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Screenplays 101 - Part 1: Basic Structure

Created by Nicholas Pappas

Screenwriter Nick Pappas leads a two-part course on screenplays 101. Great scriptwriting is not something that can be covered in a single course: so we're going to start with the basics. Those basics are going to be split up into a Part 1 and a Part 2. Part 1, this course, will concentrate on basic film structure. Part 2 will concentrate on screenplay formatting.

By the end of this course, students should have a basic understanding of history, terminology, and are able to identify the barest bones of the three-act structure, all with an eye toward developing their own screenplay.

playwriting screenplays

8 Modules
1 hours, 22 minutes
3 Credit Hours

Course Summary

Standards Addressed

How to receive a Completion Certificate

Module 0: Introduction 5:35 FREE PREVIEW

This module introduces the course, and outlines what will be covered in each section.

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Module 1: What is a Screenplay? 10:53 FREE PREVIEW

In this module we’re going to look at the history of the screenplay, identify what a screenplay is, how it’s different than other forms of writing, and set up expectations for what’s to come in future modules.

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Module 2: Theater vs. Film from a Writer’s Point of View 15:31

In this module we’re going to look at playwrights and screenwriters, how the jobs differ and how they overlap.

Module 3A: The Three-Act Structure 16:18

In this module we’re going to discuss the basics of the way we tell stories and how that influences the structure of a screenplay.

Module 3B: A Case Study 7:46

This is Module 3B - Structure: Pee-wee’s Big Adventure – A Case Study where we’ll take all of the theory that we discussed in Module 3A and apply it to Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.

Module 4A: Protagonists: Goals, Obstacles, and Tactics 15:05

In this module, we’ll examine how a protagonist is shaped by their goals, the obstacles against them, and how they use different tactics to get around those obstacles.

Module 4B: A Case Study 7:26

In this module we’ll look at what we learned in module 4A and apply it to Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.

Module 5: Wrap-Up 3:55

In this module we’re going to wrap up Screenplays 101 – Part 1: Basic Structure and get ourselves ready for Screenplays 101 – Part 2: Basic Formatting.

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Screenplays 101 - Part 1: Basic Structure

Standards Addressed

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