TVR 13400: Introduction to Developing Story Narratives - Prof. Julie A. Blumberg, Study notes of Communication

Download TVR 13400: Introduction to Developing Story Narratives - Prof. Julie A. Blumberg and more Study notes Communication in PDF only on Docsity! 1 TVR 13400-01 Developing Story Narratives Syllabus - Spring 2009 Professor: Julie Blumberg Class Meeting: Tuesdays & Thursdays 1:10-2:35PM Park 285 Office: Park 375 Phone: 274-3079 email: jblumberg@ithaca.edu Kindly keep in mind that I cannot respond to every email in as timely a fashion as I would like. If you need answers right away try asking your peers on blackboard or come to my office during office hours. Office Hours: Tuesday & Thursdays 2:30-3:30PM, Wednesdays 11:00-12:00PM CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION TVR 13400 gives students an understanding of the basic tools and principles of developing story narratives. Utilizing dramatic and experimental techniques from the world of theater, art, literature, and film, this course is designed to teach and challenge students with new ways to develop dramatic material. COURSE OBJECTIVES • To focus students’ powers of observation and written expression. • To demystify the writing process by giving students a variety of techniques to conquer writers block, come up with ideas for stories, and ground them in the fundamentals of writing dramatic material for screen media. • To sharpen students critical and analytical skills by encouraging participation in classroom discussions. • To help students develop a critical vocabulary to evaluate each other’s work and to articulate their own aesthetic tastes and goals. • To familiarize students with basic script format. • To familiarize students with script formatting software. • To encourage students to explore and develop their creative potential. They are urged to experiment and take risks in order to find their own, unique voices. • To encourage students to look within and discover that their own lives, values and experience of the world are often the best sources of raw material from which to create story. Because the best way to learn how to write (or to become a better writer) is by doing it, students will write on a weekly basis. In the first three weeks students will complete short exercises in visual writing to get used to the particular conventions and format of writing for the screen. Selected students will bring copies of their work into class to be read aloud and discussed. Over the course of the semester, students will produce a short script based on personal experience, one generated by developing a character, one developed through theme, and a short group piece developed through experimentation. Much of the class will be run as a writing workshop. That means students will bring work-in- progress into class to be read aloud and critiqued. The first day rough drafts are due the full class will address a select number of scripts. The next class students will divide into smaller groups and critique each other’s writing. They will then incorporate class feedback as they continue to develop their stories. By analyzing what works and doesn't work in their own and each other's work, students will learn how to identify problems, discuss them using the vocabulary of film and television writing and find solutions that will help with each new project they take on. COURSE REQUIREMENTS: ASSIGNMENTS 2 All written assignments must be typed in Courier 12 point font with a title page, your name and date in the upper right corner of page 2 through the end and MUST BE STAPLED. Paper clips are not acceptable. Please print on just one side of each page as I need space to write comments. All scenes, sequences and scripts must be in standard screenplay format. A basic format handout will be distributed and discussed in class. You must supplement this introduction by reading The Hollywood Standard by Christopher Riley available at Amazon.com. Answers to all formatting questions can be found in this book. Assignments that do not follow the above guidelines will be handed back un-graded and considered. All assignments must be proofread. Poor presentation (excessive typos, spelling, grammar and punctuation errors) is not acceptable. You will be graded down for mistakes. If you are having trouble go get a copy of The Elements of Style or the Chicago Manual of Style or go to the Writing Center for help. All assignments are due at the beginning of the class on the due date. Copies must be collated, stapled and ready to hand out or they will be considered late. Excuses such as “my printer broke,” “I couldn’t get copier to work,” will not be accepted. Prepare in advance! Five points will be taken off late papers each class that they are late. For projects work-shopped in class, you are required to bring 9 copies of your script in addition to the one you hand to me. If you fail to bring in copies when you have signed up to do so, ten points will automatically be deducted from your grade. Copies don’t need title pages, and can be printed on both sides of the page. When work-shopping in small groups you must come to class with 4 copies of their work. Failure to make copies on these days will result in five points being deducted from your grade. CLASS PARTICIPATION Your energetic, astute and constructive participation in class discussion is essential. To do this, you will need to come to class having read the assigned material and be prepared to answer and ask questions about it. Everyone in the workshop owes to everyone else’s writing a measure of respect, serious attention and creative intellectual engagement. Plus, you owe it to yourself to develop your ability to talk perceptively, articulately, and precisely. DON’T BE SHY OR OVERLY POLITE! At the same time, NO SELF-PROCLAIMED GENIUSES ALLOWED! ATTENDANCE Absences and lateness WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. They will count against your grade as follows: One unexcused absence will be permitted. Each additional unexcused absence will lower your final course grade (A to A-, B+ to B, C to C-, etc.) Four unexcused absences will result in failure or removal from the course. Five absences excused or otherwise will result in automatic failure. Three latenesses equal an unexcused absence so don’t be late. Absences will only be excused in the cases described in the Ithaca College Attendance Policy included with this syllabus. Written documentation is required even if you are sick. You are responsible for work missed when absent and any changes to the syllabus. You should check blackboard, communicate with peers or come to my office for any handouts you did not receive. DO NOT EXPECT ME TO TRACK YOU DOWN AND FILL YOU IN. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR KEEPING UP TO DATE. BLACKBOARD Blackboard is new to Ithaca College this year and I will be experimenting with how to use it. For the moment, syllabi, revised syllabi, assignments and most handouts will be posted. I encourage you to check the site regularly and use it to communicate with each other, find missing material and additional instruction. Screen and Television writing, however, is still a paper-based industry. We will be reading pages in class. I accept recycled paper and encourage you to recycle. 5 • That sources of reprinted charts or graphs be cited in the text; • That all the sources the writer has drawn from in paraphrase or direct quotation or a combination of paraphrase and quotation be listed at the end of the paper under "Bibliography," "References," or "Works Cited," whichever heading the particular style of documentation requires. A student is guilty of plagiarism if the student fails, intentionally or not, to follow any of these standard requirements of documentation. In a collaborative project, all students in a group may be held responsible for academic misconduct if they engage in plagiarism or are aware of plagiarism by others in their group and fail to report it. Students who participate in a collaborative project in which plagiarism has occurred will not be held accountable if they were not knowledgeable of the plagiarism. What, then, do students not have to document? They need not cite their own ideas, or references to their own experiences, or information that falls in the category of uncontroversial common knowledge (what a person reasonably well-informed about a subject might be expected to know). They should acknowledge anything else. OTHER FORMS OF ACADEMIC DISHONESTY Other violations of academic honesty include, but are not limited to, the following behaviors: • Handing in to a class a paper written by someone else; • Handing in as an original work for a class a paper one has already submitted to another course; • Handing in the same paper simultaneously to two courses without the full knowledge and explicit consent of all the faculty members involved; • Having someone else rewrite or clean up a rough draft and submitting those revisions as one's own work. These offenses violate the atmosphere of trust and mutual respect necessary the process of learning. Note: Students who would like help in learning how to paraphrase or document sources properly should feel free to come to the Writing Center in 228 Roy H. Park Hall for assistance. Ithaca College Attendance Policy http://www.ithaca.edu/provost/docs/apc/apcpolicy/AttendancePolicy/ Students at Ithaca College are expected to attend all classes, and they are responsible for work missed during any absence from class. At the beginning of each semester, instructors must provide the students in their courses with written guidelines regarding possible grading penalties for failure to attend class. Students should notify their instructors as soon as possible of any anticipated absences. Written documentation that indicates the reason for being absent may be required. These guidelines may vary from course to course but are subject to the following restrictions: 1. In accordance with New York State law, students who miss class due to their religious beliefs shall be excused from class or examinations on that day. Such students must notify their course instructors at least one week before any anticipated absence so that proper arrangements may be made to make up any missed work or examination without penalty. 2. Any student who missed class due to a verifiable family or individual health emergency, or to a required appearance in a court of law shall be excused. The student or a family member/legal guardian may report the absence to the Office of Student Affairs and Campus Life, which will notify the student’s dean’s office, as well as residential life if the student lives on campus. The dean’s office will disseminate the information to the appropriate faculty. Follow-up by the student with his or her professors is imperative. Students may need to consider a leave of absence, medical leave of absence, selected course withdrawals, etc., if they have missed a significant portion of classwork. 3. A student may be excused for participation in College-authorized cocurricular and extracurricular activities, such as athletic events, ROTC, musical and theatrical performances, and professional conferences if, in the instructor's judgment, this does not impair the specific student's or the other students' ability to succeed in the course. 6 The course instructor has the right to determine if the number of absences has been excessive in view of the nature of the class that was missed and the stated attendance policy. Depending on the individual situation, this can result in the student being removed from or failing the course.” APC Approval: 4/22/05 Faculty Council Approval: 5/3/05 Provost/VPAA Approval: 5/11/05 President Approval: 5/12/05