Screenwriting Commons^™

The Horse's Ass: A Survey Of Comediology, William M. Fisk

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

What is comedy? Can someone learn to be funny? Are there rules or guidelines for the production of laughter, the universal language? This paper, which outlines an investigation of successful comedians and the production of a short film, determines to aggregate as many of the relevant prerequisites of inducing giggles as possible, especially as they relate to the audiovisual medium of cinema.

Woman Standing, Allison Adams

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This is a feature-length screenplay following Farren Cane, a young woman living in a rural Appalachian town, as she struggles with the intersections of gender, class, and the tension between her own ambition and her familial obligation.

Trepidation: A Film Project On Cultural Trauma, Courtney A. Duchene

Media and Communication Studies Summer Fellows

A trailer and a screenplay for a docudrama film that examines cultural trauma in relation to police shootings and the 2016 election.

Desecrate: An Original Feature-Length Screenplay, Justin Zorn

Honors Theses

The basis of this creative project was to construct a feature-length, three-act screenplay in the mold of both the American Western genre and the modern road epic. The “road” genre, a staple of American cinema, is form of story in which one or two characters are confronted by situations that put them on journeys of Odysseus-like proportions during which they must overcome some fundamental issues in their respective lives. Following the examples of mainstream road epics such as Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan (1998) and the Cohen brothers O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), my screenplay incorporates the same three-act …

Navigating The Moral Pitfalls Of The Service Industry "The Book Of Snake", Paul S. Punzo

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis paper examines how I turned real life experiences and observations into a fictionalized screenplay that explores the potential for vice inherent in tip-based service industry jobs. After that, I move on to the preproduction process and touch on casting, location scouting, visualization, production design, budgeting and crewing. Next I discuss how the preproduction and on-set efforts of individuals were all critical to our production. Then I chronicle the ups and downs of postproduction. Finally, I conclude with an admittedly subjective analysis of the effectiveness of the movie itself.

Mom's Photoshoot, Eric G. Hollerbach

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This is a semi-autobiographical script about the author, Eric Hollerbach. It analyzes how problems with his mother manifest into problems with his romantic relationships.

Beacon, Samantha Eroche

Senior Honors Theses

Beacon is a short, relatively low production value screenplay about two people coming to know each other better, about them coming to know themselves better and to grow as human beings. When Kate Clarence realizes she’s discovered the journal of her favorite pen-named author from childhood—“C. Rimes”—she embarks on a journey to return it to him, whoever he is. She’s delinquent on her rent, her bookshop’s failing, she’s far from her landlocked Midwest home and family, and she’s single; the obligation to return the journal is a welcomed adventure and reprieve. However, when she comes to the conclusion that C. …

Re::Humanity, Paisley Summer Ford

Senior Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

A Theoretical Application Of Metaphor Research To The Film Industry, Michael J. Stanton

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper explores the value of using metaphor based marketing research methods (most notably Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique) in the development and green-lighting processes of filmmaking. A review of literature reveals that even large blockbuster films lack any marketing research employed in the developmental stage. Audiences are extremely difficult to analyze when considering something as abstract and subjective as what makes a “good” film. Metaphor based marketing research methods (e.g. ZMET) offer a solution by examining the minds of consumers through language markers called metaphors. Using a metaphor based marketing technique early in a film’s development process may help to …

Story Problem Solving, Brian D. Kalina

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project paper will explore and define the relationship between the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) and the timeless concept of storytelling. Since the beginning of time, people have been sharing stories to relate their experiences and their solutions to overcome challenges and obstacles. CPS is a more modern methodology that aids people in their approach and their ability to generate plans and solutions to overcome challenges and obstacles. Therefore, the premise of this project is to seek answers to the questions; (1) How might we look to stories as frameworks for solving our problems? and (2) How might we marry …

Pathos, Spring 2017, Portland State University. Student Publications Board

Pathos

Editor: Jessica Moore

Volume 11 No. 3

Hollywood, The Media, And The Alteration Of Image In The 1940s, Sean M. Conrad

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

I am currently writing a feature-length screenplay entitled Klara based on true events and people surrounding the rise of Nazi Germany and the exile of Jewish-German intellectuals to America during 1933-1945. The narrative is grounded in the work of the European Film Fund (1938-1948), the Paul Kohner Talent Agency, and the various agents of propaganda at work both in Nazi Germany and America during this time period. Through my research I hope to explicate how Jewish-German exile in America influenced not only those exiled, but also the burgeoning American film industry and how the cross-cultural intersection of media propaganda, both …

Pathos, Winter 2017, Portland State University. Student Publications Board

Pathos

Editor: Jessica Moore

Volume 11 No. 2

Fantissity, Alexandra N. Dean

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.