Screenwriting 101
| | Purpose: | As a result of this activity, students will understand how to critically evaluate a text and develop it into a screenplay. | | Related Standard & Benchmarks: | | Language Arts | | | Standard 1. | Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process | | | | | Level IV [Grade 9-12] | | | | | Benchmark 12. Writes in response to literature (e.g., suggests an interpretation; recognizes possible ambiguities, nuances, and complexities in a text; interprets passages of a novel in terms of their significance to the novel as a whole; focuses on the theme of a literary work; explains concepts found in literary works; examines literature from several critical perspectives; understands author’s stylistic devices and effects created; analyzes use of imagery and language) |
| | Language Arts | | | Standard 6. | Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of literary texts | | | | | Level IV [Grade 9-12] | | | | | Benchmark 1. Uses reading skills and strategies to understand a variety of literary texts (e.g., fiction, nonfiction, myths, poems, biographies, autobiographies, science fiction, supernatural tales, satires, parodies, plays, American literature, British literature, world and ancient literature) |
| | Theatre | | | Standard 1. | Demonstrates competence in writing scripts | | | | | Level IV [Grade 9-12] | | | | | Benchmark 1. Constructs imaginative scripts that convey story and meaning to an audience |
| | Theatre | | | Standard 1. | Demonstrates competence in writing scripts | | | | | Level IV [Grade 9-12] | | | | | Benchmark 2. Improvises, writes, and refines scripts based on personal experience and heritage, imagination, literature, and history |
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| | Student Product: | A screenplay of a chapter in a book | | Material & Resources: | | | Teacher's Note: | Teachers will want to select a book from an approved age-appropriate list that has been adapted into a movie, so that the students can all read the same book and then view the corresponding movie together. (Some examples of books that have been made into movies: Orwell’s "1984," Mitchell’s "Gone With the Wind," Harper Lee’s "To Kill A Mockingbird," Hinton’s "The Outsiders," Grisham’s "The Pelican Brief," Holland’s "The Man Without a Face"). Teachers may also want to provide some information about basic screenwriting, including format and length. This activity could be a multi-week project adapted for an elective drama course, or a composition course. If there is time, teachers can ask that students act out their versions of the screenplays for the rest of the class. | | Activity | | The teacher selects a book that has been adapted into a movie (such as "A River Runs Through It" or "To Kill a Mockingbird"). Students individually read the book and then are assigned to a small group. Each group is assigned a chapter of the book and then develops screenplays based on the chapter. The teacher directs students to carefully analyze the events of the chapter in terms of how they fit into the plot and theme of the book as a whole. Students should also discuss the main theme of the book. While creating the screenplay, students consider ways in which they can best convey the elements of their chapter to the audience. Once they have completed the screenplay, students view the movie and discuss why they made the decisions they did regarding what was included or excluded in the screenplay and how their screenplay differed from the movie. | |
