Content and structure

Course content.

Writing a script as a basis for a film’s narrative requires proficiency in creative expression and visual imagination. Teaching includes research, material development, styles of presentation (exposé, treatment, picture treatment, step outline, script versions) and dramaturgy (traditional narrative forms and modern narrative forms). You will focus on both your own writing and collaborative writing.

Course structure.

Academic year 1: Developing skills and writing a script for a short film/opening for a project you will choose and create yourself

During the first academic year, you will acquire knowledge and develop practical skills by attending classes and lectures. Working closely with students from the Master's Major in “Directing Fiction”, you will write a script for a fictional short film, which will then be made. This will give you the opportunity to gain on-set experience. Lecturers will provide you with support throughout the project. After completing your short film you will start writing your master's thesis, which will be either a script for a feature-length film project or a series bible. Creative writing courses every semester will nurture your desire to create stories.

Academic year 2: Writing a script for a project of your own choosing/creating a concept for a series in the writers’ room

During the second academic year, you will build further on your knowledge of research issues in film studies at the University of Zurich. Working with your fellow students in a writers' room, you will develop material for a series to pitch to industry representatives (broad-casters, streamers). You will also continue working on your master's thesis and dedicate your-self completely to it in the final semester. You will also learn presentation skills to help you pitch your material.
  
The Master’s in Film degree programme comprises a total of 120 ECTS credits. You will earn 90 credits from your Major and 30 credits from your Minor, which can be a specialization of your Major or a subject that expands on or supplements your main programme of study. You can find more information about the major-minor study model here.

As a general rule, the course extends over four semesters (full-time study).
Provided the head of the programme agrees, it is possible to combine the course with work outside of your programme of study. Only the first semester must be completed on a full-time basis. All compulsory session dates are communicated well in advance.

Skills acquired in the course.

Practical work:

In the Master's Major in “Screenwriting”, you will learn how to develop your writing style, analyse texts, and critically examine them. In addition to smaller exercises and projects (including an additional short film script for the first short film of students in the Directing Fiction programme), students will write a script for a feature-length film or a series bible as their master’s thesis. You will also work in a writers’ room with other students on the Screenwriting programme to develop material for a series.


Craft: Methods of film-making and film technology
You will develop your methodological, technical and practical film-making skills to a professional standard, together with the ability to incorporate dramaturgical, performative, visual and musical elements into a complete piece of cinematic art. In the process, you will have the continuous support of professors, lecturers and special guests from the film industry. You will also attend classes and lectures on research, dramaturgy, character analysis, and narrative and genre structures.


Theory:

You will learn how to approach research issues in film studies at the University of Zurich’s Institute of Film Studies, which will also involve completing a written paper. However, the “practice-oriented theory” is also important. Therefore, you will systematically work on specific aspects of film-making throughout the short fiction project and as part of your master's thesis in order to acquire an analytical and conceptual understanding of your own creative work.

Admissions requirements.

You have taken initial steps as a writer, have explored your own writing style, and have:

  • the passion and creativity needed to invent stories
  • an interest in developing believable characters that inspire empathy in people and or leave readers feeling unsettled by their contradictory nature
  • a desire to tell stories in a range of different genres and to find out which tones and settings work best for you
  • a pressing need to tell stories that touch or provoke a reaction in an audience by en-gaging with issues that shape our society
  • a knack for dealing with criticism in a constructive way

Benefits of studying at ZHdK.

  • Our professors and lecturers play an active role in the film industry and experts from the international film industry are frequently invited as guest lecturers. This means you benefit from a curriculum that is guided by experience and real-life practice, whilst having the opportunity to build an extensive, professional and international network within the film industry. 
  • The Film subject area is always providing fresh inspiration for artistic research. For in-stance, the Immersive Arts Space, where research into future technologies of the audiovisual industry is conducted, was built next door to our film studio. Findings from this research are also directly incorporated into teaching. New forms of audiovisual storytelling such as motion tracking, pre-visualization techniques and virtual production are developed, tested, and practiced.
  • Numerous festivals entries and multiple wins at the prestigious student Oscars are testament to the impressive level of international success achieved by ZHdK students.
  • The shared campus allows all the ZHdK disciplines to be in close proximity with one another and offers a diverse infrastructure of the highest calibre. Students have ac-cess to superbly equipped workshops, a museum, concert halls, sound and film studios, rehearsal stages, studios, a library, and exhibition spaces. A rooftop garden, cinema, music club, cafés and a canteen also enable students to meet for recreational purposes.
  • Master’s students benefit from a Major-Minor study model, which is a first in Europe and prepares students for a networked, digital and agile world of work.