Disclaimer- Current Undergraduates or prospective students should
always contact the RTF office or the undergrad advisor to determine
current requirements and status. This document may not always be up
to date. WU.
Radio- Television- Film (-and Information).
College of Communications,
University of Texas at Austin (tel. 512-471-4071)
SCREENWRITING TRACK (Undergraduate)
Screenwriting courses are part of the Critical and Cultural Studies
track. The same prerequisites apply for these courses. See the
previous page for prerequisites. Screenwriting students are also
recommended to take Critical/Cultural Studies courses.
Subsequent to RTF 333, courses may be repeated for credit when the
topics vary. Only selected courses will be offered each semester.
Main Headings
- RTF 333 - Broadcast and Film Writing I
- Development of skills and practice in the art of writing for media;
emphasis on particular aspects of each medium: audience, objectives,
economic structures. Many short scripts will be written and evaluated.
- RTF 336 - Special Projects in Radio-TV-Film
- Prerequisite: Consent of department Chair.
Comprehensive research or creative projects in areas of special
interest developed and executed by the student under faculty
supervision.
- RTF 369 - Advanced Writing for Film and Electronic Media
- Development of proposals, treatments, and shooting scripts for film and electronic media.
Sample Topics
- RTF 333 - Broadcast and Film Writing 1
- Exposes students to the most
common writing formats used in radio, television and film; introduces
the fundamentals of dramatic writing; acquaints students with the
demands of writing for the media.
- RTF 369 - Film Adaptation
- Prerequisites: RTF 333
This course offers an avenue to screenwriting through adaption. Short
stories will be studied closely through a variety of critical lenses
and transformed into a screenplay.
- RTF 369 - Advanced Writing:
- Original Drama Prerequisites: RTF 333
This course offers advanced writing students the opportunity to study
narrative screenplay writing for television and films. All students
are expected to accomplish a full-length project subject to instructor
approval.
- RTF 369 - Advanced Writing for Film and TV: Series Television
- Prerequisites: RTF 333.
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the process of
writing for commercial, broadcast, series television, although many of
the ideas, topics, exercises and discussions will apply to other kinds
of screenwriting. The course will begin with a discussion of some of
the distinctive aspects of series television, but the great bulk of
the course will be devoted to in-class discussion and analysis of
student work. The goal of the course is for every student,
individually or in collaboration with a colleague, to end the semester
with material suitable for a portfolio of spec scripts.