Expanded Screenplay Profile

Film 33 Introductory Screenwriting Week 5: EXPANDED SCREENPLAY PROFILE

The Expanded Screenplay Profile assignment is a two page, double-spaced presentation of your story. Rewrite your profile from week 3 and dig deeper for greater detail. To craft an effective Set-Up sequence (the first 10 pages), it is crucial to know where your story is headed and how it ends. It is here you establish what the protagonist struggles with, which is ultimately what the film is about solving. Or as in tragedies, succumbing to. Don’t be afraid of unhappy endings. Many memorable films end poorly for the main character. This two-page profile is sufficient to inform next week’s final assignment, but if you decide to finish your screenplay after this course, we advise you to write a treatment first. That is a document that contains all scenes with the necessary information, and it typically amounts to 8- 20 pages or more. This treatment is not a required part of this assignment, and you do not need to submit it. As you now expand your profile, if you feel that it’s difficult to know how the story goes before you write it, don’t worry. It’s a common issue for novice writers. With experience, you’ll get better. Generally, the more you know about the story before you begin, the better you’ll write. Look to your TA's Webcam Post for further guidelines. If you have additional questions, post them to the Ask Your TA Forum on the Discussion Board.

Assignments must be submitted using the Turnitin links on the WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS page of the course website. Assignments cannot be emailed directly to your Teaching Assistant. The links can be found on the Weekly Assignments tab—look for the icon that looks like a piece of paper with an arrow. For this class, you cannot access Turnitin through MyUCLA. There is a step-by-step tutorial for uploading your assignment to Turnitin on the FAQs for Enrolled Students on the course website. Please be sure confirm that the submission was successful by clicking on the assignment link and going to “My Submissions.”