Fees and funding

Fees

The fees quoted above will be fully inclusive for the course tuition, administration and computational costs during your studies.

All fees for entry will be subject to yearly review and incremental rises per annum are also likely over the duration of courses lasting more than a year for UK/EU students (fees are typically fixed for International students, for the course duration at the year of entry). For general fees information please visit: postgraduate fees . Always contact the department if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

International Student CAS Deposit

International applicants will be required to pay a mandatory CAS deposit of £2,500 that confirms your intention to study in the UK. This payment is only requested when the accepted offer is unconditional and Visa preparations are ready after May.

The fees quoted above are fully inclusive of tuition, administration and computational costs.

Fees for entry are subject to yearly review. The University reserves the right to increase your tuition fee by up to 7% each year for courses lasting more than one year, including to reflect rising costs associated with delivering our educational and wider student experience. Postgraduate fees information .

Always contact the admissions team if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

International student CAS deposit

Self-funded international applicants are required to pay a deposit of £2500 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. Some applicants will be required to pay a higher deposit. More information on tuition fee deposits .

Policy on additional costs

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

Scholarships/sponsorships

We know that student finance can be complicated. The links below provide further information to help guide you.

Course unit details:
Genre and Theme

Course unit fact file
Unit code ENGL70801
Credit rating 30
Unit level FHEQ level 7 – master's degree or fourth year of an integrated master's degree
Teaching period(s) Semester 1
Offered by English and American Studies
Available as a free choice unit? No

Overview

The module explores the sources of inspiration, the development, structure and critical analysis of the screenplay. It pays particular attention to genre and theme as foundations of the screenplay.

 

Structure, genre and theme will be explored in (i) lectures, (ii) seminars based on students’ analysis of major feature screenplays and (iii) the development of both students’ short film screenplays and the initial exploration and development of feature screenplay ideas.

 

Weekly assignments may include (i) reading secondary texts, (ii) reading, analysing and writing professional standard reports on feature screenplays, (iii) watching and analysing short and feature films and (iv) the pitching and development of students’ own creative work.

 

There may be occasional industry guests scheduled 4.30-6pm on Mondays. You are encouraged to meet regularly outside class to discuss assignments and your creative work in development. You should also have two Academic Advisor one-to-meetings with the Programme Director/Course Leader during the semester.

 

Aims

  • To give students a conceptual, critical and practical understanding of the principles of story structure and the practice of professional screenwritng, with particular reference to genre and theme.
  • Students’ analytical, reflective, creative, development and professional screenwriting capacities will be enhanced, embedding informed and reflective professional practice. 
  • Students complete a professionally formatted, fully dramatised short film screenplay and a Feature Film PorUolio which encapsulates the initial exploration and development of a feature screenplay idea.

 

Teaching and learning methods

Unit will generally include a one hour lecture, a one hour seminar and discussion, especially of a major screenplay and a one hour workshop developing and supporting students’ creative work in progress and screenwriting.

Materials, including lecture slides, reading lists, screenplays and other relevant materials, along with tutors’ communication with students, are posted each week.  

Knowledge and understanding

  • Demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of story structure and the particular importance of genre and theme.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of the principal conventions of major film genres.

Intellectual skills

  • Demonstrate an ability critically to analyse professional screenplays, their conformity with or divergence from mainstream screenwriting conventions and their particular use of genre and theme.
  • Demonstrate an ability to analyse how story world, character, narrative and dialogue articulate theme and operate differently in different genres and what those differences imply.

Practical skills

  • Initiate, develop and write a short screenplay using professional screenwriting software.
  • Initiate and develop a feature screenplay idea and explore its elements - and in particular, genre and theme - in a Feature Film Portfolio.
  • Demonstrate a capacity to initiate, develop and write material in accordance with genre and other mainstream screenwriting conventions.
  • Produce professionally formatted script reports.
  • Understand the function of the screenplay in film and television industries.
  • Analyse students’ own and contemporaries’ creative work in development and provide development notes to contemporaries.

Transferable skills and personal qualities

  • Develop a capacity for active listening.
  • Develop a capacity to give, receive and respond to constructive criticism and to development notes in a professional manner.
  • Communicate effectively both verbally and in writing, including presentations.
  • Collaborate constructively with contemporaries.
  • Work independently on major projects.
  • Demonstrate a capacity to conduct research.
  • Manage time and workload effectively. Respect deadlines.

Employability skills

Analytical skills
Unit enhances employability by encouraging students to identify and understand a range of different viewpoints and/or critical approaches to screenwriting, mainstream screenwriting conventions and to the generation, development and expression of ideas.
Innovation/creativity
Unit is industry-focused and vocationally-oriented. Enhances student employability by developing students’ creative, analytical and reflective capacities in relation to screenwriting. Unit embeds professional screenwriting practice. Students analyse screenplays and films and produce both a short screenplay and a portfolio of work outlining development of a feature screenplay. Students master major screenwriting concepts in relation to story structure, story world, characterisation and especially, genre and theme.
Problem solving
Unit enhances student employability by giving students a range of transferable skills including: logical thought; construction of an argument supported by evidence; good oral and written communication and presentation skills; +me management and independent learning skills

Assessment methods

Method Weight
Other 50%
Written assignment (inc essay) 50%
Assessment task Formative or Summative Length Weighting within unit (if summative)
Extracts and full draft short screenplay and feature film portfolio Formative Various  0%
Short Film Genre Screenplay Summative 10-12 pages 50%
Feature Film Portfolio Summative 10-12 pages 50%

 

Feedback methods

Feedback method Formative or Summative
Written feedback via email and oral feedback in class or Academic Advisor 1-1 meetings relating to formative assessment above and to work in development. Formative
Numerical grade and written comments on both Short Film Genre Screenplay and Feature Film Portfolio within 15 working days Summative

 

Recommended reading

Patricia Cooper and Ken Dancyger, Writing The Short Film (Routledge, 2004), ISBN-10: 0240805887, ISBN-13: 978-0240805887

Syd Field, Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting (Delta, 2005), ISBN-10: 9780385339032, ISBN-13: 978-0385339032

Linda Seger, Advanced Screenwriting (Silman-James Press, 2003), ISBN-10: 1879505738, ISBN-13: 978-1879505735

Jule Selbo, Film Genre for the Screenwriter (Routledge, 2014), ISBN-10: 1138020834, ISBN-13: 978-1138020832

David Bordwell, Kristin Thompson and Jeff Smith, Film Art (McGraw-Hill Education, 11th edition, 2016), ISBN-10: 1259534952, ISBN-13: 978-1259534959

Julia Cameron, The Right to Write (Hay House UK, 2017), ISBN-10: 178180981X, ISBN-13: 978-1781809815

Lajos Egri, The Art of Dramatic Writing (Touchstone, 2004), ISBN-10: 0671213326, ISBN-13: 978-0671213329

Helen Jacey, The Woman in the Story (Michael Wiese Productions, 2017), ISBN-10: 1615932577, ISBN-13: 978-1615932573

David Mamet, On Directing Film (Penguin, 1992), ISBN-10:0140127224, ISBN-13: 978-0140127225

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Lectures 11
Seminars 22
Independent study hours
Independent study 267

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