Script Analysis 1
- Course unit code:
- 311SA1
- Course unit title:
- Script Analysis 1
- Mode of delivery:
- zápočet
- Range:
- 2/T
- Type of course unit:
- Study plan Fotografie EN - bakalář – optional subject
Study plan Fotografie EN - magistr – optional subject
Study plan Cinema and Digital Media - Cinematography – optional subject
Study plan Cinema and Digital Media - Screenwriting – compulsory subject
Study plan Erasmus – optional subject
Study plan Cinema and Digital Media - Directing – optional subject
Study plan Fotografie EN - magistr: restaurování – optional subject - Level of course unit:
- Year of study
- Study plan Cinema and Digital Media - Screenwriting – 1st year
- Semester when the course unit is delivered
- zimní i letní
- Number of ECTS credits allocated:
- 3
- Garant předmětu:
- Pavel JECH
- Name of lecturer(s):
- Pavel JECH
- Study Objectives:
-
Through the intensive analysis of films, the following principles are examined and explained: three act story structure, plot points, turning points, the function of exposition, the catalyst, rising action, crisis, climax, culmination, resolution, main tension, theme, as well as scenes and sequences, sub-plots, double-plots, multi-plots, and internal scene structure. Analysis will also cover the role of the protagonist, the creation of empathy, the journey of protagonist (spine), active and passive characters, supporting characters, „string characters“, character arcs and character motivation, the role of the antagonist, as well as the use of conflict and obstacles, and a comparison of objective vs. subjective conflict, and action vs. activity.
The concepts of mystery, suspense, surprise, dramatic irony, twists, revelations and reversals are defined as are the dramatic strategies of planting and pay-off, gags, marbling, foxing the audience, and devices such as the obligatory scene, scenes of revelation, scenes of preparation and aftermath, and the advertising of future events.
The course will also explore interpretations of film as a temporal-spatial art by examining pacing, rhythm, accelerating action, and the handling of time and space, montage, transitions, sound, and music. Dialogue, the dramatic use of props and costumes, staging and the creation of atmosphere as employed in the screenplay are also covered. Students will be expected to recognize these dramatic and narrative elements and to present a cogent analysis of a film selected for a mid-term exam and for a final paper.
- Mode of delivery:
-
Lecture
- Prerequisites and co-requisites:
-
None
- Recommended optional programme components
- Course contents:
-
The purpose of this course is to study films from a dramaturgical perspective, to demonstrate diverse narrative techniques, dramatic structures and genre forms, and to closely examine the craft of screenwriting. Each film is screened twice: first, in its entirety with an introduction about the film and its creators; the second time, in sequences and scenes accompanied by detailed analysis.
- Study materials:
-
Films:
Closely Watched Trains (1967)
La Strada (1954)
Kolya (1996)
Some Like it Hot (1959)
Stagecoach (1936)
Screenplays published in book form:
Bondanella, Peter and Manuela Gieri, ed. La Strada. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1991.
Menzel, Jiri and Bohumil Hrabal. Closely Watched Trains. Translated by Josef Holzbecher. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1971.
Sverak, Zdenek. Kolya. Translated by Ewald Osers. London: Headline Book Publishers, 1997.
Books:
Aristotle. Poetics. Translated by Gerald Else. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1967.
Bordwell, David. Narration in Fiction Film. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1985.
Field, Syd. Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting. New York: Dell Publishing, 1994.
Howard, David and Edward Mabley. The Tools of Screenwriting. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 1995.
Hrabal, Bohumil. Closely Observed Trains. Translated by Edith Prageter. London: Abacus, 1990.
Skvorecky, Josef. Jiri Menzel and the History of Closely Watched Trains. New York: Columbia University Press, 1982.
- Planned learning activities and teaching methods
-
None
- Assessment methods and criteria
-
40% - mid-term examination
60% - take-home final
- Language of instruction:
- English
- Work placement(s):
- Pracovní stáž není u tohoto předmětu zavedena.
- Course web page:
- Note:
-
None
- Schedule for winter semester 2011/2012:
- The schedule has not yet been prepared
- Schedule for summer semester 2011/2012:
-
06:00–08:0008:00–10:0010:00–12:0012:00–14:0014:00–16:0016:00–18:0018:00–20:0020:00–22:0022:00–24:00
Mon Tue Fri Thu Fri Datum Den Čas Tutor Místo Notes Č. paralelky Mon 14:00–15:35 JECH P. Učebna 2
Lažanský palácpřednášková par. 1 - The subject is a part of the following study plans:
-
- Fotografie EN - bakalář (optional subject)
- Fotografie EN - magistr (optional subject)
- Cinema and Digital Media - Cinematography (optional subject)
- Cinema and Digital Media - Screenwriting (qualification subject, optional subject)
- Erasmus (optional subject)
- Cinema and Digital Media - Directing (optional subject)
- Fotografie EN - magistr: restaurování (optional subject)