History and Theory of Screenwriting

• Credit value: 15 credits at Level 7
• Convenor: Hilary Smith
• Tutors: Hilary Smith, Barbara Cox
• Assessment: script research of 1500-2000 words (40%) and an essay of 2500-3000 words (60%)

In this module you will gain a theoretical and historical understanding of screenwriting, and be able to carry out an in-depth appraisal of the complexity and historical contingency of forms and practices of screenwriting. Together we will trace the shifts in professional discourses on script writing and the screenplay and look at case studies of different aspects of screenwriting forms and practices.

The class will be taught through lectures, including guest lectures, screenings of films and extracts, seminars and workshops, group discussion, presentations and independent writing.

Indicative syllabus

• Issues in the history and theory of screenwriting: how the term emerged and how we think about the study of the script and practice of screenwriting in film and television
• Gender and screenwriting: the role of women in screenwriting in the past and recent historical studies of women in the international film industry
• Issues in representing culture and ethnicity: examples of the representation of ethnicity in British film and television, and evaluating scripts and approaching writing for a wide range of ethnic characters in film and television
• Commissioning black screenwriters in the UK: historical initiatives to promote training for Afro-Caribbean and Asian screenwriters, and contemporary issues in the diversity policies being promoted in the British film industries
• Adaptation and genre: adaptation of literary works and theatrical plays for film, television and the screen, and adaptation through the model of genre
• Scripting for digital media and games: developments in screenwriting for online digital media