I wrote a screenplay! A short 10 pager, based on a poem, kind of screenplay.
So this whole screenplay idea comes from a website called Skillshare http://www.skillshare.com who has these mini-classes you can take and one of them was “Introduction to Screenwriting for Short Films by James Franco, Actor, Director, Writer and Producer” and all for the cost of $25.00! That $25.00 gets you access to a series of short videos by Franco and his production partner Vince Jolivette.
(http://www.skillshare.com/classes/film-and-video/Introduction-to-Screenwriting-for-Short-Films/637339250/about)
The class revolves around the class project of: writing a screenplay for an 8-minute short film, which you need to adapt from one of three books anyway you wish. The books are: The Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters, Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small-Town Life by Sherwood Anderson, and Pastures of Heaven by John Steinbeck. The hook to all of this is that the top ten screenplays that receive the most ‘likes’ will be reviewed by Franco and Jolivette, who will then pick their 3 favorites and give 1-on-1 feedback. So no, James Franco does not look at everyone’s screenplays. You can start the class at anytime and finish at anytime, but to qualify for the Franco and Jolivette review you needed to submitted by July 24th, 2014.
Here is the list of videos, which really cover a lot of information:
1. Storytelling: Communicating a Narrative 06:59
2. Storytelling: Creative License 04:09
3. Storytelling: Finding Inspiration from Adaptation 07:50
4. Storytelling: Your Screenwriting Project 07:43
5. Impact Through Narrative: Delivering Impact 06:10
6. Impact Through Narrative: Dialogue 04:01
7. Impact Through Narrative: Screenwriting as a Collaborative Medium 04:10
8. The Details: Building Your Budget 09:42
9. The Details: Building Your Crew 05:41
10. The Details: Timeline 02:54
11. The Details: Software & Formatting 05:02
12. Pitching: Writing a Logline 08:18
13. Pitching: Drafting a Treatment 05:59
14. Pitching: The Pitch 06:20
15. Pitching: Ask Yourself This 09:12
(http://www.skillshare.com/classes/film-and-video/Introduction-to-Screenwriting-for-Short-Films/637339250/project-guide)
Here is what my screenplay was based on:
Title: A Promise to a Lady
Step 1: Selecting Your Text
For my screenplay ‘A Promise to a Lady,’ I used the story/poem of Russian Sonia from Edgar Lee Masters Spoon River Anthology, but in a slightly different way.
Russian Sonia (from http://www.bartleby.com/84/83.html)
I, BORN in Weimar
Of a mother who was French
And German father, a most learned professor,
Orphaned at fourteen years,
Became a dancer, known as Russian Sonia,
All up and down the boulevards of Paris,
Mistress betimes of sundry dukes and counts,
And later of poor artists and of poets.
At forty years, passée, I sought New York
And met old Patrick Hummer on the boat,
Red-faced and hale, though turned his sixtieth year,
Returning after having sold a ship-load
Of cattle in the German city, Hamburg.
He brought me to Spoon River and we lived here
For twenty years—they thought that we were married!
This oak tree near me is the favorite haunt
Of blue jays chattering, chattering all the day.
And why not? for my very dust is laughing
For thinking of the humorous thing called life.
Step 2: Drafting Your Screenplay
You can access the final draft ‘A Promise to a Lady’ available here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0MFqbgom3IENnBkT0tEY09DLTQ/edit?usp=sharing
Step 3: Writing Your Logline
A young man finds himself in a strange cemetery adventure and that promises can last a lifetime and beyond.
All of this can be found at: http://www.skillshare.com/classes/film-and-video/Introduction-to-Screenwriting-for-Short-Films/637339250/projects/35823?utm_campaign=project-like&utm_source=Skillshare&utm_medium=email
Overall the class was interesting, but it seemed a bit disorganized. Too many people and not a lot of real time directions (so no contact from the class instructors). But I really enjoyed writing the screenplay, as I have never written a screenplay before. But screenplays are weird critters and require a very specific formatting style (which the librarian in me loved and stressed out over. Its like a puzzle to figure it out correctly. Yes, yes, I totally am a “Library Nerd” as I was called today in a Google Scholar context). A ten page screenplay is also really hard to write. I had a bit over 12 pages and had to cutout a lot of really witty dialogue to get it to 10. Because I also waited for the last day and turned it in at the last minute before it was due, I only got 10 ‘likes’ and 4 comments vs. the top screenplay which has over 200 ‘likes’. In reality, you could fix or play the ‘likes’ system by turning in your screenplay early and ‘liking’ and commenting on other screenplays, so they in turn feel obligated to ‘like’ yours. And you can ‘like’ things after the due date. A very imperfect system, just saying. So sadly my little 10 ‘likes’ are not enough to get to the finals- so no fortune or glory kid.
