitchellbogatz.com/blog/2015/3/21/common-dialogue-mistakes

Welcome back!

I hope you had a great break.

Start us off with a quick Haiku about your vacation, and then we'll move on to:

SCREENWRITING.