Screenwriter's Foundation Certificate

Raindance founder Elliot Grove has developed a simple, practical introduction to the art, craft and mechanics of screenwriting. As a script consultant, and having produced or exec produced 5 features and over 150 short films over 20 years, he has a key understanding of the concepts, theories and tools that will make your screenplay exceptional.

The Writer's Foundation Certificate is geared towards improving your screenwriting skills, giving you a comprehensive understanding of not only the art of the screenplay but also how to make it as a writer in a fiercely competitive industry. You will be taught Idea generation and formatting, moving on through Character, Plot and Structure creation and finally ending with a Pitching Skills Workshop.

This course is part lecture and part group discussion.

This Certificate course is for anyone who is interested in writing for the screen, of all levels and abilities. The course covers some basic aspects of screenwriting, but progresses to more advanced discussion and analysis. It is not necessary to have a project for this class, but you might find it even more useful if you come with something in mind!

We also welcome novelists, short story writers, storytellers and procrastinators seeking a five week structured class with specific targets and measurable results.

By the end of the course, attendees will have covered:

The first and most important part of your screenplay is the idea. It’s important to understand how to break this down and learn how to develop it into something an audience will want to see. Often screenplays fail because the story or the formatting is poor and even experienced screenwriters make these very basic errors.

• Idea generating techniques
• How to make your ideas compelling
• Copyright and how to protect your ideas
• Proper script format and style guide

It is often possible to study screenwriting models to see how characters or roles fit into certain traits. By understanding each character you will be able to define the story and subplot, and by studying other films or screenplays you’ll be able to identify the strong or discover the weak points which apply to your own script.

• How to create compelling characters that zoom out of the screen and stay with you
• Magnification, traits and other tools
• Film analysis of a character from a current movie

You may have a great story or scene, and perfect formatting, but there’s also an art to understanding how to give texture to the story. This will be the difference between whether you will elicit emotion in your audience or not.

• Scene writing and story structure
• How to create a page turner
• Suspense and other dramatic tools

Think of the last bad film you saw. Was it poor because of the acting and story, or was it because of the script? If the script isn’t good enough then the film is more than likely to fail. The dialogue is an important factor in this and getting it right is not always obvious.

• The 14 tricks and traps of writing dialogue
• The 3 tracks for recording dialogue
• Honing and mixing effective dialogue

Pitching is one of the most essential skills needed for a successful career in the film industry. It is also one of the least considered by new entrants to the industry.

• Running a pitch meeting
• What the goals of a pitch meeting should be
• How to use visual aids
• Finding your hook
• Pitching tools explained and demonstrated