Screenwriting Mastery › Forums › Mystery, Intrigue, and Suspense: Mastering the Thriller Genre › Thriller 30 › Lesson 6
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Lesson 6
Posted by cheryl croasmun on March 11, 2024 at 5:55 amReply to post your assignment.
Mary Sawyer replied 1 year, 3 months ago 4 Members · 3 Replies -
3 Replies
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Donna’s Mystery Sequence
What I learned: I love the simplicity of preventing the cover-up as reality and it’s a great tool that was fun to use. I’m not clear on what a mystery sequence is, though, so I found it a little difficult to do the assignment. I would love some kind of template to help figure these things out.
MYSTERY #1:
WHO KILLED MARIA?
Peter was at the scene
Peter was on the outs with Maria; there’s no proof he was invited there
Sasha was also on the outs with Peter; he’s shown to be untrustworthy
Maria has valuable art that disappears and Peter is broke
Peter lies to Sasha, revealing himself to be untrustworthy
Peter is shown getting angryMYSTERY #2:
How are Cynthia and Alan involved?
Alan was Maria’s attorney
Alan is Cynthia’s boss and lover
Cynthia is also an artist but was friendly with Maria
A local art show is coming up and Cyn is competitive
Cynthia acts annoyed with Alan
Alan needs something from Maria’s house and Maria’s house was broken intoMYSTERY #3
Who is Elliot?
Sasha finds letters indicating Maria had a son.
Sasha thinks Peter is the son’s father
Axel changed his name and Peter verifies it, because he’s suspicious
Sasha becomes more suspicious of Peter for trying to pin blame on AxelMYSTERY #4
Who killed Cynthia?
Alan was angry with her for not getting what he needed
Alan and Cynthia are kind of sick of each other
Cynthia had Maria’s stolen artwork that Peter wantedMYSTERY #5
Is Axel the killer?
He was new in town
He had access to Maria and her house
Axel means “My father is peace”
He says a weird phrase like from the Elliott letter
He throws Sasha’s phone into the woods when Peter tries to warn her -
Rain’s Mystery Sequence
What I learned is that it is easier to build mystery by focusing on the Villain’s journey as opposed to the Hero’s journey. I switched things up by making my original Villain the red herring and casting his daughter into that role.What is the big secret that the Villain is covering up?
The Villain, Gia, orchestrated her husband’s demise by employing AI to fabricate a weather catastrophe leading to the crash of his aircraft. Her ultimate ambition is to amass unrivaled wealth by merging the fortunes of her father and husband through their elimination.How many ways can they cover that secret?
Orchestrating an AI-induced weather event, masquerading as chance, to stage the plane crash
Framing her father as the blackmailer within the secret society.
Leveraging her impeccable public image as a philanthropist
Collaborating extensively with authorities to feign uncovering her father’s alleged misdeeds.
Enlisting a surrogate to execute her nefarious deeds.
Silencing any potential whistleblowers.
Attempting to obliterate the rogue AI when it turns against her.The first mystery must engage the Hero in solving it.
The Hero is trapped in a wildfire after the wind unexpectedly changes directions, causing the backburn that was created to control it to fuel the flames instead. Unaware of what caused the wind to change directions, the Hero tries to figure out why after a near-death experience.Mystery 1: Who murdered Somner Banks?
Boa Zhang’s public fallout with Somner raises suspicion.
The pilot, the sole survivor of the crash, exhibits questionable behavior.
Motive surfaces: why did the pilot fly under unsafe conditions?
The pilot’s reluctance to cooperate with investigators heightens intrigue.
Boa stands to gain financially from Somner’s demise, hinting at possible involvement.Mystery 2: Is the AI an ally or adversary to the Hero?
Interrogating the purpose behind Omniverse’s utilization of AI: resource acquisition?
Unveiling the identity of the AI’s controller.
The Hero grapples with trust in the clues left by the AI.
The looming concern: is the Hero being lured into a trap?
Contemplating the possibility of the AI attaining sentience.
Could the AI be orchestrating a scheme to expose the Villain?Mystery 3: Who is extorting the secret society?
Boa’s magnetism attracts the global elite to Vesper Cove, where their indiscretions are recorded.
The extensive chronicle of video and audio recordings implicates a long-standing perpetrator.
Despite Boa’s denial of involvement, his claims are met with skepticism.
Desperate, Boa seeks assistance from his daughter and legal representation upon imminent arrest.-
This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by
Lorraine Passchier.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by
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Mary’s Mystery Sequence
What I learned is… this simple exercise has my brain whirling. lol. I’m completely confused. But I’ve god to move forward and hopefully it will all become clear.
ASSIGNMENT6
Create your mystery sequence. Give us the answer to these questions.
What is the big secret that the Villain is covering up?
He’s been plotting his revenge for a long long time and now it will all be revealed!
- How many ways can they cover that secret? Those become the mysteries.
His plan to destroy the world how and why?
Use others
Mislead everyone
Create distraction
Increase threat
Secret hiding place (his lair)
Misdirection
Brick man doing his dirty work
The first mystery must engage the Hero into solving it. Sg must save her granddaughter, and she has a certain amount of time to stop praxis’ plan – an impossible choice.
Sequence the mysteries so that each one leads us to the next one. Include ONE Red Herring mystery if you can.
Create a Mystery Chain for each main mystery.
Who is doing all this climate damage?
Climate damage is thought to be due to global warming (reality)
What does it have to do with SG
SG has nothing to do with it (reality)
Does SG have what she needs to battle fix it? (We see her weaknesses (reality)
Is her family being dragged into the middle? They think she’s crazy. (Reality?)
If so, why? By whom? She starts to look legit (reality)
Will sg get the kid to her side? Kids thinks she’s cray cray (reality)
Will the mom and sg heal?
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