| Institution | Aberystwyth University | | Department/School | Department of Theatre, Film & TV Studies | | Course Title | MA Scriptwriting |
 Shanaz Shakir The MA in Screenwriting for me was a creative journey that led me on a path of discovery about what kinds of creative practice I might want to pursue. Within the course itself the expertise of some of the most well known academics and scriptwriters in this field was combined with a programme that balances theory and practice in the most sophisticated way. The course is structured to give a solid grounding in the different scriptwriting structures and then students get to undertake a research project which enables them to specialize in a chosen genre. I chose to focus on contemporary horror feature films and through the project have developed industry contacts that I would have lacked the confidence to develop on my own.
As a result of this creative journey and the increase in confidence that the course has given me I continue to write horror films of feature length as well as working on a trilogy of novels that combine the fantasy genre with a semi-biographical narrative. I am also working to start my own business creating lifelike baby dolls for doll collectors as well as for use in film and television in place of a real infant. The help that I have received from the department’s spinout programme has been invaluable in this endeavor. I am also hoping to work in conjunction with the horror festival Abertoir in the near future.
I would highly recommend the scriptwriting course at Aberystwyth to anyone who has a passion for creativity and wishes to undertake a course that will give them the tools they need to make a career from those creations. All students on the course emerge with a portfolio of writing which has been crafted to a professional standard closely supervised by academics and professional scriptwriters. Aberystwyth itself is a truly inspiring place, the Castle and Old College are both popular inspiring settings for horror stories, not to mention the wealth of folktales and local legends. This is a course that suits the academic, the creative writer and someone who just loves a challenge. I think this last certainly applies to myself.
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