Date of Award

1995

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

First Advisor

Michael Castro

Second Advisor

Peter Carlos

Third Advisor

Carolyn Scott

Abstract

The central objective of this creative project was to develop an original screenplay and enhance my writing skills in the process. The project consists of five chapters, the first being an introduction that provides an overview of the project.

Chapter II chronicles the progression of a screenwriter's training through a review of the books read that contributed to this project: four about writing in general, ten concerning fiction writing, fifteen on screenwriting in particular, two focusing on psychology, six about the movie business and film history, and one book about media aesthetics. Chapter ill provides a detailed view of the computer program for screenwriting and the two screenwriting method books (Viki King's and Lew Hunter's) that were used during the development of the screenplay.

Chapter TV is the 120-page screenplay. It features a highly technological office setting that includes robotics and a computerized virtual reality environment. The action forces identity issues to the fore among the key characters. The story is based on paralleling the action with fantasy themes from classics such as Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz and Scheherazade, and toys with people's abilities to trust their perceptions. The main character develops from secure to unsure and must regain her solid footing in order to get a high-paying job at this technological company. She is pitted against an opposite character, also in line for the same job, who has no problems with the absurdities of the situation because he has lower standards and expectations. The theme thus explores the issues of excellence vs. mediocrity, and strength of character vs. trickery.

Chapter V presents an analytical overview of how the screenplay grew from an idea to a s tory and explores ideas for additionally developing the screenplay. It also discusses how the characters were originally conceived and how they changed during the writing process.

Comments

Copyright 1995, Barbara Sachs Kramer.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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