Drama and Cinema Scripts
Code: 103066 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Audiovisual Communication | OP | 3 |
Contact
- Name:
- Maria Carmen Ávalos Del Pino
- Email:
- mariadelcarmen.avalos@uab.cat
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
there are no prerequisites
Objectives and Contextualisation
- To deepen the knowledge on theoretical concepts for the creation of screenplays
- To analyse audio-visual products, especially cinematographic ones, from their narrative and gender perspective
- To apply the theoretical and technical concepts in the creation of screenplays
- To create an original screenplay, good enough to be presented to the industry
Learning Outcomes
- CM02 (Competence) To create new ways of telling stories through audiovisual products by integrating the gender perspective based on a synthesis of the various narrative models.
- CM02 (Competence) To create new ways of telling stories through audiovisual products by integrating the gender perspective based on a synthesis of the various narrative models.
- SM03 (Skill) To analyse the narrative of radio, audiovisual and transmedia products.
- SM04 (Skill) To identify the role of point of view and narrative perspective in audiovisual storytelling.
- SM04 (Skill) To identify the role of point of view and narrative perspective in audiovisual storytelling.
- SM05 (Skill) To properly structure audiovisual scripts (dramatic unit, conflict, time and space), with narrative resources and in-depth character and dialogue development.
- SM05 (Skill) To properly structure audiovisual scripts (dramatic unit, conflict, time and space), with narrative resources and in-depth character and dialogue development.
Content
The course content will be sensitive to issues related to gender perspective and the use of inclusive language, both in relation to the writing of original screenplays and in references to scriptwriters
1.- Introduction
- The reality of the contemporary world as a dramatic resource
- Rethinking scriptwriting: starting with images to reach words
- Searching for a theme: what interests us most about the world around us
- Reflections on the use of AI in scriptwriting
2. Narrative Structures
- Classical and unconventional narrative structures
- Contemporary narrative structures in cinema
- How narrative structure determines the audience
3. Character Development
- Characters in recent cinematography
- Balance between archetype and idiosyncrasy
- Functionality of main and secondary characters
- Internal construction of characters (motivations, intentions) based on external traits
4. Construction of Sequences
- Comparison between a sequence and a short film
- Information pacing and building suspense in the sequence
5. Audiovisual Writing
- Writing to generate images
6. Preparing a Dossier
- Chapters of a professional dossier
- Layout of a professional dossier
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Practical Work | 22.5 | 0.9 | |
| Seminars | 15 | 0.6 | |
| Theoretical classes | 15 | 0.6 | |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutorials | 7.5 | 0.3 | |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Personal work, analysis and synthesis of written/audiovisual texts | 37.5 | 1.5 | |
| Preparing for practical work | 45 | 1.8 |
The content of the subject will be sensitive to aspects related to the gender perspective and the use of inclusive language.
Objectives will be reached through theoretical classes, seminars and practical activities.
Theoretical classes are based on: (a) the viewing of multiple fragments of films and (b) debates in the classroom about their scripts.
The main objective of the seminars and practical sessions is the realization of a original and professional short film script from the idea to the writing. Students will work weekly in their scripts and the teacher will correct regularly the advances in the face-to-face tutoring.
Autonomous activities of students are equally essential to achieve the learning objectives.
In this course, innovative teaching methodologies such as the flipped classroom will be used in case studies of selected films. Students will be provided with the film to watch outside of classroom. This practice will allow time for analysis, sharing ideas, questions, and discussion. Two seminars will be dedicated to this activity.
Project-based learning (PBL) will be applied in the practical part of the course.
A detailed schedule outlining the content of each session will be presented on the first day of the course and will be available on the course’s Virtual Campus, where students will find all teaching materials and necessary information for effective course monitoring.
Should the teaching modality change for reasons of force majeure according to the competent authorities, the teaching staff will inform students of any modifications to the course schedule and teaching methodologies.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participation in Seminars | 10% | 1 | 0.04 | |
| Preparation of practical work | 10% | 1 | 0.04 | |
| Screenplay | 30% | 2.5 | 0.1 | CM02, SM03, SM04, SM05 |
| Written assignments | 50% | 3 | 0.12 |
The subject consists of the following evaluation activities:
Screenplay: 50% of the grade
5 Written assignments: 10% of the grade, each one
Attendance is mandatory in order to participate at the Continuous Assessment
Those who have not passed the continuous evaluation, (as well as those who have one or more unjustified absences), will have to take an exam including all the theoretical themes
To pass the practical part of the subject, students will develop the script of a professional short film, which will be supervised by the professor.
Students will be entitled to the revaluation of the subject. They should present a minimum of activities that equals two-thirds of the total grading.
To have access to revaluation, the previous grades should be 3,5.
The activities that are excluded from the revaluation process are those related to the writing of a script.
Students who are unable to follow continuous assessment of the course, as proposed in this guide, should notify it to the teacher prior to registration to establish an alternative work and assessment plan, if possible.
Plagiarism
The student who performs any irregularity (copy, plagiarism, identity theft...) will be qualified with 0 in this assignment or exam. In case there are several irregularities or a very important one, the final grade of the subject will be 0.
For this course, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is permitted exclusively for support tasks, such as bibliographic or information searches, text correction, or translations. Students must clearly identify any parts generated with these technologies, specify the tools used, and include a critical reflection on how AI has influenced the process and final outcome of the assignment. Failure to disclose the use of AI in this assessed activity will be considered a breach of academic integrity and may result in a partial or total penalty to the assignment grade, or more serious sanctions in severe cases.
SINGLE ASSESSMENT
A single assessment assumes a single assessment date. On this date, students who opt for the single assessment must take a mandatory in-person exam covering the entire theory portion of the course. On this same date, students who opt for the single assessment must submit the practical activities: a script and a layout dossier (synopsis, note of intention, simple outline, sequential outline, character profile, mood boards), according to the documents available on the virtual campus. Students who opt for the single assessment will be eligible to re-evaluation of the course if they have been assessed on a minimum of two-thirds of the total grade for the course. To be eligible to re-evaluation of course, students must have obtained a minimum grade of 3.5.
Each assessable activity must be passed separately to pass the course.
Regarding plagiarism or the use of AI, the same considerations apply as for continuous assessment.
In-person attendance is mandatory on the first day of class and on the day of the single assessment (exam and script submission).
Non-Assessable
Following point 9 of Article 266 of the UAB Academic Regulations, if it is determined that the student has not provided sufficient evidence to be evaluated, the subject will be classified as non-assessable.
Bibliography
BROWN, Larry A (2018): How Films Tell Stories. The Narratology of Cinema. Creative Arts Press.
CRUZ, Coral (2014). Imágenes Narradas. Cómo hacer visible lo invisible en un guion de cine. Laertes.
DAVIS, Rib (2016) Creating Compelling Characters for Film, TV, Theatre and Radio. Bloomsbury Academic.
DUNHA, Lena (2018): Dueñas del Show. Las Mujeres que están revolucionando las series de television DUEÑAS DEL SHOW. Joy Press / Alpha Decay
MACÍAS, Juana (2003) 24 palabras por segundo: cómo escribir un guion de cine. Instituto Oficial de Radio y Telelvisión (IORTV), Madrid, 2003.
MC KEE, Robert. (2002) El guion: sustancia, estructura, estilo y principios de la escritura de guiones; traducción: Jessica Lockhart. Ed Alba, Barcelona.
MEAD, Rebecca Mead et Al. (2019) El cuento de la criada. Ensayos para una incursión en la república de Gilead. Errata Naturae.
PIÑOL, Marta et Al. (2019) Imaginar Mundos. Tiempo y memoria en la ciencia ficción 2019. Sans Soleil ediciones
TUBAU, Daniel (2007) Las paradojas del guionista. Reglas y excepciones en la práctica del guion. Ed. Alba, Barcelona.
SEGER, Linda (2018) El secreto del mejor cine: El subtexto en el guion y en la novela. Ed. Rialp
SEGER, Linda (2001), ¿Cómo llegar a ser un guionista excelente?, Ediciones Rialp, Madrid
TIMBAL-DUCLAUX, Louis (1993) Escritura creativa: técnicas para liberar la inspiración y métodos de redacción. Madrid, EDAF
VOGLER, C. (2002) El viaje del escritor. Las estructuras míticas para escritores, guionistas, dramaturgos y novelistas. Ediciones Robinbook, Barcelona.
Online Documents
García Serrano, Federico (2009) Las técnicas del “pitching” en el mercado audiovisual español: del “caramelo” al guion.
http://eprints.ucm.es/8577/1/Pitching_del_caramelo_al_guion.pdf
Chung, Lee Isaac. Minari screenplay. https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Minari-Screenplay.pdf
Fennell, Emerald. Promising Young Woman screenplay. https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/20457415/promising-young-woman-final-screenplay.pdf
Field, Syd, Manual del Guionista http://www.laescaleta.mx/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/syd-field-el-manual-del-guionista-.pdf
Gutiérrez Herranz, Maria Rosa. Història del Cinema. 2014-15. (1139 Grau en Humanitats 778 Grau en Humanitats) https://ddd.uab.cat/record/120258
Hittman, Eliza. Never Rarely Sometimes Always screenplay. https://focusfeaturesguilds2020.com/never-rarely-sometimes-always/screenplay/Never_Rarely_Sometimes_Always.pdf
July, Miranda. Kajillionaire screenplay https://focusfeaturesguilds2020.com/kajillionaire/screenplay/Kajillionaire.pdf
Johnson, Rian Knives Out screenplay https://lionsgate.brightspotcdn.com/fb/14/23cd58a147afbb5c758ecb3dff0a/knivesout-final.pdf
Labaki, Nadine, Capernaum Screenplay https://www.sonyclassics.com/awards-information/2018-19/screenplays/capernaum_screenplay.pdf
Luzón, Virginia; Puig, Joaquim; Ramírez, Ferran. De la viñeta a la cámara (2013) https://ddd.uab.cat/record/171644?ln=ca
Mckee, Robert. El Guion. https://tfreites.weebly.com/uploads/2/6/3/8/26387211/el-guion-robert-mckee-pdf.pdf
Nolan, Christopher. Tenet screenplay https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-T3zyGiaNczvSvASWD_T8WCcv3aMcGLG/view
Reichardt, Kelly. First Cow Screenplay https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/FIRST-COW-screenplay.pdf
Ribes Guàrdia, Francesc Xavier [et al.]. «Impacto de la interactividad en la identificación con los personajes de ficciones». Psicothema, Vol. 22, núm. 4 (2010), p. 822-827. https://ddd.uab.cat/record/132186
Rogers, Steven. I, Tonya. http://neonguilds.com/assets/downloads/i-tonya-screenplay.pdf
Ross, Mat, Captain Fantastic Screenplay http://assets.bleeckerstreetmedia.com.s3.amazonaws.com/503cc4fa-3011-4cbe-8939-bda373ba3fca/full.pdf
Sorkin, Aaron. The Trial of the Chicago 7 https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/The-Trial-of-the-Chicago-7-Script.pdf
Zeller, Florian. The Father Screenplay https://www.sonyclassics.com/assets/screenplays/thefather/thefather-screenplay.pdf
Zhao, Chloé. Nomadland screenplay. https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Nomadland-Screenplay.pdf
Professional Associations
Federation Screenwriters Europe http://www.scenaristes.org/
Writers Guild of America (WGA) http://www.wga.org/
Foro de Asociaciones de Guionistas Audiovisuales http://www.sindicatoguionistas.org/
Associació de Guionistes de Catalunya http://www.guionistes.cat/
Escriptors de l’Audiovisual Valencià http://www.edav.es/
Asociación Galega de Guionistas (AGAG) http://www.culturagalega.org/avg/index.php
Autores Literarios en Medios Audiovisuales (ALMA) http://www.asociacionalma.es/
Sociedad General de Autores y Editores (SGAE) http://www.sgae.es/
Derechos de Autor de Medios Audiovisuales (DAMA) http://www.damautor.es/
El Portal del Guión http://www.abcguionistas.com/
Programa MEDIA http://ec.europa.eu/culture/media/index_en.htm
Software
Canva
Groups and Languages
Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 41 | Catalan | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 4 | Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |