The class project is to write the first draft of your short screenplay. Yeah, I know, that sounds like a lot, but if you signed up for this class then I have faith in you. Remember the point of writing and sharing your first draft isn't to overwhelm us with your brilliance, in fact I can confidently say every first draft I've ever written has been crap, riddled with lots of problems. Rather, the objectives are much simpler and more attainable:

demonstrate you understand screenwriting format (or at least know how to use software that will do the formatting for you)
demonstrate 'visual writing', showing the reader versus telling them everything
make a decision about the type of short you want to work on (narrative, poetic, experimental), making a decision can help guide how you organize your images and what actually happens in your short (e.g. what is the logic of your 'story')

I'm sure you'll have questions along the way, so feel free to ask in the discussion forum, that's why it's there.

If you never write your first draft, then there's really no way to make it better and better - writing it out is a way of making it into a real physical thing that you can reflect on and improve. So please do make that first step!

I recommend you upload your script as a PDF and host it to a service like Dropbox or Google Drive, it'll make it easier for me to leave comments and suggestions (if you don't know how let me know).

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RESOURCES:

Go here for handouts mentioned in video lessons

Bonus material: In the second bonus class video I mention the 'Russian Doll' exercise, I've now made that into its own standalone class if you want to learn more about that unique technique.

George Paiva

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