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Lesson 5
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Lesson 5 – 4-Act Transforaminal Structure Assignment
I learned that my ideas and pacing are not yet fitting great structure yet but 2<sup>nd</sup> time thru was better – fumbling forward.
• Concept – While on an errand to reclaim birthright an emotional wallflower learns he’s not getting menopause, its superpowers
• Main Conflict – Learns of injustices in homeland and must find and defeat the evil forces
• Old Ways – give up, all-talk-no-go, negotiate logically
• New Ways – when invited to a fight then fighting is only polite
Act 1:
• Opening – preps for reading of will so everything will maintain the same, no changes/growth
• Inciting Incident – final request to regain birthright – given necklace to ‘open doors’
• Turning Point – puts on necklace, makes travel arrangements
Act 2:
• New plan/Reaction – Lost in new place, even the medical doctor is just some witch, new guide is only hope
• Plan in action – Everything seems to go wrong and physical menopause issues hold her back
• Midpoint Turning Point – learns husband has been shadowing her, guide is evil, and pains aren’t explainable by menopause
Act 3:
• Rethink everything – new program must use superpowers – test those out more, must fight evil – how to actively protect husband and people
• New plan – identify new strengths and villian’s weakness, using husband to strategize put him in harm’s way
• Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift – pumped for battle and using powers but villian’s weakness was a rouse and they land in an actual ancient dungeon
Act 4:
• Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict – embracing advice from witch uses different power to defeat the villain
• Resolution – has new position from freeing people from oppression and a new relationship with husband
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Chris’s 4 Act Transformational Structure
What I learned doing this assignment is it’s critical to “follow the process” and also let ideas percolate over time (write by day, dream by night). Our brains are built to accept story – if we do it right.
First draft of 4 Act Transformational Structure.
We follow the life of an exceptional man hell bent on “independent
thought” following the guidance of Henry David Thoreau and his own path. Real world and his world clash as his
secret schizoid personality disorder offers resistance to his persistence.Main Conflict:
our hero v the world in terms of his POV v realityOld Ways: Bull
and pushNew Ways: getting to peace in attempt to get his 2 heroes
togetherAct 1:
Opening: a boy
born into Levittown, hating Catholic school (mean, uneducated nuns), and
watching his local horse farm neighborhood carved and excavated into suburbia.Inciting Incident:
High School is out and off to central Maine!
Turning Point:
Fired! From his first attempt
to work in the public sector.Act 2:
New plan: start
a farm and familyPlan in action:
history genius, great coach, farmer, philosopherMidpoint Turning Point:
his mentor diesAct 3:
Rethink everything:
his “Walden” moment as the farm goes into bankruptcy and he
divorces in tough economic times.New plan: Put it
in a book. Begins to write about “what
we have lost” to sort out our local and global shiftTurning Point – Huge failure / Major shift: loses the “new girl” helping him with his books as his secret
schizoid gets in the way (again)Act 4:
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: As our hero approaches a hospice state,
everything comes into focus re the environment, politics, the economy.Resolution. As
he fades away, his heroes finally unite at the base of Mt. Katahdin and we
sense that “now comes good sailing” (Thoreau’s last words)-
This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by Chris Spizuoco.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by Chris Spizuoco.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by
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ASSIGNMENT – DAY FIVE
Create a first draft of your 4 Act Transformational Structure.
Doug: What I learned from this assignment is a potential way to structure the flow of action in this somewhat complicated story – so that I can proceed with a reasonable amount of confidence that I’ll be able to build a coherent and (hopefully) thrilling narrative that will also convey the thematic concerns and character change and development I am hoping to accomplish!
1. Give us the following:
Concept – penniless newcomer seeks his fortune in NYC real estate – to save the folks back home, as well as for his own life goals.<div>
Main Conflict – he falls in with predatory criminal real estate sharks – just as he is realizing that this is not how he wants to deal with people and life – and he becomes determined to save the people and neighborhood the criminal sharks are intending to plunder.
Old Ways – Nick’s street-smart “swimming with the sharks” default mode of operation.
New Ways – helping the people and neighborhood he is working with to win, as well as the various buyers and money people he is working with – so it is no longer a zero-sum game, but “win-win” value added situation.
2. Fill in each of these with the answers you have right now.
Act 1:
Opening – Nick arrives at JFK – sees the iconic skyline, dreams of great success, but the challenge of the big, impersonal city. (Prior to this, though, we have a spooky scene inside the mansion – where Alice, the elderly daughter or the original owner, falls down the stairs – or was she pushed? – and dies, setting up the possibility of the mansion’s sale by her grandson, Carl)</div><div>
Inciting Incident – Under the watchful eye of the “Mastery of the Craft” (Brown Harris Stevens real estate poster – a real thing) – Nick avenges the rude behavior of a well-healed guy in the baggage claim area by using his street-skills to pick his pocket and get both his wallet and passport! He extracts a number of $100 bills – checks out the passport – and though he is about to toss the rest into a nearby trashcan, he relents and tells an airport employee that he “found the wallet and passport on the ground” – gives it to him – as he sees the guy being met by the person we later learn is Shania, who is escorting him through customs with VIP treatment. Nick grins and gives her a wink – as he hands over the passport and mostly emptied wallet to the airport employee (to make an announcement, etc). And then (maybe) as he’s getting ready to leave the airport (a moment later) – he sees a homeless person with a cat on a leash – gives him/her one of the $100’s just as airport security is “moving them along”.
Turning Point – much later – Nick has gotten his real estate license (a few weeks down the line) having gotten the inspiration from the poster and the skyline – and then, obtaining the wherewithal from the rude guy’s wallet. Then, once he’s gotten his start – the turning point is when his real estate mentor in his new company is murdered at an open house – causing Nick to realize that something is very wrong and he needs to find out what is really going on and set things right.
Act 2:
New plan – He starts to research the history of the Harlem mansion he is working to sell – learns of the criminal-numbers runner/philanthropist who formerly owned it, in the Harlem Renaissance days – how, he, too, was a shark swimming in predatory seas, but who also was a major hero in his community, supporting schools, local businesses, and community residents (this guy is a fictional version of a real figure). As a result, Nick starts to rethink what he’s doing and remembers his own goal in “making it big” – to help the kids back home. I think it will be a bit later that he acts upon his murdered mentor’s dying revelation that Nick should “check out his laptop” (spoken with his dying breath)…. So that is yet to come.</div><div>
Plan in action – So – he starts to realize that he cares about the various people who will be impacted by the major changes coming to their neighborhood – the HDFC cooperative apartment with many families living there that is being driven into bankruptcy so the “real estate concerns” can acquire it – the church whose minister has pretty much sold his parishioners out – and the mansion itself, with an amazing historic legacy. So – he’s going to have to break into his mentor’s home and access his laptop – and learn the truth – that the buyer’s actual plan (the buyer being the money laundering concern represented by his own real estate company, and, therefore, by him) is to, basically, destroy the entire block through an “accidental gas explosion” – hey, it happens in NYC – which will allow them to bypass all the various local landmarking and rent-stabilization and attorney general protections – bulldoze everything, and erect their 35 story steel and glass money laundering machine – and “clean” ongoing tens of millions of dollars through it, in multiple stages – notwithstanding the fact that this course of action will be depriving dozens of families of their homes, myriad parishioners of their house of worship, and a community of an iconic monumental residence of a former community hero.
Midpoint Turning Point – so Nick is going to change everything he’s doing – now working to save the community apartment house, the church site – and the mansion he’d been on the verge of selling (actually, I think this one has already gone into contract) – and finds himself arrayed against a formidable array of international criminals, including the mother of his (he thinks/hopes) girlfriend – who is the mastermind of this whole plan.
Act 3:
Rethink everything – Yes – well, as above – it’s a major shift.</div><div>
New plan – he’s going to try to recruit individual buyers for the cooperative apartments, to attempt to generate enough money for it to buy itself out of the debt that is forcing it into foreclosure (with the purchase by the criminal consortium through a foreclosure auction a foregone, already bought-and-paid-for, conclusion) – working to help the minister redeem himself from selling out his congregation (though that is going to look hopeless) – and to figure out what is really going on with the mansion and, maybe, to find out more about the legends of “treasure” buried within its walls.
Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift – The minister has a “subway accident” and dies, before he can, we think, succeed in voiding the sale, We’ll later find out that he did, in fact, raise a red flag sufficient for the NYC Attorney General (who has the authority to approve the sales of all church properties in NYC, or not) to void the sale – and – the life-insurance plan the minister had taken out on himself, listing his church as the beneficiary, will (belatedly) rescue the church from bankruptcy and the need to sell – but this will come to light a bit later… hopefully redeeming him from his “12 pieces of silver” actions taken earlier.
Act 4:
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict – well, with all this going on – and all the various interpersonal conflicts between Nick, his company, Shania, her mom, and the rest of the high-powered international, bloodthirsty crooks – the sale of the mansion is still going through. Carl – the heir – who is selling it – can’t afford to void the contract because the resultant legal action would more than ruin him – and the triumphant buyer (the same nasty guy Nick encountered at the airport) is insisting on his right of a “final walkthrough” before the sale goes through the next day. His real motive is to get rid of Nick and Athena’s pesky daughter, Shania, in what is intended to be an incredibly sad gas explosion – which will not only destroy the mansion (thus removing it from its “landmarked” protection) – but also blow out a large part of the next-door cooperative apartment, rendering the need to sell that building essential – and, maybe even spreading down the gas-line to the church property – so that there’s no way it could be saved – and so the sale may yet go through – thus giving them (as planned) control of the entire block and to enable them to come in as a “neighborhood saviors” to buy, demolish, and rebuild (as they had always planned) their 35 story money laundering “machine” that will secure their multi-million dollar cashflow for many, many years to come. (PS there was a significant amount of pre-planning that has gone into all this demolition, with subsidiary charges planted at all the requisite properties- so that the “apparent cause” of the explosions will trigger these, as well, generating enough explosive force that “everything will come down” – apparently all from the same source of the initial explosion at the mansion, so “arson” will not be an issue. With Nick and Shania killed in the explosion (possibly the owner of the mansion, Carl, as well?) Because they all have gotten way too problematic to be allowed to live.</div><div>
Resolution – Well – Nick and Shania are able to defeat the bad guys – with, maybe, the ghostly help of the original owner (hahaha – whose name, in real life, was Casper – so why not?) and maybe his daughter (the one who died mysteriously in the opening) and save their lives, the block, and the day! Oh – and they will also discover “the treasure” hidden in the mansion – which is the deed (in Casper’s name – and thus inherited by his heir, Carl) to the land underlying the modern “State House” on the most valuable land in Harlem! You see, Casper, in addition to his numbers-running endeavors, had also created a legitimate mortgage funding company – and, though somehow the actual ownership of the land had been surreptitiously covered over following Casper’s death – it is, in fact a legitimate deed. It will be kept very quiet, but the City of New York will voluntarily agree to pay Carl and his subsequent heirs a very reasonable “land-lease” for the property, in perpetuity. Which Carl plans to use to maintain the mansion as a historic monument and carry on with his great-grandfather’s philanthropic neighborhood activities. And, in an epilogue – Nick and Shania will be returning to the orphanage that Nick had been determined to save… and, well, saving it, as well!
3. Once you have created the 4-Act Structure for your Protagonist, go back over it to see if there is any big picture points you need to add to represent your Antagonist. – Yes, there will be a lot, I am sure, but I am going to let that wait for a bit, as the dust settles and for the next generation of ideas to germinate.
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The Sacred Kingdom 4 Act Transformational Structure
What I learned doing this assignment: trying to nail the major events without going into too much detail.
Create a first draft of your 4 Act Transformational Structure.
1. Give us the following:
Concept
A young prince battles the Otherworldy forces of a dark Presence to liberate his captive father and save the Sacred Kingdom of Avanti in ancient India.
Main Conflict
He wants to be king but is he worthy without his father’s validation. And can he be king if his father who vanished two years ago, disapproves of him?
And does he have the right to or the skills to fend off a powerful enemy in his father’s absence?
Old Ways
He has exceptional physical and personality based qualities but lacks the inner resources that would help him conquer his fears that he won’t be a worthy king without his father’s validation.
Relies on outward qualities and is easily distracted.
Misses raise and popularity .
New Ways
realises his outer skills and status will not resolve his issues
doesn’t rely on praise or help
Becomes proactive and takes the initiative
He takes a decision to act without the validation or help of his father.
2. Fill in each of these with the answers you have right now.
Act 1:
Opening
Akaash is outhunting with his pals when he spots a boar and chases it into a dark glade. A misty world. A fire. A rhythmic chant. An air of evil. The boar traps him against a tree-trunk. He’s about to sever it’s head but surprisingly lets it go. He cannot understand what made him do it. Is he losing his mojo?
Inciting Incident
A powerful enemy is preparing to attack. He must be crowned immediately since this is a sacred city and can only be attacked if a descendent of the sky-god Indra is not on the throne. To save Avanti, he must agree to be crowned despite the fear of failing.
Turning Point
Akaash’s mother tsays he lacks the wisdom and values necessary to be a king. It’s like a slap in the face.
Act 2:
New plan
With the help of his mother and his childhood sweetheart Mohini, he slips out of a secret tunnel to the gates of the palace. Mohini gives him a memory gem containing the tears of her mother.
He finds Yogi Shantsheel who tells Akaash his uncle Hari threw Vikram into the infernal regions not made king though he was the older brother. Akaash must capture him before he completes his meditation to trap Vikram permanently. Akaash is disillusioned.
Plan in action
The Yogi Shantsheel tells Akaash his uncle Hari threw Vikram into the infernal regions not made king though he was the older brother. Akaash must capture him before he completes his meditation to trap Vikram permanently.
Bored of trekking out on his own, Akaash is constantly distracted, he hunts, he eats, he sleeps, practice his skills, then bored, activates the talisman. A scruffy donkey appears. He is Akaash’s grandfather, transformed into a donkey by the old Yogi for destroying decades of penance and meditation for a prank, just as the gods were about to grant his desire. Akaash is shocked by the unpleasant truths about his ancestors. He’s worried his father ill make the younger brother king.
Midpoint Turning Point
(Some hint about redeeming cruel actions by showing kindness.) Grandfather tells Akaash he has lost sight of his goal and will not meet Hari’s deadline. He tries to tell him Hari will help him, but Akaash rejects his view. He’ll get there in time to stop Hari, retrieve his father from the infernal regions and fix it all. Grandfather suddenly asks about his mother and his sweetheart and what might become of them if he doesn’t get things going. He uses the Talisman to find his father. There’s an explosion. The Talisman cannot be exploited to get to the goal. It implodes. The easy option has backfired. Grandfather tells him that this behaviour is exactly what Vikram doubted Akaash’s worthiness to be king.
Act 3:
Rethink everything
Akaash runs through the forests, shattered, trying to clear his brain. He is ready to take the quest seriously. Grandfather slow, frustrated that so much time has been wasted calls out in frustration to Indra for help. The next moment, he soars into the heavens, light as a feather, crying out that Akaash’s passion has given him flight.
They see Hari’s saffron-robed figure perched on he edge of a precipice, deep in prayer. Grandfather warns Akaash that the old yogi has placed him there with promises of redemption. If he fails he’ll fall into the demonic region
Akash disrupts his meditation with moments to go. Hari hurls missiles at him. In the fury battle Hari both fall into the infernal region. As Akaash leaps after him, a stinking corpse attaches itself to him.
New plan
Akaash wakes up in splendour, healed and pampered in the deep-sea kingdom of Vasuki, the 7-headed cobra king. But his father is not here. The corpse tells Akaash that Vikram rescued him years ago and it has sworn to guard his progeny if they need his help. It nags Akaash to continue his search.
A hand-maiden of the cobra-queen gives Akaash helps him by giving him a magical stone from the crown of Vasuki to help him escape with Hari and the corpse. Furious, Vasuki raises one obstacle after another.
At the boundary of the deep-sea kingdom a massive reef appears, blocking their path. Akaash slumps down, defeated. They are trapped.
Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift
The Yogi tells Akaash to prostrate himself before Kali and instead hurls him into the sacrificial flames.
Act 4:
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict
Akaash is pulled out by a gang of witches and finds himself in Indira’s heaven. He sees his father and brother but they don’t recognise him. Instead of falling into the, euphoric atmosphere, he struggles to revive their memory. He shows his brother the memory gem.
They see the forces of the enemy king on the borders of the Sacred kingdom.
At the sight of a Sacred City under attack, both Vikram and Dharma say they will fight with him against the enemy. Vikram still doesn’t recognise Akaash or recall that this is his kingdom.
Resolution
A massive battle begins. Shanthsheel and his magic on one side, supporting the enemy. Akaash on the other side. Vikram’s memory returns and he acknowledges Akaash who fights with passion while still showing kindness to the wounded and fearful. Vikran dies. After a brief set-back Akaash fights back. The Goddess Kali, enraged by an attack on the City and its women joins Akaash’s efforts and destroys the Yogi. (Throughout, she has been testing him by pretending to be a helpless but cantankerous woman who wants to be carried on his shoulders.)
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This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by Shahrukh Shackle.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by
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Marilynne’s 4 Act Transformational Structure
What I learned doing this assignment is that it is challenging to keep “upping the stakes” without relying on more of the same strategies.
First draft of my 4 Act Transformational Structure.
Concept: After discovering she can heal human injuries in a Virtual Reality program a future researcher is unable to complete the treatment to save her son.
Main Conflict: An unknown saboteur wants control of the new technology and will do anything to get it, including killing the researcher and her son.
Researcher OLD Ways:
1. Doesn’t question authority figures; lets others determine her path
2. Dedicated and driven to doing the best research in the world
3. Unable to see how a past wound prevents her from succeeding
Researcher NEW Ways:
1. Self-confident, not afraid to voice her opinion and “kick ass” where she needs to
2. Recognizes her team’s knowledge and skills
3. Released from her wound and able to focus on moving forward
Act 1:
Opening: Isy discovers she can temporarily heal wounds in her Virtual Human Project. A bizarre accident in a trial scenario interferes with her testing and a key team member quits. <s></s>
Inciting Incident: An androgenous figure dressed in black randomly robs a local convenience store where Isy’s son Roberto is shot and sustains a life threatening spinal injury. He will die without her Virtual Healing intervention, but she can only make temporary repairs and can’t figure out why.
Turning Point: Isy is close to finding the answer (for her son) when a similar figure in black gains entry to their secure environment. It causes a crash in the virtual test of a motocross race scenario and comes close to seriously injuring Isy.
Act 2:
New plan: Focus on finding out how and why someone is sabotaging the Virtual Human Program (VHP); investigate possible suspects that would have something to gain by destroying her project
Plan in action: Initially Isy and her team simply react to incidents – repair the damage; work backwards to figure out how it happened; develop possible reasons for why, eg. if find a programming glitch when running a test recreate the work, double check accuracy and then determine who could be responsible, who would benefit (?government, ?military, ?industry)
Turning Point/Midpoint: The figure in black is in the real world (is it the same one at the convenience store? What does this mean for VHP and real world cross-overs?) and sitting at Isy’s desk when she arrives for work. It threatens her and her son’s lives. Review of their security records reveal a shadowy black figure physically in the lab as well as on multiple computer monitors.
Act 3:
Rethink everything: Isy realizes she needs ideas from the whole team and includes them in developing a plan to catch the infamous “ghost in the machine.” Start to think seriously about who might be doing this and why. Rules out the military who it turns out are funding part of her research.
New plan: Upgrade physical and electronic security. Develop a plan for taking down/attacking the figure in black. Team members start round the clock monitoring of the virtual and physical spaces; reset access codes to the VHP
Turning Point 3: Huge failure / Major shift: Isy attempts to temporarily repair Roberto’s spine damage to give her more time to find the error that’s preventing a permanent change. The figure in black interferes in the treatment and nearly kills Roberto.
Act 4:
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Isy is again attacked in a virtual test of an extreme sport. But this time she’s ready and aggressively knocks out it’s race car, sending it crashing to the side in flames.
Resolution: At the last moment Isy repairs Roberto’s spine.
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4 Act Transformational Structure
David Bruno
(“What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.)
I’ve learned the flow of events in my story.
CREATING YOUR FOUR-ACT STRUCTURE
1.
List Concept
AN EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGIST, OBSESSED WITH THE MISSING LINK THEORY, SPECULATES THAT MAN IS NOT OF THIS EARTH. AND WHILE DODGING GOVERNMENT EFFORTS TO THWART HIS ATTEMPTS TO DISCOVER WHERE HOMO-SAPIENS CAME FROM, IT IS REVEALED TO HIM THAT ALIENS HAD PLACED MAN ON EARTH AS THE POPULATION OF A PENAL COLONY.
Main Conflict
Protag wants to discover the secrets about aliens on earth.
The antag wants to conceal it.
Old Ways:
Protag: A college professor teaching the science of evolutionary biology from the university approved textbooks and curriculum, grading papers, chumming it up with the fellow faculty and trying to not screw up his bid for tenure.
Antag: A career official at the NSA shuffles paper and redacts secret documents for the press. Carries out surveillance on those who would threaten national security, real or just politically imagined.
New Ways
Protag: after having an encounter of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd kind and the conflict with the NSA revealed, Alistar intensifies his search for the facts and truth that may lead to him confirming his theory of Homo-sapiens are from another planet put here by aliens.
Antag: because of Alistar’s investigations into aliens he is promoted and briefed on his new position and responsibilities and powers to act on intrusions into aliens on earth. He has been given license to dispatch those who are too close to the state secrets concerning aliens.
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.2. Act 1: Set up and see Old Ways.
Opening: (Introduce us to the lead characters in action. Show us the Old Ways as their natural way of being.)
Alistar is teaching a class on the ‘Fermi Paradox’, i.e.,The FERMI PARADOX is the conflict between the lack of clear, obvious evidence for extraterrestrial life and various high estimates for their existence.
(Set us up for the journey that starts with the Inciting Incident.)
Many of Alistar’s students want to go to the location where the aliens have been sighted frequently. Alistar arranges a field trip to the Mojave desert where the Nevada triangle exists.
Inciting Incident: (This is the call to go on the journey. It creates the opportunity to live outside the box and take on the New Ways.)
During the field trip an actual alien spacecraft is sighted. Many students are skeptical but Alistar is taken in by it’s realism and unworldliness.
Turning Point: (Lock in the journey. There is no going back from here.)
THE TURNING POINT IS THE INCITING INCIDENT!
The antag is dealing with paperwork and secret docs to redact and is investigating Alistar’s field trip to the Mojave desert. He sends a student to spy on Alistar to gather data of his investigation.
3. Act 2:— Challenge the Old Ways.
Reaction: (They are now outside the box. It is uncomfortable, maybe unbearable. But the Hero can’t go back. They must move forward in some way.)
Alistar offers the students who saw the 1st kind of encounter that it may be experimental aircraft from Area 51 not to far from their location and that the area is a MOA, “Military Operation Area”. Yet, he is still unconvinced it is ‘not’ an alien spacecraft with advanced technology. He’s conflicted about pursuing this explanation that he gives to the student for the sake of their emotional stability, the conventional beliefs of the university, and their position on these issues concerning the Fermi Paradox.
The Plan: (He struggles, flails, and try’s the first plan that comes to mind… which will quickly fail.)
In his class after the field trip, he goes over other explanations taken from questionable resources with the class and is refuted by the students from their own experience.
(With every step, he uses the Old Ways, but they don’t work. Those Old Ways are challenged from lightly to heavily.)
He continues to offer the excuses that the university would approve but the students protest they feel they are being bullshitted. Later, he is visited by the NSA and is interrogated concerning his experience and those of his students. Typical style and method of the original interrogations of the local towns people that witnessed the first ‘weather balloon’ in 1947 only now the intrusive power of the NSA is much deeper and more comprehensive. Alistar placates the NSA official and is given a faux pass because of his status in the academic world. The NSA official is unconvinced of his cooperation and determines to continue his investigation of Alistar.
Remember, all it takes to challenge the Old Ways is to simply have them not work. You don’t need to have the characters lecture them or directly spell out their Old Ways in dialogue. For now, just create a list of attempts to solve the problem or to make themselves feel better… then have those actions fail or make things worse.
Turning Point 2: MIDPOINT: The journey is still moving in the same direction, but the meaning has changed in a big way that shifts the status quo.
Alistar is now on alert about the NSA and no longer believes he is safe from harm, either socially (his career), or otherwise (his life) if he continues his investigations.
4. Act 3: (With Midpoint change, Profound moments that give us new ways.)
Alistar pauses and re-evaluates his information about government coverups and misinformation. He now realizes that the government agency, NSA, is at the heart of the concealment of the truth for whatever reason. He is more determined that ever, believing that forewarned is forearmed. He disregards the interest of the students and continues his investigation into the presents of aliens on earth and the origins of the Homo-sapiens. He seeks to find out who is spying on him in his class.
(This could involve training sequences, bringing on new partners, or taking actions they never would have taken during the first half of the movie.)
Alistar contacts his long time and trusted friend, Max. An archeologist working on a dig in Egypt, looking for alien artifacts. They connect at his dig and Alistar briefs Max about recent events. Max tells Alistar that he is fearful for being on the same path since they both believe homo-sapiens were brought here from another planet. As Max uncovers a piece of alien spacecraft he lifts up out of a hole and raises his arms in a victorious stance. A shot rings out and Max’s chest cavity is eviscerated from a high powered bullet. Alistar now knows how serious of a dilemma he is in. He escapes with the help of a tribe of Bedouin and is returned to his home. The antag is in a facility with a lead chamber with an alien strapped to a exam table with a bucket of acid and cyanide pellets suspended about the bucket. The operator looks at the alien and then to the antag. The antag nods his head and the operator pulls a level lowering the pellets into the bucket of acid release the poisonous gas. The alien struggles desperately for several minutes, changing colors and crying out in the most shrill voice imaginable. The antag verifies the remote vital sign instrument that the alien has been dispatched. He lifts his phone and says, ‘It’s done’ and walks out of the facility.
5. Act 4: (Test the change in this character! Prove New Ways!)
Alistar returns to the location of the field trip and walks for days during a academic break. He hikes into several areas until he sees over a ridge an encampment of unusual space craft and sees aliens walking from place to place. He waits and observes from miles away. Suddenly, all of the aliens scurry as if to avoid an attack. A predator drone releases a thermobaric bomb that is the most powerful available also destroying the drone. Alistar is saved by his distance from the attack site. He has recorded the entire event on his camera. After several hours he ventures into the encampment to investigate. He finds an alien still alive and tries to comfort him. The alien is grateful. Alistar ask him the question he has been seeking to answer all his life… “is modern man from another planet?” The alien chokes at his question and replies, “Yes, we placed the Homo-sapiens here as the population of a penal colony”. Alistar is shocked beyond belief and says “no, no, no. That can’t be”. The alien looks at him and says; “you’ve come a long way from bows and arrow… just look around you! And this is a small thing compared to thermonuclear… “ And the alien dies. Alistar hears in the distance the hum of drone propellers and takes cover… He walks out of the encampment in the cover of night back home to his office.
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What I learned is: the importance of planning scenes and pacing the plot to achieve balance and keep the audience engaged.
<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Fair Market Value
Concept: After being left homeless and powerless by a scammer who stole her house, Monique Stevenson learns to navigate the legal world to win back her identity and send a powerful lesson to the scammer.
Main Conflict: Monique is up against seemingly insurmountable odds – a young Latina woman doesn’t seem plausible as the owner of a luxurious Southern California estate, so no one believes her when she claims the title to her house was stolen. At every turn she finds cold shoulders, deaf ears, and closed doors
Monique Old Ways:
Old Identity: Aggressive and abrasive drunk who doesn’t mince words.Sees everyone as her opponent.Covers her insecurity with bluster and bravado.
Monique NEW Ways:
New Identity: a kinder, gentler Monica who doesn’t drink or pick fights.Returns to her roots and rediscovers the strength that allowed her to leave in the first place.Starts reconnecting with her family and finds a softer side of her character.
2. Act 1: 25 to 30 pages — Set up and see Old Ways.
Opening: Monique is sitting in the backyard of a suburban Seattle house. She is very drunk and is being aggressive and belligerent towards her husband and their two friends.
Inciting Incident: Monique finally pushes her husband too far, and he stalks out of the backyard, into the path of an oncoming car. He is killed instantly.
Turning Point 1: An oblivious Monique comes to the slow realization that her friends and coworkers believe she is to blame for her husband’s death.
3. Act 2: 20 to 30 pages — Challenge the Old Ways.
Reaction: Feeling shunned by her friends and coworkers, Monique packs up her life and heads to Southern California, and the house her husband left for her.
The Plan: Monique plans to take some time off and enjoy life – on her own terms. She plans an elaborate and tacky remodel for the house.
Turning Point 2: Plans come to a screeching halt when she returns home to discover a stranger who claims her house is actually his – worse, the police believe him! He seems to have all his paperwork in order, and she is forced to retreat to a homeless shelter.
New plan: Monique needs to prove her identity – and she needs the help of her estranged friends and family. She realizes she has no one to help her, so she has to rely on her brains and courage.
4. Act 3: 20 to 30 pages — With Midpoint change, Profound moments that give us new ways.
New Plan: Lawyers, policemen and real estate agents are no help. By chance, Monique discovers the scammer has several accomplices.
Turning Point 3: She sets out to methodically build a case against her enemy – and discovers a newfound patience and meekness. She is willing to go with the flow and follow all the rules if it means a chance at reclaiming her identity and property.
5. Act 4: 25 pages — Test the change in this character! Prove New Ways!
Climax: The Courtroom fight. Monique and her lawyer present all the evidence she’s unearthed. The scammer has created a series of identities and shell corporations to steal several properties. He attempts to charm his way out of a jail sentence and is successful. He receives a two-year parole, and Monique’s property and identity is restored.
Resolution: On the courtroom steps, Monique approaches the scammer, makes meaningful eye contact and shoots him directly in the heart. She is arrested and jailed but gains compassionate release. She retreats to her home which she has turned into a hospice care center. Her mother and sister are with her when she passes from complications related to AIDS.
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Aina’s 4-act Transformational Structure
What I learned doing this assignment is that the first time round the structure can be main beats only, and this makes it far more easier to approach the whole building of the story.
1.
Concept: when city family elf Urr’s family moves to the country, Urr is ready to do anything to get them to move back to the city, where it’s easier to protect the family from dark shadows and themselves.
Main Conflict: farm house elf Velbas wants Urr out of his house but to keep the family – Urr refuses to go because the family is his life line.
Old Ways:
Quiet loner – stays away from everyone – prefers his own company
Ignorant of other mystical beings & his own history
Snobbish – false belief in his own greatness
Fear of conflict keeps him indoors
Rigidly set in his ways – rituals to look after the family – superstitious
New Ways:
Fun leader who says very little
Aware of old myths and his part in the elf-lore
Dares to look out and have friends, and enemies
Still prefers his own company but is happy to have others to turn to around him
Knows change cannot be avoided
Braver than before
Accepts his nature as a mischievous elf
2. Act 1 – Set up and see Old Ways
Opening: Montage of Urr’s life: Xmas – Urr is left cookies and cream under Xmas tree, Urr doing his rituals, connected with family, shadows in the corner of a room, family argument, Urr fends shadows off, all good. Family collects boxes, talk of moving. Excitement.
Inciting Incident: as the family is leaving, daughter asks if their family elf comes along, parents say yes. At the last minute Urr packs his things and moves with the family.
Urr explores his new home – an old farm house, needs a lot of work. And bumps into Velbas and his daughter. Velbas wants the intruder out. And Urr wants to get away from this place – too big to keep an eye on the whole family.
Turing Point: Urr makes a deal with Velbas, together they will do all they can to get the family to move back to the city.
3. Act 2 – Challenge the Old Ways
The Plan: Urr and Velbas come up with a plan to leave an impression that the house is falling apart – if there’s one thing the father hates most, it’s things not going to plan, and Urr plans to use his as a way to get them to move out.
Reaction: Urr finds Velbas rather unpleasant. Urr does not like the idea of creating hardship for his family but he listens to the old elf out of respect, and pushes his own ideas to the background. He is not sure how to co-operate – it is difficult for him.
Plan in action: Velbas helps Urr to create havoc in the house, but in fact Velbas only lets to crash/trash things that are already broken. The Father is annoyed, but keeps fixing things and this ties the family even stronger to the house.
Threat: the shadows begin to creep in through the cracks in the relationship
Midpoint Turning Point: Urr finds out that Velbas has been working against him, he wants only Urr out and to keep the family in order to help his house to prosper again.
4. Act 3 – Profound moments that give us new ways
Urr is exhausted from going against his nature and creating chaos instead of harmony. On top of that the shadows have returned and although family loves the new house, there are more disagreements than ever before.
Urr sits down with his only friend, Velbas’ young daughter and realises:
Respect for elders nor being polite is not helping him
He must stand up for himself and his family
He must get wiser and stronger to fight the shadows – saving the family becomes main goal
New plan: save the family from themselves and the shadows first and then figure out a way of getting them away from the farm and back to the city
Begins mending and fixing the house, leading farm elves to help along (everyone finds their purpose again) and training to be stronger to fight the shadows.
Turning point: the house is good, the family is happy, Urr has done his job, he decides to leave the family and call himself defeated, Velbas has won.
5. Act 4 – The change in Urr. Prove New Ways.
Urr walks off into the night day before Xmas Eve, but decides he cannot leave his family like this, he must stand up for what is his. He turns to go back but gets lost in the snowstorm.
Farm elves find him and help him get back. Farm needs him – the shadows have emerged larger than before and Velbas cannot handle them by himself.
Climax: Urr and Velbas and all farm elves fight off the shadows.
Resolution: cookies and milk under Xmas tree, Urr and farm elves celebrate the victory. Velbas moves to stables, leaving house to his daughter and Urr.
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Tully’s 4 Act Transformational Structure
What I learned doing this assignment is that I need to stop thinking of the antagonist as another character we’re also following, who’ll need an arc, and instead think of him as a rolling boulder, who’s going to keep going no matter what. All the focus of personal journey type stuff needs to stay on the protagonist. She’s the only one of the two who is even capable of it.
Concept = An elderly mom hunts down an as yet unknown serial killer.
Main Conflict = She has to evade capture herself, as the cops are hunting her for murder.
Old Ways = Head buried in sand. Blind hope instead of decisive action. Stay as forgotten as possible.
New Ways = Clear eyes. Decisive action over comfortable fantasy. Front page news.
ACT ONE
Opening = Shelley lives in hell, with a verbally and physically abusive husband, Howard. Doesn’t seem to be any family around, no pictures anywhere, and Shelley is very isolated. She keeps her head down – decades of practice – but still gets whacked for some imagined crime. All part of her normal day.
Inciting Incident = She sees a news story, a body was found, a young girl dead twenty some years – Sherrie recognizes her, very obviously, and turns to Howard and says “They found her, they found Cassidy” – and he says, “Who?”
Turning Point = After a moment of utter disbelief at this response, Shelley loses all of her shit. She grabs the nearest weapon and with clarity she hasn’t felt in years, KILLS Howard. Viciously. Decisively. Like there’s absolutely nothing else in the world that needs doing but this, and it HAS to happen. And now she’s on a path. It’s not even about the fact that she’ll be running from the law now. It’s the fact that she just solved a problem, one of two big problems she has, and the feeling is beyond anything she could have imagined. And she’s not going to stop until she feels it one more time.
ACT TWO PART ONE
New Plan = Find the man who killed Cassidy. Avoid the cops until then.
Plan In Action = Has to also learn how to evade cops. Who for now, think she’s missing. The murder was so violent that it has not occurred to them that the old – literally, old – lady did it.
Midpoint Turning Point = The FEDS are now involved – tracking the serial killer that she is tracking.
ACT TWO PART TWO
Rethink Everything = Is she still committed enough to the goal to now contend not only with those hunting her but the ones trying to beat her to the killer?
New Plan = The plan is still to find him. But now she has to do it faster than the feds – even resorting to sabotaging their investigation.
Turning (Low) Point = By now we’ve revealed that she’s the killer’s mother, not the missing girl’s mother. She talks to the woman who the killer is obsessed with (i.e. murdering over and over via these lookalikes) and understands how lost her boy really is.
ACT THREE
Climax = She fights off the cops one last time to get to her son, and asks him to stop. He says he can’t.
Resolution = She kills him. And possibly herself. Still unsure about that.
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