Announcing: The Fall CW&P 3×3 Screenplay Competition!
Sheridan is in search of very short screenplays that can be used by students in the new Virtual Production program!
If selected, your screenplay will get made by Sheridan students, and you can be involved in the process of production. This is an amazing opportunity to have your screenplays actually produced by students who will hire actors and film the script in a virtual environment.
The program may be looking for up to 8 scripts, so there is lots of opportunity, but only if the scripts line up with what the program needs.
PARAMETERS:
In order to be useful to the students in our Virtual Production program, the scripts must be written to exact specifications, to suit what students in the program can actually produce. That’s why we’re calling it the 3×3 Screenplay Competition.
To be eligible, scripts must have 3 CHARACTERS, and must run 3 MINUTES (that’s 3 pages in proper screenplay format). They also must be set in one of two specific sets of locations that are available to the Virtual Production students. Students in this program focus on learning the skills involved to film real actors set in digital environments, so scripts must be set in an environment for which digital assets have been purchased.
DIGITAL ENVIRONMENTS:
At present, the two digital environment packages that the program has purchased are an outer-space exploration kit and a town from the old west. There are several sets to each environment, and characters could move between them if you wanted. So virtually any kind of “journey to another planet” story, or anything set in the old west, could work. Check out the two digital kits with their various “sets” here:
Old West Town (Outlaw): https://kitbash3d.com/products/outlaw
Space Ship (Mission to Minerva): https://kitbash3d.com/products/mission-to-minerva
The filming process for the Virtual Production program will involve the students hiring live actors, and then filming them in a digital space with some props so that they can be situated into these sets in post-production. (Note that much of this technology is also used on TV’s Star Trek: Discovery, and you can learn about that here).
TIMELINE:
The scripts will be vetted by Professor Glenn Clifton, and then shared with the program coordinator of the Virtual Production program. Scripts are due to Professor Clifton at the end of Week 11, November 24.
If you need a refresher on screenplay format, you can look here. Programs such as CeltX or WriterDuet are free online and can help you easily write your script into the proper format.
However, you can submit before then, and are encouraged to do so before the term gets busy. Submit to glenn.clifton@sheridancollege.ca
SUMMARY
All of these requirements must be met for the film to be useful for our contest:
- Very close to 3 Minutes Long (about 3 pages in proper screenplay format)
- 3 Actors (no more, no less–but not all 3 actors have to play in all the scenes)
- Set in one of the two virtual environments linked above
- Telling a complete story
- Submitted by Friday November 24
Where can I get more info?
For any questions, you can contact Glenn Clifton at glenn.clifton@sheridancollege.ca
Professor Clifton will try to host one meeting to go over the requirements; watch your Slate email. Samples of successful 3-minute scripts and sample films will be shared as they become available.
