Visual Narrative – Film and Television Writing
Visual Narrative – Film and Television Writing
syllabus
selected reading list
This course is designed to inspire young writers who are interested in visual narrative and writing for film and television. We will focus on the role of the screenwriter and their methods of developing a dramatic screenplay. We will run workshops on constructing dialogue, characters, scenes and stories. We will look at the difference between original screenplays and adaptations by examining works by writer-directors such as Kubrick, Agnès Varda, Wong Kar-wei, Jane Campion, and the Merchant Ivory team. We will also explore ways of writing for television genres and discuss the keys to success of series such as Twin Peaks, Fleabag, and examples from Europe and Asia. During the classes we will watch film excerpts and discuss the relationships between text and image. Excerpts from various screenplays and novels will be required reading before and after classes. The final project will be a cinematic writing piece (15-20 pages), which will be work-shopped in the last three classes.
Course Requirements
- Students will have two writing assignments. The first piece is a 10-15 page short-film script focusing on dialogue and story development. The second is a 15-20 page screenplay or mini TV story focusing on structure and narrative development.
- Students will learn to edit and critique their own and others’ work, and respond to assigned readings and in-class exercises. Students will turn in all gradable assessment pieces for the required period during the semester.
Required Readings
Robert Bresson, Notes on Cinematography, (1975), NYRB 2016, ISBN-13: 978-1681370248
Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 1973, Princeton Uni Press, ASIN: B001U09A4Q
Xiaolu Guo, A Lover’s Discourse, Grove Atlantic, 2020, ASIN: B07YYXB238
Woody Allen and Stig Bjorkman, Woody Allen on Woody Allen, Grove Press, 2005, ISBN-13: 978-0802142030
Marguerite Duras, Hiroshima Mon Amour, translated by Richard Seaver, Grove Press 1994, ISBN-13: 978-0802131041
Jia Zhangke Interview, Andrew Chan, Film Comments, 2009
Recommended Readings and Films
Zama, a novel by Antonio di Benedetto, translated by Esther Allen, (NYRB 2016), and a film by Lucrecia Martel, 2018
The Writer’s Journey – Mythic Structure for Storytellers & Screenwriters, Christopher Vogler, Michael Wiese Productions, 1992
She, A Chinese, a film written and directed by Xiaolu Guo, 2009
Amores Perros, a film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga, 2000
Films by Woody Allen, Wong Kai-wei, Ang Lee and Jane Campion
Class Schedule
August 26: Introduction – the Essence of Screenwriting
Robert Bresson: Notes on Cinematography, 1975
Joseph Campbell: The Hero with a Thousand Faces, 1949
Sep 2: Researching a Script
Based on real life: Call the Midwife (from Jennifer Worth’s memoir to BBC drama) Or: Michaela Coel, I May Destroy You (BBC 2020)
Documentary approaches: Five Men and A Caravaggio (Xiaolu Guo, 2018)
History based narrative: Zama (a novel by di Benedetto, a film by Lucrecia Martel)
Sep 9: Structure and Narrative Arc
Joseph Campbell: the Power of Myth, 1988
Chris Marker: La Jette, 1962
Xiaolu Guo: UFO In Her Eyes, 2009
Christopher Vogler: The Writer’s Journey, (p39-48), 1992
Sep 16: Character Development
Orson Wells: Citizen Kane, 1941
Wong Ka-wei: In the Mood for Love, 2000
Woody Allen: Annie Hall, 1977
Coen Brothers: The Big Lebowsky, 1998
Sep 23: Writing Dialogue
Francis Ford Coppola: the Godfather, 1972
Coen Brothers: Fargo, 1996
Quentin Tarantino: Pulp Fiction, 1993
Sep 30: Stories from Auteur Cinema
Truffaut: Jules and Jim, 1962
Fassbinder: Fear Eats Soul, 1974
Kim Ki-duk: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring, 2003
Oct 7: Voice Over – Internal and External
Pierrot le Fou, Godard, 1965
Hiroshima Mon Amour, Marguerite Duras, 1967
Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi, 2007
Oct 14: No class. (Columbus Day.)
Homework: first writing assignment
October 20, Tuesday: Xiaolu Guo Public Lecture
Reading and Conversation with Xiaolu Guo (5:00 p.m. reception, 5:45 event begins). Strongly recommend you make attendance at this public event mandatory for the students.
Oct 21: Adapting the Classics
Midnight Children: from Salman Rushdie to Deepa Mehta
Howards End: from E. M. Foster to Merchant Ivory Productions
Call Me by Your Name: from André Aciman to Luca Guadagnino
Oct 28: Free Adaptations
Apocalypse Now: from Conrad’s Heart of Darkness to a Coppola movie
La Captive (The Captive, 2000): from Marcel Proust to Chantal Akerman
Workshop on the first writing assignment
Nov 4: Based on Real Events
Memories of A Murder, Bong Joon-ho, 2003
In Cold Blood: From Truman Capote’s text to Richard Brooks’s film, 1967
Nov 11: Biopic Research and Writing
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Julian Schnabel, 2007
The Music Lovers, Ken Russels, 1971, Bright Star, Jane Campion, 2000
Workshop on the writing assignment
Nov 18: Montage in the Script: the Almost ‘Perfect’ Narrative
Breathless, Godard, 1960 / Parasite, Bong Joon-ho, 2019
2046, Wong Kar-wai, 2003
workshop on the final project
Nov 25: No Class (Thanksgiving)
Homework: final writing project revision
Dec 2: Conception and Script for an Essay Film
Far and Near, Xiaolu Guo, 2003
Faces and Places, Agnes Varda, 2018
Workshop on the final project
Dec 9: TV Series and Personalities (last day of class)
David Lynch, Twin Peaks, 1990
Michaela Coel, I May Destroy You (2020), Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag (2014)
Workshop on the final project