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Foundations of Screenwriting: Story Plotting & Theme 101
Rating: 4.3 out of 5(6 ratings)
1,046 students

Foundations of Screenwriting: Story Plotting & Theme 101

Learn the essentials of developing a marketable screenplay for Hollywood. This course is for screenwriters & filmmakers.
Created byIFH Courses, Geoffrey D Calhoun
Last updated 8/2022
English
English [Auto],

What you'll learn

  • Story Concept Development
  • Understanding Story Theme
  • Story Mind Mapping
  • Defeating Writer's Block
  • Internal vs External Conflict

Course content

2 sections • 12 lectures • 1h 40m total length

  • Introduction0:45

    Discover essential story development to avoid shallow central characters and weak concepts by building your screenplay from the bottom up.

  • The Story Concept5:22

    Develop your screenplay from the bottom up by refining the concept, defining the theme, shaping the central and supporting characters, their obstacles and subplot, and choosing a genre and voice.

  • What is Story Theme?9:43

    Identify and articulate the story's theme as the moral behind the idea; refine it into a concise thematic statement and weave it through character arcs and subplots to balance impact.

  • Story Mind Mapping6:51

    Apply mind mapping to brainstorm story ideas by filling in who, what, when, where, why, and how around a concept using the concept template to shape character, obstacle, and genre.

  • Defeating Writer's Block9:32

    Learn to overcome writer's block by using a fishbone diagram to map scenes, generate alternative and hybrid endings, and test audience perception for Blade Runner's finale.

  • The Logline10:18

    Learn to distill a full screenplay into a concise logline using the concept template—character, obstacle, and genre—focusing on economy of words and an emotional hook to spark interest.

Requirements

  • Basic knowledge of movies and television

Description

Join over 70,000 students learning from our courses!

Do you want to learn how to develop your story's concept from the ground up? Do you want to create your story in a flash using the mind mapping technique? Foundations of Screenwriting: Story Development is here to teach you the essentials of developing a marketable screenplay for Hollywood. Taught by best-selling author and screenwriter Geoffrey D. Calhoun.

We’ll cover:

  • Concept Development

  • Understanding Theme

  • Mind Mapping

  • Defeating Writer's Block

  • Constructing a Logline

  • Character Development

  • The Character Sheet

  • Tips for Great Characters

  • Internal vs External Conflict

  • Sympathy vs Empathy

  • The Query Letter

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What people are saying about our other courses: 

THIS COURSE IS AMAZING!!! I'm learning SO FREAKIN MUCH from it, and it's totally blowing my mind. Thanks so much to Gil and Alex for putting this course together. I'm a director working on my first horror film, which has a bit of action in it, and this course is totally giving me rocket boots. If you have more courses from Gil, please let me know and TAKE MY MONEY! - Colby R Rice

Excellent content. But you'd better pay attention or you will miss something. This course is packed with loads or useful and well explained stuff. - Mr Mick Farmer

Instructor is clearly in command of craft and engages with questions, simple explanations and familiar examples. Video and audio are excellent. - Bill Halford

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About your instructor:

Geoffrey D. Calhoun is a multi-award-winning screenwriter and is sought out as a script consultant and a re-writer for various stages of development and production. He is the director of the Script Summit Screenplay Contest which is listed as one of the biggest Screenplay Competitions by The Script Lab.

He is known for his fast-paced thrillers but has also won awards for comedies and dramas. In 2017 Geoffrey was listed as a Top 100 Indie Writers in the World. He believes everyone is a writer at heart and has dedicated himself to help others learn the craft. His courses are designed to break down the mysteries of screenwriting by using easy to follow templates, outlines, and modern popular films as examples.

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So what are you waiting for? Whether you are fresh out of film school, a screenwriter who wants to create his/her own content or just someone who wants to make a feature film this course is for you. Join over 60,000 students that have already taken IFH filmmaking and screenwriting courses. 

If you've got the dream.

If you've got the drive.

If you've got the passion - but you're missing the knowledge and experience...this course will help you take your screenwriting dream to the next level.

Enroll NOW and learn how to develop your story and get it in the marketplace! Let's get started!


Who this course is for:

  • Screenwriters
  • Filmmakers
  • Television producers
  • Cinematographers
  • Videographers
  • Film Producers

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