This is an Online course which requires your attendance to weekly meetings which take place online using Microsoft Teams meetings.
This short course will combine pre-recorded lectures with live, weekly, online meetings where discussion and debate will take place between students and the tutor. Visit our How our WOW courses work page for full details.
This course will close for enrolment 14 days prior to its start date.
This introduction to screenwriting course explores techniques and procedures in cinematic writing.
Together as a group we will apply these to case studies and participants' live projects.
Emerging writers get to respond to the variety of traditions, agendas and expectations that their immediate collaborators (including development executives, agents, producers and directors) bring to a film idea.
Courses starts: 22 Jan 2025
Week 1: Creating engaging characters
Week 2: Building an absorbing structure
Week 3: Intriguing with Genre
Week 4: Evaluate reference work through script reports
Week 5: Formative assessment: Script Report Presentations (2-hour live session)
Week 6: Formatting, and setting up the story in the first 10 pages
Week 7: The script as foundation in filmmaking, and a sense of adventure in the second 10 pages
Week 8: Values, and facing a turning point in the third 10 pages
Week 9: Pitching and meeting tests, allies and enemies in the fourth 10 pages
Week 10: Summative assessment: Work in Progress Presentation (2-hour live session).
All weekly class students may become borrowing members of the Rewley House Continuing Education Library for the duration of their course. Prospective students whose courses have not yet started are welcome to use the Library for reference. More information can be found on the Library website.
There is a Guide for Weekly Class students which will give you further information.
Availability of titles on the reading list (below) can be checked on SOLO, the library catalogue.
Preparatory reading
Credit Application Transfer Scheme (CATS) points
To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee for each course you enrol on. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. If you do not register when you enrol, you have up until the course start date to register and pay the £30 fee.
See more information on CATS point
Coursework is an integral part of all online courses and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework, but only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education, you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.
Digital credentials
All students who pass their final assignment, whether registered for credit or not, will be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so.
Please note that assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail.
| Description | Costs |
|---|---|
| Course Fee | £295.00 |
| Take this course for CATS points | £30.00 |
If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:
Carl has three decades’ film industry experience as writer, director and producer. He has pioneered fresh approaches across filmmaking and education. His award-winning productions with the BBC, Channel4/Film4, BFI, including BAFTA nominated 'A Sarajevo Diary' and Ben Whishaw starrer 'My Brother Tom', embraced new technology and launched the talent involved.
Enable emerging screenwriters to start a first draft of their feature film screenplay, communicate the project's aims as a work in progress, and build on guidance from their tutor and peers.
Regular seminars lead to applications through independent screenwriting practice, reading of student work and guided discussions on achievements and further development required.
By the end of the course students will be expected to:
Based on their creative writing project, industry observation and feedback received, students are required to submit for summative assessment either:
a) a 1000 word self-selected screenplay fragment and reflection on learning, as well as a final revised pitch presentation in week 10, or
b) a 1500 word self-selected screenplay fragment and reflection on learning.
Coursework is an integral part of all weekly classes and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework in order to benefit fully from the course. Only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work the required standard.
Students must submit a completed Declaration of Authorship form at the end of term when submitting your final piece of work. CATS points cannot be awarded without the aforementioned form - Declaration of Authorship form
We will close for enrolments 14 days prior to the start date to allow us to complete the course set up. We will email you at that time (14 days before the course begins) with further information and joining instructions. As always, students will want to check spam and junk folders during this period to ensure that these emails are received.
To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.
Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an Enrolment Form (Word) or Enrolment Form (Pdf)
The Department's Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, i.e. first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in a significant amount of private study in preparation for the classes. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and analysing set texts, responding to questions or tasks, or preparing work to present in class.
Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS)
To earn credit (CATS points) you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. Students who register for CATS points will receive a Record of CATS points on successful completion of their course assessment.
Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process can either register for CATS points prior to the start of their course or retrospectively from the January 1st after the current full academic year has been completed. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.
