Screenplay Craft: Character and Structure

This unit focuses on developing a writer’s imaginative habits and the craft tools that make screenplays visually compelling and emotionally resonant. Students will deepen character creation, backstory, status dynamics, and begin shaping Act I while practicing treatments, formatting, and revision strategies to prepare work for pitching and professional contexts.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze visual storytelling techniques and screenplay formatting by comparing three film openings and identifying how image, action, and economy of description establish tone and character
• Apply character-development principles (including backstory, internal life, status, and leitmotifs) by producing character dossiers and writing two scenes that reveal inner conflict through action and detail
• Demonstrate structural craft by creating a treatment and a detailed Act I outline that manages time, pacing, threats to plot, and inciting incidents
• Evaluate drafts, pitch materials, and professional preparation artifacts by conducting peer critiques and producing a revised scene and a one-page pitch that reflects audience awareness and ethical responsibility