Foundations of Screenplay Craft

This unit develops the writer’s mindset and core craft skills needed to turn ideas into visually driven, character-centered screenplays. Students will work on openings, Act I structure, character interiority and backstory, time and format techniques, treatments and pitches, and iterative revision to prepare scripts for professional development.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze how visual description, time manipulation, and formatting choices establish tone, clarity, and audience expectations by annotating and critiquing sample screenplay pages
• Apply techniques for developing three-dimensional characters—including backstory, status relationships, and recurring motifs—by creating character dossiers and scenes that externalize internal states
• Demonstrate the construction of Act I and three contrasting types of openings by producing a short treatment or 3–5 page scene that clearly establishes protagonist, stakes, and inciting incident
• Evaluate and revise treatment, formatting, and pitch materials using peer and instructor feedback to produce a formatted short treatment and a concise pitch with justification for revision choices