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Day 14 Assignments
Reply to post your assignment.
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4 Replies
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Read through your “tagged map” and put together the pieces that fit into scenes.
Delete the tags and any unnecessary info.
For each scene, create a slugline (INT/EXT – LOCATION – DAY/NIGHT).
Go back and check to make sure the thriller parts are highlighted.
Edit the entire Thriller Map so it flows.
INT – PEOC – DAY
Deep underground the White House is a small war zone. Shot up medical equipment and splattered IV bags. A broken katana penetrates one of the two damaged Andraste powered armors.
Secret Service agents and Army Generals try to debrief President MJ and Secretary of Defense Fernando Rivera after the attacks on the White House. Death toll: 112. One of the eight conspirators abandoned their Andraste and escaped on foot. It was Zelda. She will try to kill MJ again.
General reveals that the drone was not destroyed by a malfunction, but destroyed by a kill switch. They have discovered that drones, missiles, helicopters, and much of America’s arsenal can be disabled by this kill switch. The American military is now vulnerable and need to minimize deployments.
MJ pretends to be surprised. It must be Renquist. Where has he escaped to? Renquist is the only one with the connections and she saw him destroy the drone with a small device when she tried to kill him. Her drone strike wasn’t legal, so she can’t share her info.
INT – WHITE HOUSE MEDICAL FACILITIES – DAY.
Going to visit None, Fernando stops MJ at the door. MJ is clear that saving his life doesn’t mean she loves him. Fernando leaves in a huff.
None suffered brain trauma from the assassination attempt. He complains about perspiration. MJ promises to bring deodorant. He feels like he’s slipping away. Repeats himself.
INT – WEAPONS SMITH – DAY
MJ takes the broken pieces of her katana and asks to reforge her weapon. The weapons smith suggests forging a dagger from the blade instead, as a reforged katana won’t be as strong. MJ agrees.
START MONTAGE
Day and Night patterns as time passes.
Funerals. So many funerals. Dreary weather.
Workman reconstruct damaged sections of the White House.
Opening bells. S&P500 stock ticker goes up and up. Happy people.
MJ increases the minimum wage for people using her app. Her bank account adds billions, although her customers disappear.
MJ daily visits to None. She slumps to the floor and holds his hand as None falls asleep.
END MONTAGE
INT – WHITE HOUSE BRIEFING ROOM – DAY
MJ announces a party to celebrate reopening of White House. She celebrates the economy doing the best ever, but all the press want to talk about is how China has become the #1 economy. The IMF bank will move to China. Is it the end of American dominance?
INT – WHITE HOUSE MEDICAL FACILITIES – DAY.
MJ brings None deodorant. He swats it away and complains about perspiration, frustrated.
MJ is too busy with White House party tonight, so won’t be able to hold None’s hand tonight.
INT – WHITE HOUSE PARTY – DAY
Reaction to China being #1 went from shock to extreme patriotism, with Americans in denial.
MaxPlume gets MJ to invest in technology for a fashion company. Can’t let China be #1 in fashion too.
News reporter Corella approaches MJ. MJ tries to intimidate her, but Corella tells her she is working for someone scarier than MJ. Corella writes the tail numbers of the plane MJ shot down. What does she know and want? MJ offers to meet.
Chinese president teases MJ about the IMF moving to China. He and the Russian president ask how None is doing. They have no rapport with her.
Indian leader wants to move up war games against China. That gives less time to find the kill switch, but can’t say no, or the Indian leader might wonder why. Why is India openly defying China? We find out that the nephew of the Indian leader was one of the soldiers killed in the latest China border clash.
EXT – STREET – NIGHT
None runs out of the White House, delirious. Secret Service protect None as he runs into the street. He falls down and they catch him. Blackness.
INT – WHITE HOUSE MEDICAL FACILITIES – DAY.
MJ meets with doctor who explains his condition, including perseveration. That must be what he meant by perspiration. After the brain injury, None has trouble with new words. He repeats himself, a broken man.
INT – OVAL OFFICE – NIGHT
MJ puts her dagger made from her Katana into her desk drawer.
Corella arrives wearing data glasses. Is Corella going to record this meeting?
MJ gets up to object, but Corella hands her the data glasses. Corella is a front for someone else. Who could it be?
MJ puts on Corella’s data glasses over her own so she can record the conversation too. It’s Renquist, the man behind the assassination attempt on None, the man wanted for treason, her hated foe, the one she’s been looking for.
Renquist knows she blew up the plane and blamed it on terrorists. He’s the one that manipulated her into doing it. He can blackmail her.
Renquist explains why he made the kill switch. It was to disable American weapons that fell into the wrong hands. It wasn’t treason. Renquist is a patriot.
Renquist’s plan was to help Kombinat take over Russia with American weapons he could disable at any time. When MJ stopped his plan, the only bargaining chip he had for his life was to give Kombinat the kill switch.
In return for dropping the treason charges, Renquist will help her get the kill switch back. MJ will have to come in person and the attack on Kombinat has to be the same day as the war games.
The stakes are too high if the kill switch stays in Russian hands. MJ has to think about it.
Renquist sends target and meeting coordinates. It’s deep in Russian territory in the arctic. The plan got worst.
Corella leaves without the data glasses.
MJ sends Fernando the recording.
INT – OVAL OFFICE – NIGHT
MJ and Fernando discuss the deal. It’s probably a trap, but it’s their only lead. Their interests are aligned, so she might be able to trust Renquist temporarily. They hate the deal, but see no alternative. A president in powered armor personally leading a special ops mission deep in Russian territory is insane. Talk about plausible deniability!
To avoid leaving evidence behind the mission will use Russian made Andraste knockoffs for powered armor and Russian guns and ammo. Only MJ will use a real Andraste.
Fernando will lead the U.S. military during the war games, while MJ invades Russia.
They call Renquist back on Corella’s data glasses and make the deal.
INT – U.S. SUBMARINE – DAY
The submarine breaks through the ice in a weak spot near the meeting spot.
MJ calls Fernando on her data glasses. He shares satellite imagery on the Kombinat base. It isn’t lightly defended at all. There are over a hundred powered armors. It looks like a trap! Renquist lied to them.
She asks Fernando to look for an ambush near the meeting site. Renquist only has three henchmen with him, all four of them in Andrastes with oversized snowshoes. Even with powered armor, four people is not enough for an ambush. What’s going on?
Fernando shifts back to the Kombinat base. Planes are loading powered armors for takeoffs. They just needed to wait.
SEALs deploy from the main submarine and another mini-sub. They test whether the ice can carry enough weight with snowshoes. Once verified, MJ puts on an Andraste and exists the sub.
EXT – ICE – DAY
Renquist and his mercenaries join forces with MJ and her SEALs. They plod towards the base. They take off snowshoes when they reach land.
The Americans attack the Kombinat base, quickly overwhelming them. Continuing inside.
INT – KOMBINAT BASE – DAY
The skeleton crew is easily defeated. All that remains is a few at the very back. The leader of the last holdouts is Zelda. When Zelda sees Renquist she gets her troops to hold their fire.
Zelda acts like she expected Renquist to hand over MJ. Instead, Renquist tells her how Zelda’s partner was really killed. Ivashov, leader of Kombinat, wanted to frame MJ for the death of her partner, so Ivashov made sure he bled out. Posing as a police consultant, he tried to get None to turn on MJ. He wouldn’t, so the plan failed. Ivashov let Zelda’s partner die for nothing and blamed it on MJ to make Zelda try to kill her.
Zelda’s troops attack. Zelda and the Americans dispatch them quickly.
Zelda gives up the kill switch and swears to kill Ivashov. She’ll even work as a spy to bring down Kombinat.
MJ throws the dagger near her head. Zelda pledged to kill the murderer of her partner with the katana that killed him. This will help Zelda keep that pledge. As an afterthought, Zelda mentions she may still kill MJ after Ivashov is dead.
Satellites detected explosions. Russian patrols coming.
A mad dash to leave.
EXT – ICE – DAY
To run faster, MJ carries the snowshoes instead of wearing them. Eventually, the ice cracks, and MJ gets trapped under ice.
EXT – UNDERWATER – DAY
Dropping. Dropping. The mini-sub latches onto her.
Sonic booms as jets fly overhead. MJ remains undetectable under water.
Action sequence as MJ and the SEALs have to evade Russian subs trying to find them while contending with limits on how much air and how much pressure the powered armors can handle and limitations of the mini-sub in arctic conditions.
INT – SUBMARINE – DAY
Low on oxygen and with micro-fractures in her helmet, MJ gets aboard the main sub for the trip home.
Once out of harm’s way, MJ contacts Fernando. He tells her three ships have run aground during the exercises near Taiwan. There can’t be that many incompetent captains. Something is going on.
INT – SITUATION ROOM – DAY
Fernando and MJ decide to destroy the kill switch to make sure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands again.
Fernando sets the satellites to look for topography changes. A search shows the Chinese coastline has been expanded near Taiwan and some nearby mountains are shorter. They figure out the Chinese are building a land bridge to invade Taiwan. The topology changes are why so many ships ran aground.
On the news, Kombinat took over Russia’s government while much of the military was off at the war games with their ally China. Russia is now a rogue superpower with enough nukes to destroy the world, led by the man behind the brazen attacks on the White House. MJ has no idea what he’ll do with that power. At least now they know why Kombinat left their base almost undefended.
MJ and Fernando sit in shocked silence at the implications of what they’ve just learned.
Fernando breaks the silence with a peace offering. He tells MJ about a top secret DOD program for soldiers with brain injuries like None. An experimental brain implant could help him. Is this None’s best chance to be normal again?
INT – SITUATION ROOM – DAY
MJ, Fernando, and several generals watch as American and allied ships prepare to blockade the land bridge. They have to stop the invasion of Taiwan to save a free democracy, but also because most semiconductors are created in Taiwan. Without a free Taiwan, there will be a massive shortage of new cars and electronic gadgets.
News of the blockade highlights the land bridge and likely invasion of Taiwan. Within hours the price of electronics triples worldwide.
Will the blockade start a war with China?
Satellites look for military targets. There are only civilians. They can’t fire on civilians or they become the bad guy. There’s no way to stop the land bridge. The civilians ignore the ships blockading them. They continue to spew dirt into the ocean. The ships have to retreat before they too run aground as the ground rises around them.
All the technology secrets of America’s companies are kept in Taiwan’s fabs where the chips are made. That technology can’t fall into Chinese hands. America must help Taiwan evacuate and rebuild their semiconductor production elsewhere.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by P.G. Sundling.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by P.G. Sundling.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by
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ASSIGNMENT
What I learned is: you can pretty much map an outline of your story using the tenets of misdirection, clues, reveals and mysteries that, structurally, take you through each act or even mini-movie.
1. Check these three to see how effectively you used misdirection
A. The Red Herring character. – Mosko is setup as the villain with the most motivation but in the end, due to circumstance, he’s still a red herring since his little girl, Rosario, is the ultimate villain
B. The Villain’s plan. -Mosko leaving a map telling his pursuers where he is. Mac and the audience might think it’s a trap but it’s all part of Mosko’s desire to die and to compel his pursuers at a time and place of his choosing, to kill him. Also, Peter’s overall plan to go legit after tying up loose ends – Mosko being that loose end he failed to snuff out initially, now he’s escaped and must bring in Mac Grant to find him in Mexico.
C. The cover-up for each mystery present as “Reality.” NA
2. Look through your Thriller Map for a few opportunities to add in misdirection.
A. Clue Misdirection.
B. Character Misdirection. – Villarreal is not who he seems at first
C. Dialogue Misdirection. – as Mosko is killing Father Guzman, the padre implores Mosko to “seek life in all things”. Mosko retorts that “life is not what I seek”, and kills the padre.
Act 1
Mystery:who are the white-faced acolytes and what do they want?
Act 2
Mystery: what secret does Texas Ranger Joe Crowley harbor about Mac’s deceased father that will serve to Mac’s benefit?
Bella/Eloy distrust: Eloy can’t be trusted, as the killer of Mosko’s wife Irina and Peter Arteaga’s new henchman, it’s only a matter of time before he turns on Mac and Bella. But when?
Clue: Rosario is impervious to poisonous spiders and scorpions
Life threatening: skirmish between rival cartel groups add more danger.
Twist: Mosko’s white-faced acolytes, unbeknownst to him, have taken up the mantle of “YoSoy Commun” – loosely translated “power to the people” and have used this rallying cry to attack the rival cartels and destabilize the entire region, often at the expense of their lives.
Twist/Mystery: the acolytes fear Mosko but worship Rosario. Why?
Act 3
Twist: Mosko, Rosario and Nina (the kidnapped American girl) have become an ersatz family amid all the killing and ritual sacrifice.
Character Misdirection: Mac nearly rapes Bella in a moment of despair mistaken for passion. Mac realizes that in this moment he’s no better than all the men in Bella’s life who see her as nothing…or don’t see her at all.
Reveal: we see Bella’s son, Paolo, as one of a throng of Mosko’s acolytes but he’s already too far gone. Bella is unaware of his presence.
Reveal: Rosario is the Goddess Coatlicue and the true villain
4. Answer the question “What I learned is…?” and put that at the top of your work.
Subject line: (Your name) Misdirects…When Appropriate!
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I’m looking forward to your finishing #15 so we can exchange feedback.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by P.G. Sundling.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by
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Sue Swenson’s Thriller Map Version 1
3. What I learned is that the previous work that I did to list and layer the Thriller Map with Mystery, Intrigue, Suspense, Twists, Reveals, Betrayals, etc., really paid off. I was able to use these items to flesh out a very basic outline for my thriller.
I have to say that this is one of the two best one month courses that I’ve ever taken through ScreenwritingU. The course was excellent in its guidance and direction toward layering in a logical, organized manner, a lot of complicated elements because a thriller has so many required layers to make it compelling and strong.
EXT. CAMPGROUNDS – DAY
A Sasquatch-looking beast is viciously attacking a camper and beating him to death. Then he tears off the camper’s jacket and shirt and starts taking bites out of the body.
INT. UNIVERSITY PSYCHIATRIC CLINIC DR. SCHNEIDER’S OFFICE – DAY
CARLA is welcomed back to work after a long leave of absence by her mentor, Dr. SCHNEIDER, who believes in her and encourages her to come back to work after her leave of absence.
INT. UNIVERSITY PSYCHIATRIC CLINIC CARLA’S OFFICE – DAY
RICHARD, her supervisor, welcomes her back to work. Initially he seems positive and enthusiastic to have her back and to share the workload. He asks Carla how’s she’d doing after returning from a long leave of absence because she witnessed her former patient violently kill himself resulting in her PTSD.
INT. CARLA’S MOTHER’S LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
Carla attends her nephew, ROBBY’S, birthday party. Her sister, JULES, and Jules’s boyfriend, MARKO, give Robby, 11, a Glock. Robby points it at Carla who freaks. Marko laughs.
SIMON, Carla’s husband, expresses sincere, realistic concerns about how her family is raising Robby, and dangers that Robby and the rest of the family are exposing themselves to with the gift of a Glock. There is a verbal confrontation between Simon and Jules and Marko.
Marko jokes that the Glock is for Sasquatch killings.
EXT. JULES’S BACK DOOR – DAY
Carla chastises her sister, Jules, about the Glock. Jules tells her to mind her own business.
INT. CARLA’S CAR – DAY
While Carla drives to work, she has a tense conversation on the phone with her husband, SIMON, who is separated from her. He reminds her that this is just one more example of why he doesn’t want anything to do with her family. Simon appeals to her to move away from her family and detach from their dysfunction. She argues that her dad, while dying of cancer, begged her to take care of her mother, sister and nephew.
INT. CARLA’S LIVING ROOM – DAY
Carla stands at the living room window looking out at her backyard while sipping a cup of coffee when she hears the loud sound of helicopter rotor blades. Three helicopters, two in camo, one all black, slowly fly over the yard. One stops, hovers. The pilot, wearing a gas mask, looks down and locks eyes with her.
INT. CARLA’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
Carla, in bed with Simon, wakes up, screaming, from a terrifying nightmare. Simon isn’t sympathetic about her nightmares given that his sleep has been disrupted multiple times because of her issues. He gets angry, breaks a lamp during their fight.
Simon receives a text from a woman. Carla wants to know who she is. Simon refuses to answer, changes the subject, puts his phone away. It’s actually his therapist, but he doesn’t want Carla to know that he’s getting some mental health counseling.
Simon packs a couple of bags, leaves the bedroom as he declares that he can’t take their toxic relationship anymore, especially with Carla’s family, who she can’t seem to distance herself from.
INT. CARLA’S OFFICE – DAY
Carla regresses her patient, PETER, and learns that he’s describing a similar nightmare to the one she had the night before about the helicopters.
Then the patient describes another nightmare about someone being killed by a Sasquatch-like creature.
INT. CARLA’S OFFICE – DAY
Carla calls Simon and tells him about having two similar dreams to a patient that she regressed hypnotherapy on. She thinks the dreams may be precognitive. Simon responds that he thought she was done with all of the crazy dream business. He tells her that he thinks she came back to work too soon.
INT. CARLA’S CAR – NIGHT
While driving home from work, Carla hears on the radio that another body has been found near a previous body and someone reported seeing a Sasquatch looking creature running away from the area. Carla screams and pulls over to the side of the road. She calls Simon and says, “I told you so!”
INT. DR. SCHNEIDER’S OFFICE – DAY
Dr. Schneider encourages Richard to be hard on Carla so Dr. Schneider can play good cop and have Richard play bad cop. Every time Richard is hard on her or judgmental, Dr. Schneider takes her part. But it’s really Dr. Schneider who is the devious one.
Reveal: Dr. Schneider is politically connected to the Sasquatch killer’s father.
INT. RESTAURANT – DAY
To keep them posted on events with Carla, Dr. Schneider takes her out for a meal and introduces her to the dangerous Sasquatch killer’s family. He introduces them as benefactors of the clinic when they are in fact the family of this killer. The family is polite, gracious and very welcoming towards Carla.
INT. RICHARD’S OFFICE – DAY
Richard micromanages her, finds fault with her work and is concerned about her anxiety level. He expresses doubts that maybe she came back to work too soon.
INT. CONFERENCE ROOM – DAY
Dr. Schneider takes her part after Richard confronts her at the big staff meeting.
EXT. ROCKY FOREST PATH – NIGHT
Carla is being chased by a mysterious two-legged creature. She loses her footing, trips and falls.
INT. CARLA’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
The clock reads three am. Carla thrashes in bed, sits up in a panic.
INT. CARLA’S OFFICE – DAY
Carla’s patient tells her about his nightmare, and it’s disturbingly similar to her most recent nightmare.
INT. UNIVERSITY PSYCHIATRIC CLINIC – RECEPTION DESK – DAY
Carla walks by the reception desk, overhears the receptionist relaying the latest news that a fourth body has been discovered in a remote area of the state involving a Big Foot type creature.
EXT. UNINHABITED WILDERNESS AREA – DAY
A police helicopter slowly hovers over a wilderness area. The occupants appear to be looking intently at the ground below.
INT. DR. SCHNEIDER’S OFFICE – DAY
Dr. Schneider assigns a troubled patient to Carla from the psych ward of the hospital. Carla protests. He claims it’s because they can’t afford to keep her on light duty given staff shortages.
Dr. Schneider purposefully assigns this patient knowing Carla’s history hoping that she will most likely have a relapse into her PTSD and be unable to continue therapy work at the clinic. Schneider realizes that Carla’s success in hypnotherapy could uncover the dark secret with the Sasquatch killings that he doesn’t want exposed. However, he doesn’t want to expose his hand so he presents this as a great opportunity to Carla and that he really needs her insight here.
INT. RICHARD’S OFFICE – DAY
Richard hands Carla the file of her new patient. He cautions her that the new patient has a similar background to the other patient, but he is well medicated and has been approved to work with her.
Carla reviews her current patient’s medical records and complains to Richard that this patient has a history of violence. Given her history with the patient who killed himself, she states she doesn’t want to work with him. Richard reassures her that he’s heavily medicated.
She’s opposed to working with this guy because she’s just come back from a LOA due to her own trauma regarding PTSD.
Flashback
INT. CARLA’S OFFICE – DAY
Carla witnesses a former patient kill himself in front of her.
Reveal: Carla is susceptible to nightmares because a former patient killed himself in front of her.
INT. DR. SCHNEIDER’S OFFICE – DAY
Richard expresses concern that Carla could be in danger if she’s forced to work with the violent patient. Dr. Schneider adamantly disagrees with him.
INT. CARLA’S OFFICE – DAY
Carla tells Dr. Schneider that the sick patient keeps complaining of nightmares that are similar to the nightmares she’s been having, and she’s concerned about her own safety.
Dr. Schneider pressures Carla to work with the sick patient because she’s the most skilled therapist in the field of hypnotherapy.
INT. TREATMENT ROOM – DAY
After Carla regresses the patient, she discovers that both her nightmares and the patient’s nightmares are linked and hold clues to the unsolved murders.
INT. CARLA’S OFFICE – DAY
Carla approaches her desk, notices a note on the desk. She reads it. The note blames her for the fact that her former patient, Mr. Jones, killed himself in front of her and she should have prevented it.
Carla calls her husband, Simon, and indicates she wonders who would have left the note. Simon suggests it could be someone who is attempting to get Carla emotionally distraught enough to take another leave of absence for some nefarious reason.
INT. CARLA’ OFFICE – DAY
Carla treats a patient who appears to be stable and mild mannered. He suddenly gets up, walks to the window and pulls out a gun and kills himself in front of her.
INT. CARLA’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
Alone in bed, Carla suddenly wakes up, is terrified, and screams in terror. She turns on all the lights in the room and adjacent bathroom.
EXT. DESERTED CAMPGROUNDS – DAY
A group of Sasquatch hunters go out to hunt the Sasquatch. They don’t find the Sasquatch, but they find another mutilated body.
INT. CONFERENCE ROOM – DAY
Carla sits at the conference room table with half a dozen department colleagues. Dr. Schneider reveals that another body has been discovered at the campgrounds. The body was Bill Smith, a young intern psychologist who worked for the psychology department. Carla has a panic attack and rushes out of the room.
EXT. ROADSIDE IN NORTHERN ARIZONA – DAY
A hiker is found along the side of a dirt road. He is delirious from heat exhaustion and lack of water. He claims to have witnessed a murder but has been wandering for hours. He witnessed the camper getting killed, and escapes. He describes the murderer as a Sasquatch-type creature.
INT. RICHARD’S OFFICE – DAY
Richard approaches Carla about taking on another highly disturbed patient, the hiker. Carla protests. Richard reminds her that they need her to step up and take this assignment because she’s the only hypnotherapist on staff at this point. She grudgingly agrees to work with this patient.
INT. TREATMENT ROOM – DAY
Carla meets the traumatized hiker who admits that he, too, has been having disturbing nightmares.
INT. CARLA’S KITCHEN – NIGHT
Simon calls Carla, tells her he has been conducting his own informal investigation and learns that her sister, Jules’s boyfriend, Marko, has been jailed for shooting a firearm at a party while intoxicated. Marko received a suspended sentence, a fine and community service. Simon warns Carla that she needs to stay away from her family because Marko is unstable and doesn’t like her. Simon begs her to move away and watch her back. He tells her he knows she promised her father to take care of her family in good faith, but the circumstances require her to break that promise for her own safely. He adds that the Glock incident is just one of many red flags that she’s in denial about and that he’s concerned.
INT. CARLA’S BEDROOM – NIGHT
It is one am, Carla is laying in bed reading when she hears yelling and the sound of a gunshot next door at her mom’s and sister’s house. Carla calls 911.
INT. DORIS’S LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
The cops are in the living room. Marko and Jules state that there was nothing going on. Doris blames Carla, tells the cops that Carla was imagining things, that Carla is still recovering from a breakdown and she is fragile and is imagining things.
EXT. CAMPGROUNDS – DAY
A group of campers, having breakfast outside their tent, sees a little girl wander out of the brush and approach their campfire.
The girl appears traumatized. She claims to have heard her mother scream and she ran away in fear. She doesn’t know what happened to her mother. She has been wandering in the woods for hours.
INT. RICHARD’S OFFICE – DAY
Carla is called into Richard’s office and informed about a missing female camper and her surviving traumatized little girl. Richard gives Carla an ultimatum. Either she takes this additional hypnotherapy assignment or he’s going to replace her. She grudgingly agrees to take yet another assignment.
INT. RECORDS DEPARTMENT – DAY
While going through archive patient files, Carla discovers that Dr. Schneider is not related to the family she and Dr. Schneider had a meal with. Dr. Schneider has actually been treating one of the members of the family. Dr. Schneider was the killer’s therapist and experimented on him with an unorthodox technique/treatment that went haywire in the boy’s brain leading to violence and murder. Carla looks further at the records, but can’t find any records more recently than two years ago.
Mystery 15: Are these patients’ situations connected? If so, how?
Life Threatening 11: Will working on all of these assignments increase Carla’s danger?
Villain’s Plan 3: Was the mother murdered, and if so, was it by the same killer?
Mystery 16: Will Carla get to the bottom of these mysteries before somebody else gets killed?
Life Threatening 11: Will anybody else be killed?
INT. CASSANDRA CULLEN’S LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
CASSANDRA CULLEN,
Carla enters a darkened living room lit with candles and a quiet circle of nine people seated on chairs. CASSANDRA CULLEN, 35, dressed in a purple robe and a colorful headdress, stands up, hugs Carla, enthusiastically welcomes her to the last empty chair.
Dream Group attendance – the dream group is Carla’s B story. She’s known these people for years. They are her real family. She goes to them for love, support, acceptance, belonging and peace.
Cassandra invites Carla to share her most disturbing nightmare with the group. Carla describes her dream to a silent group who don’t initially comment on the dream. Cassandra leads the members through a protocol for responding to Carla’s dreams in a supportive and productive way, offering insights and observations regarding the dream and what it means to them.
Reveal: Carla’s dreams and her patient’s dreams are connected.
The group interprets new dreams that serve as a warning for Carla regarding her patient.
Life Threatening 13: Could there be a villain’s co-conspirator connected to the group in some way that would endanger Carla?
a. The remote viewing process in practice.
b. Tracking the dead body.
c. Finding clues and evidence through dream interpretation and remote viewing.
d. The dream group interpreting the clues to find the body.
e. The kid and Carla become a risk because Carla is starting to access information on the killing.
f. The kid knows something that the Villains are aware she knows and they want to silence her.
g. The kid and Carla are in danger.
h. They’re on the run.
EXT. CARLA’S FRONT DOOR – NIGHT
Simon knocks on Carla’s front door. Carla answers the door, surprised.
INT. CARLA’S LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
Simon stands with Carla in the living room. He has dropped by to pick up some of his clothes. Carla is expressing doubt about Dr. Schneider and her nightmares. Simon urges her to drop her plans to get involved in the murder investigation. He tells her to leave it to the professionals. He tells her she’s over her head. She disagrees, leaves the room to collect the rest of his clothes from her bedroom closet.
While Carla is out of the room, Simon quickly grabs her cell phone lying on the coffee table and plants a tracking device on her phone.
EXT. WILDERNESS TRAIL – DAY
The cops find the body of the dazed hiker’s friend. They followed Carla’s information acquired at the dream group meeting.
INT. TREATMENT ROOM – DAY
Carol uses hypnotherapy to regress the little girl who reveals she saw the man under the Sasquatch costume when he thought no one was around. He spotted the girl who ran away. He tried to catch her, but lost track of her.
INT. CASSANDRA CULLEN’S LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
Carla catches the members of the group up on the status of the killings. Carla admits that the little girl saw the Sasquatch killer without the head of his costume on. She can recognize him. But worse, he saw her too, and can recognize her, which puts the little girl in danger.
INT. TREATMENT ROOM – DAY
Carla regresses the hiker who accesses some memories. He is finally able to remember his name and identity.
INT. CARLA’S FRONT DOOR – NIGHT
The little girl’s father knocks on the door. Carla opens it, addresses him and calls the little girl to the door. The little girl approaches. He indicates he wants to take her home. Carla informs him that the child is in danger because the alleged Sasquatch killer saw the little girl and can identify her. Both the little girl and Carla resist having her leave with her father for safety reasons. He is angry, threatens to bring the cops back with him.
INT. CARLA’S CAR – NIGHT
Carla and the little girl drive quickly out of Carla’s driveway and race down the street to get away before the cops arrive.
INT. CASSANDRA CULLEN’S LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
Cassandra serves hot chocolate to Carla and the little girl. Carla appeals to Cassandra for help in keeping the child safe. Carla wants to know who she can trust to protect the child and herself? Cassandra suggests they bring the group together for an emergency dream interpretation session.
Life Threatening 14: How can Carla and the girl stay safe?
Life Threatening 15: Will Carla and the dream group identify the Villain or villains before anybody else gets killed?
Villains’ Plan 4: What will the bad guys do to get to Carla and the girl?
INT. CASSANDRA’S GUEST ROOM – NIGHT
Carla tucks the child into bed in the guest room, reassures her that she’s safe. Carla promises to keep looking for the child’s mother.
INT. CASSANDRA’S LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
All of the members of the dream group quickly take their seats. Cassandra tells them why she brought them together for this impromptu meeting. They discover that several of them have had the same dream as one of Carla’s. As a result of this discovery, they are able to unearth a clue through their explorations.
EXT. WILDERNESS TRAIL – DAY
Carla and several members of the dream group hike through some brush, looking for clues. Carla finds the little girl’s mother’s jacket.
Twist: A secret identity is revealed when the hiker’s identify is discovered through hypnotherapy with him.
INT. DR. SCHNEIDER’S OFFICE – DAY
The missing woman’s husband angrily confronts Carla, accuses her of kidnapping the child. He wants Carla off the case and his daughter returned to him. He accuses Carla of being unstable, unreliable and ineffective. He accuses her of being dangerous for his daughter. He threatens a lawsuit if Carla isn’t removed from the case.
Carla speaks up, tells Dr. Schneider that the child should have something to say about who she is with, given the stress she’s under. The father demands to see his daughter.
INT. UNIVERITY PSYCHIATRIC CLINIC – DAY
Dr. Schneider, the child’s father and Carla march down to Carla’s office.
INT. CARLA’S OFFICE – DAY
The child is playing with some dolls used in play therapy. Dr. Schneider, the child’s father and Carla enter the office.
The child sees her father and starts to cry. Carla tells her that her father wants to take her home. The child protests and blurts out that Daddy beats Mommy. He protests, but backs off trying to take the child with him.
INT. PALATIAL LIVING ROOM OF KILLER’S FAMILY – DAY
Sensing Carla may be getting too close to the truth, Dr. Schneider and the killer’s parents devise a plan to get close to Carla and find out what she knows. They plan to kill her with the help of a couple of thugs posing as FBI agents with fake ID’s who will pretend that they are her allies. Dr. Schneider says it’s time to involve the FBI.
INT. CARLA’S LIVING ROOM – DAY
Two thugs posing as FBI agents, stand in the living room, ingratiate themselves and pose as her protectors. They tell her that she is in danger from someone who is trying to kill her related to her patient.
They find out what Carla already knows and order her to report any new findings to them asap because lives are at risk.
They will later give her false information that will lead her to the trap where she almost gets killed.
INT. CARLA’S LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
Carla comes home from work and catches her brother-in-law ransacking her house, looking for the Glock. He accuses her of taking it. She denies taking it and orders him out of the house immediately or she’ll call the cops.
We think it’s Carla’s brother-in-law that misplaced the gun when actually it was her nephew that did this to keep it for his protection if he were to need it at a later time. The nephew has come to realize that his mother’s boyfriend is not his friend and is actually dangerous.
INT. CARLA’S OFFICE – DAY
Richard enters, warns Carla that her patient has escaped the hospital and he’s disappeared. The police are looking for him. Be careful.
INT. RICHARD’S OFFICE – DAY
Carla enters Richard’s office. Because of the drama and threats to the town’s clinic, Richard fires Carla on the authority of Dr. Schneider from her hypnotherapy job. Carla has lost her resources. Dr. Schneider doesn’t care. He walks her to her office.
INT. CARLA’S OFFICE – DAY
Carla hurriedly packs her belongings into a shoebox.
INT. ENTRANCE PSYCHIATRIC CLINIC – DAY
Carla gets escorted out of the building by security.
INT. RICHARD’S OFFICE – DAY
Richard receives a phone call. We hear him say, “Yeah, I did it, but I totally disagree with you on this.
Dr. Schneider is actually the one who discharges Carla because he believes her patient is leading her directly to the source of the killings. He has Richard do the dirty work. Put this info into a scene.
INT. CASSANDRA CULLEN’S LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
Carla, really discouraged, meets with the dream group to get help. They help her to interpret her most recent nightmare and compare dream notes to access any clues that they can.
INT. CARLA’S FRONT DOOR – DAY
The missing girl’s father shows up at Carla’s front door, apologizes and tells Carla that he realizes Carla is on his side and he wants to ally himself with her because he’s terrified that his little girl is in terrible danger. He feels that the cops aren’t doing enough. He wants Carla to use all of her talents and abilities, as woo-woo as they may seem, to help him find her.
Twist: We see an unexpected side of someone when Carla and the father team up to push forward.
Mystery 21: How are Carla and the father going to be able to solve this mystery together?
Life Threatening 19: How can Carla and the father stay safe long enough to see the Villain or villains behind bars?
Villain’s Plan 6: To isolate Carla, get her to a remote location and kill her.
The world of synthesis is at hand.
INT. CARLA’S CAR – DAY
As Carla drives with the girl’s father to the remote wilderness area, her phone rings. It’s Simon pleading with Carla to drop her efforts to find the little girl because he feels it’s too dangerous for her.
CUT TO SAME FIVE MINUTES LATER
Carla remembers a detail from one of her dreams that she shares with the father. She thinks it may be a possible clue to where the girl is. The girl’s father shares a dream he had and they analyze the two dreams and think they know where the girl is.
EXT. REMOTE WILDERNESS AREA – NIGHT
Carla, with the girl’s father, follows the clues from their respective dreams and finally find the little girl who’s safe.
INT. FATHER’S LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
Carla, the little girl and her father all celebrate her safe rescue. Just as Carla is taking a swallow of white wine, her phone rings. It’s Dr. Schneider who tells her he’s got a tip on the location of the camper’s body and suggests she meet him at a certain location, alone. She agrees, and leaves the father’s house.
INT. CARLA’S CAR – NIGHT
While driving to meet with Dr. Schneider, Carla receives a call from Simon. He wants to know what she’s doing. She admits that Dr. Schneider just told her to meet him at a remote location because he knows where the camper’s body is.
Simon tells her she’s not going there alone. Carla insists and hangs up on him.
INT. SIMON’S CAR – NIGHT
Simon accesses the tracker app on his phone to locate where Carla’s car is on the road. He hurriedly drives to catch up with her, unbeknownst to Carla.
INT. CARLA’S CAR – NIGHT
Carla calls one of the fake FBI agents, tells him to meet her at the trailhead because she knows where the body of the camper is. Dr. Schneider is going to show her.
EXT. WILDERNESS TRAILHEAD – NIGHT
Carla exits her car, walks across the small parking area at the trailhead, she cautiously approaches Dr. Schneider.
EXT. WILDERNESS TRAILHEAD –NIGHT
A car hurriedly pulls into the parking lot. The two fake FBI agents exit the car, hurry up to Carla, who tells them it’s about time, that Dr. Schneider is about to show her where the body is.
They pull their guns as they approach Carla. Schneider tells Carla, “I told you to get off this case, but you wouldn’t listen. I’m leaving. You guys know what you have to do.”
EXT. WILDERNESS TRAILHEAD – NIGHT
Simon hurriedly pulls into the parking lot, quickly exits the car. He hears a scream, runs up the trail toward the sound.
EXT. WILDERNESS TRAIL – NIGHT
Simon comes upon a makeshift cage with a woman inside of it. There’s no one else around. He frees her, finds out who she is.
EXT. WILDERNESS TRAIL – NIGHT
Dr. Schneider walks toward the parking lot, arrives at his car. The Sasquatch killer attacks him, kills him next to his car.
EXT. WILDERNESS TRAIL – NIGHT
Upon hearing the screams, the two fake FBI agents rush toward the sound in the dark, fall into a deep pit that they can’t get out of.
EXT. WILDERNESS TRAIL – NIGHT
Carla, free from the two fake FBI agents, runs toward the sound of the scream. She hears Simon calling her name.
The Sasquatch appears, begins to chase her. She runs toward the sound of Simon’s voice, trips, her satchel falls onto the ground and her nephew’s Glock falls out. She grabs it just as the Sasquatch killer leaps at her.
She fumbles with the gun, shoots and misses a couple of times. The killer is now on top of her. She fires one more shot and kills the disturbed man dressed as a Sasquatch.
Mystery 27: Did the killer’s family know all along that this was happening?
EXT. WILDERNESS TRAILHEAD – NIGHT
Cop cars are all over the place with their flashing lights. The two fake FBI agents are being read their rights and put into the backseat of a police car.
INT. SIMON’S LIVING ROOM – NIGHT
Carla and Simon share a bottle of champagne and celebrate their reuniting as a couple.
They turn on a scifi horror movie that’s about a Sasquatch terrorizing a community. They laugh at the coincidence and immediately change the channel because enough is enough.
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