movie script research paper

Screenwriting as a Mode of Research, and the Screenplay as a Research Artefact

First Online: 20 December 2017

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Craig Batty 3 &
Dallas J. Baker 4

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Screenwriting practice is now a flourishing mode of research within universities internationally, whereby the act of writing a screenplay or developing screenplay works is not only understood but also celebrated as a legitimate form of knowledge discovery and dissemination. The resulting work of this creative practice research, which we might call the ‘academic screenplay’, thus functions simultaneously as a method of research enquiry and a ‘non-traditional’ research artefact. In this chapter, we explore what it means to develop and write a screenplay in the academy, under the conditions of and for research. By positioning screenwriting alongside and in between the disciplines of creative writing and screen production, we reflect on how it can draw from both disciplines at different times and for different purposes and can be influenced by their specific—and sometimes contradictory—discourses. By doing so, the chapter provides a comprehensive overview of screenwriting as a growing mode of research, and its practice as an important addition to the academy.

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RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Craig Batty

University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia

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School of Creative Industries, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia

Susan Kerrigan

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Batty, C., Baker, D.J. (2018). Screenwriting as a Mode of Research, and the Screenplay as a Research Artefact. In: Batty, C., Kerrigan, S. (eds) Screen Production Research. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62837-0_5

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62837-0_5

Published : 20 December 2017

Publisher Name : Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

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