In week 4, we will discuss the industry’s development process and the use of “coverage” or story analysis to assess scripts and other materials under consideration as feature films properties. Coverage is a document You will read a provided short story and write “coverage” of its contents (a cover page with short summaries, a 1-2 page plot synopsis and a 1-2 pages of “comments” on its potential as a possible film), as well as a 2-3-page response paper considering the effectiveness of coverage as an evaluative tool, whether it’s an appropriate instrument for measuring a property’s potential, or what else it does/doesn’t account for. This assignment is due at the end of week 5.
Coverage Template (download and use for your assignment) and the Short Stories (choose one to cover):
Ken Liu, “Paper Menagerie” WEB DuBois, “The Comet” Daphne DuMaurier, “The Blue Lenses” AND A SIMPLE OF COVERAGE ESSAY is in here https://we.tl/t-5d8QaQ2SPA
Coverage + Reflection Essay Instructions and Samples
Length/Format:
- 5-6 pages, double-spaced, Times, 12pt font. You must use the template provided.
- Note: normally coverage is single-spaced but to avoid confusion, you may doublespace both the coverage and response portion of the assignment.
Steps of Assignment
- Read any of the provided short stories (“The Blue Lenses,” “The Comet,” “The Paper Menagerie”) and write coverage using the instructions below. Consult the provided coverage samples and additional tips as needed.
- “Cover” the short story following the instructions below.
- Write a reflection essay at the end of the document considering the effectiveness of coverage as an evaluative tool, whether it’s an appropriate instrument for measuring a property’s potential, or what else it does/doesn’t account for.
Instructions for the basic components of coverage:
- Elements:Details about the story such as number of pages, author, format (short story, novel, screenplay), etc.
- Logline: 1-2 sentence short description of what the story is about.
- Comment Summary:A sentence summarizing your comments for executives (or in this case, professors) to take in at a glance.
- Synopsis:A longer description of what happens over the course of the story. For this assignment, synopsize your short story in no more than 1-1.5 double-spaced pages.
- It is up to you to decide which characters, events, etc., are important enough to include in that space. The first time you discuss a character in the synopsis, their name should appear in all caps, followed by their age (an estimate is ok if the age does not appear), and a descriptor if you think it necessary, for example: “SCOUT FINCH (6, tomboy).” Be sure to give some sense of where and when the action is happening up front and as you move through the narrative. Break up paragraphs for significant shifts in time, place or action.
- Synopses should be written in present tense. If you encounter flashbacks that require more than a sentence or two to describe, start a new paragraph, denoting the shift backward (e.g. “Flashback to five years earlier”), then continue in the present tense.
- Story Grid: Rate the script’s basic components.
- Comments: Analyze the story’s strengths and weaknesses in 1-2 double-spaced pages.
- Keep in mind that you are considering the material for screen adaptation. However, avoid discussing the story in terms of perceived box office potential or marketing except in the broadest of terms. Focus instead on whether it was a good story or not, and its potential or lack thereof as a film (NOTE: while you should assume that the story is being considered for the big screen, if you think it lends itself particularly well to a TV series or mini-series, it’s ok to include a note to that effect. Try to address the relevant story elements from the grid (idea, plot/structure, characters, dialog, setting/visual).
- Recommendation: Your choices here are “Pass” (material not worthy of consideration), “Consider” (material merits further consideration), and “Recommend” (material is so good that you recommend without any reservations).
Instructions for the Short Reflection Essay: write a short essay of a few pages reflecting on what you learned about the movie business from writing coverage. Some questions you might consider:
- Did you enjoy writing the coverage? Were there any difficulties?
- Would you want to do this frequently, as part of your job in the future?
- Is coverage an effective tool for evaluating scripted material?
- What are some of the strengths and weaknesses of using coverage to judge incoming scripts and books?
- Are there projects that would be difficult, to sum up in this way?
- Is there a better way to do this or are there ways this process could be improved?
- If you could add anything to the coverage form, what would you add?
In other words, if you were an executive, how might you change this part of the development process, or would you leave it as is
Grading for this assignment:
Part of getting a job in media production or anywhere else is being able to follow instructions and complete work to the best of your ability, and job candidates are often asked to cover scripts or provide coverage samples as part of the interview process. Grading for this portion of the assignment will be based on how completely you are able to execute coverage using the information available.
The reflection will be evaluated as a short essay (for writing style and critical/analytical insights).
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