Day 1 Assignments

[H.G. MIDDLEMASS]

What I learned doing this assignment….Outlining is essential to writing a Binge Worthy series.

SERIES INFO: Killer Job

World: A remote, isolated facility in the desert using a vetting process never-before-seen in the corporate world.

Main mystery: What is the enigmatic job of VP of Special Services “really” about?

Impossible Goal: To beat the other twelve candidates and win the job.

Main Conflict: The competition against the others to win the job but with a killer among them.

Second Mystery: Who is the corporation Nebularkin and why the bizarre vetting process?

Season 1 Arc: Thirteen candidates start but only eight candidates survive, the killer is revealed and the dark corporate vetting secret is revealed.

Season 1 Protagonist Internal Journey: From desperation and nothing to lose to having a chance at winning the job but with deteriorating physical and mental health.

PILOT INFO: “Panic Button”

Pilot Conflict: Does the group use the Panic Button to report the accidental death of a candidate and risk group disqualification of everyone?

Main Characters Introduced: Verna, Jake, Lili, Fabio, Gretchen, Satish

Inciting Incident of Season 1: When the body of Karen Hodges is found the group votes to put her corpse in the walk-in freezer for ten days and continue the competition.

• This reply was modified 3 years ago by  H.G. MIDDLEMASS.

[Mary Andrews]

Subject line: mod 3 Lesson 1: Mary Andrews’ Big Picture Components

What I learned doing this assignment is just how handy that frame work is.”

SERIES INFO:

World/Main
mystery: Four Universal Government
Special Dark Ops agents on the trail of paranormal terrorists across 3
galaxies find themselves pitted against infallible Oracles who are lining
them up to fulfill a prophesy to save their planet…in another dimension.

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Impossible Goal: upon a Pleasure Planet,
Tanivol, they close in to capture a mind-jacker who has blatantly taken
control of their team leader, Rael Pointe, as well as a Universal
Government ambassador.

Main
Conflict: At Mallory Switt’s Pleasure
Palace where anything can be bought at a price on the planet Tanivol,
amidst gravity dancers, floating stages of musicians, privacy booths,
underground gardens, pools anti-gravity gardens, slave sex dens, until
deep into the dark cells below, they seek and finally capture both their
leader and his abductor without confrontation.

Second
Mystery: Why would anyone do such
things when penalty for interfering with any Government Agent was
immediate addiction to the Nirvana drug and sentenced to life in service
at the Hive penal planet/workforce?

Season
1 Arc: Rael Pointe, the only person to
ever have escaped the Hive Penal Planet as an infant, though fully implanted
with the temple plates which allow him to interlink with any form of Ethernet
or electronics but he was too young to be given the addictive drug that
would have enslaved him.

Season
1 Protagonist Internal Journey: He
has always feared the Hive would sooner or later capture and enslave him. By
the end of this arc, he will be manipulated into becoming the Master of
the Hive and nothing will ever be the same again.

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PILOT INFO:

<div>Pilot
Conflict:
Characters
Introduced: Rael Pointe, Laynald Lockheim,
Ira Haze, Tristen, Ambassador Dash</div><div>

Inciting
Incident of Season 1: Upon
receiving the psi-jacked Ambassador, Ira Haze discovers that the terrorist
tormenting the ambassador is still linked from a distance and that she is
being tortured to inflict pain upon her target.

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[Brigitte Timmerman]

What I learned from this assignment is outlining the big picture is essential when writing your first draft.

World: Dystopian limited resources. New government after economy and government breakdown. Some Native American retrieved some broken treaty land back and become sovereign nations Indipendent of the US.
Main mystery: Who is Isaac’s family?
Impossible Goal: Must travel through dangerous territory to find Isaac’s family to seek refuge.
Main Conflict: Yellow Smoke banished Irene and Jessie and keeps Isaac.
Second Mystery: What will become of Irene and Jessie with their new life.
Season 1 Arc: conflict with where Isaac belongs
Season 1 Protagonist Internal Yellow Smoke struggles trusting the outside world because it has failed him many times.

PILOT INFO:

Pilot Conflict: The family has a dangerous journey on the road. Bandits attack them.
Characters Introduced: Irene, Jessie, Isaac, Mira and Grandpa Frank
Inciting Incident of Season 1: Family forced on the road and must find Isaac’s family for survival.

[Marcus Wolf]

Lesson 1

Marcus’ Big Picture Components

What I learned doing this assignment is a new way to begin creating a treatment for a TV show. This is a much different process than I’m used to, coming from a screenplay writer’s perspective. It looks to me that it could be a powerful tool. But it’s harder than it looks!

SERIES INFO:

<div>
World: Ancient witches try to rid the
world of evil – as they see it – in the 21^st century.</div><div>

Main mystery: Is eternal youth the
answer to all their problems?

Impossible Goal: Why does Cassandra
hate Trabeus so much and so obsessively?

Main Conflict: Cassandra’s
long-standing grudge against Trabeus.

Second Mystery: How can the coven
reunite when each has such serious problems?

Season 1 Arc: From Cassandra rediscovering
her ancient enemy, Trabeus, to locating all her coven mates and getting
involved in their horrible problems.

Season 1 Protagonists Internal
Journeys: Cassandra lonely and purposeless to reuniting with her coven and
getting wrapped up in their terrible problems. Trabeus unlocking part of a
malevolent spell on himself to bad entanglements with local gangster and
hiding from an ancient enemy.

</div><div>

</div>

PILOT INFO:

<div>
Pilot Conflict: Trabeus causes an
atrocity due to the meddling of Cassandra.</div><div>

Characters Introduced: Trabeus,
Cassandra, Beatrix, Marius, unnamed gangster, others?

Inciting Incident of Season 1:
Trabeus finally removes part of a restraining spell which arch-enemy Cassandra
put on him but which unintentionally reconnects them.

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[Phyllis Strong]

Phyllis’ Big Picture Components

From this assignment I learned that all the work that went into the bingeworthy framework and the TV Pitch Bible led directly into the broad stroke components of what will eventually be my outline.

Lesson 1: Big Picture Components

SERIES INFO

· World: the uncharted world of primeval creatures that sprung from the build-up of greenhouse gases, just as they did 55 million years ago.

· Main Mystery: the provenance of these primeval creatures, and their powers (how do you kill them, what happens when you do?).

· Impossible Goal: Help reverse climate change.

· Main Conflict: Duncan and Sasha vs. the creatures. Delia wants to stop Duncan from supporting climate change scientists and advocates.

· Second mystery: How will Duncan and Sasha change each other for the better?

· Season 1 Arc: From being framed and having her reputation ruined to teaming up with a potentially delusional billionaire activist to discovering that the creatures he’s seeking are real—but apparently unstoppable.

· Season 1 Protagonist Internal Journey: from emotionally distant and quick to anger to starting to trust Duncan and manage her anger.

PILOT INFO

· Pilot Conflict: Delia destroys Sasha’s reputation and thus her dream of protecting the planet and comes close to finding out Duncan’s secret… and now Sasha’s only choice is to team up with a delusional Duncan.

· Main Characters Introduced: Sasha, Duncan, Delia, Sasha’s Mother, Sasha’s friend at the Department of Justice, Duncan’s Ex-Wife.

· Inciting incident of Season 1: A disgraced and unemployable Sasha must team up with Duncan to keep her dream of protecting the planet alive, even though she believes he’s delusional.

[Kimberly Gore]

Kim’s Big Picture Components

What I learned from doing this assignment is that I’m wondering if my concept is strong enough, or if I need to rethink it.

SERIES INFO:

• World: The world of reincarnation

• Main mystery: Can their souls right the wrongs of the past?

• Impossible Goal: To prevent Natalie from be locked up in a psych ward, or else she and her possible soulmate, Eric, will never be able to go forward and make things right.

• Main Conflict: Eric wants to save Natalie, but so much is against her, including his own mother and Natalie’s therapist.

• Second Mystery: Why is Nat’s therapist so interested in her life, to the point of obsession?

• Season 1 Arc: Natalie discovers her multiple personalities stem from being reincarnated, and Eric admits he has a drinking problem. They need each other.

• Season 1 Protagonist Internal Journey: Natalie’s walls begin to break down. Eric stands up for his wife, something he can’t seem to do for himself.

PILOT INFO:

• Pilot Conflict: Natalie is accused of attempted murder on Eric, but she knows it wasn’t her, it was one of her personalities. Eric believes this as well and fights to protect his wife, who used to be under his psychiatric care and to an extent still is.

• Characters Introduced: Natalie, Eric, Danielle (Eric’s ex), Linnie (Eric and Danielle’s daughter)

• Inciting Incident of Season 1: Eric is stabbed by his wife, who was another personality at the time of the attack.

[Bob Onufer]

Bob’s Big Picture Components

World: Dangerous world of Middle East espionage and religious fanaticism from all faiths.

Main Mystery: Will Daniel side with the religious fanatics to avenge his parents’ murders.

Impossible Goal: A Middle East free of the type of terror that killed his parents.

Main Conflict: Daniel versus the terrorists.

Second Mystery: Will Daniel succumb to the PTSD, suppressed anger, and guilt driving him to drugs, alcohol, and prostitutes.

Season 1 Arc: From using his position to track his parents’ murderer to learning he can’t do anything about it once he finds them.

Season 1 Protagonist Internal Journey: Daniel goes from depressed and frustrated through acting out on his anger to despair when he learns the mastermind of the plot that killed his parents is untouchable.

Pilot Conflict: A string of attacks in Tel Aviv brings Daniel into opposition with terrorists.

Characters introduced: Daniel Shay, Avi Tiber, Rabbi Azar, and Najeh Tamra.

Inciting Incident for Season 1: Murder of Daniel’s parents.

[Marie Jordan]

Marie’s big picture Components

What I learned doing this assignment is the list of components that make a great pilot. It is so helpful!

World:

The unknow world of the school of the Guardian angels and the devil with the fallen angels

The uncharted and unruled territory of Cyber crime.

Main Mystery:

Who is Skyler? why is he different from the other angels? Is he a fallen angel? Is he a human?

Impossible goal:

To fulfill his assignment.

Main conflict:

Fighting the fallen angels influence on humans

Second Mystery:

How Skyler will be able to communicate with Rose after the connection has been cut?

Season 1 arc:

From having one assignment: to watch one human,

to having the responsibility of the whole school of Guardian Angels.

Season 1 Protagonist Internal Journey

From struggling with Dyslexia, ADHD, fear of flying and fear of failing again to empowering himself and leading his pairs.

Pilot conflict:

Skyler is enjoying his guidance to Rose, a gorgeous prodigy when the connection stops and she turns into a little monster and he has to fight her darkness unaware that what happened to them is part of a big plan from the fallen Angels to cut human beings from celestial connection.

Main characters introduced:

Skyker, Merrill, Rose

Inciting incident of season 1:

Skyler is disconnected from Rose and must use forbidden magic.

[David Thome]

I learned directly that outlining helps because it pointed out to me a flaw in my list of Season 1 Episodes. The Pilot needs to introduce the forces that will dog and threaten Joshua for the entire series.

SERIES INFO:

World: Parallel realities

Main mystery: What does Joshua know that the spies want to learn and makes Salva want him dead?

Impossible Goal: Get back to the Baseline

Main Conflict: The spies want the secret, but Joshua doesn’t know that he knows it

Second Mystery: Can Joshua survive the spies and Salva’s revenge agenda?

Season 1 Arc: Joshua goes from cynical nobody to being the center of international intrigue

Season 1 Protagonist Internal Journey: Joshua builds confidence by using skills he already has—and developing new ones.

PILOT INFO:

Pilot Conflict: Joshua is transported to an alternate reality where his life is upside down—and faces spies and attempts on his life.

Characters Introduced: Joshua, Henna, Leila, The Two Agents, Fred

Inciting Incident of Season 1: The particle acceleration blows up, sending Joshua, Salva and the agents into another reality—and killing Salva in the Baseline.

[Diana Ceres]

Diana’s Big Picture Components

What I learned: The formula helped me see where I needed to up the stakes.

SERIES INFO:

World: Mother/daughter catfishing team <div>

Main mystery: Where’s Lupe?

Impossible Goal: Catch Lupe while under the watch of
the feds.

Main Conflict: Jake in prison. Lupe is free.

Second Mystery: How many husbands does Lupe have?

Season 1 Arc: From successful day trader to white
collar criminal.

Season 1 Protagonist Internal Journey: From wealthy and
happily married to alone and destitute.

PILOT INFO:

Pilot Conflict: Wife leaves husband, clears out his
bank accounts, and frames him for insider trading while he is away on
business. </div>

Characters Introduced: Lupe, Dolores, Mikey, Carlos,
Jake

Inciting Incident of Season 1: Lupe leaving Jake; Jake’s
visit from the feds