THE COMEDY WRITING WEEKEND
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Paul Bassett Davies and Fenella Greenfield's inspiring course is designed to take your comedy material from blank sheet to filmed sketch.
Whether you’re just starting out as a comedy writer or simply fancy a comedy work-out, in non-stop practical exercises you'll develop a tool-kit to make your material funnier in any format or medium you're writing for be it film, TV, radio, theatre, stand-up, YouTube or Twitter. We’ll be filming your sketches and illustrating how, in the edit, you can harvest extra laughs by the use of timing, sound effects, music and shot selection. This innovative course will transform your tentative small steps into gigantic comedy leaps by bringing your words to the screen. |
Working alone, in pairs and in small groups . . .
on SATURDAY - learn half a dozen joke formats and write some gags - move to quickies (very short sketches) - using flashcards, create simple sketches with stock characters - move to topical sketches using the day’s newspapers - select favourite short sketches to prepare for filming - rehearse and film Great comedy comes from great characters. Learn some tricks to help you get laughs from your cast, including: - why opposites don’t attract, they repulse - how strong attitudes make for instantly-recognisable characters - the use and abuse of status - how clear goals, plans and obstacles can make your cast funnier Overnight we’ll prepare rough edits of your sketches on SUNDAY - spend the first half of the morning watching the editing process on one chosen sketch - review all sketches so far - break into small groups to write an additional sketch using the skills acquired during the weekend Plundering the best source of all, your sad life, come armed with notebooks, pencils and a list of everything you hate about your friends and family. |
PRICE
£150 (concessions £135) PAY BY INSTALMENTS
If you are unable to afford the full price right away, pay a deposit of £50* and the balance five days before the course. *We regret the deposit is non-refundable. We offer the concessionary rate to all Concessions as well as to members of these affiliated organisations. If you are a member of one of these organisations, please book at the concessionary rate and show your membership card to the course tutor at registration.
FURTHER DETAILS Email or phone 07958 244 656 PAUL BASSETT DAVIES Paul Bassett Davies is a writer, director and actor. He founded the Crystal Theatre, whose pioneering multimedia work was acclaimed in Britain and Europe. He created a series of one-man shows, two of which were Perrier Award finalists at the Edinburgh Festival. Other shows combined live performance with video and other media to create innovative theatrical experiments. Radio and television credits include: Spitting Image, Smith and Jones, Rory Bremner, Jasper Carrot and many more. He had his own series with Jeremy Hardy, and produced Sony Award winning BBC radio series Do Go On, which he wrote with Griff Rhys Jones and Graeme Garden using improvisation to create the scripts. He wrote the screenplay for The Magic Roundabout film and has a feature film in production based on comic book legends The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. Paul's book, 'Utter Folly' ("A very funny novel'" - Jack Dee) is available on Amazon HERE. FENELLA GREENFIELD As a trustee of the Screenwriters' Workshop, Fenella Greenfield was a founder member of Euroscript, helping to launch it as a Media funded European initiative. She has written broadcast scripts for radio and television. She’s a freelance promo producer and has won awards both here and in the States for her work. As a writer and development producer, through her company Fenella Greenfield Limited, she develops films and TV programmes. As an active member of BAFTA she judges in the ‘Documentary’ and ‘Film Not in the English Language’ categories and is a member of the Screenplay Chapter of the awards. Check out her website here and her YouTube channel here. |