Workshops

Finding The Heart of Your Story For The Screen Television Drama, Feature or Short Film

From: Wednesday April 27th - Wednesday June 8th 2022 

Location: Online via Zoom at 16:00 Irish Time

Please note that all classes are recorded so that you can watch or rewatch them in your own time.

Every story has a beginning, a middle and an end. But most early drafts have a beginning, a muddle and an end. So how do you know where to begin your story and how to end it - and how do you manage all that material in the middle?

Over the course of seven two-hour classes and one individual consultation, this programme will cover how to use The Sequence Approach to keep your plot moving and stay on course, focused on the ending you’ve designed for your characters. There will be weekly assignments for you to do in your own time. These will take more than a couple of hours a week.

By the end of this course, you will have been able to develop a strong, clear, compelling version of your story. This outline will be what most funders and potential collaborators want to read before they decide whether to support your project. More importantly it is your roadmap for the full version of your screenplay.

• The Jungian Moment: The Keystone of Your Story

• Designing Your Story To Be Unpredictable Yet Believable

• How Dramatic Tension Works And Why It Is A Necessary Ingredient In Screen Stories.

• A Deep Dive into Characters’ Motivations

• Understanding the Audience’s Relationship to Every Part of The Story

• Cinematic Storytelling and Your Originality

This course also includes one individual consultation session with (1 x 120 minute meeting by arrangement).

The course commences on Wednesday April 27th 2022 and takes place on Zoom at 16:00 Irish Time. There will be a maximum of 10 participants in this group. Cost is €500 per participant. Early bird discount of 20% for bookings received by April 21st 2022. To book, contact marykateireland@gmail.com

Find Your Unique Voice by Mastering Key Scenes.

Execution is everything. The success of your screenplay is not only in your premise and plot but in how the story is told. Over the course of eight two-hour classes, this programme will help you create the spine of your story through the writing of several key scenes, ie:

• The Opening Scene

• The Inciting Incident

• The Break into Act II

• A Set Piece

• The Midpoint

• End of ACT II

• Final Twist

• Final Scene.

We will start with a recap of overall structure in a screen story and how dramatic tension works on an audience. Then we will look at how to write and rewrite a scene. We will go into detail on key scene-writing skills, including:

• Shaping a Scene For Maximum Impact

• Replacing Dialogue With Visuals

• The Magic of the Objective Correlative

• What Constitutes a Twist and Why It Is So Necessary

• Scenes of Preparation and Scenes of Aftermath

• The Lubitsch Touch

• How to Be Obvious With Your Subtleties

• Communicating The Inner Life of Your Characters

• Cinematic Storytelling and Your Originality

There will be feedback during class times if you want to share your work-in-progress.

This is an 8-week course online at 19:30 – 21:30 Irish Time. Commences on Tuesday March 8th 2022. There will be a maximum of 8 participants in this group. Cost is €500 per participant. Early Bird Discount of 20% for bookings paid in full by March 1st 2022. To book, email marykateireland@gmail.com