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Day 8 Assignments
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Eric Humble’s Profound Ending
What I learned doing this assignment is: I don’t think I realized, even going into this class, how much I’ve struggled in the past with creating endings that deliver the message or theme I’m going for. Once again, I found myself procrastinating over this assignment; I think because perfectionism and frustration crept in when I started to realize that I never seem to think through the final beats of the script on this level. But after finally sitting down to brainstorm the questions this model has provided, I think I have something that is much more powerful than anything I would have come up with without this guidance. I’m excited to see how these modifications play out in my outline and eventual script!
What is your Profound Truth and how will it be delivered powerfully in your ending?
-POTUS sees one of the refugees at gunpoint, by security (maybe it’s not NATO security, it’s Russian security) – and it sinks in how much danger he’s putting real people in.
-He and Natalia are invited to a ceremony at the White House – even though they’ve been sworn to secrecy. They criticize the catering. Then Raf is offered a network with the biggest NATO investors. He doesn’t take it – he knows now that he can make enough of a difference right where he is. Recommends Natalia.
-He takes over her food for refugees organization to allow her to be the success that he deprived her of before.
How do your lead characters (Change Agent and Transformable Characters) come to an end in a way that represents the completed change?
Raf – starts as looking out for himself because he believes only the powerful can make a difference – and he’ll never be that powerful.
Completion:
-He makes the deal with the Russian president
-He puts the pressure on him – will tell the others – has, in fact, prepared an after-dinner cocktail that spells it out
-doesn’t allow the Russian president to intimidate him – right now, you’re just a customer and this is my kitchen
Natalia –
-hesitant to do something beyond her charity because there is no worthy successor now that Victor is dead
-but Raf jumps in and starts pitching her on ideas for distribution – has some connections, powerful people who are regulars there. Next time he’s in, I’ll talk to him. “And if he doesn’t go for it?” Raf: “I’ll keep asking until I find someone who will.”
She accepts the offer to open a restaurant in Paris, knowing that her organization is in good hands.
What are the setup/payoffs that complete in the end of this movie, giving it deep meaning?
Ending: Raf makes the deal with the Russian president. Pressures him. Has POTUS in his corner. It will be just a retreat – no getting Moldova to save face.
-In doubt: By the time dessert rolls around, POTUS commits to the treaty – an end to hostilities, and Russia gets Moldova. This crushes the Moldovan president to see his NATO colleagues throw him under the bus.
-In doubt: MM4 – he uses food to get information out of the NATO head of security – and it doesn’t work. These are important things with important people, and he’s just the cook. You can’t stand up to power. He should have kept his head down and known his place.
-In doubt: he finds the refugees – they prepared a robust protest, a pitch to the president. But they’re weak from a month without food. They can’t present themselves like this.
-In doubt: Joseph turns him in – lets the NATO head of security into the kitchen. Because you can’t stand up to people in power. They threatened his family, his career, and threw jail time at him.
SETUPS FOR TWISTS:
MM1: It’s billed as a G7 Energy Summit to address to the oil crisis, a result of Russia’s war with Ukraine and NATO boycotting Russian oil.
But when he gets there, the security is stricter than he imagined – because, secretly, the Russian president has arrived to negotiate peace, with POTUS as NATO’s lead negotiator. This is a much higher-stakes gathering than anyone knew… and the locked-down security isn’t playing around.
Leiber is POTUS’s advisor, constantly pushing that POTUS cannot let Russia invade Moldova or position itself to invade as part of the peace deal. But in actuality, Leiber is plotting to kill POTUS just before the treaty is signed so he and a cabal of NATO officials can renegotiate – and hand Moldova to Russia in exchange for Russia’s oil.
SETUPS FOR REAL ENDING:
Raf’s business partner talks about how Raf got up the courage to pitch him once when he was a line cook – and it led to this four-star restaurant. But Raf hasn’t had to sell himself since.
POTUS is conflicted about the deal, but his advisors – Leiber chief among them – advises that not letting Russia invade Moldova is what’s best for the world.
The drunken president of Moldova rails against the NATO leaders, accusing them of publicly pledging support but privately sharpening their knives to throw his country at Russia as a pawn to save their own economies.
How are you designing it to have us see an inevitable ending and then making it surprising when it happens?
The ultimate peace deal is the arrangement stated at the outset – that the world leaders won’t allow the Russian president to invade the country of Moldova… but we throw that into jeopardy when the plan becomes evident that POTUS will be killed and a separate accord signed allowing the opposite. It’s up to Raf, an ordinary person, to thwart the whole plan and back the Russian president down. But his journey is to go from someone who believes an ordinary person can’t change anything when it comes to rich and powerful people to someone who believes an ordinary person can change the world, so the journey is indicating that it’s possible.
What is the Parting Image/Line that leaves us with the Profound Truth in our minds?
SETUP: In MM1, he disparages his girlfriend for organizing a protest outside a local NRA office in the wake of a recent shooting. Nothing’s going to change, and the rally’s going to disperse when people finally get too cold and go home, just like it always does – because the bigwigs inside use their influence to hold up the media until the crowd is gone.
PAYOFF: His girlfriend and a group of people huddle in the cold outside the office building, with a bullhorn and signs. From inside, the CEO dismisses them – they’ll disperse soon; look at them. Everyone’s cold, tired, and hungry… Orders his TV network contact to wait until there’s only a few of them, then send the news crew they were promised…
…but Raf shows up with a fleet of vans bringing hot coffee and food. Media will be here soon – get ready to give ‘em hell.
We see he has a ring case in his hand, which he pockets. His girlfriend wants to know what he wanted to talk about. Raf: It can wait. Go change the world first.
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