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Lesson 2
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Cameron Martin’s Deeper Layer!
Vision: Write an action movie that connects with audiences on a deep spiritual level, regardless of background, while prioritizing quality time with my family.
What I learned doing this assignment is…First, let me just get this off my chest. I cheated a bit using ChatGPT. I asked it to come up with near 80 different examples of “hints” because outside of knowing the concept, I was really struggling with getting past my own perceptions of the budget, production design, setting, etc., which kept shutting down my brainstorming. So, lesson one: save production concerns for later; when brainstorming, budget doesn’t matter. Lesson two: if you don’t want to rely on an AI to act as the creative equivalent of a pocket calculator, but you need to get yourself out of a creative rut, just write down as many different examples from comparable movies as possible, regardless of whether you feel they fit or not, and then brainstorm from that list. It’s a lot easier to create when something’s already there, than work from the intimidating “blank page.” Either way, I did start to have some additional ideas, separate from the massive generated list, and begin to see different scenes play out in my still developing outline. The next step will be to go back to my concept again and ask “what just makes sense” or “what would only a really stupid person not consider when faced with this kind of concept/dilemma?” I’m sure I’ll come up with even more ideas off of that.
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Surface Layer: A woman wakes up captive in a prison, and has no memory. In her escape attempt, she discovers an exact copy of herself.
Deeper Layer: The woman we’ve been following is the actual copy; the woman she discovers is the original who killed herself to be reborn through the Afterlife Protocol.
Major Reveal: Janice battles Null to the death, prompting Null to possess her. After Null possesses Janice, she discovers her past and reason for existing from living through the memories within Janice’s mind. Null is physically barred from escaping the prison, while Janice can walk free?
Influences Surface Story: Janice knows why she’s there, and has all of her memories to inform her journey. To ensure her victory, she hides key details and conspires with Calvex.
Hints: Janice is quick to kill an unknown but potential ally in their escape, and Null doesn’t know why, only to have Janice explain some of her backstory – this reveals Janice not only has her memories, but also introduces the possibility of someone not knowing if they’re a copy or not.
Changes Reality: The protagonist of this story is a puppet, and the antagonist is the “real” person with the familiar revenge plot.
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Beginning: Null wakes up in purgatory and with no memory.
Inciting Incident: A mechanical arm attempts to put Null back to sleep, but Null escapes. She’s on the loose in the purgatory.
Turning Point 1: Calvex introduces Null to a copy of her, Janice. Null wakes up her copy.
Janice Midpoint: After killing herself, Janice wakes up, reborn, according to her plan. However, a second version of her was created as well, a version she’s told she must defeat in order to earn her second shot at life.
Act 2: Null and Janice fight their way out of the purgatory maze
Janice/Act 3: Janice works to manipulate and weaken Null. She tries to crush her will to live at every point.
Deeper Meaning: Janice is actually the original, and Null is the copy.
Turning Point 2 / Midpoint: Janice betrays Null and tries to kill her, but Null sacrifices her body to possess Janice
Deeper Meaning: Null was meant to be a final sacrifice for Janice to reach her full potential, but Null possessing Janice wasn’t a part of the plan.
Janice Act 4 Climax: Janice goes on the warpath against the man who assaulted her and his gang.
Act 3: Null fights through Janice’s mind and uncovers the truth.
Deeper Meaning: Janice killed herself to come back stronger and exact vengeance on her former accomplices.
Turning Point 3: Null gains control of Janice’s body.
Act 4 Climax: Null and Janice fight for control during Janice’s raid on her former accomplices. Meanwhile, Calvex tries to reacquire them both due to Null’s escape.
Resolution: Janice is assimilated. Null wins and declares war on Calvex
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Marc’s Deeper Layers
WIM Module 4-Lesson 2
My Vision: Win a Nicholl Fellowship and receive a 10 rating with the Black List
What I learned: The deeper layers make the story and viewing experience more intriguing and exciting to watch.
Beginning:
Andy Beal, an A-type personality Billionaire, is having a mid-life crisis
and needs to challenge himself to “High Risk” stimulating endeavors.SURFACE:
Andy Beal travels to Las Vegas and arrives at the Bellagio looking for a
poker game.Inciting
Incident:Andy, an amateur poker player, loses a low-stakes poker game to
a member of the Corporation, a group of Las Vegas professional poker players.Turning
Point 1:Humiliated, with a need to recoup his losses, he challenges the
leader of the Corporation, Dole Brunson, to a series of high-stakes poker
games. The games last over a period of six years.DEEPER
LEVEL: Andy is searching for his former business partner who embezzled a
fortune from him and he thinks a poker player in the Corporation is
related to the embezzler.Act 2:
Andy, a “fish out of water” realizes he is no match for the Corporation
and gets his son, to create a computer program algorithm to give him an
advantage.Turning
Point 2 / Midpoint:Andy starts winning and gets very “cocky.” Dole is
forced to recruit more players into the Corporation and pool their money
to keep the challenge going.MAJOR
REVEAL: A female private investigator, hired by Andy has tracked the embezzler
to the Corporation poker player, who is his brother, agent, and manager.Act 3:
Dole’s recruits are losing to Andy and dropping out, one by one.
INFLUENCES
SURFACE STORY: Andy demands from Dole Brunson, the Antagonist of the
Corporation, that he play the brother of the embezzler. The player keeps
losing and he is forced to get more money from his embezzling brother to
keep him in the game.Turning
Point 3:Dole calls up and recruits Phil Ivey, the best poker player in
the world, for a one-on-one challenge with Andy Beal.HINTS:
Photos and conversations with the private investigator as to why Andy is
playing poker and trying to do his own con game with the Corporation. Andy
wins all the Corporations money, including the embezzler’s brother. He wants
to leave Las Vegas but Dole temps him with one more last game.Act 4
Climax:Phil Ivey beats Andy Beal and recoups the Corporation’s winnings.
CHANGES
REALITY: Andy lost all his winning by losing to Phil Ivey. Satisfied, he got
his money back from the embezzler but he ultimately played and lost to the
best poker player in the world.Resolution:
Andy returns home to Dallas, Texas. He researches and finds a new “High”
risk challenge. -
Jeffrey Glatz Deeper Layer
My Vision: To create commercial studio size films that move people. To create characters that can live forever and bring electrifying memories to those that have watched one of my films.
What I learned from doing this assignment – The importance of layering. This is one i will need to continually review.
Surface Layer: Chris must overcome her sheltered normal college life to become a savior of the World.
Deeper Layer: She is a Descendant of Zeus and has all the tools needed to become the leader the world needs. The Power of Nature vs. the Power of Man. The Descendants are broken into four “tribes,” Wind, Fire, Water and Earth. All must be in balance or nature will destroy man.
Major Reveal: The world of the Descendants living among all of us, unknown.
Influences Surface Story: Her relationship with James, her Protector, and her growing affection for him.
Hints: Chris’ ability to react to the attempt to kidnap her.
Changes Reality: Discovering her birth mother was a Descendant of Zeus changes/confirms her new reality.
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Pam Ewing’s Deeper Layer!
My Vision: Professional. Produced. Prolific. Popular.
What I learned: A lot is already there in my brain so lesson is to effectively draw it out.
2. As we did above with The Sixth Sense, create each piece of this “Deeper Layer” puzzle.
· Surface Layer: Death, Divorce and Money
· Deeper Layer: super natural inheritance
· Major Reveal: Natalie is the chosen one – a vampire born in sunlight
· Influences Surface Story: Romance with Vlad is because Vlad is unknowingly attracted to the vampire in Natalie. Natalie is likewise attracted to Vlad and unwilling to listen to her husband. She is emboldened in Transylvania as she never felt before. She thinks that she is finding her wings and becoming assertive through dealing with the divorce, her mother’s death and rejecting her husband.
· Hints: Natalie’s powers manifest but in ways that are easy to explain away.
· Changes Reality: Natalie starts seeing things in a new way – her ‘umbrella’ necklace is really a bat necklace. She must save herself and her husband which requires embracing bloody/ancient truths. Also, Natalie must face the relationship with her husband (currently have a list of 14 possibilities)
3. Add the rest of the structure to the characters to the script. Try to get to the point as we’ve done in the Iron Man example above.
· Beginning: Natalie is a busy bee trying to win approval and fleeting praise even to her mother’s deathbed and trying to divorce husband
· Inciting Incident: when her mother dies she discovers that her efforts have only merited a demand to claim her inheritance in Transylvania or be poor
· Turning Point 1: Husband follows her to Transylvania where she meets and is wowed and wooed by Vlad. Her powers appear but can be written off as coincidences.
· Act 2: She casts her pursuit on Vlad’s seemingly capable shoulders and her husband tries to follow, nagging the whole time
· Turning Point 2 / Midpoint: As Natalie intensifies quest for inheritance continues, her powers grow. Vlad has not yet noticed but she does seem to keep him surprised so he does not worry over keeping her alive.
· Act 3: Her husband has gotten on Vlad’s bad side and his evil intent becomes apparent to Natalie. She tries to resolve situation making it worse.
· Turning Point 3: Vlad seemingly has Natalie and her husband in peril. Vlad uses husband to get Natalie to give her inheritance to him.
· Act 4 Climax: Natalie faces her worst fears of abandonment and being an outcast to summon her new powers and fight Vlad, win her inheritance and save husband. She appears to lose but her claim on the inheritance is stronger than Vlad’s so she can’t lose.
· Resolution: In winning her inheritance, she confronts her husband. In this confrontation is a final revelation of why they got married in the first place.
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Heather’s deeper layer
Vision statement: I want to see my scripts optioned this year and turned into movies that the audience will remember long after they leave the theatre.
What I learned from doing this assignment: remember to think about the B story and all of the subtext. Don’t get caught up so much in plot – character development comes from what characters want and need.
2. As we did above with The Sixth Sense, create each piece of this “Deeper Layer” puzzle.
· Surface Layer:
What’s going on in Forbidden Pass? Why does everyone who goes there die?
Sarah is searching
for her abducted daughter. Joe has come back because he’s heard his
father is sick. Harper wants respect but upholding the law won’t
give it to him.· Deeper Layer:
If you want to go through the pass, you have to get permission from the Sto’lo Nation and be escorted through by an Elder. They know what’s going on there, but no one’s talking.
Sarah’s really looking
for a way out of her stifling marriage. Joe’s really looking for
acceptance. Harper turns to
crime to fulfill his needs.
Major Reveal: The “Shadow
Man” isn’t a Sasquatch. It’s Joe’s father.
Influences Surface Story – It now
involves the whole local reservation.
Hints: Camera’s
should be angled so no one see’s the “beast”, just a dark, hulking
creature. Three toed, footprints at least a size 14 in length. Joe
dropping hints about Lila and how his father treats epilepsy with
mushrooms.
Changes Reality: The “Shadow
Beast” is a Medicine man the local band protects with the legend of the
Forbidden Pass. The audience is expecting a rescue, but the child turns
into the next Shadow Creature and the cycle continues.
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