Screenwriting Commons^™

History And The Teaching Of Dialect And Slang In Screenwriting, Mitch Olson, Chris C. Palmer

Faculty Articles

This article explores academic and industry perspectives on the use of dialect, slang, and historical language in screenwriting. It offers a chronological overview of major screenwriting manuals’ treatment of dialect and slang (or lack thereof) 1946-2020. It then presents survey data of 53 currently-practicing screenwriters’ views on working with dialect and historical language in scripts, as well as their sense of possible changes in the industry regarding attitudes towards diverse voice representation on the page. It concludes with examples from a teaching sequence that illustrates strategies for writing with dialect, researching it, and ethically considering its usage in scripts. Situating …

Extra-Terrestrial: A Television Pilot Script, Landon Adams

Symposium of Student Scholars

How do you make a home out of a place you don’t feel welcomed? This is the plight of Beatrix Ivy, a passionate fashionista, humanoid-martian who dreams of opening her own fashion business. The only issue: fashion does not exist on Mars. She impulsively decides to ditch her hypercritical mother in pursuit of Planet Earth. Destination? Paris, France. However, a GPS malfunction lands her in the unknown town of Paris, Georgia. Mistaken for a drag queen, Beatrix is met with hostility from the bigoted locals, including local darling SunRay, an equally talented fashion designer. Beatrix eventually finds companionship in a …

Birthday Girl, Makayla Tappin

Master's Projects

The lives of four friends plummet into chaos after a dead friend from college seemingly resurfaces – alive.

Televangelism And Religion In Star Trek V And Licence To Kill, Robert Revington

Journal of Religion & Film

In June 1989, both Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and the James Bond film Licence to Kill were released in theatres within days of each other. This study analyzes how story elements in both films were directly inspired by recent televangelist scandals in the United States. The Star Trek film was also intended to have a deeper examination of the nature of God and the Devil. Nonetheless, both films were also intended to appeal to a mass audience. To that end, these films' explorations of religious issues were watered down to avoid offending Christian denominations or churches (though not …

From Theory To Screen: Strain In The Gallagher Experience, Caroline H. Peabody

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

This paper applies Agnew’s General Strain Theory to the hit television series Shameless (US), primarily focusing on three of the show’s central characters. The paper argues that the characters’ criminal and deviant actions can be attributed to strain, as defined by Robert Agnew’s General Strain Theory (GST). The paper provides a basic overview of GST as well as a synopsis of the show before implementing the theory into an analysis of the show. In addition, this paper explores how criminality highlights the themes of Shameless and acts as an implicit call to action to address strain variables in underprivileged communities. …

Pathos, Fall 2024, Portland State University. Student Publications Board

Pathos

Editor: Adriana Stanzione

Ani175.3 Cinematography Animatics And Previsualisation Example 2, Sae University College

Exemplars

Student exemplar for ANI175.3

Do Androids Dream Of Bad Tv?: Un/Originality In Neil Burger’S Voyagers, Tom Ue, Callum M. Mcnutt

Proceedings from the Document Academy

Critics did not take kindly to Neil Burger’s Voyager (2021). On Rotten Tomatoes, the film scored a dismal 25%, and the consensus is that it’s a trip best not taken: “It has a game cast and a premise ripe with potential, but Voyagers drifts in familiar orbit rather than fully exploring its intriguing themes.” This article seeks neither to reclaim the film as an unjustly neglected cinematic masterpiece nor to assert its importance in the canon of dystopian works. Rather, it treats Voyagers as a test case for exploring our own critical investment in the genre. Our aims are …

Flm178.2 Screenwriting Script, Mood Reel, Pitch And Documented Feedback Example 2, Sae University College

Exemplars

She Isn't Alone in the Dark – Final Draft Screenplay

Completion of FLM178.2 Screenwriting.

Poco Film Festival Talks: The Impact Of Ai: A Humanist Perspective, James Thompson

Staff Scholarship - Australia & Dubai

As regards the onset of AI technology use and influence in the film and screen industries, we need to be able to take account of the agency and the engagement of our creative minds and whether or not they are being invited in to realistic, tangible jobs and careers, or alternatively what the impacts of changing technological paradigms might have on their futures. In what ways does AI impact the screen industry?

This generation of young people, film and screen production students, want to have an in-person, socialised peer experience - they want to be together. They want to have …

Revelation Perth International Film Festival Academic Conference 2024, James Thompson

Staff Scholarship - Australia & Dubai

Drawing delegates from around the country The Revelation Perth International Film Festival's Academic Conference is a truly interactive two days of intense discussion and debate on all things cinema

Revelation is Australia's only international film festival to host and encourage academic discussion alongside its screening program and we look forward to taking its discoveries to audiences around the country and world. It represents an important platform in film discussion and analysis in this country.

Taking place on Tuesday July 2nd and Weds July 3rd 2024, the Revelation Academic Conference draws local, national and international academics to discuss and analyse issues …

Tea Leaves And Other Stories: Expressing Themes Of Change And Loss Through The Magical Realist Style, Olivia Geist

University Honors Theses

"Tea Leaves and Other Stories" is a collection of "tiny" (1 - 2 page) film scripts and one longer, seven page script that study how themes of change and loss can be expressed through the magical realist style. Inspired by Isabel Allende's essay, "The Short Story", these scripts are both a study of magical realism in film as well as a reflection on the author's process as a writer and the themes present within her work.

Consciousness And The Reality Of Monsters In Horror Movies: Dehumanization And What Monsters In Horror Films Say About Us, Leila Kincaid

Journal of Conscious Evolution

This essay responds to Carroll’s The Nature of Horror from the perspective of transdisciplinary phenomenological film theory, largely developed by Edgar Morin in the 1950s. It argues that Carrolls’s reduction of the phenomenological value of horror films to an unreal category minimizes and even dismisses the inherent value of horror films. Morin, Allan Combs, and others offer more integral and transdisciplinary methods for art interpretation and functionality. They help us understand how monsters in horror films can stand as mirrors and reflections of the monstrous in ourselves and society. Thus, the transformational function and value of film is revealed and …

That Way: An Examination Of Male Relationships In Film During The Hays Code, Jane Knudsen

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

The Hays Code (1934-1968) influenced the construct of United States masculinity and the discourse surrounding masculine presentation between the 1920s to the 1960s. The Hays Code and World War II affected the culture surrounding male/male relationships in the United States. Previous research done by David Lugowski (1999) and Jeffrey Suzik (1999) shows that both World Wars led to crises of masculinity in which the hegemonic ideal of masculinity was restructured to establish men as providers and warriors, and Code-era films reflected the discourse. To understand the gender roles in the 20^th century, I analyzed the Hays code, male bonds, …

Hobby Horse, Kaitlyn Liu

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Against the wishes of her domineering mother, a teen equestrian rides into the Finnish sport of hobby horsing in order to win enough money to buy her real horse back.

Visions Of Inclusivity: A Screenplay Focusing On Women, Sexism And Film During The 1990s, Abigail Hayman

Master's Projects

In the 1990s film scene, Margaux Archambeau leaves for New York City to uncover the truth about her late mother. This research summary, "Visions of Inclusivity," acknowledges and carefully researches women's struggles and triumphs. This essay intends to share information about the film industry and the inappropriate treatment of women so that men and women in the film industry can support one another.

The Farm, Justin Morris

Master's Projects

Synopsis:

’The Farm’ is a psychological thriller series inspired by the recent folk horror revival. We follow a suburban family who begin to lose their trust in each other as they fall further into peril on a strange isolated farm. When Brian, the patriarch, repeatedly puts his family in danger to satisfy his own ego, he forms a rift between him, his wife Madison, and son Charlie that quickly spirals into delusion, blind accusation, and paranoia. Desperate, they seek the help of Elias, the owner of the farm with his own tenuous grip on reality, and his quiet daughter, Emma. …

The World Of Marubia: A Writer’S Perspective Into Building Worlds Using Transmedia Aesthetics, Diego Lucca Espinosa

Whittier Scholars Program

This Senior Project is a Generative and Research Thesis based around the techniques and aesthetics of Transmedia storytelling that are used when dabbling in World Building. It includes three interconnected creative pieces: 2 flash fiction stories and a short screenplay, all revolving and connected to the story world of my creation, Marubia. These stories exist in a world going through a technopoaclypse; Robotic creatures wield magic against their Human brothers in arms, slaved to the command of a Dark God. The Transmedia Aesthetics coined by Professor Geoffrey Long, specifically Resonant Simple-Story Myths, Fractal Storytelling, and World-Centric Narrative Design were pivotal …

Neo-Noir Investigations: The Art Of Directing And Writing An Interactive Experience, James Phillip Koehler Jr.

Honors Projects

This project intends to explore the process behind writing and directing for an interactive experience; video games, specifically. A team, including artists, programmers, and a musician, was organized to work toward the completion of a playable demo. Included in this project is a video of the playable demo, alongside various other completed materials that were unable to be included.

The Cinema Of Paul Thomas Anderson: American Apocrypha, Matt Kingcroft

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of Ethan Warren, The Cinema of Paul Thomas Anderson: American Apocrypha (Wallflower Press, 2023).

Clear Waters, Joseph Mueller

LMU Theses and Dissertations

While investigating the gruesome death of a marine biologist, a by-the-book biracial detective and a jaded Tribal officer uncover a conspiracy surrounding a sea cucumber poaching ring on the reservation. Inspired by actual events.

Mko, Simon Luedtke

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Seeking vengeance for his mother’s murder, a young Native man becomes corrupted by a pelt that turns him into a bear at night.

Levee, Keya Vance

LMU Theses and Dissertations

When his absent father comes back into his life with a cancer diagnosis, an arrogant star high school linebacker, hellbent on a college football scholarship, must choose between caring for his dying father and following his dream.

Smoke & Sons, Will Lebowitz

LMU Theses and Dissertations

A kindhearted sharpshooter and his father, a greedy wild west showman, conspire to rob Flagstaff’s first movie palace. But when the son falls for the owner’s daughter, more than just the heist goes awry.

Boat Dad, Scotty Villhard

LMU Theses and Dissertations

A divorced dad returns home to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter, but there’s one problem: she’s a serial killer who feeds tourists to the local lake monster.

The Tale Of Bunny, The Lamb, Keith Currivean Jr.

LMU Theses and Dissertations

When a lamb named Bunny sees a young boy beaten by the sheep farm’s caretaker, he goes on a killing spree to stop the abuse. But as the body count rises, he grows a taste for human blood and is forced to confront the violence he’s brought into the world or feed on the young boy – the last source of human blood on the farm.

Grc: A Mustang Quest, Jackson T. Alexander

Graphic Communication

The main purpose of this study is to define the overall effectiveness of visual marketing through animation and storytelling narration. California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo has dozens of potential majors that interest students, thus leading to specific programs such as Graphic Communication (GRC) gaining fewer numbers compared to other College of Liberal Arts (CLA) fields. By analyzing what key elements are necessary for gaining outside attention and intrigue about a college program, I can better understand what information needs to be presented in my video project. This video will focus on defining what Graphic Communication is as a …

Comic Legacies Of The Japanese Silver Screen, Aaron Gerow, Xavi Sawada, David Baasch, Eugene Kwon, Adam Silverman, Anna Tropnikova, Chloe Yan

Film Series Commentaries

Pamphlet created for the film series “Comic Legacies of the Japanese Silver Screen” presented at Yale University from February to April, 2024. Starting with an introduction outlining the history of Japanese film comedy, the pamphlet contains plot summaries and commentaries on the following films:

Buddhist Mass for Goemon Ishikawa (1930, Saitō Torajirō) Fighting Friends (1929, Ozu Yasujirō) Romantic and Crazy (1934, Yamamoto Kajirō) Singing Lovebirds (1939, Makino Masahiro) Akanishi Kakita (1936, Itami Mansaku) Tange Sazen and the Pot Worth a Million Ryō (1935, Yamanaka Sadao) Room for Rent (1959, Kawashima Yūzō) Doctor’s Day Off (1952, Shibuya Minoru) Oh, My Bomb! …

Teaching Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai, Jack Ryan

Cinema & Media Studies Faculty Publications

This paper offers a method for students to connect with and study Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. This approach begins with the final credits, when director Jim Jarmusch’s “personal thanks” list appears onscreen: “Tsunetomo Yamamoto, Mary Shelley, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, Seijun Suzuki, Jean-Pierre Melville, Miguel de Cervantes, Akira Kurosawa, and the Wu-Tang Clan.”

Presented at the Third Virtual Joint Conference of the Literature Film Association and the Association of Adaptation Studies (2024).

An Overview And Analysis Of The Wire’S First Season, Jack Gullo

Soaring: A Journal of Undergraduate Research

In the Fall of 2023, I had the great pleasure of studying the first season of an HBO drama from the 2000s called The Wire. In this paper, I analyze how creator David Simons made relevant cultural commentary about American capitalism and its effects on the citizens of our cities, specifically Baltimore. Simon derives his knowledge of Baltimore from his years spent as a crime reporter at The Baltimore Sun, which had a profound influence on the realism displayed in the show. This first season of The Wire proves to be sophisticatedly complex, stepping away from traditional cop shows at …