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Lesson 5
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Diane’s Three Gradients
What I learned from this assignment is to help the audience see how and why the character makes the transforming choices rather than simply that they make their choices by short-cutting the process where the choices may not make sense to the audience. This is what my screenplays (the ones I want to have a profound message) are missing.
I’m posting one Transformable Character study, but am doing this for all of the Transformable Characters in my story(ies).
1. What is the Emotional Gradient you’ll use? The Desired Change gradient.
2. For each emotion of that gradient, tell us the following: A. Emotion: B. Action: C. Challenge / Weakness: A. Emotion: B. Action: C. Challenge / Weakness: A. Emotion: B. Action: C. Challenge / Weakness: Etc…
A. Excitement: Excited to be leaving the military and returning to his family for good this time
B. Action: Returns home from final deployment; will seek Stewart’s (his father) advice
C. Challenge / Weakness: C—He’s been in the military for many years so “home” is unfamiliar / W—Out of step with civilian lifeA. Doubt: Unsure if he can do this. He’s tried it before and failed so he re-deployed.
B: Action: Gets drunk before going to see Stewart; is actually dropped off by acquaintance and wakes up at Stewart’s place.
C. Challenge / Weakness: C—Has been estranged from Stewart for many years. / W—Unsure if this is a good idea now that he’s here.A. Hope: Hopes he’s making the right choice.
B. Action: Accepts as valid the advice and strategies Stewart provides him.
C. Challenge / Weakness: C—To understand the differences between worldviews (Old ways vs New ways). W—Wonders if he can balance the two worldsA: Discouragement: Encounters backlash from others.
B: Action: He tries to implement the strategies learned from Stewart, but his wife and friends push back against his efforts.
C: Challenge / Weakness: C—Finds it very difficult to be “heard.” / W: Impatience.A. Courage: Recommits to see this return home effort through.
B: Action: Explores options for returning to civilian world. Seeks more advice.
C. Challenge / Weakness: C— Considers employing advice and strategies again. / W—Visits Gavin, Jr.’s “accident” site and understands how this can be an option.A: Triumph: Decides living is better than not living.
B: Action: Demonstrates to Sara (wife) his two options and perspectives.
C. Challenge / Weakness: C—She’s reluctant to hear him out. / W—Fears he could fail.I’ve not decided if Matt survives the story, so I also explore the “Loss” option.
A: Loss: Decides the worldviews are impossible for him to navigate.
B: Action: Distances himself from Sara and Jake (much as Stewart did) and friends.
C. Challenge / Weakness: C—Carries the burden of “reintegration” privately. / W—The burden is too heavy for him so he pursues a life-ending out. -
Beverley (with an E) Wood’s Three Gradient
What I learned from doing this assignment is the change needs to be based on a gradual structure. And this adds another layer.
I Know You’re Out There Somewhere (Matt – forced change)
Emotion = Denial
Action: He is a scientist, and he doesn’t believe in ghosts. He ignores her and tells himself she is in his head and he needs a good shrink. So, he calls his buddy.
Challenge/Weakness: His long-lost love is back, but she is only in his head. His weakness is his empirical thinking.
E= Anger
A: Once he believes in her, he becomes angry when she reveals that he needs his help to leave again and storms out. He is angry at himself for wasting years running away from the problem. He’s angry at the world.
C/W: He needs to make her stay, she can’t leave. W – he is only thinking of himself. It’s all about him.
E = Bargaining
A: He keeps asking Kim (his Obi-Wan) why his lover can’t stay; he hides his new belief from the shrink, and he takes her out of places and hopes to tempt her to stay.
C/W: He thinks he just needs to make her want to stay, and it’s not an issue with the universe. W – as usual, he thinks he knows everything.
E=Depression
A: He reads books about death; He takes out a bag of memorabilia from when they were together and goes through it.
C/W: Rock and a hard place – if he doesn’t let her go, she’ll go back in the urn forever, if he lets her go, he’ll never see her again. It’s still all about him.
E=Acceptance
A: He drinks mushroom tea (this isn’t explicit, but I think it has to be?) and sees God (the universe) for himself. And he understands. He explains it to her, he cooks her favourite dinner, and they get married in the greenhouse with all the chrysalis monarch butterflies. The next morning, he spreads her ashes, and her soul leaves. The butterflies all hatch. Later, she comes back to him as a butterfly (along with a very cool twist).
C/W: I maybe got this part wrong, but the challenge for him overall is to be able to let her go and keep her, and he does that.
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This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by Beverley.
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This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by
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Angela’s 3 Gradients – Forced Change
What I learned from doing this task is that it has helped me to focus on the challenge, not simply the behaviour. This will help with creating dialogue and offering a more rounded picture of this character.
My story is a six-part TV script with four main protagonists and two supporting protagonists, all of whom go on a transformational journey. I am posting only one of the gradients for one character (Jodie, a wealthy full-time mum) below.
1. Denial: Money embezzled from the business.
C: Maintain lifestyle in the face of new circumstances
W: Makes lightweight changes – cancels nail appointment but maintains lavish weekend away2. Anger: Husband Graham decides to change careers at the same time as they’re forced to decide to sell the house.
C: Provide stability for the kids in the face of upheaval.
W: Furious with Graham but knows she cannot change his mind Still looking to maintain lifestyle – e.g. looking to rent a place with a pool etc.3. Bargaining: Sells house and moves to rental. Learns her mother is unwell. Has to step in at work to run OHS when employee leaves to save the wage, which is needed for school fees.
C: Tries to work part-time and be present as a full-time mum for her kids. Needs to get Graham to step up.
W: Thinking she can do it all and eventually realizing she can’t without enlisting help.4. Depression: Learns that her mother has cancer and needs to spend time with her, out of town.
C: To prioritise her mother and maintain stability for the kids.
W: Thinking she has to cope with this all alone (old way). Then realises she doesn’t (new way) and is spurred into action to expect Graham to take over day-to-day tasks with the kids5. Acceptance: Mother dies.
C: To maintain stability for family, husband and business, and support her father.
W: Believing she is the only one who can organize anything (old way) before accepting help from friends and giving kids more responsibility (new way). -
What I learned doing this assignment is that by putting your story into a certain structure (e.g., emotional gradient), you may find something new that you never thought about even if that structure does not seem to be relevant to your story. In other words, it could be a source of new idea(s).
1. What is the Emotional Gradient you’ll use?
I will use an emotional gradient based on “forced change” which consists of Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance.2. For each emotion of that gradient, tell us the following: A. Emotion: B. Action: C. Challenge / Weakness: A. Emotion: B. Action: C. Challenge / Weakness: A. Emotion: B. Action: C. Challenge / Weakness: Etc..
A. Denial: B. Russell’s peaceful life is suddenly disturbed by an Asian man who was found in the middle of nowhere while temporally losing his memory (amnesia). Russell fails to attend a mass in the church which he has never missed for the last 30 years. C. Challenge: Russell is no longer able to do his routine due to the Asian man. Weakness: Insular and ultraconservative.
A. Anger. B. Russell gets upset to find out that his daughter Katie falls in love with the Asian man. C. Challenge: Katie does not listen to his dad and becomes attracted to the Asian man. Weakness: Russell is too overbearing and old-fashioned for Katie. He cannot control his own daughter.
A. Bargaining. B. Russell attempts to convince Katie to stay away from the Asian man. His every attempt fails. C. Challenge. The compassion and emotion Kaite has with the Asian man is stronger than Russell imagined. Weakness. Russell is unable to rationally explain his opposition to Katie and to himself.
A. Depression. B. Russell gets shocked when Katie and the Asian man run away from the hospital. C. Challege. Russell searches for his runaway daughter. Weakness. Russell discovers an emotional gap between him and Katie.
A. Acceptance. B. Russell finally finds Katie and the Asian man. He does not scold Katie and forgives her instead. The Asian man’s memory comes back, which breaks Katie’s heart. C. Challenge. It is a big challenge for Russell to forgive Katie. Weakness. Vulnerability
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This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by Mitch Haraguchi.
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This reply was modified 9 months, 1 week ago by
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Mark N. ….Three Gradient
I learned that this format along with loglines for each ACT (in concert with the main logline) makes for a better layout in story mapping.1. What is the Emotional Gradient you’ll use? The Emotion Gradient I will use is the “Desired Change” Gradient.
2. For each emotion of that gradient, tell us the following: A. Emotion: B. Action: C. Challenge / Weakness: A. Emotion: B. Action: C. Challenge / Weakness: A. Emotion: B. Action: C. Challenge / Weakness: Etc..
A. Emotion: EXCITEMENT; Action: A CIA officer is ordered to conduct a midnight rendition operation to expel a teammate from country; Challenge/Weakness: (Challenge). To avoid getting ass shot out of the air by insurgents. (Weakness) Being set up for failure if the ‘Acting’ Chief of Station does not have his facts and situational awareness accurate, otherwise the CIA officer is left holding the bag. [ACT 1]
B. Emotion: DOUBT; Action: The CIA officer refuses to believe his gut instincts that his career is about to take a change for the worse for the doing right thing, despite all the indicating signs; Challenge/Weakness: (Challenge) Confronting a powerful adversary head on without reinforcements. (Weakness) His employment position lacks the ‘golden parachute’ of protection. [ACT 1]
C. Emotion: HOPE; Action: The CIA Officer has had several high-profile operational successes and anticipates redeployment back to the Afghanistan theater to carry on with his mission, unaware his efforts have been sabotaged; Challenge/Weakness: (Challenge) The CIA officer seeks to maintain a low profile to return to Afghanistan and carry on with the mission. (Weakness) The CIA officer is not aware his powerful adversaries are in unique positions to destroy his career than they were four years earlier. [ACT 2A]
D. Emotion: DISCOURAGEMENT; Action: Not aware he is being deceived and soon Blacklisted his luggage–containing important documents–is stolen as part of the surreptitious actions contributing to a significant financial impact following the Great Recession of 2009, compounded by a life changing illness; Challenge/Weakness: (Challenge) Repeatedly confronting the CIA and risk exposing sources and methods that could carry significant prison time, in addition to trying to save his fortune he worked for over 30 years to obtain. (Weakness) Battling severe depression, PTSD, stigma and impending homelessness, while contesting the CIA’s actions. [ACT 2A]
E. Emotion: COURAGE; Action: After five years of chronic homelessness, the former CIA officer begins to crawl from the ashes and rubble like the Phoenix symbolizing renewal and resurrection to “Keep Standing;” Challenge/Weakness: (Challenge) Maintaining perseverance and fortitude. (Weakness) Fighting to restore his confidence, self-respect and self-worth, while battling his other inner demons. [ACT 2B]
F. Emotion: TRIUMPH; Action: After six years of coming out of his shell, the former CIA officer makes one last bid for change and justice by exposing the CIA’s practice to key power institutions in Washington, D.C. leading up to his campaign bid for U.S. House of Representative. This raises eyebrows and forces the Agency to uphold the law. An independent reporter in concert publishes an article following the elections while the former Agency officer carries out his own personal vendetta to restore his honor; Challenge/Weakness: (Challenge) As a low budget campaign, the CIA officer must qualify for office becoming the first in the nation to use “In-Kind” contributions demonstrating that even the low income can run for federal office. (Weakness) Running the campaign 100% by himself, while hiding his hand in street justice vengeance against his advisory that will force Agency executives to look over their shoulders. [ACT 3]3. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” (place at top of your work). I learned that this format along with loglines for each ACT (in concert with the main logline) makes for a better layout in story mapping.
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