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Lex Williford
Screenwriting

Screenwriting Students:

This webpage, a supplement to our text, includes many resources beyond our text, including the scripts we will read for this semester and scripts in several different formats which you may read on your own and use for your critical analyses of scripts. (The Adobe Acrobat Scripts come closest to correct format, so you may want to install Acrobat and read these.) All scripts are in various drafts and forms (both spec/reading scripts and production scripts) and may not follow the standard script format we’ll discuss in class. Please don’t use these scripts as guides to format but only as a cheap alternative to buying scripts, which can be quite expensive.

UTEP Undergraduate Students and UT Telecampus Graduate Students:

This website is for both graduate and undergraduate students. This page is designed primarily as a resource for my on-campus screenwriting classes, but UT Telecampus students may find a few useful links here not included on the Blackboard Website. Feel free to explore all the links for any help you might need, but remember that the Blackboard resources include the most recent and important information for classes.

Please report problems or broken links in this website to lex@utep.edu.

Screenplay Website Documents

Main Site Documents :

INDEX: You’re reading this document now.
- Introductory Materials:
  - Syllabus:
    - I'll e-mail your syllabus to you and/or give you a hard copy of it in class. If you don't have a copy of the syllabus feel free to e-mail me and let me know so I can e-mail you a copy. I upload all UTTC syllabuses to the Blackboard site.
  - Screenwriting Course Map:
    - This document will give you a visual overview and map of the course:
      - In Adobe Acrobat Reader Format.
      - In Microsoft Powerpoint Format.
      - Podcast in QuickTime Movie Format (with voice narration).
  - Workshop Guide for Creative Writing.pdf.
    - This is a guide for discussing and critiquing creative work.
  - Workshop Symbol Code.pdf.
    - This handout is a useful shorthand for marking scripts with abbreviations. Refer to these abbreviations if you see them in your manuscript, and use them when writing your critiques of other students' screenplays
  - A Few Common Film Terms.doc.
    - This handout lists a few film terms we may use this semester.
  - Screenwriting the Romantic Life.pdf.
    - A little comic relief.
  - Flyer for Screenwriting Minor.doc.
    - For students interested in minoring in screenwriting at UTEP.
- Reading and Writing Assignments:
  - Conflict, Structure and the Imagination:
    - An overview of Conflict, Dramatic Structure and How Creating Structure Relates to the Creative Process.
  - Introduction to Dramatized Summaries:
    - Read before you write your Pitch, Scenogram, Treatment and Synopses.
  - The Pitch:
    - Guidelines for Writing the Pitch.
  - The Ackerman Scenogram:
    - Guidelines for Writing the Scenogram.
  - Ackerman Scenogram Chinatown:
    - Use as a guide writing for your own Scenogram.
  - Ackerman Scenogram Fill in:
    - Download this document to your desktop and use it to fill for your own script.
  - The Treatment:
    - Guidelines for Writing the Treatment.
  - The Synopsis:
    - Guidelines for Writing the Synopsis.
  - A Guide to Critical Analyses of Screenplays:
    - Please read this document before you write your critical analysis of a screenplay you've read this semester.

Exercises:
- Instructions: Multimedia Exercise.
  - Multimedia Writing Exercises:
    - Please review all three of the film clips below in the most appropriate file size and type for your internet conection speed; then choose one exercise of your choosing to do by the deadline:
      - Bookends: Kramer vs. Kramer
        
        QuickTime Movie
        
        Broadband High 32 MB
        
        Broadband Medium 12 MB
        
        Broadband Low 4 MB
        
        Dialup 1MB (Small screen, very low quality)
        
        Windows Media Movie
        
        High 22 MB
        
        Medium 15 MB
        
        Low 4 MB
      - Setups, Payoffs and the Recognition Scene: Monster's Ball
        
        QuickTime Movie
        
        Broadband High 32 MB
        
        Broadband Medium 12 MB
        
        Broadband Low 4 MB
        
        Dialup 2MB (Small screen, very low quality)
        
        Windows Media Movie
        
        High 22 MB
        
        Medium 15 MB
        
        Low 4 MB
      - The Silent Scene: Big Night
        
        QuickTime Movie
        
        Broadband High 32 MB
        
        Broadband Medium 12 MB
        
        Broadband Low 4 MB
        
        Dialup 1MB (Small screen, very low quality)
        
        Windows Media Movie
        
        High 22 MB
        
        Medium 15 MB
        
        Low 4 MB
  - Instructions: A Scene from Your Own Script
Screenwriting Reading Supplement
- Pyschology for Screenwriters.
  - A dense but fascinating chapter on Freud, Jung, Adler and Erickson, with insights on how to build internal conflict and complex characterization in scripts (William Indick, Ph. D., from Psychology for Screenwriters, Michael Wiese Productions, 2004).
Script Format

Spec and Shooting Scripts.pdf.
- This handout shows the differences between reading (spec) and shooting scripts.

Screeplays We'll Read and Discuss this Semester:

Chinatown Screenplay Shooting Script.pdf:
- This is a scan of the original shooting script for Chinatown; DON'T USE IT AS A GUIDE FOR FORMAT.
Fargo Screenplay.pdf:
- This is an example of a minimalist script.
Mystic River Script in Cole and Haag Script Format.pdf:
- You may use this script as a model of formatting the reading (or spec) script.

Sample Scripts
- Lex's Script Library.xls.
  - This is a list of scripts in hard copy you may borrow from my library.
- Scripts:
  - This file contains hundreds of public-domain scripts in.doc, pdf, and.txt format. Feel free to click on, download and read as many of your favorites as you wish and at least one for your critical analysis paper.
- Shortcuts to Script Sites on the Web:
  - Click on these links and others you search for for many more scripts to download.
Agents and Marketing
- Inktip.com.
  - This site makes it possible for you to post your synopses, treatments and scripts for viewing by movie producers and agents.
- MovieBytes.com.
  - A great source for finding out about marketing scripts.
- MovieBytes.com—Agent List:
  - This is a list of agents listed by moviebytes.com, one of the best sources for online information about screenwriting.
- MovieBytes.com—Screenwriting Contests Directory.
  - This is a link to some of the best screenwriting contests in the country.
- Script Agencies.doc.
  - This document lists most screenwriting agents in the country.
- Tips on Marketing.doc.
  - Marketing tips from inktip.com’s Jerrol LeBaron.

Acrobat Reader Install Programs
- Download Adobe Acrobat.
  - Click on this link to download the latest version of Adobe Acrobat. You'll need it for commenting on and reading each others' workshop assignments. See my note E-mail-based review Adobe Acrobat 7 below.
- Create Adobe® PDF Online—easily convert and create PDF documents.
  - Click on this link to convert your treatments and screenplays to. pdf format. Click on Try it for Free and you can convert five documents for free. You'll have to create a logon first.
Word Script Templates and Final Draft Links.
- Microsoft Office Templates Screenplay.
  - Word has a screenwriting template you may download. It’s inaccurate, incorrectly formatted but useful; please make changes to it to fit Cole and Haag reading script format. See my noteThe Word Script Template below.
- Buy Final Draft 7. (Don't buy Final Draft AV.)
  - I’ve included several links to such sites:
    - Studica ($119, the best academic price I could find this semester.)

You may also buy the program in the book store at an academic discount. Occasionally, Final Draft offers a rebate early in the semester. If it does this semester, I'll send everyone the rebate form.

Workshops and Shared Reviews in the Free Adobe Acrobat Reader

This will be a paperless workshop.

The first week of class, please download and install the latest version of the free Adobe Acrobat Reader at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. Then install it (or upgrade the current version) on your computer. (Versions before 8 will not work with shared reviews.)

Students will e-mail me Microsoft Word .doc files of their scripts (Final Draft can save as Adobe .pdfs), treatments and other assignments a week before their assigned workshop dates, and I will convert those documentsb to Adobe Acrobat format and e-mail them to everyone in the class, uploading them to a comments server so that screenwriters may make comments in real time online using the latest version of Acrobat Reader. I'll project everyone's comments on screen in live workshops (or to online Discussion Boards in the UT Telecampus) so the class may discuss comments further.

Here's what a Shared Review looks like:

SharedReviews1

The Word Script Template

If you must use the Word script template, open the.dot (document template file) on this webpage, then save it as a document (.doc) file. (You may also save it as a Document Template File [.dot] in your Word templates directory if you want to use it again.)

Use Word styles in setting up separate margins and script attributes; in Word, click Format, then Styles and Formatting, and a menu will open to the right with different styles, including Dialogue, Character Name, Scene Heading and so on, which you can use to format the appropriate text in your screenplay. Note: If you use this template, there's no need for you to format your manuscript manually. Word's Formatting and Styles can save you a lot of time and effort.

While the template is by no means perfect, with your tweaking, it's a good deal cheaper than Final Draft and other script-writing programs. The template does not include important formatting styles such as CONT., MORE, etc. and you’ll have to do these by hand. (The best way to position these is to use moveable text boxes in Word; just remember to put these in last, since they’ll change every time you change text.)

WordScriptTemplate

Remember that Final Draft may save hours of format changes that come from revision and may finally be worth the cost.

That’s it for now. We’ll discuss this webpage in more detail the first day of class. If you have any questions about this webpage, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Thanks,

Lex