Treatment Review

Make a new Google doc titled LastName_FirstName-Treatment Review, share it with english@freestyleacademy.rocks, and submit the URL to this Canvas assignment. 

The purpose of this exercise is to critically assess 3 narrative treatments, emphasizing the synergy between titles and loglines, the depth and originality of character development, the clarity of the story's structure and detailed development.

Step 1.) Read 3 Treatments:

• Sylmar (a professional screenwriter's treatment)
• Choose 2 of the following Freestyle student sample Narrative Treatments from 2022-23: 
  • • • Earthfall
      • Chasing Midnight
      • Wood, Fire, and Razor Wire
      • Coalescence
      • Death is Short

Step 2.) Write your critical evaluation of each of the 3 treatments according to the following prompts:

I. Synergy of Title and Logline:

• • Evaluate how the title encapsulates the story's essence and its originality.
  • Assess the logline's effectiveness in being concise, intriguing, and promising, providing a compelling mental picture of the story/world.
  • Analyze how the title and logline work together to form a powerful introduction to the story.

II. Character Development:

• • Critique the introduction of key characters, focusing on the balance between personality traits and defining physical attributes to ensure characters are strong and believable in the context of the world the writer establishes. 
  • Assess the protagonist's/hero's want/need dynamic, explaining how it reveals the sources of external and internal conflict. How does the protagonist/hero grow over the course of the story? What role do other characters play in the development of the protagonist's/hero's character arc? 

III. Story Overview and Development:

• • Review the story overview for its ability to succinctly address the who, what, when, where, and why. Consider how well the overview sets up the world, allowing the audience to envision its physical setting and understand its defining rules.
  • How well does the detailed description develop the narrative arc of the protagonist / hero in relation to other characters and their world? Note several specific details (quote them) which strike you as particularly powerful examples of characterization, setting description, action, and conflict development. 
  • How would you improve this story if you could give the writer some constructive criticism? Offer constructive feedback on areas for improvement, particularly in how the narrative elements could be better aligned or developed.