Writing the Comedy Feature Film
Jump start your comedy screenplay! A spec comedy screenplay is a great calling card for any screenwriter, and in this course we'll tee you up to create a successful one. Writers will learn the tools professional comedy writers use to create funny screenplays, and how to use those tools to get started on your own script. You’ll start by creating and discussing funny loglines, and learn the criteria for determining which premise should advance to the outline stage. Then you’ll create a detailed outline with one-on-one instructor feedback. Once each student has a winning story plotted out for a comedy screenplay, we’ll workshop the funniest ways to execute that idea as a feature-length script. Finally, each student will begin writing a comedy screenplay, which can be completed after the class.
In this online writing course you will learn:
- Compelling story structure, and how it differs in comedy vs. drama
- Professional comedy screenwriting tips and tricks
- To recognize when your comedy writing is working
- To avoid the most common mistakes of amateur comedy screenplays
Course Outline
Session 1
- The 6 requirements of a comedy screenplay premise
- The 5 mistakes to avoid in a comedy screenplay
- The 5 key ingredients of a successful comedy screenplay
- Understanding Comedy Conventions, but avoiding Comedy Clichés
- Review loglines and discuss which assigned logline ideas are best
- 5 elements needed to turn a logline into a screenplay
- The 9 characters in most comedy movies
- Understanding the comedy genre and sub-genres
- Workshop further screenplay ideas if necessary
- The 1 secret to structuring a comedy screenplay
- Review and discuss which one-paragraph description is the most promising for each idea
- Find the structure for your best one-paragraph synopsis
- Sketch out the characters and storybeats of your screenplay
- Get feedback on 2-page outlines
- 10 snags to watch out for in your outline
- Tips for fixing story problems in your treatment and getting useful feedback
- Review the basics of script formatting, writing style, and conventions
- Tips for writing a screenplay
Product Details
- Return policy: This item is not eligible for return.
Meet the Author: Scott Dikkers
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Scott Dikkers founded the world's first humor website, theonion.com, which has more than 50 million unique monthly page views and 15 million social-media followers. As The Onion's longest-serving editor-in-chief, Scott created the Peabody Award-winning Onion News Network, which has spawned countless viral video hits and two television series, for IFC and Comedy Central. He's the writer-director of two successful independent comedy feature films, "Spaceman" and "Bad Meat." He has consulted for Pixar, Lucasfilm, Fox Searchlight, MTV, and others. Ranked on Entertainment Weekly's "It List" of the top 100 movers and shakers in entertainment, he's also a #1... |