My teaching schedule
People have inquired about what courses I’ll be teaching when, so here’s the scoop.
UCLA Extension online 1-week courses:
“Transformation: The Protagonist’s Arc” (U4858)
11/12–11/19/2008 (also Fall, 2009)
Course description: In nearly every mainstream commercial Hollywood movies, the Protagonist goes through a transformation process, beginning the story in one emotion state and transitioning to a far different psychological ‘place’ by story’s end. This 1-week course dissects the emotional journey of several cinematic Protagonists, each revealing four stages — Disunity, Deconstruction, Reconstruction, and Unity — that comprise the narrative structure of the character’s transformation arc. The course is open to writers at all levels of experience.
Note: There are currently 21 students enrolled with a limit of 25, so if you’re interested, you should contact the folks at the Writers Program ASAP.
“Screenplay Universe: The External and Internal Worlds”
3/18–3/25/2009 (also Winter, 2010)
Course description: This course looks at a sceenplay’s ‘universe,’ how it is comprised of the Plotline/External World, as conveyed through characters’ action and dialogue, and the Themeline/Internal World, as conveyed through intention and subtext. Every moment in a script is an interplay between these two ‘realms’ and we study excerpts from notable scripts and movies to see how the pros do it. Course is open to writers at all levels of experience.
“Screenwriting as Scene-Writing”
Spring, 2009
Course description: If you figure that the average scene is two pages long and the average script is 120 pages, that means most scripts will have at least 60 scenes. Looked at this way, it’s fair to say that the most basic act of screenwriting is scene-writing. This course presents several guidelines over the course of one week to help students develop a deeper understanding of scenes — what they are, how they function, how each scene touches on plot, character, and style, and most importantly, how to write them.
“Five Character Archetypes: Protagonist, Nemesis, Attractor, Mentor, Trickster”
Summer, 2009
Course description: If the adage “Plot equals Structure” is true, then so is this one: Character equals Function. Every character in a screenplay should serve a narrative function. If they don’t, more than likely you end up with flat characters who just lie there on the page, redundant characters who act like other characters, and confusing characters who don’t seem to have a purpose in the story. In this course, we will study five character archetypes — Protagonist, Nemesis, Attractor, Mentor, Trickster. You can apply that knowledge and insight to develop, shape, and focus your story’s primary characters.
NOTE: I’ll also be leading this course as a 4-day intensive workshop at the Writers Studio in Los Angeles, February 5–8, 2009.
For further information re any of the UCLA Extension courses, contact Leigh-Michil George: lgeorge@uclaextension.edu or 310–206–2612
And at the risk of burying the lede, I’ve recently agreed to teach “Introduction to Writing for the Screen and Stage” beginning August 20 at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. It’s a 15-week course that meets one day per week, three hours per session and is open to qualifying students who are pursuing a minor in the school’s Communication Studies writing program. It’s a great opportunity for me and while it promises to make for an even crazier next several months of my life, I’m excited to work with young people in a ‘live’ on-site setting.