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The Cinematic Curriculum Method Toolkit · Design core

The Course Treatment Generator

Write the six-part treatment that decides what your course is really about, before you build a single lesson.

The Cinematic Curriculum Method Toolkit · 39 tools

£19.99

Also in 2 other products, from £14.99.

You know your topic. You haven’t yet written down what the course is really about.

Without that, every design decision gets made lesson by lesson, and the course drifts towards whatever is easiest to cover.

What it does

The Course Treatment Generator takes the six questions of the book’s Course Treatment: what it’s really about, the learner’s start, who they become, the emotional arc, the world they enter and what they carry forward. It scores each section out of 10, maps the six as a path, and tells you when an answer never touches the idea its section is for.

A Course Treatment answers seven questions. What is the core transformation of the learner? What should the course feel like? What tone and atmosphere does it carry? How should the learner’s confidence grow? What metaphors, motifs and themes unify the content? What does the “ending” mean for the learner’s identity? What emotional arc do you want them to experience? The treatment becomes your director’s bible. Everything you build later gets checked against it.

The Cinematic Curriculum Method, Appendix §1, The Course Treatment

What you’ll do

  1. Write the six sections as if briefing a collaborator.
  2. Press «Generate my treatment».
  3. Work through the three moves and generate again.

What you get. A treatment-strength score out of 100 with a verdict, the six sections mapped as a path, your most developed section quoted back, and three priority moves. The report downloads as a one-page PDF.

Before and after

The Course Treatment Generator — empty, as it opensThe Course Treatment Generator as it opens: every field empty, each with its own question.☾ACADEMIC METHOD TOOLKIT · DESIGN COREThe Course Treatment GeneratorBefore you build a single lesson, write the treatment — the pre-productiondocument that captures what your course is really about.The Treatment SectionsWrite each section as if briefing a collaborator. Be concrete — the treatment is where the course's wholeintent gets decided.1What it's really aboutBeneath the topic, the deeper argument. Not the subject — the point.What is this course really about?Describe how you handle this stage...0 words2The learner's startWho the learner is at the very beginning — their state, gap, and false belief.Who is the learner at the start?Describe how you handle this stage...0 words3Who they becomeThe transformation — who the learner is by the end, as an identity not a checklist.Who does the learner become?Describe how you handle this stage...0 words4The emotional arcThe felt journey from beginning to end — where the highs, lows, and turning points sit.What is the emotional arc?Describe how you handle this stage...0 words5The world they enterThe aesthetic, conceptual, and emotional world of the course.What world do they enter?Describe how you handle this stage...0 words6What they carry forwardWhat the learner takes with them when they leave — the transfer.What will they carry forward?Describe how you handle this stage...0 wordsGenerate my treatment →Load Worked ExampleReset
BeforeAs it opens: six sections, each with its own question.
The Course Treatment Generator — the result for the worked exampleThe Course Treatment Generator: the result the app returns for its worked example, from a live run on 4 Oct 2026.90TREATMENTSTRENGTHA true treatmentEvery section is built and specific. This treatment can governevery design decision that follows.What the analysis noticedRead from your own words — patterns, tells, and blind spots in what you wrote.›Who they become never mentions become, and this stage depends on it.›What it's really about is your most developed stage — “It looks like a course on academic writingbut it's really…”. Use its level of detail as the template for the rest.1About2Start3Become4Arc5World6CarryYour three priority movesRanked by leverage — the weakest areas first.1What they carry forward (7/10)Your answer never touches transfer — the core of this idea. Name the portable thing they take intothe real world. If nothing transfers, the transformation was temporary.2The world they enter (8/10)You wrote “drafts” — good direction, now push it further. Define the three layers — how it looks, theorganising metaphor, and how it feels to be inside.3The emotional arc (9/10)You wrote “Opens with the terror of the blank page dips through the…” — good direction, now push itfurther. Map the emotional journey, not the content sequence. Where is the low point, thebreakthrough, the climax?Summary. Treatment Strength 90/100 across 6 stages. Every stage has a design.⤓ Download PDF✉ Email me this report↗ ShareSave ProgressExample: the app’s own worked example, as it loads
AfterThe app’s own worked example, run: a score of 90, «A true treatment», and the six sections mapped as a path.

Watch it work

1 / 6Open The Course Treatment Generator. Six sections, each with its own question.

How to use it

  1. Open The Course Treatment Generator from My tools.
  2. Under «The Treatment Sections», answer the question for each of the six sections. Watch the word count and the flags under each answer. «Load Worked Example» shows a finished set.
  3. Press «Generate my treatment».
  4. Read the score, the verdict, the path and what the analysis noticed.
  5. Work through the three priority moves, strengthen the weakest answers and run it again.
  6. Press «Download PDF» to keep the report.

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