Online Class: Screenwriting 101: The Nuts and Bolts and Rewards
Screenwriting is an incomparable delight. For the modern person, who may have seen thousands of screen stories, it's a mode of expression that places you in the driver's seat, visualizing something you feel strongly about in your own way and in your own words. It's a chance to strike back and become an active producer of work, rather than a passive consumer of the work and thoughts of others. Like all serious writing, it's a tedious process and a lot of work. However, the personal rewards and satisfaction are real, therapeutic, visceral, and fun.
This easy-to-follow self-paced course will give you the basic rules and show you the skills. There's no excuse for a poorly formatted script -- you're really only wasting your time. Traditional three-act structure for film-stories can be debated endlessly, but it works, it's very functional, it's fairly easy to understand, and you must have at least a passing familiarity with this mode of expression for your stories. Learn how to get in touch with the industry, the markets, what's selling, where to find opportunities, how to deal with people. Approach your work and work environment seriously, because you'll be spending a lot of time there. If you get a deal, don't get screwed for careless anticipation of the money involved, and if you get screwed, don't be surprised. And remember that if you can't make it to the top and win an Oscar for some super-big film you wrote, it's still a wonderful way to make a buck at your computer doing smaller gigs and 'for-hire' work.
Enroll today! This is a self-paced, online course. You have 6 months to finish.
An instructor will monitor your progress and assess your body of work at course completion. UniversalClass™ offers many wonderful learning tools
to help you get the most out of your online course, including an online portfolio service
that manages all your course completions.
This class has been officially reviewed by our Course Review Committee that scrutinizes course content and instructor participation. This course has received our Committee's highest rating: 4 stars.
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1.0 CEUs
Course Description
This is a basic, nuts-and-bolts course, for people who wish to write screenplays, but don't know much about it. Because screenwriting is demanding both technically and in the market for jobs and sales, 'Getting Into The Screenwriting Game to Win' attempts to go through each essential aspect needed for a beginner to get started, stick with it, and yes, make a sale or get a job.
In this course you will learn basic rules and skills. There's no excuse for a poorly formatted script, you're really only wasting your time. Traditional three-act structure for film-stores can be debated endlessly, but it works, it's very functional, it's fairly easy to understand, and you can't neglect at least a passing familiarity with this mode of expression for your stories. Get in touch with the industry, the markets, what's selling, where to find opportunities, how to deal with people. Approach your work standards and work environment seriously, because you'll be spending a lot of time there. If you get a deal, don't get screwed for careless anticipation of the money involved, and if you get screwed, don't be surprised. And remember that if you can't make it to the top and win an Oscar for some super-big film you wrote, it's still a wonderful way to make a buck at your computer doing smaller gigs and 'for-hire' work.
Screenwriting is also therapy. It's good for you, and your imagination and thoughts will develop wonderfully as you work through each visualization---but be sensitive to the audience, don't exploit our world with endless images of violence and gore (at least not without a reason), and don't hop in bed with unethical projects or money-sources just because you can. It's a wild world for films and film-makers---stay on the bright side and keep it safe and legal.
The hope is that for the beginner, this course presents a working knowledge of what is needed to get started writing screenplays in a realistic and informed way. Beyond this, you're now free to roam where no screenwriter has gone before---and what a wonder it is to wonder.
This course offers 1.0 CEUs upon successful completion. You may take this
online course with or without CEU documentation. An online and hard-copy Certificate of Course Completion displaying your coursework and
CEUs earned is included with the CEU Option. We also offer an expedited Transcript Service for sending your accomplishments to a third party.
Course Lessons
Optional Certificates Awarded
Certificate of Appreciation
Certificate of Outstanding Achievement
Certificates awarded by the instructor will vary and are based upon student merit.
Any awards you earn are considered unofficial (or temporary) unless you decide to make the award official.
To make an award official, there is a $30.00 processing fee that covers the customization, printing, and shipping of a hard copy of the certificate as well as access to the UniversalClass™ Transcript Service.
Official awards include a serial number that verifies the authenticity of the award you earned for a lifetime (great for employers
to verify your achievement).