Overview

This unit introduces students to the advanced principles of short form screen writing. Students will participate in writing and pitching a short form narrative or non-narrative film. In working on individual and group projects students will demonstrate and develop independent and collaborative skills in producing written documents that align with industry standard practice.

Requisites

Prerequisites

200 credit points in:
BH-FTV2 Bachelor of Film and Television (Honours)

Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Semester 1
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
02-March-2026
31-May-2026
Last self-enrolment date
15-March-2026
Census date
31-March-2026
Last withdraw without fail date
21-April-2026
Results released date
07-July-2026
Semester 1
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
01-March-2027
30-May-2027
Last self-enrolment date
14-March-2027
Census date
30-March-2027
Last withdraw without fail date
20-April-2027
Results released date
06-July-2027

Unit learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  1. Develop and research a treatment and script for a narrative or non-narrative short film
  2. Apply industry standard conventions for the development of production documentation for a short form narrative, documentary or television/webisode pilot
  3. Apply the skills of ideation and screen writing in the development of a short form narrative or non-narrative content
  4. Prepare and deliver a pitch to sell ideas through the development of a proposal, treatment, screenplay and ancillary documents
  5. Evaluate the impact of the production process within a social and environmental context on creative practice research

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
On-campus
Class 1
3.00  12 weeks  18
On-campus
Class 2
3.00  12 weeks  18
Specified Activities
Various
5.00  12 weeks  60
Unspecified Activities
Various
4.42  12 weeks  53
TOTAL     149

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
Journal Individual  30%  1,2,3,5 
Portfolio Group  50%  1,2,3,4,5
Pitch Presentations Individual  20%  1,2,3,4

Content

  • Pitching and selling ideas
  • Screenplay research and development
  • Writing creative treatments for screen works
  • Drafting scripts and ancillary documentation
  • Interpretation of the script in relation to directing, acting, production design, cinematography, music, editing and sound design
  • The emotional response and complexity of ideas.
  • Working within a team and assessing peer performance and contributions
  • Graduate Attribute – Communication Skills: Verbal communication
  • Graduate Attribute – Communication Skills: Communicating using different media
  • Graduate Attribute – Digital Literacies: Information literacy
  • Graduate Attribute – Digital Literacies: Technical literacy

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.