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Lesson 13
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4 Replies
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Bob Rowen’s Unique Action
What I learned doing this assignment is an approach to enhance the action scene.
Action Scene: Police Brutality Incident
1. Environment: Street corner at Harris & K Market.
2. Rules: Don’t interfere with official police business.
3. Villain: An out-of-control police officer in this situation.
4. Mission: Hero is compelled to stop the beating.
5. Struggle: Officer is beating victim on his face and head with baton.
6. Unique Skillset: Hero’s military hand-to-hand combat training.
7. Meaning: Hero is bent on doing the right thing.
8. Allies: A growing crowd of supportive onlookers save one.
9. Weapon: A uniformed police officer’s baton.
Brainstorm ways to make it more unique:
A. What if…?
Weapon: Out-of-control officer draws his revolver.
B. Take to an extreme.
Mission: Hero disarms out-of-control officer.
C. Specific to character or environment.
Villain: Out-of-control officer attacks Hero who immediately neutralizes him.
D. Shocking or Surprising.
Mission: Second uniformed police officer privately thanks Hero.
E. Go opposite.
Mission: After police leave scene, one bystander attacks Hero to no avail.
F. What haven’t we seen?
Villain: Small Guy in civvies is actually off-duty police officer.
Action Scene: Barroom Fight
1. Environment: Gracie’s Pizza Hut & Pool Hall.
2. Rules: No fighting and decent behavior.
3. Villain: Large number of Company men opposed to Hero and his few supporters.
4. Mission: Hero’s need to defend the truth.
5. Struggle: The clash between Company’s Big Lie and Hero’s Whistleblowing.
6. Unique Skillset: Hero’s military hand-to-hand combat and escape-and-evade training.
7. Meaning: Company men serving notice on Hero and his few followers.
8. Allies: The police show up in support of the Far-West Company men.
9. Weapon: Brass knuckles, Billy club, pool sticks, pool balls, chairs, broken bottles.
Brainstorm ways to make it more unique:
A. What if…?
Villain: The plant’s nuclear engineer leads the Company men.
B. Take to an extreme.
Mission: The plant’s nuclear engineer faces off with Hero.
C. Specific to character or environment.
Mission: Hero lays out his boss, the plant’s nuclear engineer.
D. Shocking or Surprising.
The police show up and side with Company men.
E. Go opposite.
Allies: Gracie’s barkeep sides with Hero and his supporters.
F. What haven’t we seen?
The escape route Hero and his supporters use to leave the scene.
Tell us about the improvements that you have made:
1. In the police brutality scene, I added the out-of-control officer drawing his revolver. And in doing so, it placed the Hero even more into an already intense situation.
2. Also added in the police brutality scene: (1) The second uniformed police officer thanking Hero for stopping the beating; (2) The out-of-control officer attacking Hero; (3) One bystander attacking Hero; and (4) the Small Guy in civvies is actually an off-duty police officer.
3. In the barroom fight scene, I added the plant’s nuclear engineer to the group of Company men and a face-off between him and the Hero.
4. Also added to the barroom fight scene is the barkeep who sides with Hero and his supporters. Also added is an escape route provided by the barkeep.
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Chris’s Unique Action!
What I learned is to think outside the “box” (pun intended) for my finale big action scene inside a big box store
A. What if…?
While the Villain is using our Hero’s PTSD against him, our hero leverages his allies to help expose the Villain’s own psychopath “playbook” rules against him
B. Take to an extreme.
Weapon: the grand finale is in a Home Depot like warehouse where the are potential weapons on every aisle.
Mission: it looks like potentially no one will escape the box store alive.
C. Specific to character or environment.
Environment: A Home Depot like box store filled with mercenary henchmen and our hero with one big bullseye on his back.
D. Shocking or Surprising.
Environment: our hero takes them all down in a unique way no one has ever witnessed.
E. Go opposite.
Opposite: while all the potential hardware pieces seem obvious as potential weapons, there is a larger weapon no one else has thought of except…
Villain: anticipates the hero’s move and narrowly escapes the catastrophe.
F. What haven’t we seen?
Mission: this type of action sequence in big box store.
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Frances Williams Unique Action
Scene – The Prime Ministers Daughter is kidnapped at school.
Environment – Private Preparatory School.
Rules – Different set of rules for preps vs outsiders.
Villain – Russian Mob
Mission
Struggle
Unique Skills set – Expert Martial Artist
Meaning – Each Action Scene progresses
Allies – Special forces CIA
Weapons + Guns, Attack Dogs, Lasers.
What If?
Villain were Agents that turned against the Syndicate
Rules/Allies
What if the Elite students exchanged places with their poorer classmates to live in their shoes.
Take it to an Extreme
Weapons -Drones and Laser Guns
Specific to Cha to character environment.
What If environment was in a classroom in South America.
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Beth Zurkowski Unique Action! What I learned doing this assignment is how to turn my story around.
Pick at least one action scene that you want to make more unique. Then use this process to generate ideas.
1. Looking at your entire story, what is unique about each of these places:
Environment: 1910 when cars and horses where on the
street.
Rules: normal
Villain: Naya’s father and family and street fighters
Mission: Save Naya and Darsh take to extreme explosions
of Velda’s house by using dynamite.
Struggle: anxiety from getting raped
Unique Skillset: Brazilian martial arts specific to
character. Velda is Brazilian.
Meaning: each action scene brings Naya and Darsh into marital
bliss with a new baby. And friends with Velda and her husband.
Allies: MMA and sheriff and cowboys.
Weapon: martial arts, guns and swords.2. Brainstorm ways to make one or more of those places unique:
A. What if…?
B. Take to an extreme.
C. Specific to character or environment.
D. Shocking or Surprising.
E. Go opposite.
F. What haven’t we seen?5. Tell us about the improvements that you have made.
I changed the present day to 1910 historic times with horse buggy and automobiles.
1. Opening: We see two in a forbidden relationship. Naya announces she’s pregnant to Darsh, her boyfriend. They find out neighbor is a doctor while push mowing the lawn. Darsh has a bloated tick on his scalp and the doctor over-hears their concern. Velda and her husband help them remove the insect.
(A-1)Naya’s father tells her she is promised to an older man in an arraigned marriage. Naya argues she won’t marry him that she loves someone else.(A-2)(V-1) Older man almost forces his way on her but finds out she’s already pregnant. Father said she was a virgin.
(M-1)Naya and Darsh decide to elope.(V-2)(A-3) But Naya gets into fight with father, mother and two older brothers. It’s an honor killing.
(M-2)(A-4)Naya is left for dead, but she crawls to the neighbors house for help and safety.(M-3)(A-5) Velda and her doctor husband help her, but she loses the baby.
2.Inciting incident:(A-6) Velda is debating helping Naya and her boyfriend, Darsh.(V-3) Meanwhile, Naya’s family noticed her body was not on the garage floor and went out looking for her.
3.First Turning Point at end of Act 1:(M-4)(A-7) Flash back on Velda’s military career as a nurse in the army and we show she is cautious in helping because she was raped while overseas.(M-5) Velda soon excepts the challenge.(A-8) Chase scene. Velda has Naya and Darsh get into her car as they proceed to the police station to get to a safe house. Then Naya spots her brother’s car following them. Anxiety Velda tries to lose him as she bites her nails. She begins to sweat as Naya’s brother gets more aggressive by trying to smash into Velda’s car into a bridge buttress in the median on the highway. Velda’s car is wedged in. Fear Brother starts shooting them. Velda backs out and manages to get away from him as she travels down the highway. She asks if anyone is injured as she looks wildly around for brother to see if he’s still on her tail. Relief At her fast speed a cop car pulls her over and Brother’s car drives past. Velda, Naya and Darsh breath out in relief.
(A-9)(M-5) Velda works with police and gets Naya and Darsh to safety.(A-10)(M-6) Velda fights Naya’s relatives and wins.
4.Mid-Point:(A-11) (V-4)Father gets away and puts a bounty on Velda’s head at son’s gym. (A-12)(V-5) He hires street fighters from the gym to take on Velda. Danger: Velda is followed by two suspicious men into the antique three story mall. She notices they are carrying guns in shoulder holsters. Excitement: She runs deep into the shop making a huge mess behind herself. The two men split up and go after her. The stairs and elevator are used. Then they have her cornered and right away she kicks the guns out of their hands. Martial arts are used by the three of them. More antiques get broken. Finally the men capture her and remove her from the mall.
Velda is taken back to Naya’s father and she is put in a chair and tied up and asked where Naya is. But Velda won’t talk. Father starts to pull her fingernails out. She still won’t talk and is moved to a room. She tries to escape out the window but it won’t break or open. She tests the door. It’s locked. Adrenaline: Velda notices the walls are made out of lath and plaster so she uses her fists and punches her way through and makes her escape.
(V-6)(A-13) She gets captured, tortured and escapes. (A-14)
(5.Second Turning Point: at end of Act 2 (M-7) Velda stops at a MMA and talks to the sword fighters there.
6.Crisis: (V-8) Surprise: Father follows Naya to her new house in another state and finds Naya in a grocery store and captures her holding her hostage.(V-9)Shock: After ransacking Naya’s house he finds Velda’s phone number and he lets Velda know he has Naya and she is his hostage and Naya’s death is on her hands. Suspense: (M-8) Velda searches for Naya’s family can she find Naya in time?
Father finds Naya and holds her hostage.(V-9) He lets Velda know Naya’s death is on Velda’s hands. (M-8) Velda searches for Nata’s family.
7.Climax: (A-15) (M-9)Velda tries to take on every family member and street fighter.(A-16)(M-10) But just when she’s about to collapse from exhaustion the MMA fighters find her and help her out.(A-17)(M-11) She gets up her final reserves and fights on. (A-18) (M-12) Velda wins and gets Naya back.(A-19)(M-13) Velda chops off the father’s head with a sword.
8.Resolution: (M-14)Velda and her husband are invited to Naya’s and Darsh’s wedding. Naya carries a brand new baby.
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