Screenwriting Commons^™

Excuse Me, Everybody, Noah G. Battaglia

CMC Senior Theses

For my senior thesis I planned to write, produce, and direct a short-form, narrative film, entitled Excuse Me, Everybody. The original plot of the film is about a 19-year-old college student named Jacob who feels that his life is turned upside down after taking lewd photos of a fellow female student. While meeting with his psychotherapist, he refuses to reveal to him the true nature of his distress. He ultimately comes to terms with his crime by experiencing a hallucination where an imaginary being named Ego appears to him and forces Jacob to recollect the past events and explain …

Nothing Happens Here, Kai Diego Parcher-Charles

Senior Projects Spring 2023

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Arts of Bard College.

Slaughterville, Kristjan Kay

Screenwriting and Film Studies Theses (MA/MFA)

Jim Reaper has it made. He's one of the best employees at Afterlife Incorporated and has gotten his work down pat. But when he's given a new employee to mentor he finds his secret is at risk: Jim pretends to be mortal in the small town of Slaughterville, Oklahoma, and has a mortal wife!

Pathos, Winter 2023, Portland State University. Student Publications Board

Pathos

Editor: Bret Steggell

Timber Island: A Screenplay, Lucas Cunningham

Pomona Senior Theses

A screenplay about the legacy of land use in the Pacific Northwest:

A family from old timber money looking to sell their expansive Pacific Northwest island estate. Two Parks Service surveyors, a Native American scientist, and a developer competing for the bid. A forest with its own agenda.

Against a backdrop of cedar trees and saltwater, tensions boil, ideologies clash, and buried secrets bubble to the surface.

Who will walk away with the deed to Timber Island? And what will it cost?

Constance After Dark, Connor Vanmaele

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Constance After Dark is an episodic screenplay, outlining the beginning, middle and end of a television comedy pilot. Set in Ohio, the story follows Brooks Riegler in his first semester at the fictional “Constance College” as he navigates the ups and downs of university life at the lowest ranked school in the state. Due to a class taught by the eccentric and nefarious Dr. Mars, Brooks learns to open up to hyperactive athletes, obsessive overachievers, and even strange, mysterious men urinating on the side of the road. Brooks, Cassidy, Jenny and Guy form a tight-knit and unlikely bond in a …

You're Gonna Lose That Girl, Wilmont True

Screenwriting and Film Studies Theses (MA/MFA)

In the feature screenplay, You're Gonna Lose That Girl, by Bill True, fifty-something Jason Kite blames his failed life on getting dumped twenty-five years ago during a slow-dance cover of the iconic Beatles song. Then Paul McCartney, who is actually a wizard of space and time, shows up and sends Jason back in time to the fateful weekend to play wingman to his younger self in order to stop the breakup from happening and, in the process, fix Jason’s life.

With The Screenwriter's Pen: An Analysis Of The Representation Of Gifted Children In The Family Film, Sarah Williams

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

Family films are something that have been enjoyed for many decades. They often create a fantastic world that will enchant audiences and eventually become beloved stories. A big aspect often seen in these films is a protagonist that possesses some kind of gift. Where does this gift come from? How does it grow? Most importantly, how do the screenwriters who are responsible for bringing these gifted heroes to life go about it?

Using the screenplays of Kubo and the Two Strings, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Encanto, and Coraline, I take a deep dive into the portrayal of …

Women Writers Of Film & Television, Haley Hunt

Symposium of Student Scholars

After spending the summer immersed in archival, literary, and online research, I am proud to report my findings on the history of women in screenwriting. With the help of Anna Weinstein, I have compiled original statistics, overviews, and biographies that will be published with the launch of our website, Women Writers of Film & Television (WWFTV). At its core, this site aims to empower young girls with the knowledge and resources they need to get started in the screenwriting field. However, the site is intentionally layered by reading level; it is accessible to all ages on the surface, while also …

The Yellow Qipao, Feibi Wang

Honors Projects

This is a creative project centered around the pre-production of a short film about queer Asian American Christianity and the research that went into it. The synopsis of the script written for the short film is a life in the day of Aspen. Aspen prepares for church and is indecisive of the clothes they want to wear, because they are gender non-conforming. They come out to their mom and there is conflict. My research going into this project consists of researching media representation of queerness, Asian American identity, and Christianity, and how the three identities intersect in Aspen’s life and …

Pathos, Fall 2022, Portland State University. Student Publications Board

Pathos

Editor: Bret Steggell

Cinema Studies, Burak Turten

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

PREFACE

Cinema Studies is a comprehensive book that, is hoped, will provide students and researchers with film studies and other persons interested in cinema with a useful reference book on film analysis and, where relevant, the different discussions surrounding that. The contributors analyze some films using ideas and concerns from modernism, cinematographic narrative, ideology, propaganda, migration, nomadism, and the sense of revenge. The book provides new insights into films and turns the discussion towards recent research questions and analyses, representing and constituting in each contribution new work in the discipline of film text analysis.

Therefore, each chapter of this book, …

"Untitled Screenplay", Mailyn Salazar Jiménez

University Honors Theses

A young woman moves to Mexico in an attempt to change her mundane and monotonous life.

Dark Moon, Kate Mathews

Theses and Dissertations

Dark Moon is a short narrative film that follows Billie as she comes home for the weekend to look after her father, Jack, who has recently been diagnosed with early onset Dementia. The appearance of a mysterious woman shines a light on their changing power dynamic, threatening to throw their world out of orbit. Dark Moon is a rumination on an ailing man’s need for agency and a daughter’s misguided attempts to keep her father safe. Inspired by my own relationship with my father, the film explores loss and the ways we try, however foolishly, to fight against it.

A More Equitable Film Pedagogy: Including Media Literacy In Higher Education Film Classrooms To Result In Better Media Practitioners, Alexis Romero Walker

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This article explains the importance of including critical media literacy practices in skills-based classrooms in film education. Students continue to use methods of filmmaking that are inherently biased because they continue to be taught an age-old set of skills that do not engage in critical analysis. With the convergence of contemporary film theory in the classroom, educators can help students learn new methods of filmmaking that are representative for all communities and people. Through textual analysis of three films, this article shows why educators in higher education film programs must include critical media literacy in the skills course curriculum and …

Slacking, Dazed And Rocking: A Study Of Richard Linklater, Parker D. Otto

Honors Capstones

The purpose of this capstone is to examine a filmmaker’s work to better understand the artist as well as look at an underappreciated filmmaker. Richard Linklater is that filmmaker. Several of his films are popular, others less so. By exploring his filmography, it can be determined whether he’s a true artist deserving of more attention from the filmmaking community as well as general audiences. After examining Linklater’s films, not only were there recurring thematic elements that cemented his artistic dominance, but there’s a feeling of evolution as he ages. The research of this project was conducted through watching Linklater’s films …

Gender Roles Reviewed Through Shakespeare’S Twelfth Night With Twenty-First Century Applications, Hannah Lewis

ELAIA

This thesis accompanies a modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, which aims to emphasize the importance of gender equality as a moral imperative in the twenty-first century. In his original play, Shakespeare drew attention to gender stereotypes in the Elizabethan age through character representation. Although Shakespeare does not put much emphasis on gender equality in Twelfth Night, this equality is an important factor in the modern adaptation, in which a young woman named Vivian pursues her desire to start a business but is faced with financial issues and seeks a job under a misogynistic boss named Owen. Owen questions her …

Sandstorm Spring 2022, Leslie Malland

Sandstorm: A Journal of Arts and Letters

Full Manuscript

A Boy Born On Wednesday, Charles Krampah

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My relocation to America has presented an unprecedented space for self-examination. The components of my identity and personality have been laid bare before me; My blackness in the face of racism and white hegemony, my African heritage in the face of post-colonialism and imperialism, and my faith in the face of an increasingly secular western culture.

Am I who thought I was? Am I more or less? Why do I feel like a different person, and what does this mean for my future?

My research and art practice serve as a form of introspection. I tell an internal story in …

The Screen And Development: Creative Writing And Liminality In Children’S Literature, Rebecca E. Glenn

All Theses

This creative thesis strives to research and implement the overlap of liminality found within Children’s Literature, especially those works that exist through the screen. The critical component of this thesis explores the ways in which childhood development and maturity, a theme commonly found within Children’s Literature, embodies its own “right of passage” associated with the liminal. The journey of the Children’s Literature protagonist is often wrought with this movement from familiar boundaries to a sense of new development. The critical analysis emphasizes the methods Children’s Literature genre uses emotion, familial connections, symbology, space, and even elements of the monstrous to …

Crimp, Sanchavis Torns

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Throughout this submission, I look into the stigma of not dealing with mental health amongst black men and the surreal consequences of not actively maintaining it as a rock climber prepares for a climb that triggered a panic attack in him.

The Rain Over Hanoi: A Personal Project About Screenplay Structure, Story, Representation And Intergenerational Struggle, Joan Moua

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

A good screenplay is first and foremost a good story. Elements of a good story include compelling characters, a theoretical structure, and a well-executed premise. The Rain Over Hanoi is an extremely intimate and personal project about an Asian American expat living in Vietnam. Our protagonist’s journey and coming of age is explored via the interactions she has with her old and new family. Communication through food, symbolism, and cultural exchange are also present throughout the screenplay, utilizing a realistic point of view for the benefit of a full story submersion experience to the reader/viewer. Themes of self-exploration, growing up, …

A Wellbeing@Ksu Journey: Mapw Portfolio, Meghan Cooper

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

A process narrative and samples and complete works from my time in MAPW and as a GRA within the health and well-being departments at KSU. The portfolio showcases my journey as a communicator and professional writer and how it has impacted my current career.

Character Development: To Further The Narrative, Lesley Brian Bargo

Symposium of Student Scholars

Character Development: To Further the Narrative.

Presentation Abstract

March 16^th, 2022

Graduate Student: Lesley Brian Bargo

Research Mentor: Anna Weinstein

Screenplays on war can often become redundant. Not because they aren’t good screenplays, it’s simply because the focus relies too much on the brutality of war and not enough on the characters being forced to endure it. Hamburger Hill (1987) is not one of the run of the mill Vietnam War films that simply walk us through the killing of both sides without giving us the why. While most films can easily pull off the killing and dying, …

Little Women: A Screenplay Analysis, Chloe Ford

Symposium of Student Scholars

Little Women, written by Louisa May Alcott, details the lives of the four March sisters - Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. The story has been adapted into feature films multiple times, including an adaptation in 1918, 1933, 1949, 1994, and most recently in 2019. The 1994 film was written by Robin Swicord and directed by Gillian Armstrong, and the 2019 film was written by Greta Gerwig and Sarah Polley, and directed by Greta Gerwig. Both films were nominated for multiple Academy Awards. This study will compare and contrast the structure of both films, as well as the characters and …

"10 Things I Hate About You" And The "Not Like Other Girls" Trope, Jazmine Bryant

Symposium of Student Scholars

Critical Analysis Abstract: 10 Things I Hate About You & The “Not Like Other Girls” Trope

The phrase, “not like other girls,” is commonly used to describe a person or character that is quirky, emo, a loner, intelligent, or independent. In film, this description typically has a positive connotation – at least, it’s meant to. A common consensus is that the trope upholds negative stereotypes about women or the group the character is “unlike.” TV Tropes states that by using or conforming to this trope, “it’s implied that your gender is inferior by default,” (TV Tropes). On the other hand, …

Mother!: A Look Into A Religion Based Screen Play, Madeline Ivey

Symposium of Student Scholars

Darren Aronofsky’s movie Mother!, explores Christianity in a very different way. The movie takes place in a house with Mother, Mother Nature, and him, God. Throughout this chaotic and confusing movie, there are many scenes that symbolize biblical stories from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Through his movie he shows biblical times through Mother Nature’s eyes, which makes religion seem more destructive and selfish. The purpose of this paper is to find connections between the Christian religion and how it is portrayed in the movie. I will do this by researching scenes and how they relate to …

A Character Analysis Of Knives Out, Garrett Bell

Symposium of Student Scholars

Rian Johnson’s Knives Out (2019) has been praised by many for its dialogue and its slick, refreshing take on the mystery/thriller genre; but I argue, like many great stories of our time, that it’s the characters in Knives Out that really propel this film near the top of all mystery/thriller triumphs. Rather than reinventing the character archetypes that one would normally see in a film of this caliber, Johnson takes those characters and serves them up in a way that makes them unique to his story: his way. By providing an in-depth analysis of each character in the many twists …

Women Writers Of Film & Television Project: Nancy Meyers, Hannah Henderson

Symposium of Student Scholars

The suppression of women’s voices in the film industry is of no secret to our society. For over a hundred years, many women have been placed in the background and were not given credit for their work in the industry, and only recently have the gates of Hollywood been open to more representation. In the 1980s, many women screenwriters were in creative partnerships with their husbands, and it was difficult for a woman screenwriter to be recognized for her own work and talents aside from the man in her life. One screenwriter, Nancy Meyers was able to garner more fame …

From Stage To Screen: The Art Of The Movie Musical, Vanessa Lopez

Symposium of Student Scholars

In this article I take a deeper look into what it takes to make a successful movie musical. When sound was introduced into the movie industry, it was musicals that stole the show. From 1927’s first talkie, The Jazz Singer, to 2021’s movie rendition of Dear Evan Hansen, movie musicals have been a key component of the movie industry. Throughout this article I will be comparing the success of two different kinds of movie musicals. The first type that I will be analyzing are the movie musicals that were written and produced directly for the screen. This includes movies such …