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Screenwriting courses always stress the importance of film structure, but frequently lack the time to focus on the very building blocks of that structure: the scene, the scene sequence and the transitions which move the story from one scene to the next. Yet so often, it is one scene or sequence which we remember, which haunts us when the film is done - Sugar boarding the train in Some Like It Hot, Evelyn Mulwray's incest confession in Chinatown, the chase sequence in The French Connection, the goodbye in Casablanca. What is it that makes these scenes so unforgettable?
This workshop focuses on the internal workings of scene and sequence writing as well as the myriad ways scenes can be used to improve the overall structure, emotion and pace of any script. It includes clips from a variety of films and genres, using scenes and sequences that have different structural functions: character introductions, turning points and climaxes, etc. This session breaks down both individual scenes and longer sequences into all their many parts, particularly focusing on learning to layer scenes so that they carry maximum impact and story information.