School of Cinematic Arts



CTWR 521: Advanced Hour-Long Television Drama

2 units – SPRING 2013

Instructor: Barbara Nance

Class Schedule: Wednesdays, 1:00 pm – 3:50 pm; beginning 1/16/2013

Class Location: SCB 101

Office Hours: By Appointment

Contact Information: BabsNance@

Course Objective:

Create a professional quality one-hour speculative script for an existing drama series (either cable or network). Completed second draft of teleplay will count as the final for the course. If no second draft is completed, first draft of script will be evaluated for the final.

Course Description:

• Introduction to writing episodic TV drama

• Discussion of network vs. cable drama – differences in structure, tone, content, broadcast cycle

• Creation of a mock TV Writers’ Room; continuting particpation in workshop process throughout length of course

• Create and pitch a story for an existing drama series

• Outline a one-hour script for an existing drama series

• Write a one-hour script for an existing drama series

• Revise a script, either a polish or full 2nd draft

Course Reading:

Writing the TV Drama Series (third edition) by Pamela Douglas

Grading Criteria:

In-class participation: 10%

Assignments: 10%

Story pitch/es: 10%

Script Outline: 20%

First Draft: 25%

Second Draft: 25%

-----------------------------------

TOTAL 100%

All work is to be delivered via e-mail before or by 7 pm on the SUNDAY EVENING prior to Wednesday’s class to allow time for review/notes to be returned to student on hard copy during class. If work is not delivered by this deadline, notes from teacher are not guaranteed. Late assignments will result in grade being lowered ½ a point for every 24 hours it is delayed (A ( A- if delivered after Sunday but before Monday evening; A (B if delivered before Tuesday evening, etc.)

Scripts, or any portion thereof, must be sent in .PDF format. Other assignments in Word.

A grade of incomplete will be considered only after the twelfth week of classes. The only acceptable reason for taking an incomplete in the course is personal illness or family emergency. Students must inform the professor on or before the twelfth week and present verifiable evidence in order for an alternatve make-up plan to be developed.

Writing Division Attendance Policy:

Students are expected be on time and prepared for each class. Two unexcused absences will result in your final grade being lowered by one full point (ex: A ( B). A third unexcused absence will result in your final grade being lowered another full point (ex: B ( C). Your final grade will be lowered by one point for every absence after. Two late arrivals equates to one full absence.

In order for an absence to be excused, student must have approval from the professor and provide documentation at the next attended class session.

If you have an emergency and must miss class, please contact your professor prior to class or contact the Writing Division at 213-740-3303.

Laptop and Cell Phone Policy:

Laptops may be used for note-taking only during the lectures. Internet may be used for research purposes only (i.e., to look up information on a topic-related matter that we are discussing in class).

NO CELLPHONE USAGE WHATSOEVER will be tolerated. Cell phones must be turned off or silenced (no vibrate) before class begins.

No other e-mailing, text messaging, tweeting, web surfing, game-playing, etc. will be tolerated. Anyone found doing this will be asked to leave immediately and they will be marked as absent (unexcused). I’m not kidding.

Class Schedule:

Week 1: Introduction to the principles of writing episodic one-hour TV, and how it differs from feature films, half-hour multi-camera, and half-hour single camera. Discuss network vs. cable drama – differences in structure, tone, content, broadcast cycle. Discuss current landscape of television. Begin discussion on shows to speculate.

Assignment: Watch episodes of three (3) shows mutually decided upon in class. Write/turn in paragraph summarizing the story of each episode. Read Chapters 1-3, pgs. 1-154, Writing the TV Drama Series.

Week 2: Discuss Week #1 assignment. Review hour-drama act structures and story lines (A, B, C). Breakdown how they apply to episodes watched. Choose three (3) series to speculate.

Assignment: Analyze chosen series. Write/turn in one page or less on its creative components, i.e., is it serialized, procedural? Who are main characters? Plots, sub-plots, etc. Write/turn in five (5) one-line ideas for potential story lines for episode (they don’t have to all be A story lines). Read Chapters 4-5, pgs. 155-226, Writing the TV Drama Series.

Week 3: Explore three chosen series in greater detail. Explain what a “writers’ room” is – how it functions, what are the rules. Workshop storylines for episodes. Discuss how to find a story for existing series, yet how to make it personal to you as a writer.

Assignment: Write/turn in 1st draft of pitch paragraph. Read Chapters 6-8,

pgs. 227-end, Writing the TV Drama Series.

Week 4: Workshop story pitches. Discuss characters, character arcs, act breaks. Discuss structure/rules/importance of outlines.

Assignment: Write/turn in 1st draft of episode outline.

Week 5: Discuss dramatic stakes, story pacing. Workshop episode outline.

Assignment: Revise outline.

Week 6: Discuss conflict. Workshop revised outline.

Assignment: Polish outline, if necessary. Turn in final outline. Begin writing teaser and/or first ten pages of teleplay.

Week 7: Workshop first written pages. Explain the concept of a “crap draft”. Discuss various real-life scenarios of writing process on shows. Discuss teacher’s personal script writing policy: I will not expect you to turn in acts while writing. I will, however, be expecting you to show me progress on script each week – either visual or via hardcopy.

Assignment: Finish writing Act 1.

Week 8: Workshop Act 1. Discuss scene/act/episode momentum & dramatic pacing interwoven with humor.

Assignment: Finish writing Act 2.

Week 9: Workshop Act 2. Discuss dialogue; importance of writing character voices that reflect episode.

Assignment: Finish writing Act 3.

Week 10: Workshop Act 3. Discuss “3rd Act doldrums”.

Assignment: Finish writing Act 4.

Week 11: Workshop script as a whole. Discuss issues students may have with story holes, character development, lulls in dramatic pacing.

Assignment: Turn in 1st draft of script.

Week 12: Discuss process of getting notes. Discuss script editing.

Assignment: Incorporate suggested revisions.

Week 13: Workshop revisions. Discuss scene/act transitions, character development.

Assignment: Continue revisions. Re-watch existing episode(s).

Week 14: Workshop revisions. Re-visit existing episodes. Discuss script-in-progress: how does it “sit in the pile” of existing show?

Assignment: Continue revisions.

Week 15: Workshop revisions. Discuss the WGA; its role and importance to the working writer. Possible guest speaker.

Assignment: Finish second draft revisions.

Finals Deliver second draft of script. Discuss career paths for becoming a

writer on one-hour show. Discuss conceptualizing the next teleplay in

your TV porfolio: an original TV pilot.

Statement for Students with Disabilities

Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me (or to TA) as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Website and contact information for DSP:



(213) 740-0776 (Phone), (213) 740-6948 (TDD only), (213) 740-8216 (FAX)

Statement on Academic Integrity

USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own. All students are expected to understand and abide by these principles. SCampus, the Student Guidebook, (usc.edu/scampus or ) contains the University Student Conduct Code (see University Governance, Section 11.00), while the recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A.

Students will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards for further review, should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty. The Review process can be found at: .

Information on intellectual property at USC is available at: .

Emergency Preparedness/Course Continuity in a Crisis

In case of a declared emergency, if travel to campus is not feasible, USC executive leadership will announce an electronic way for instructors to teach students in their residence halls or homes using a combination of Blackboard, teleconferencing, and other technologies.

Please activate your course in Blackboard with access to the course syllabus. Whether or not you use Blackboard regularly, these preparations will be crucial in an emergency. USC's Blackboard learning management system and support information is available at blackboard.usc.edu.

Disruptive Student Behavior

Behavior that persistently or grossly interferes with classroom activities is considered disruptive behavior and may be subject to disciplinary action. Such behavior inhibits other students’ ability to learn and an instructor’s ability to teach. A student responsible for disruptive behavior may be required to leave class pending discussion and resolution of the problem and may be reported to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs for disciplinary action.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download