Media Centre, video camera, sound and editing equipment, internet, library, TV / DVD / Video, Film Theatre.
The Blackboard virtual learning environment will be available (where relevant) to support this module. Details wil be supplied in the module handbook.

As well as the above, you will read or view a selection of short student and independent screenplays and films, read selected academic texts, attend occasional talks by screenwriting and filmmaking professionals, and view instructional videos.

There will be tutorials to chart the work-in-progress of, first, the individual screenplay and, second, the production. A production log will be compiled as the writing and production process progresses.

You will be given advanced camera, sound, and editing training. You will be advised on the feasibility of the screenplay for shooting, potential filming locations, and you will be given assistance in casting experienced actors if required.

You will show your finished short film to a panel of staff, and the group will discuss with them the creative and intellectual aims, targeted audience, and what the group considers to the overall achievement of the production.

Finally, the Critical Analysis is informed by a combination of the student's evaluation of her/his individual contribution to the group project, as well as evidence of wider academic (historical and theoretical) research that underpinned the whole project from the outset.

1.An original, individually-written, SHORT SCREENPLAY (30%)
Length: 5-15 pages' length (professional screenplay layout) [Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

2.A group-produced SHORT FILM (VIDEO PRODUCTION), based on one of the screenplays completed for Assessment 1. (40%)
Length: 10 minutes' duration [Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9]

3.A CRITICAL ANALYSIS of the whole learning experience, from screenwriting through production and completion (30%)
Length: 2000 words approx. [Learning Outcomes 1, 3, 7]

The module is designed to enable students to negotiate a major screenwriting and filmmaking project from conception to completion.

First, it requires the student to individually research, devise, and write an original short screenplay, with a view to potential filming.

Second, the student forms a production group - optimum number 4 people. (Individual productions are strictly forbidden.) This group discusses each member's screenplay in order to select one for actual production, taking into account the premise, feasibility for shooting, and formative feedback from the tutor on its creativity as a screenplay. The production group completes a short film (video). There will be a combination of tutorials and training sessions, alongside independent research and production work. The finished piece will be presented to, and discussed with, a panel of staff.

Third, each student will subsequently submit an individual written critical analysis of the whole writing and production experience, from conception of screenplay to completion of film. This analysis will comprise of academic (historical and theoretical) evidence of theoretical ideas that underpin the screenplay and video production. It will discuss the origins of the basic premise. The analysis will explore the student's conceptions of such issues as sound design, character development, plot structure, mise-en-scene, and thematic impact. It will also incorporate a sense of where the group was aiming the video production, in terms of target audience demographic, and why. The critical analysis is expected to include reference to wider screenplay and filmmaking research, including other creative materials that inspired, or impacted upon, the premise, screenplay, or video. The analysis will also reveal what the individual student contributed to the whole project, and - crucially - how that student evaluates (as self-critically as possible) her/his contribution in hindsight, in relation to the group work effort.

Bordwell, David & Kristin Thompson: Film Art, 2008, McGraw-Hill
Cook, Pam (ed): The Cinema Book, 2005, BFI
Dancyger, Ken: The Technique of Film & Video Editing, 1997, Focal
Filed, Syd: Screenplay, 1994, Dell
Hayward, Susan: Key Concepts in Cinema Studies, 2002, Routledge
Hauge, Michael: Writing Screenplays that Sell, 1989, Elm Tree
Jones, Chris & Genevieve Jolliffe: Guerilla Film Makers' Handbook, 2003 third ed., Continuum
Katz, Steven D: Film Directing: Cinematic Motion, 2004, Wiese
McKee, Robert: Story, 1997, Methuen
Millerson, G: The Video Production Handbook, 2001, Focal
Thompson, Roy: The Grammar of the Shot, 1998, Focal
Thompson, Roy: The Grammar of the Edit, 1993, Focal
Trottier, David: The Screenwriter's Bible, 1998, Silman-James