Writing Assignment 1
Using one of these five
story
concepts (Click on link.), develop a 250 word treatment (see
Friedmann, Chapters
3,4,
and 13) that expands the concept and describes how it might become a
script.
Your work should be clean double-spaced copy with 1" margins, and it
must
be proofed for grammar, spelling, and syntax errors. If you are not
sure,
get someone to read it and point out any problems before you turn in
the
final paper. Here are some guidelines.
1. Give the production a title.
2. Define the type and length of the finished production. Will this be a television or film production? Can the story be told in 5 minutes, a half hour, an hour, or more? Try to be economical here.
3. Describe the genre which best fits the material. Will it be fiction or non-fiction? Will you emphasize drama, tragedy, comedy, sentimentality, fantasy, mystery, or will you merely document the facts of the story?
4. Define the target audience, what you intend to communicate, and what impact you expect to have on that audience.
5. Write the treatment in the present tense, and make it exciting to read. Extend the basic concept into a more complete story by adding detail. Who are the characters, and what are they like? What do they do? How do they relate to each other? If the production is centered on action rather than characters, what happens? How does the story begin? What is the plot structure? What are the most important episodes, the climaxes, the final resolution? You may want to consider the story concept as a starting point or first episode.
6. Visualize the story, and describe the pictures you want the audience to see.
Next -- Writing Assignment 2