>> IMAGINE, THROUGH 10,000
YEARS OF TALES TOLD AT FIRESIDE,
FOUR MILLENNIA OF THE WRITTEN
WORD, 2,500 YEARS OF THEATER,
A CENTURY OF CINEMA,
60 YEARS OF TELEVISION
AND NOW THE INTERNET--
COUNTLESS GENERATIONS
OF STORYTELLERS HAVE SPUN STORY
INTO AN ASTONISHING DIVERSITY
OF PATTERN, YET ALL CONSTRUCTED
FROM THE SAME 12
BUILDING BLOCKS.
FROM WESTERNS TO
COMEDIES TO WAR MOVIES,
FROM ACTION ADVENTURE FILMS
TO COMING OF AGE DRAMAS
TO SUSPENSE THRILLERS, ALL GREAT
STORIES IMBUE THE SAME 12 STAGES
OF STORYTELLING AND
THE BEST PART IS,
EACH OF YOU HAS A STORY
WAITING TO BE TOLD.
I'M LEE MARSHALL, LIFETIME
MEMBER OF THE WRITER'S GUILD
OF AMERICA AND A PROFESSIONAL
SCREENWRITER IN HOLLYWOOD NOW
FOR THE PAST TWO DECADES
AND THESE SCREENPLAYS
AND TELEPLAYS YOU SEE ON THE
DESK BESIDE ME REPRESENT SOME
OF THE STORIES MY STUDENTS HAVE
WRITTEN OVER THE PAST 12 YEARS.
TODAY AS THE WORLD DEVOURS FILM
AND THEATER AND TELEVISION,
ONLINE NOVELS AND VIDEO GAMES
WITH SUCH RAVENOUS HUNGER,
IT SEEMS AS IF THE ART OF STORY
HAS BECOME HUMANITIES PRIME
SOURCE OF INSPIRATION.
THE WORLD NEEDS THEM AND WANTS
THEM WHICH MEANS IT NEEDS
AND WANTS WRITERS WITH A STORY
TO TELL, AN EXPERIENCE TO SHARE,
AN EVENT IN THEIR LIFE THAT
EXPRESSES A PROFOUND HUMAN NEED.
THIS OF COURSE IS
WHERE YOU COME IN.
FOR IF THE ART OF STORY IS IN
FACT THE DOMINANT CULTURAL FORCE
IN THE WORLD TODAY,
THEN THE ART OF FILM
AND TELEVISION ARE
THE DOMINANT MEDIUMS
OF THIS GRAND ENTERPRISE.
SUFFICE IT TO SAY, THE
WORLD NEEDS PRODUCT AND FOR
THAT IT NEEDS WRITERS.
THIS OF COURSE IS
WHERE WE COME IN.
IN THIS FIRST OF ITS KIND REAL
TIME ONLINE SCREENS WRITING
COURSE, MY PARTNER RON MILLIGAN
AND I HAVE MELDED OUR YEARS
OF EXPERIENCE AS
INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS
WITH OUR EXPERIENCE IN
THE UNIVERSITY CLASSROOM
TO HELP YOU ACHIEVE ONE GREAT
GOAL, TO FIND A GOOD STORY
AND THEN TELL IT WELL.
OUR CLASS, FACT AND
FICTION, WRITING DOCUDRAMA
FOR THE SCREEN WAS DESIGNED
AS AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH
TO MEDIA WRITING GEARED
TO FAMILIARIZE STUDENTS
WITH A VARIETY OF STORY
WRITING FORMATS AND STYLES.
IT'S OUR HOPE THAT THE CLASS
WILL SERVE ITS STUDENTS
AS AN OUTLET FOR THEIR
PASSIONS, THEIR GRIEF,
AND THEIR EXPERIENCES IN
A NEW AND INNOVATIVE WAY.
IN SHORT, TO HELP YOU FIND
YOUR VOICE AND YOUR STORY.
I WILL BE HERE TO BRING
YOU THE FIRST HALF
OF THE COURSE WHILE CSULB
JOURNALISM PROFESSOR RON
MILLIGAN WILL BRING
HIS COMBAT EXPERIENCE
AND JOURNALISTIC
STORYTELLING ABILITIES TO BEAR
AS HE LEADS YOU THROUGH
THE SECOND HALF.
IN FACT, LET ME TURN THIS
CLASS INTRO OVER TO HIM NOW.
RON?
>> THANKS LEE.
HI, I'M RON MILLIGAN,
AND AS LEE HAS SAID,
I'LL BE TEACHING THE
SECOND PART OF THIS COURSE
WHICH DEALS WITH DOCUMENTARIES.
WHEN HUMAN BEINGS FIGURED
OUT HOW TO PAINT ON THE WALLS
OF CAVES THEY PROBABLY USED
PICTURES DEPICTING IMAGINED
STORIES AND SOMETIMES THE CAVE
DWELLERS WERE RECORDING FACTUAL
EVENTS THAT NOWADAYS WE
HAVE MORE SOPHISTICATED WAYS
OF DOCUMENTING AND THE
TECHNOLOGY CONTINUES TO EVOLVE
IN WAYS VERY SIGNIFICANT
FOR PEOPLE WANTING
TO DO THIS KIND OF WORK.
A FEW YEARS AGO BEFORE CABLE
AND SATELLITE TRANSMISSION
AND VIDEO DISKS, DOCUMENTARIES
WERE MOSTLY THE PROVINCE
OF THE BROADCAST NETWORKS.
A DOCUMENTARY MAKER EITHER
WORKED FOR A NETWORK OR HAD
TO SELL HIS OR HER WORK
TO ONE OF THE NETS.
BUT NOW DOCUMENTARY MAKERS
HAVE THESE OTHER AVENUES
TO REACH THE CONSUMER AND
THAT OPENS UP THE FIELD
TO AN INFINITELY LARGER NUMBER
OF ENTREPRENEURS AND THE RANGE
OF POTENTIAL DOCUMENTARY
TOPICS HAS ALSO INCREASED
FROM MERELY WHAT WILL
INTEREST THE MASS MARKET
TO WHAT WILL INTEREST
SMALLER MARKETS.
WE'LL HAVE A LOOK AT NEWS
DOCUMENTARIES, DOCUMENTARIES
THAT ARE INVESTIGATIVE,
HISTORICAL, SOCIOLOGICAL,
TRAVEL DOCUMENTARIES
AND OTHER TYPES.
THE WARS THE UNITED
STATES HAS BEEN INVOLVED
IN IN RECENT YEARS
ARE THE SOURCE
OF MANY DOCUMENTARY
POSSIBILITIES.
A FRIEND OF MINE,
A FORMER COLLEAGUE,
WHEN WE WERE BOTH WAR
CORRESPONDENTS IN VIETNAM STAYED
IN THE BUSINESS AND WAS
EMBEDDED WITH TROOPS IN IRAQ.
BASED ON HIS EXPERIENCES
IN IRAQ,
HE PRODUCED A DOCUMENTARY CALLED
GUAZAPA: YESTERDAY'S ENEMIES.
MY EXPERIENCE AFTER I RETURNED
TO THE STATES [INAUDIBLE]
TO A SERIES OF MINI
DOCUMENTARIES SIMILAR
TO A CBS SERIES CALLED ON THE
ROAD BY CHARLES KURALT THAT MANY
OF YOU MAY REMEMBER
FROM SOME YEARS AGO.
I DID MINE CALLED MILLIGAN STEW
FOR A LARGE TELEVISION
STATION IN THE NORTHEAST.
IN MY PART OF THIS COURSE
WE'LL GO INTO THE VARIOUS TYPES
OF DOCUMENTARY AND HOW TO
PRODUCE THEM FROM INSPIRATION
THROUGH TREATMENT,
PRODUCTION, AND MARKETING.
AS LEE SAYS, EACH OF YOU HAS
A STORY WAITING TO BE TOLD.
