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Lesson 3
Reply and post your assignment.
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14 Replies
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Mark’s Hero’s Mission Track
What I learned doing this assignment is that devising a clear mission track gives you the impetus and opportunity to improve and strengthen this part of storyline to create a hero you can root for.
Clear Mission: Uncover and stop the crazy bomber before he wipes out the entire Bomb Squad and the City of Los Angeles.
Motivation: Her colleagues on the Bomb Squad are being picked off. Her father was an innocent victim of the Unabomber. Her new colleagues in the Bomb Squad don’t think she’s got what it takes to be a member of the squad.
Inciting Incident: When experienced members of the Bomb Squad are called out to deal with an IED (improvised explosive device) and allow her to tag along with them, she witnesses them being taken out by a second booby-trapped bomb and is almost injured herself.
First Action: When a truck loaded with explosives trundles into the Bomb Squad headquarters, she takes action and narrowly averts the elimination of the whole squad.
Obstacle: She is not experienced or knowledgeable enough to deal with complex explosive devices. She has to work overtime to learn and befriend an old timer who knows as much as the whole squad put together.
Escalation: More IEDs appear all over the city, leading to the Squad being overstretched and several members are taken out by booby traps.
Twist: She suspects that the Bomber may be a member of the Squad.
Overwhelming Odds: She is attacked at home by agents working for the mystery bomber. But she has an arsenal of pest control devices from her previous career. These include steel jaw traps, poison sprays and explosives with which to fight them off.
Twist 2: the squad member she suspected is blown up and injured – he was innocent after all – but the Bomber has left a clue.
New Plan: Another Bomb alert leads to discovery of the Bomber’s master plan.Full out Attack: With the clock ticking down, she has to disarm more bombs and fight her attackers until she unmasks the real Bomber and turns his own bomb against him.
Success: She is lauded by her surviving colleagues and accepted as one of them.
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Hey Mark, IDK if we’re supposed to do more than give a thumbs up, but I’d watch the heck out of that. Great role for any female lead.
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Evelyn’s Hero’s Mission Track
What I learned doing this assignment is to follow the steps in the lesson without skipping the brainstorming and discovery processes just because I already have ideas that I like. Using the processes always takes me to ideas that I love even more.
1. Ask the Mission Track questions to discover your Hero’s mission.
A. What is it about this Hero that will have them go straight into the face of the overwhelming odds? She is a trained UFC champion fighter and fearless when defending her own family
B. What is the mission that would be an impossible goal? Find and rescue her kidnapped child before the kidnappers kill the little girl
C. What strong internal and external motivation could drive the hero? 1) internal desire to reunite with her little girl and 2) external ticking clock established by the kidnappers in which they’ll kill the child if our hero misses the ransom deadline
D. Imagine that mission playing out across a story. What could naturally happen if this hero went on this mission against this villain? Searching to unmask the kidnappers, arguing with family about contacting the FBI, following kidnappers’ rules, fighting masked rogue MMA brawlers who try to kill her, unmasking the lone kidnapper and bringing her down.
2. Use the Mission Steps to outline the mission.
Clear Mission:
Motivation: After Mikki wins the regional championship UFC strawweight class bout, and will be competing in the nationals, a hit-and-run car crash kills Mikki’s husband, and injures Mikki and her little girl age 5, Jordyn.
Inciting Incident: Someone kidnaps Jordyn and warns Mikki not to go to the FBI or local police, that they will kill Jordyn if she does so; and they give her 72 hours to pay $3 million or they will kill Jordyn.
First Action: Mikkie needs cash fast. She drains her bank accounts but falls short. There’s no time to sell or mortgage her house and luxury cars.
Mikki’s mission: get the money! She calls a promoter whom she’s always blown off and begs him to quickly organize an illegal bout for a $250k purse
Escalation: Before the bout, a masked fighter beats up Mikki, weakening her.
New mission: train fast, learn illegal throws, take performance-enhancing drugs she never uses, knowing this will be a dirty fight
Overwhelming Odds: Mikki shows up for the bout, determined to win, but her opponent is Bantamweight, 135 pounds, while Mikki is strawweight, 115 pounds–although Mikki is taller and has a longer reach. Mikki is driven by terror that her daughter will be killed, and so, fueled by adrenaline and steroids, she manages to defeat her opponent and win the money she desperately needs.
Twist: On the way home after the bout, someone [her cousin Shayla, the villain] attacks and robs Mikki, also taking her black card [and quickly charging tens of thousands of dollars on it]
Apparent defeat: Mikki will never be able to get the $3 million ransom in time to stop the kidnappers from killing her daughter
Apparent success: With the clock ticking, Mikki rallies her family to contribute, promising she’ll sell her house and pay them back as soon as she’s got Jordyn safely home. Mikki’s cousin Shayla donates the most money and encourages Mikki to keep up hope. IMPROVED ANSWER: with the clock ticking, Mikki goes to a loan shark Shayla tells her about and borrows the money she needs with a huge interest penalty.
Twist: We discover the kidnapper is Mikki’s cousin Shayla who caused the car accident and wants to keep Jordyn as her own daughter.
Full out Attack: As the kidnappers’ deadline nears, Mikki gets an anonymous clue where the kidnappers are holding Jordyn and goes there alone. She’s confronted with 6 fighters. She defeats all but the most vicious one (Shayla) but then knocks Shayla out in a one-on-one bout, finds Jordyn unharmed, and escapes with her child.
Success: Mikki realizes her cousin Shayla is the kidnapper, tracks her down, battles and defeats her in a gritty MMA fight with no rules; Mikki returns the money to the loan shark and threatens him with the police if he tries to get a dollar more from her. Then she takes Jordyn out to get pizza.
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Gritty!
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Action Lesson 3: Creating the Mission Track
ASSIGNMENT
BG’s Hero’s Mission Track!
What I learned doing this assignment: I need to come up with more assassins, a higher body count, and maybe even a car chase;))
1. Ask the Mission Track questions to discover your Hero’s mission.
A. What is it about this Hero that will have them go straight into the face of the overwhelming odds?
• Reporter gets pissed off that powerful people are planning to instigate a war in order to benefit themselves and decides to get involved.B. What is the mission that would be an impossible goal?
• One guy against billionaires, media and intelligence agenciesC. What strong internal and external motivation could drive the hero?
• Internal Motivation: Reporter starts with a broken heart. As he finds out more, he starts coming out of his funk and his intentions change. His mission becomes: To do what he can. This is also his healing process.
• External Motivation: Assassins and agents are going to kill him!D. Imagine that mission playing out across a story. What could naturally happen if this hero went on this mission against this villain?
• Getting close to the subject, searching for information, getting caught, fighting assassins and agents, getting allies, rescuing friends, tricking the conspirators and agents, and the possibility of injuries or death.2. Use the Basic Mission Steps to outline the mission.
NOTE: You can also use any of these steps: Twist, escape, search, discovery, hide out, attacking back, apparent success or defeat.
Clear Mission:
REPORTER’S CLEAR MISSION: To stop a conspiracy to start a war… before assassins and agents kill him!Motivation:
MOTIVATION FOR THE MISSION: REPORTER gets pissed off that powerful people are planning to instigate a war in order to benefit themselves and decides to get involved1. Inciting Incident:
INCITING INCIDENT: REPORTER is sent by his editor to check out a tip about a plot to start a war.2. First Action:
FIRST ACTION: When REPORTER first arrives, his intention is to get a scoop for his paper. He gets hired as waiter by HOSTESS, who works at The Club, which, according to the tip, serves as headquarters for the conspiracy.3. Obstacle:
OBSTACLE: REPORTER is spotted near the St. Michael conference room and gets banned from the floor.4. Escalation:
ESCALATION: He makes a jerry-rigged listening device, installs it into the thermostat in the St. Michael conference room.DISCOVERY: He listens in and discovers that the conspirators are planning an operation codenamed NORTHSTAR that will pump in weapons and militants into MALDOVINIA where separatists are battling government forces. The conspirators’ goal is to turn the protracted insurgency into a full-blown land war in the middle of Europe and disrupt piped natural gas supply, so that they can sell their expensive LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) to Europeans.
NEW PLAN: REPORTER gets pissed off that powerful people are planning to instigate a war in order to benefit themselves and decides to get involved. He calls his editor to report, but makes the mistake of using the word NORTHSTAR during the call.
5. Overwhelming Odds:
OVERWHELMING ODDS: Keyword monitoring programs of NSA latch onto the word and CIA discovers that the press is onto NORTHSTAR, which they support. They alert MI6. MI6 sends agents to scan the St. Michael conference room.TWIST: No bugs are found! REPORTER is puzzled. Unbeknownst to him, HOSTESS goes to her car to make a call and is revealed to be a German agent. She remotely plants fake information about REPORTER’s friend and ally, HACKER, to deflect CIA’s attention away from REPORTER.
APPARENT DEFEAT: HACKER is not answering REPORTER’s calls. Unbeknownst to REPORTER, he has been captured and is being interrogated in a CIA safe house.
AMBUSHED: On the way back to his hotel from HACKER’s ransacked apartment, he’s ambushed by ASSASSIN, sent by one of the billionaires. REPORTER tries to fight him off, finally pushing him off his center of gravity and toppling him down. While ASSASSIN is down, he kicks him unconscious.
6. New Plan:
TWIST: REPORTER follows HOSTESS to her car and discovers she is a German agent. She tells him they are working for the same goal: to stop a war. She tells him there are many Germans opposed to paying high energy prices to accommodate Western geopolitical ambitions. It was she who sent him the tip about the conspiracy and saved him by removing his listening device. She offers to help him find HACKER.APPARENT SUCCESS: Using tools and a plan made by him, REPORTER, HOSTESS, and her allies rescue HACKER from the CIA safe house, and take him to an undisclosed safe house.
AMBUSHED AGAIN: On the way to his new hotel, where he’s hiding out, REPORTER is again attacked by ASSASSIN, wielding a taser this time. HOSTESS jumps out of the shadows and flattens him. REPORTER asks her not to kill him.
TWIST: REPORTER asks HOSTESS to help him put NORTHSTAR out of business. She agrees and arranges HACKER’s participation in planning via video-link from the undisclosed safe house.
7. Full out Attack:
FULL OUT ATTACK: REPORTER and allies conduct a major hacking operation to divert the conspiracy’s funds and make it look like one of the conspirators did it.8. Success:
SUCCESS: Lead conspirator terminates the plot and has his second-in-command killed by ASSASSIN. REPORTER is seen in a restaurant, smiling and having a good time with HOSTESS, the female lead. His heart has healed! -
ACTION CLASS LESSON 3
Subject line: John Woodward’s Hero’s Mission Track.
Doing this assignment, I learned that the mission and the various obstacles to accomplishing it bring forth ideas for action scenes that flow logically and naturally from the mission.
Ask the Mission Track questions to discover your Hero’s mission.
A. What is it about this Hero that will have them go straight into the face of the overwhelming odds? Makepeace killed Trey’s brother. Trey alone learns that Makepeace plans to assassinate black leaders including Patricia Hamilton. Trey believes it is his moral obligation to try to save Hamilton.
B. What is the mission that would be an impossible goal? Save Hamilton, destroy Makepeace.
C. What strong internal and external motivation could drive the hero? Trey’s internal motivation is the need to avenge his brother’s murder, and his desire to survive Makepeace’s attempts to kill him. The external motivation – Trey wants to prevent Makepeace from assassinating Hamilton and other leaders.
D. Imagine that mission playing out across a story. What would naturally happen if this hero went on this mission against this villain? Trey must learn how to fight Makepeace. He must convince at least one person to help him gain skills, and battle Makepeace. In Trey’s attempt to stop Makepeace, cellphone video makes it appear that Trey murdered an innocent old man. Suddenly, Trey must evade the police who now seek him for the murder. Another video makes it appear that Trey (not Makepeace) is stalking Hamilton. Trey must also evade and battle the gang boss and his killers who believe Trey (not Makepeace) murdered his men.
2. Use the Mission Steps to outline the mission.
Clear Mission:
Motivation: Avenge his brother’s murder, and his desire to survive the villain’s attempts to kill him. External motivation – Trey wants to prevent Makepeace from assassinating Hamilton and other leaders.
Inciting Incident: Trey (hero) has the mission forced on him by the acts of Makepeace (the Villain). A vicious crew of ghetto gangbangers chase Trey and his younger brother into the gruesome sub-basement of a dilapidated tenement. Temporarily safe from the crew, the brothers discover dead rats dangling in tiny nooses from the rusty bars of crude cage. Pinned to the rats: photos of black civil rights leaders, including popular presidential candidate Patricia Hamilton, America’s best hope for turning back a rising tide of racial conflict. A pale old rogue peers at the boys from behind the rusty iron bars. The brothers have inadvertently entered the horribly twisted world of Captain Eldridge Makepeace, an 18th century slave trader doomed to the realm of the undead after being killed and cursed by an African obeah doctor he sought to enslave. Compounding the mystery, the old-timer speaks in an antiquated British accent, wears his tarry pigtail long in the 18th century style. After Trey and his brother learn Makepeace intends to assassinate Hamilton, the gangbangers suddenly discover the brothers. When the pale prisoner goads the gang members with insults, the gangsters resolve to teach him some manners. As they enter the cell to attack Makepeace, they unknowingly remove the sacred talismans that keep Makepeace weak and imprisoned. They soon learn that their trusted automatics are powerless against him! Makepeace kills the gangsters and Trey’s younger brother. Trey, alone, escapes. Trey, alone, has discovered the captain’s plan to assassinate America’s foremost black leaders culminating with Patricia Hamilton! Makepeace thrusts upon Trey the impossible mission of avenging his brother’s murder and saving Hamilton.
First Action: Trey and his brother flee from their local ghetto gangbangers.
Obstacle: The ruthless gangbangers.
Escalation: When Trey and his brother hide in a random dilapidated sub basement, they go from the frying pan to the fire when they discover Makepeace locked in a crude cage.
Overwhelming Odds: Makepeace is an immortal racist with supernatural strength who can’t be killed with weapons because he’s already dead. Trey discovers that while powerful weapons can’t kill Makepeace, they can slow him down.
New Plan: Trey seeks help with weapons and tactics from a less-than-tolerant garden variety survivalist who sees Trey as big trouble. Trey must convince the survivalist that Makepeace is for real, and that Trey is not just another neighborhood grifter running a BS scam.
Full out Attack: Trey and the survivalist battle Makepeace with bullets as they seek to save Hamilton. Makepeace kills the survivalist who put his life on the line to help Trey save Hamilton.
Success: Trey retrieves the sacred talismans and uses them to weaken and re-imprison Makepeace.
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Patricia’s Hero’s Mission Track
What I learned doing this assignment is that even though I thought I knew exactly what my hero’s mission track was before starting the assignment, I discovered new and more interesting elements as I was brainstorming.
1. Ask the Mission Track questions to discover your Hero’s mission.
A. What is it about this Hero that will have them go straight into the face of the overwhelming odds?
He is a survivalist shrouded in mystery who knows that he is the only one with the skills to help those left behind in the prison as the power goes out and a deadly storm tears apart the building.
B. What is the mission that would be an impossible goal?
He’s the only person who can try to save his fellow inmates from a collapsing prison and a deadly storm that kills in only minutes after exposure.
C. What strong internal and external motivation could drive the hero?
Internal: Donovan is driven by guilt — his younger brother killed himself after getting caught up in Donovan’s crime.
External: The building is going to collapse around them, and they will all die.
D. Imagine that mission playing out across a story. What could naturally happen if this hero went on this mission against this villain?
Donovan faces the opportunity of early release, but realizes the men will die without him.
He refuses early parole and tries to help the men prep.
When the storm comes, he leads the men through a perilous journey as the building comes down around them, exposing them to a deadly freeze.
Faces the question of what is worse: going into the deadly storm or staying inside the shelter that is killing them one by one?
He convinces the men to brave the storm, but first, he detours to try to save a young man who was sent to SEG, but fails.
Escape out of a window (and scaling down the disintegrating tower) seems like their only hope, the embittered prison guard reappears, determined to stop Donovan from escaping at any cost.
2. Use the Mission Steps to outline the mission.
Clear Mission: To save himself and the men left behind in the protective custody unit as the power is knocked out and a deadly polar vortex approaches.
Motivation: He wants to live, and, in saving those left behind, he has a chance at redemption after his brother’s death.
Inciting Incident: The storm arrives.
First Action: Donovan tries to warn people about the approaching storm.
Obstacle: For-profit prison system doesn’t allow for empty prisons without $3 million fine, even in a disaster, so the warden won’t hear it. Because Donovan has only days left on his sentence, he could be granted early release — but he knows those left behind won’t survive the storm, including an innocent kid who is waiting for trial.
Escalation: The storm arrives and knocks out the power, which creates a cascading danger as the building begins to crumble, pipes burst, and water becomes electrified.
Overwhelming Odds: It’s dangerous to leave; it’s dangerous to stay. The storm can kill in minutes and frostbite is nearly instant. They are in the middle of nowhere. The systems aren’t working. There is no help to be had, other than the assistance of a young prison guard who was also left behind.
New Mission: Get the kid out of SEG and get an idea of the damage done below them.
Apparent Defeat: They find the kid, only to realize that he is dead — everyone in SEG froze to death when the pipes burst.
New Plan: Get to the guard level, go out a window, scale down the side of the building, and take shelter in prison garage that appears to be neither flooded or on fire. But getting there will be nearly impossible.
Apparent Success: The surviving group get to the guard level which has hellscape of fire and raging wind. The windows were blown out, but if they can find a way to lower themselves securely but quickly, they see the garage in the distance, and it is still standing.
Full out Attack: As the men start lowering themselves out the window, Sykes appears like a badly burned apparition. Donovan distracts him so that the men and the young guard can get to safety (or at least out into the raging storm). He’s willing to sacrifice himself for the men, so he surrenders.
Twist: Sykes pulls his gun anyway. The young guard pushes Donovan out of the way, but gets shot in the process. Donovan must go on the attack to save the young guard.
Success: Sykes dies. Donovan goes out the window carrying the young guard. The men who lived arrive to help. They make it into the garage and survive the storm.
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Dan’s Hero’s Mission Track
What I learned doing this assignment is that scriptwriting is as much tradecraft as creative work. Since D.I.G. 4 is a scripted series, it has been helpful to begin pulling apart the throughlines for the hub location and each branch location (space, sea, and surface survival nodes) separately. Organic comic relief has begun to percolate too.
1. Ask the Mission Track questions to discover your Hero’s mission.
Q1: What about this Hero that will have them go straight into the face of the overwhelming odds?
A1: Jordan Hendrix’s military and civilian careers consist in doing just that. He is someone always interested in being part of the solution, qualifying himself accordingly. The drive to head into danger is writ large by the knowledge that he must survive to eventually fight his way back to Okinawa to revive his family from cyro sleep.
Q2: What is the mission that would be an impossible goal?
A2: In order; to respond quickly and well to a sudden-onset global ice age, to ensure the survival of his family, to spearhead the D.I.G. 4 gauntlet in reaching temperature and life stabilization nearer the Earth’s core, to battle humans, ancient races, and life forms en route. This backdrop includes the unforeseen and changing environs, resource challenges, communication challenges, the families in tow, well-resourced saboteurs and assassins, and then having to return topside with an elite team to overthrow the great evil ensconced there. Oh, and retrieve his daughter and ex-wife.
Q3: What strong internal and external motivation could drive the hero?
A3: Externally, everything already cited in A1 & A2, above. Internally, his PTSD-born hypervigilance to protect innocents and his heart’s dream of reuniting with his ex and daughter. What he most wants is the chance to be a better husband and father.
Q4: Imagine that mission playing out across a story. What could naturally happen if this hero went on this mission against this villain?
A4: Out-resourced and outgunned by Claudette Martz and APEX Inc., Jordan would need to adopt a guerilla mindset. He must meet all challenges resourcefully, and courageously, and leverage surprise, passion, and leadership.
2. Use the Mission Steps to outline the mission.
Clear Mission: Escape the global ice age and lead D4 (crew and family of 4,101 souls, animals, and plant life) to a stable haven closer to the Earth’s core, while assisting other survival nodes to do the same. Once accomplished, he must return to the surface if he is to redeem a future for his family.
Motivation: Human motivations ran the gamut. Nations galvanized and held summits, resources appeared from secret caches, and all efforts not at least tangential to halting or surviving the ice age were shunned. Countless plans, schemes, and scams emerged, from relocating near the equator, to summoning aliens for help, to outlasting the freeze in cryosleep. The very wealthy attempted personal solutions, or waxed philanthropic and threw in behind the think tanks and large corporations.
Per usual, most of us leaned on our respective deities and governments. Some nations tried to change the tide of the NAO, with the hope of a global Alaska — cold but livable. Others hedged their bets, working both to stop the freeze, and to establish a survivability system elsewhere. Flailing governments acted little better than individuals. China, for instance, as the hour darkened, realized it had too few months and resources for its populace, and planned to seize all it could not build. The world saw this coming and was ready.
Japan and Australia joined forces, as discoveries in deep ocean geology suggested that coalition. The expected NATO and European alliances held. Hotter climates were contested, as they promised a few more precious months.
When raw panic set in there simply wasn’t enough space, time, or cooperation. Gaia had her revenge: far too many lay frozen in testimony to our folly. The few eugenicists alive hide their sustainable smiles.
Inciting Incident: ‘Global Warming’ proved a misnomer for the planetary ice age it affected. After considerable human meddling, the NAO (North Atlantic Overcurrent) strengthened and expanded until there was constructive interference in the weather patterns of both poles. It was recognized for the threat it was in October 2027, and by March 2028, the whole world knew we were in serious trouble. 31 months later, the entire planet was uninhabitable.
First Action: In the middle of training in Colorado to become D.I.G. 4’s head of security, Jordan must enact his contingency plan to put his family in cryosleep when the ice overwhelms Japan three months sooner than anticipated.
Obstacle: The guarded global optimism starts to unravel when the timeline collapses and plans, coordination, and leadership freeze in place across the planet.
Escalation: Claudette Martz has installed an elaborate system of APEX agents, surveillance, and counter-operation orders to control and/or eliminate opposition to her vision for the ice age and beyond.
Overwhelming Odds: With the contraction of the timeline, trained experts are sometimes reassigned, and understudies are given leadership roles. An extreme example, in Japan, the trained-and-ready crew of this Japanese W.I.G.(Water Ice Garrison) “misses the boat”, and the scientists, techies, nerds, geeks, security team, and government pencil-pushers preparing it for launch are those aboard when it has to shove off three months early. Utilizing only the manuals, and creating procedures while underway, they show true grit in the crucible of the deep sea. Due to seismic shifts, this small W.I.G. must not only relocate from its intended primary geothermal heat source on the ocean floor, but tectonic plate movements have rendered plan “B” and “C” and “D” thermal moorings unserviceable. To survive they must rig their thrusters to propel them rapidly at a 90-degree angle along a series of smaller, only temporarily sufficient volcanoes until teaming up with their counterparts moored along the strong geothermal activity near Australia. This means they must navigate and function in a world stood-on-its-side for 14 months. The consequences? Exceptional fitness, agility, dexterity, and discipline; many traumas and injuries, and great difficulty in reverting to normal orientation later. Several bouts with an extreme cold have occurred due to arriving late at the next geotherm, leaving them all predisposed to cold weather injuries in the middle of an ice age.
Twist: Jordan’s daughter, Care Hendrix, under orders from his friend and former boss Sato (titular head of Sato Petrochemicals), has Care’s cryo bed moved aboard ECG 2 (Earth Carrier Group) when he believes the power hub for his private cryo chambers are failing.
New Plan: The “New Plan” sets the ad hoc remnant of the plan and its proposed leadership loose in this unhinged reality.
Full-out Attack: After leading D.I.G. 4 to a new home, – Jack learns the extent of Claudette’s betrayals, and leads a force back to overthrow Claudette and her Apex government. He must return to the brutal cold of the surface with only a company-sized elite force and wage a successful coup.
Success: Post-victory, Jordan finds his ex-wife, and they leave behind the new Earth leadership aboard a repurposed APEX carrier on a mission to resupply ECG 2 and its burgeoning colony and reunite with Care.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Daniel Burt.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by
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<div>Bent’s Hero Mission track </div>
WHAT i LEARNED DOING THIS ASSIGNMENT — I had to type in big letters because this was a major breakthrough for me. Wow is all I can say. I will apply this to future work and past work that seems to have a clog. The path becomes apparently clear for me by filling all this out and answering the questions.
HERO IS INDIGO THE ELF
A. What is it about this Hero that will have them go straight into the face of the overwhelming odds? He must find his sister Hazel and return her to the North Pole. He doesn’t want her around the dangers of the outside world. When he finds out she was kidnapped by Krampus along with other children, Indigo must overcome his fears of the outside world to save her and the kids.
B. What is the mission that would be an impossible goal? to find Krampus to save his sister. He is a mere elf and no way can he fight a demon along with the other demons who follow Krampus like dogs.
C. What strong internal and external motivation could drive the hero? Internal motivation is to save his sister. External motivation is stay close to the safety of the sleighs and watch out for any attack from Krampus as they deliver toys to houses.
D. Imagine that mission playing out across a story. What could naturally happen if this hero went on this mission against this villain? His bravery would be counter balanced by his fear. Fear of heights, fear of the outside world, fear of being left behind by the sleighs and Santa.
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Clear Mission: Indigo must find his sister Hazel who jumped into one of the sleighs full of presents.
Motivation: He loves his family and wants them together. He searches the sleighs for his sister. One by one but it is too late. <div>
Inciting Incident – She flies away on a sleigh with gleeful joy. Indigo falls into a sleigh and it takes off.
:First Action: Indigo hangs on for dear life and gets sick too. He is up in the air and there is no turning back.
Obstacle – Indigo must now deliver presents to houses even though he’s more concerned about his sister. He learns skills from an elf who trains him but Indigo sucks at all this.
:Escalation: – Krampus kidnaps children. He finds Hazel and throws her into a bag with other kids.
Overwhelming Odds – Indigo and his crew come across Krampus by chance. There is a chase with Krampus trying to get the elves and the sleigh. Indigo hears his sister but can’t help her.
:New Plan: The sleighs stick together as they will be able to thwart Krampus. The General and Santa convene with the elves to make sure they can deliver presents with no problem.
Full out Attack: They battle Krampus and the demons. The General tries to set up Santa to fail and lose his life but it is the General who is killed over the ocean. Reindeer are the main casualties. Santa battles Krampus and with the help of Indigo the demon is destroyed.
Success: Santa overlooks his North Pole and the land is secure. He turns his head and off in the distance, Canadian and Russian oil drills are setting up base. The General worked a deal.
</div>
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<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Subject line: Monica’s Hero’s Mission Track
What I learned doing this assignment is because I’m using one of my very first scripts these brainstorming questions helped to answer some questions I had with the details I’d written.
1. Ask the Mission Track questions to discover your Hero’s mission.
A. What is it about this
Hero that will have them go straight into the face of the overwhelming
odds? She has a lead in the disappearance of her sister several years
before. She feels guilt as she was out with her sister and her friends
when her sister disappeared.
B. What is the mission
that would be an impossible goal? Several years have passed and the case
is cold.
C. What strong internal
and external motivation could drive the hero? Internal motivation: Find
her sister, dead or alive, for closure for herself and her father.
External motivation: Close down a human trafficking ring where her lead
(the villain) is known to have ties to the ring and was also a friend of
her sister’s.· D. Imagine that mission playing out across a story. What could naturally happen if this hero went on this mission against this villain? The villain could lead her to her sister and, in the big picture, the human trafficking ring. Or, she finds her sister but then their lives are in danger.
2. Use the Mission Steps to outline the mission.
Clear Mission:
Motivation: Victoria is
guilt ridden because she was with her sister when she disappeared. She
needs to find her sister. Her lead being a man suspected of human
trafficking who was also a friend of her sister.
Inciting Incident: Runs
into a friend (who’s also undercover) who is being followed by Jack (the villain).
Victoria is introduced to Jack where she pretends to be looking for
investment opportunities.
First Action: Victoria
goes undercover. The police raid the club where she is working.
Obstacle: Jack (villain) he does way too many
drugs and is suspicious of Victoria throughout.
Escalation: We discover
Lizzie (the sister) is alive. And Jack has her captive.
Overwhelming Odds: Jack
and his partner Beatrice don’t tell them everything as they continue to
kidnap girls and sell them. They’ve also infiltrated a police safe house.
New Plan: Break into
Jack’s house and download his computer. Then break into Beatrice’s house
and gather as much information as they can.
Full out Attack: Arrest
Beatrice. Tell her she won’t go to jail if she gives them everything. But
Beatrice turns on them when she attempts to kill Victoria.
Success: The human trafficking ring has been shut
down. Jack and Beatrice and one of their own are dead. -
Paul’s – Hero’s Mission Track
1. Ask the Mission Track questions to discover your Hero’s mission.
What I learned. My outline was flawed. This excersize helps you streamline your story.
A. What is it about this Hero that will have them go straight into the face of the overwhelming odds? <div>
HIs loyalty and love for his brother.
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B. What is the mission that would be an impossible goal?
They are going to a cursed Spanish Mission where no man has ever returned.
C. What strong internal and external motivation could drive the hero?
The devotion and loyalty to his brother and getting his share of the stolen gold. Revenge against the Monster that killed his father.
D. Imagine that mission playing out across a story. What could naturally happen if this hero went on this mission against this villain?
He could lose his life or fall victim to the curse of the Mission.
2. Use the Mission Steps to outline the mission.
Clear Mission: Escape the Mexican Army with the gold and retire from the life of an Outlaw. Live a happy life.
Motivation: In order to retire, Billy must detour the Mexican Army and rendevous with his Johnny his brother to collect his portion of the heist. GOLD</div><div>
Inciting Incident: Upon arriving at the determined rendevous location, Billy learns that the gang has been killed by Apache and the only living survivor, ( his brother, Johnny ) has left with the gold to an Old Spanish Mission called Paloma Blanca. A cursed place where men do not return. Now they must escape Apache Land and find the Mission and his brother.
First Action: They find Johnny and Lord Balin, the monster that killed Johnny and Billy’s father.
Obstacle: They cannot leave till morning. They must survive the night. Hide. Escape. Fight or become a blood feast for the Demons.
Escalation: Billy and his menare challenged and are forced to face their worst nightmare.
Overwhelming Odds: Lord Balin releases his army upon Billy and Johnny.
New Plan: Go on the Defense. Destroy all the buidings that protect the Demons from Sunlight. Blow up the Mission and kill Lord Balin.
Full out Attack: Billy and company must provoke and defet Lord Balin, Storm their way into the Mission, destroy it and all the Demons.
Success: Billy and the survivors leave the mission with the Gold and Johnny’s body.
</div></div>
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Don’s Hero’s Mission Track
What I learned doing this assignment is the hero’s mission is what ties together all of the action in a way that engages the audience and carries their interest to the very end.
Clear Mission: Recover a highly secret stolen Army weapon and get revenge for the murder of his brother.
· Motivation: Zach is an Army CID agent who is wrongfully discharged to keep him from discovering the truth behind a series of violent thefts of highly advanced weapons.
· Inciting Incident: A highly secret Army weapon is highjacked by a team of corrupt police working for a ruthless Sheriff.
· First Action: Zach returns to his childhood town and discovers his brother is involved in the theft of the Army’s newest weapon he’s trying to recover. Zach’s brother claims he realized the highjacking was not a simple heist, and decided to hide the weapon where the Sheriff couldn’t find it.
· Obstacle: Unable to rely upon his usual Army support system and resources, Zach finds himself completely alone and ill prepared in facing the Sheriff and his force of corrupt police.
· Escalation: The Sheriff suspects Zach isn’t who he seems and orders his men to murder Zach and his brother to keep the theft of the Army’s weapon a secret.
· Overwhelming Odds: On the way to where his brother hid the weapon, the Sheriff’s best SWAT team ambushes Zach and his brother. Zach kills the entire SWAT team, but his brother dies in the gun battle. Zach barely escapes with his life as the Sheriff arrives with another SWAT team.
· Apparent Defeat: The Sheriff and his men track Zach throughout the night and capture him only after a battle where Zach uses a variety of improvised weapons to kill several more of his attackers. After hours of endless interrogation and beatings, Zach passes out after giving the Sheriff false information.
· Twist: A team of Chinese commandos arrive and attack the Sheriff’s men and kill everyone except Zach, who they believe knows where the secret Army weapon is hidden.
· New Plan: Zach is again savagely beaten and interrogated, but this time by the Chinese commandos. Zach feigns capitulation and agrees to lead the Chinese to where he’s hidden the weapon.
· Escape: Zach leads the Chinese to an abandoned mine where he’s convinced them the weapon is hidden, but he’s familiar with the mine and entraps the Chinese in a tunnel collapse as he escapes through a hidden mine shaft.
· Full out Attack: Zach reaches where the stolen weapon is hidden, but is quickly surrounded by not only the Sheriff with his remaining men, but also the Chinese commandos who have dug themselves out of the tunnel collapse. Unbeknownst to his attackers, Zach knows how to activate and use the Army weapon, and he turns it on his attackers.
· Success: Zach knows activation of the weapon sets off a tracking beacon, which is picked up by an orbiting military satellite. With only the Sheriff and the lead Chinese commando left alive, Zach awaits the arrival of an Army rescue force to retrieve the stolen weapon and arrest his opponents.
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LESSON # 3 Creating the hero mission track
HOMEWORK ASSINGMENT #3
What I learned doing this assignment: I learned how to write in sequence, order.
A. What is about this hero that he faces overwhelming odds?
Since he is the ultimate soul, his hunger for knowing who damaged his past, the reason for his adversities as a kid. He is seeking revenge, where is mom, school, Dad why?B. The mission that would be an impossible goal?
To stop Jayten from world dominion, stop war world 3 in Armageddon.C. What strong internal / external motivation could drive the hero?
Internal – the necesity of change and overcoming his doubts and fears, mother disappeared, high school ban.
External – to lead the mortal souls to rapture. Before world devastation. (because of the love of God and the souls)CLEAR MISSION: To lead the souls to the rapture so they escape the great devastation.
MOTIVATION: To find out why he suffered so much as a kid.
INCIDING INCCIDENT: He meets Thally, gets attacked by the Nephilim and Gabilians
FIRST ACTION: JV travels to the past to the Garden of Eden.
OBSTACLE: The entire Gabilia kingdom goes after JVs soul
ESCALATION: Jv gets stuck in Gabilia in an ambush, and is betrayed by an Uzurian leader which is Jayten himself. JV’s allies unite (Celisha, Joshuel, Thally, Crick, Blue L Commander.) They battle in the universe diverse kingdoms, the earth is shaking up; worlds turmoil. Financial meltdown, economic crisis, food scarcity, famine, world hunger, pestilences, rear deceases, death, Gabilia tacking hard, Apollyon destroying with scorpions, star falling, sun black earthquakes.
OVERWHELMING OODS:
Only JV can stop earth devastation, JV goes to Sheol, saves Celisha from Jayten, picks up his ship, Flies to Uzura, Gabilia, defeats the Gabilians in the universe.NEW PLAN:
He goes to the future, learns how 2 defeat darkness. He goes to the past learns about the fallen angel fallen ones, how they took women, the birth og the giants, and the Nephilim’s. How the wicked humanity.FULL OUT ATTACK: The rapture takes place, Jayten raises and reveal to the world as a barbarian. Great tribulation starts, The 7 seals open. Financial system collapse, world famine, food scarcity, illnesses, pestilences, Apollyon, scorpions, the earth elements fall, sun, stars, moon, great earth quakes. Uzurians against Gabilians universal battle wars.
SUCESS: JV fights Jayten, face to face, beats phase prophet, beats Leviathan on the bottom sea. He takes off his mask while fighting
and finds out Jayten was ruled by the Satan spirit after selling his soul to him. -
Andre’s Hero’s Mission Track
What I learned doing this assignment is…Brainstorm 3 Tracks:
1. Mission Track- Start with a mission that is exceedingly difficult. This way, the mission by itself naturally creates interest and engages our mind in the open question, “How will they accomplish that?”
The more eXtrEmE the mission, the less a normal person can accomplish. This makes our Characters interesting.
· My Hero may, Start with a Mission, Be Assigned a Mission, or have a Mission forced on me by the acts of the villain. Either way, at some point in my script, my Hero is going to turn this into a mission. They are Action-Oriented people, so they naturally take Action. And this is an Action Movie, subtle and progressive.
· Once Our Protagonist is on their Mission, the Audience will root for them to succeed. This is part of what makes my story great!
· Mission: A special quest that one believes is their duty to do.
· Having strong mission means that Hero is 100% committed to achieving the goal. They are prepared to go the distance and accept whatever consequences come from this journey!
· The Mission itself just needs to be strong, but it can be stated in a very simple way. The complexity will show up in the level of game the Hero and Villain play together.
2. Hero Mission
· What is it about this Hero that will have them go straight into the face of the overwhelming odds?
Its innate for some, but not for many.
The willingness to believe in science and manmade technology with ones own life.
· What is the Mission that would be an impossible goal?
Getting to and from the moon in the 1950s, even though the technology is barely possible today, was it possible then? Is the Moon landing faked?
Hollywood soundstage?!
· What strong internal and external motivation could drive the hero?
· Imagine that Mission playing out across a story. What could naturally happen if this hero went on this mission against this villain?
Using above questions create rough draft outlining Hero’s mission.
a. Clear Mission:
b. Motivation for mission:
c. Inciting Incident:
d. First Action:
e. Obstacle:
f. Escalation:
g. Overwhelming Odds:
h. New Plan/Twist:
i. Apparent Defeat:
j. Apparent Success:
k. Twist:
l. Full out Attack:
m. Success:
Other possible steps
a. Also, any of these things: Twist, Escape, Search, Discovery, Hide Out, Attacking Back, Apparent Success or Defeat.
3. Villain Track: Wash, Rinse Repeat.
4. Action Track: Wash, Rinse Repeat.
Assignment Lesson 3:
1. Ask the Mission Track questions to discover your Hero’s mission.
A.
What is it about this Hero that will have them go straight into the face
of the overwhelming odds?Scientific excellence. Explorer of the unknown.
B.
What is the mission that would be an impossible goal?Getting beyond the firmament into space to land on the moon to do experiments including golfing, ESP, and driving a cart, departing the Moon, rendezvousing with Orbiter, connecting, returning safely to earth, to talk about it, in all honesty and fairness to mankind, life.
C.
What strong internal and external Motivation could drive the hero?Consciousness, termed Noetics.
D.
Imagine that mission playing out across a story. What could naturally
happen if this hero went on this mission against this villain?Naturally, the Hero dies. Natural is not possible; Space is unforgiving!
2. Use the Mission Steps to outline the mission.
Clear Mission:
Motivation:
Consciousness, termed Noetics.
Inciting
Incident(s): During the voyage I made a test in
extrasensory perception (ESP), attempting to send information
telepathically to four receivers on earth.”
First
Action: 240k miles Up, in Space.
Obstacle:
Surviving.Escalation:
Fuel. Oxygen. Equipment Technological successes and failure. The Unknown!
Known Science and Unknown Science. The
proper direction of sophisticated instrumentation and laboratory
techniques can be the means whereby the physical and metaphysical realms
are shown to be different aspects of the same reality.Overwhelming
Odds: Yes!
New
Plan: If we continue without change and
without growth in our basic thinking and behavior, we will, despite
spectacular technological feats, eventually end the evolutionary
experiment known as man.Full
out Attack: Using analytic and logical thought, using objective
data, could produce a technology that would reveal new secrets of
the universe by probing the reaches of space and, at the microscopic
level, the structure of atomsSuccess:
Yes! Safely returned and ESP proven, test results.-Andre
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