Lessons
What We Will Discuss in the Course
04:39 2Vocabulary & Basic Style Rules
17:33 3The Three-Act Structure
01:23 4Creating Your Lead Character
12:13 5Interview Your Lead Character
14:45 6Creating Supporting Character(s) & Antagonist
17:59 7How to Build a Scene
16:21 8Student Scene Breakdowns
31:30Act One: How to Write Plot Point One
15:14 10Act Two: How to Write Plot Point Two
16:56 11Act Three: The Climax & Advanced Techniques
19:42 12Teleplay: Five Act Structure
02:38 13How to Create a Series
10:33 14Creating the Pilot
06:45 15Creating the Seasons
23:07 16Advice for Just Starting
11:06 17How to Get an Agent
10:52 18The Pitch & The Notes Meeting
10:41 19How to Deal with Uncertainty
11:50 20The Mindset of the Decision Makers
18:50 21Final Q & A
10:13Lesson Info
Teleplay: Five Act Structure
Let's talk about television um I want to talk about the one our um one hour teleplay is has a different structure and this is something that is open for debate and argument um how many acts does it actually have used to be strictly for act structure um but now more frequently it's five acts or sometimes it's six acts it sometimes when it's six acts is actually means it's the teaser plus five acts or the five extractor could mean a teaser plus four acts um but in any case it's not a typical three act structure and the other thing that sets it apart is for commercial television the act break is literal it's where you stop and go to commercials unlike the feature film which is runs continuously um so the act breaks five act breaks you have a five act structure you have a teaser generally speaking you would um have your inciting incident in the teaser and then your first act would be kind of like a movie's act one um and it would end with something similar to enact one plot point then you ...
would go to acts two three and four which kind of correlate to your act too in a screenplay and by the end of act four you're really kicking us into that final fifth act some shows have a tag which is the resolution separated out from the last act some don't um so the structure is different but when you go to commercial, when you write something goes to commercial, you still have to have something that is causing you to keep watching the show after the commercial break. So the act breaks are very important. They need to be, uh, some kind of a moment. That leaves something very unresolved, something that is arisen in the story. That's unresolved.
Class Materials
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Ratings and Reviews
Angelo Mike
This is really good. Some of the exercises Jim teaches are very powerful in that if you put dedication and time into using them, you will notice results. Some of the exercises he teaches I did for six weeks on a daily basis. They're very straightforward, and doing them makes a small difference each day until you notice a big difference. I'm still early in my writing journey but already I know I'll never write the same as before I did these exercises. And this class was only a few dollars and from a guy who wrote one of my favorite movies, so I was thrilled to take part and just hear a voice affirm what I've been learning, who encourages pushing beyond what you're comfortable doing in your writing.
Karla KL Brady
I would definitely recommend this class for first-time screenwriters and writers in general. I'm a novelist that would like to turn a couple of my stories into screen plays. I was mostly interested in the "dos and don'ts" which he supplied in a generous number. He gave a lot of great examples. I enjoyed the format with the students and he pretty much walks you through the entire process, including and especially the three-act structure which can be applicable to novel writing, too. He gave a lot of great examples. I would have liked a more extensive discussion on loglines and writing the action, but this certainly is enough to get you started. For the price, you can't beat it.
user-39c2f8
I came to this site by accident and then found some well known internet marketers here, who had already been sending me helpful emails and offers for some time, which I have used. What I like about the video contents is, that it is good old-fashioned skills and crafts development, rather than just formulaic, churn it out in big numbers advice. Whether screen writing, script writing, creative writing, news writing, etc. there is a structure and guideline for contents, order, grammar, etc., but the appeal is towards the development of one's creative side. I am normally involved in non-fiction writing, so this is a nice, creative side-kick, which no doubt will help my other work. As prolific author Isaac Asimow said, "If you want to learn to write, then you must write". http://www.bestbusinessdevelopmentcoaching.com/
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