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Course content
Our students will explore a variety of screenwriting platforms in Film, TV, Web and Games.
This degree aims to provide you with all the skills and disciplines required and expected in industry. However, the degree is also an opportunity for you to find your own voice and hone your creativity. Our priority on this degree is to maximise the potential of each student’s writing so they achieve their best work and are ready to engage in industry at a professional level.
You will build a portfolio of work including; a TV Bible and TV Drama script, two short film scripts, a feature film treatment, film pitches, synopsis and outlines, a charity campaign script and a final dissertation short feature script. However, within the department there is an online Script Bank where you can also submit your script. This is done to encourage collaboration with Digital Film Production students outside indicative modules and take your work into production.
Taught by Industry professionals, with guest lecturers and visitors, the degree offers students continual opportunity to engage with current figures in the field of writing.
John Yorke (Author; Into the Woods) has provided a Master Classes on Five Act Structure.
At all levels students learn through analytical screenings, workshops and one to one tutorials. There’s a great deal of writing, so drafting and re drafting supported by the skills gained through theoretical learning is ongoing. Pitching is important, we need to sell our work, so there is opportunity to present written and verbal pitches during the degree.
On completion of this degree we are confident that you will have the ability to understand the disciplines and requirements industry would expect from a screenwriter. You should gain an appreciation of the pragmatism and determination a writer needs to sustain a writing career. You will gain an understanding of time keeping and the importance of sticking to a deadline and the confidence to talk about your work with the flexibility to develop it with other individuals.
This degree wants to allow you to showcase your best stories, but doing that in script form needs skill and determination. We aim to provide you with the ability and opportunity to succeed in these aspects and get your ideas on screen!
Our facilities
Over the past few years, we’ve redeveloped both of our campuses so that you have the best facilities available for your degree. We pride ourselves on the quality of the learning environment we can offer our students.
On the Bognor Regis campus there is an integrated approach to the provision of learning resources and support. We offer a substantial collection of books, journals and other materials to help you further your research.
A range of study areas for group and quiet study including Wi-Fi areas for laptop use are available, or you can use open access PC and Mac areas. We use an electronic learning environment with an expanding portfolio of online library resources from anywhere at any time.
Our award-winning ‘Learning Resource Centre’ (LRC) is at the heart of the campus. It hosts a modern library service with areas for quiet and silent study on both floors.
Also situated in the LRC is the ‘Support and Information Zone’ (SIZ), Costa Coffee and over 80 open access workstations. An equipment loan centre offers laptops, tablets and other electronic devices for short and long-term loans.
In September 2018 we will be occupying the new Engineering and Digital Technology Park on the Bognor Regis Campus. This exciting relocation will give students access to professional industry standard facilities including a 300sqm film studio/sound stage, 80sqm green screen studio for motion capture and chroma work, post production area consisting of 9 edit suites alongside our ‘soho’ standard dubbing & master suite, recording studios, screening theatre, Mac and PC suites, ideas labs and changing facilities.
Screenwriters are provided with all software necessary to format their work to industry level with new and exciting screenwriting programs to enhance their story telling output.
Indicative modules
LEVEL 4
Semester 1
- Foundations of Story
The aims of this module are to introduce students to some of the processes used in creating original screen-works through character design and ideas development. The module will also explore some of the key concepts of story and screenwriting theory, and focuses on the relationships between story, character, structure & plot. It aims to develop transferable skills in creativity and critical analysis.
- New TV
- Practice Tool kit
- Theory Toolkit
Semester 2
- History & Theory of the Screenplay
- Screenwriting Structure
Students will be presented with a range of structural models to consider when creating a screenplay for film and television. This will range form traditional concepts such as 3 Act Structure and Hero’s Journey through to more contemporary approaches such as 22 Step Structure and the Five Sequence Approach. Students will also examine how Form, such as commercial TV Drama, SitCom & Advertising, can influence the structural choices writers have to make
- Hollywood Film
- Journalism
LEVEL 5
Semester 1
- Writing the Short Film
An introduction to the challenges of short film scripting. Students complete pitches, synopsis, outlines and scripts for two projects. Students have the opportunity to work with the Screen Acting students for read through sessions and acting workshops.
- Psychology in Screenwriting
Unique to the University of Chichester, this module studies professor William Indick’s book Psychology for Screenwriters, acknowledging the premise that screenwriters must understand human behavior to create believable characters.
- Writing TV Drama (30 credits across 2 semesters)
Students are introduced to the process of development when creating a long form TV Drama series or serial. Students will contribute to the creation of a Drama TV “Bible”, a package of materials that is used to inform writers, producers and directors of a show’s particular production criteria. Students will also devise a live pitch for their show idea. In semester two, students will draft a script for their individual episode idea.
This module is taught by Industry professionals who have a comprehensive knowledge and experience in TV drama.
- British Film or Factual Interview Techniques
Semester 2
- Writing the Feature Film
A comprehensive study of industry Treatment documents and their application to delivering a feature film idea. Students create their own original body of work, leading to the final dissertation script in Level 6.
- Writing for Games
Students will explore the role the screenwriter plays in developing characters, dialogue and world building. Students will also be introduced to the debates around narrative vs Ludology and the tensions created between story and play. This module has been developed with key industry figures.
- Writing TV Drama (30 credits across 2 semesters)
- War Films or Comedy
Completion of 240 credits by the end of Level 5
LEVEL 6
Semester 1
- Personal Study (Screenwriting)
Students will embark on their final dissertation script (60 credits). This final short feature script will evidence all that has been learned over the past three years and produce a professional body of work that could act as a calling card for industry.
In semester 1, students are provided with lectures and workshops to support the developing process using beat sheets, outlines and scene by scene documents.
When we reach semester 2, each student will have a strong foundation upon which they can begin their script. During this time every student is provided with intense one to one tutorials to take their script through drafts until their final piece of work.
- Industry Engagement & Film Festivals
- American TV Dramas
- Horror
Semester 2
- Campaign Writing
A unique, comprehensive look at how writers can apply their understanding of story and apply it to corporate campaigns (Recruitment, Charity, Public Awareness etc.). Co-created by Jayne Hunt (Global Head of Visual at RBI), a student project has the opportunity to be made and used by RBI.
- Creative Portfolio or Shocking Text
- Individual Project
Completion of 360 credits by the end of Level 6
International English Studies
International English Studies
Teaching and assessment
Assessment for Screenwriting is delivered in a formative (ongoing) and summative (final submission).
This can include;
- Script Drafting and redrafting
- Presentations
- Reflective essays
- Essays on relevant practices or film studies.
- Work shopping in groups.
- Exam (Horror Module only, should you chose this module)
Teaching is delivered by academics and industry practitioners via lectures and practical workshops, peer review and peer assessment within group work.
As a student within a community of undergraduates, you will develop your teamwork skills, study trends in contemporary media cultures, and have the opportunity to work within a vibrant cultural hub of actors, dancers, filmmakers, composers, orchestras and choreographers.
You will enhance your fit-for-industry business skills, helping you to find your place in one of the most exciting and diverse professions.
