MA 550 Story
Pre/co-requisite: MA 500 or MA 501 or MA 800
Offered every Fall, 3 credits
An introduction to the principles of storytelling. Students explore narrative, dramatic structure, character development, dialogue and plot through the analysis of television and film narratives.
They complete a story treatment and short screen/teleplay as their final project.
MA 551 Screenplay
Pre/co-requisite: MA 550
Offered every Spring, 3 credits
An intermediate course for students to complete a full-length screen/teleplay. Weekly writing groups provide feedback and evaluation. Workshops for directing actors/readers; guest speakers.
MA 552 Playwriting Workshop
Pre/co-requisite: MA 550
Offered on occasion, 3 credits
This course begins with an introduction to the history and basics of dramatic writing, starting with Aristotle’s Poetics and assessing sections of two different texts and approaches to writing for the theater: The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lejos Egri and David Ball’s Backwards and Forwards. The second phase of the course focuses on scene + character development, through a series of written exercises and assignments, as each student begins drafting a one-act play. The final section of the course is devoted to work shopping each student play-in-progress.
MA 605 Script Portfolio
Pre/co-requisite: MA 550
Offered on occasion, 3 credits