Day 2 Assignments

[Rob Bertrand]

Rob Bertrand Subtext and Loglines

What I learned: I learned that there is the surface (words/actions) and there is what’s below the surface, (meaning/subtext). Having characters speak too much of the subtext can make your screenplay boring.

CHARACTER

Name: Annie Andrews

Traits: Whip smart, quick tempered, evasive, who aches for acceptance.

Subtext: Hiding Something

Character Logline: Annie is a high school student, overwhelmed with guilt over the death of her mother, who’s struggling to come out to her traditional father.

Possible areas of subtext: Annie agrees to go on a date with Danny Laplante, even though she has a crush on Jocelyn.

CHARACTER

Name: Danny Laplante

Traits: Emotionally traumatized, delusional, pathological liar, who’s desperate for love.

Subtext: Plotting

Character Logline: Danny is a high school drop out with a history of mental illness, who becomes obsessed with tormenting Annie after she rejects his affections.

Possible areas of subtext: Danny gives Annie a false description of his looks. Later, Danny leaves cryptic messages on the walls that seem to be written by Annie’s dead mother.

CHARACTER

Name: Jack Andrews

Traits: Hard working, foul-mouthed, traditional father, In denial.

Subtext: Lying

Character Logline: Jack is an overworked auto mechanic, who’s grieving the death of his wife, Nora, while struggling with alcoholism and his daughter’s deteriorating mental health.

Possible areas of subtext: Jack pretends that everything is normal, but behind closed doors he’s barely holding it together. His daughter finds him passed out, clutching Nora’s wedding dress.

[Janeen Johnson]

Janeen’s Subtext and Loglines

What I learned doing this assignment is that my characters have secret ways of dealing with the world and reveal them in subtext.

Three Characters:

Morgan Day

Basic Character Traits: Insecure; Curious/Eager to learn; Perfectionist; Bold under pressure

Subtext Character Traits: Intimidated, Crafty

Logline: Morgan is a wealthy fashionista who wants to help other women to prove to herself that she is not just a trophy wife.

Possible areas of subtext: Pretends to believe she is inferior to her husband. Collects friends who help intimidated women while not realizing she is intimidated. Pretends altruism while her work is a form of revenge against her husband.

Daniel Richards

Basic Character Traits:

Temperamental artist; Insecurel Incredibly good designer; Perfectionist

Subtext Character Traits: Cloaking, Vengeful

Logline: Daniel is a fashion designer who finds himself venting his frustrations with his clients on his submissive wife but Morgan is somehow empowering his wife to defy him and that must stop.

Possible areas of subtext: Obsequiously bows to his clients’ wishes in fashion. Gets as nitpicky with his wife at home as he feels his clients are with him. Hates anyone who challenges his right to be absolutely, unequivocally in charge at home.

Amber Richards

Basic Character Traits:

Loving; Gentle; Long-suffering; Fiercely protective of her kids

Subtext Character Traits: Intimidated, Secretive

Logline: Amber is a good mother and must find the courage to protect herself and her children from her vicious husband before he kills them.

Possible areas of subtext: Pretends she is in control in front of her children no matter what Daniel is doing to her.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by  Janeen Johnson.

[Armand Petrikowski]

Armand’s Subtext and Loglines

What I learned… Character traits in subtext creates deeper characters and can lead us to stronger scenes.

Name: TYLER, THE GHOST

Traits: Arrogant, Sarcastic, Immature

Subtext: Scared, in Denial

Character Logline: Tyler is the ghost of an entitled college jerk who was murdered 20 years ago by a masked serial killer, and now has to overcome his hidden guilt and fears to save a new group of college kids from suffering the same grisly faith as him.

Possible areas of subtext: He wants to haunt the kids so they leave before they are killed, he doesn’t want to intervene, he runs from the masked killer even though he’s a ghost, he thinks the killer’s return is just a nightmare.

Name: MADDIE, THE FINAL GIRL 20 YEARS LATER

Traits: Brave, Wise, Tough

Subtext: Paranoid

Character Logline: Maddie is the sole survivor of the original massacre who is obsessed with the return of the masked killer who was never caught and sets out to stop the killer at any cost now that the killer’s back.

Possible areas of subtext: Distrusts everyone, has conspiracy theories, doesn’t use technology and lives off the grid so the killer couldn’t find her.

Name: CHARLES, THE MASKED KILLER WHO WAS NEVER CAUGHT

Traits: Nerdy, Rational

Subtext: Concealing, Nice Exterior

Character Logline: Charles is Tyler’s nice and nerdy half-brother who wants to fulfill his secret urge to murder people and getting away with it, but has to face off with the ghost of his brother and the final girl he’s always loved.

Possible areas of subtext: plans to pin the new murders on Lex, the true-crime obsessed goth girl. Conceals his murderous impulses. His non-threatening appearance and attitude makes us forget he could be the killer.

[Robert Smith]

^{BOB SMITH’S SUBTEXT AND LOGLINES}

What I learned doing this assignment is…?

I learned how to develop subtext out of character traits and how loglines for characters are as useful and important as loglines for a script.

SUBTEXTS AND LOGLINES FOR THE THREE MAIN CHARACTERS

Name: Emil Jannings.

Traits: Jealous, imperious, fearful (about his possible loss of status as a star and for his future career).

Subtext: Deceitful and manipulative.

Logline: Emil Jannings is the Oscar-winning star of “The Blue Angel” but is jealous of Marlene Dietrich whom he fears will undermine his star-status.

Name: Marlene Dietrich.

Traits: Ambitious, creative, subservient (to director, von Sternberg).

Subtext: Domineering (publicly); subservient to von Sternberg; contemptuous of Jannings.

Logline: Dietrich is the unknown discovered by director, von Sternberg and cast in the prominent role of showgirl Lola Lola whom he grooms for her role and for future stardom, although she is in a feud with the film’s star (Emil Jannings).

Name: Josef von Sternberg.

Traits: Perfectionist, artistic, exacting.

Subtext: Demanding.

Logline: Josef von Sternberg is the celebrated director of “The Blue Angel” who cast his discovery Marlene Dietrich as Lola Lola in defiance of the studio brass and the star (Emil Jannings) and now find himself in a relationship of both lover and mentor of Dietrich while trying to direct “The Blue Angel” and play referee in a feud between Jannings and Dietrich.

[Elizabeth Koenig]

Elizabeth’s Subtext and Loglines

What I learned – like Rob I hadn’t been aware of the need to think more about non-verbal ways of communicating subtext.

Name: ED

Basic traits

· Responsible

· Avoidant-restless as a consequence (changes): Subtext: afraid to say (even to himself) that he’s afraid the feelings (guilt/loss) he has to go through to grow (that have grown over time) are too much to endure. Scared of his feelings and hiding his guilt over having sex outside of marriage.

· Caring

· Connecting (collects/mixes diverse ideas & people)-his brilliance (extreme)

Character Logline: Ed’s a never-married retired psychiatrist whose hope of dying (so he can avoid feelings he’s always been afraid are unendurable) gets upended by the chaotic needs of the family of his deceased Junior High first-and-only love, especially when he realizes they may be his biological family, too.

Possible Areas of Subtext:

Ø Diverts/Avoids sharing all intimate details about Susan with NH friends and Susan’s family, but carries her pictures everwhere (covering his guilt of premarital sex)

Ø Bothered by/changes subject when sexual comments/innuendoes, jokes made – (points to his guilt re: sex)

Ø (Pointing to): his shrine to Susan: her teen and recent pictures, a teen’s best friend necklace, Ed’s dad’s only advice: “keep what’s in the drawers in the drawers” (points to the deep loss of a lifelong love, minimally and interruptedly requited – and the guilt over not following the only piece of advice his father ever gave him).

Ø possible: “Ulterior motive-unconscious”?: A “Drive Freud missed” for Meaning/something bigger (manifested in Ed’s sense of obligation) – gets him sucked into the family before he realizes the biological connection. Ed’s sense of obligation and all he does for the family points to this.

Ø Overtly uncomfortable with Jewels’ sexuality, as he’s also clearly aroused (points to)

Ø Everything “church” makes him uncomfortable (covers/points to)

Name: <b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;”>Grace

Basic traits

· Hard-working

· Playful/creative/musical – like ED, can put things together as you’d never expect

· Enthusiastic/positive/exuberant

· SUBTEXT: Hides a deep feeling she’s irrevocably unlovable – terrified that once Mike realizes this, he’ll leave. (The trait that changes)

Character Logline: Grace is woman who has to learn how to love herself so she can feel safe enough (know she’s lovable) to marry the father of her children—the man of her dreams.

Possible Areas of Subtext:

Ø DOES too many things (works), quickly, to avoid feeling unlovable (hides) – and to unendingly show that she is worthy of love, including tasks that others shun.

Ø Verbally and in action discounts her value

Ø Tolerates her mother’s unloving, selfish exploitation – until she sees how it hurts her brother

Ø Ignores her mother’s demeaning comments (covers the subtext)

Ø Worries/looks for evidence Mike is having an affair – for ‘signs’—because she believes he’ll eventually figure out she’s not lovable and do just this. (Points to the subtext)

Ø Is desperate for grandmother/grandfather love, since she never had either this, or parental love (points to the subtext)

Ø Overestimates kindness/generosity in others and underestimates these in herself (hides the feeling from herself)

Name: <b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;”>Michael

Basic traits:

· Simply loves

· Salesman – can sell water to a fish (if he’s sober)- the extreme trait

· Fun (plays really well)

· Impulsive/addictive (the trait that changes – gets modulated) SUBTEXT: he impulsively spent the mortgage $ when he bid/won a trip to an adults-only exotic island retreat for their honeymoon

Character Logline: Michael needs others to help him rein in (but only the right amount) his pleasure-seeking, impulsivity and distractibility so he can maximize the benefits and minimize the costs of these traits for himself and everyone else.

Possible Areas of Subtext:

Ø The mortgage money has gone missing and Grace is suspicious about a mistress– he impulsive spent it at an auction (points to)

Ø To cover, he uses clever salesman tricks that Grace both buys and doesn’t

Ø He buys tropics-appropriate lingerie and other clothes for Grace for the trip (points to)

Ø He gets tan and starts to work out – the beer belly shrinks (points to) which makes Grace suspicious

Ø Is learning to dance (points to)

[John Budinscak]

Budinscak Subtext and Loglines

What I learned doing this assignment is:

o Interesting to change a trait, get a different level of depth and a whole new angle for a character.

o Great exercise to setup your characters.

Character Name: Jack

Traits: selfish, conniving, street smart, scoundrel

Subtext: Conniving

Character Logline: Jack is a scoundrel and not the role model his impressionable nephews need, but they’re his captive audience and Jack is willing to dispense knowledge and educate his nephews as he sees fit.

Possible areas of subtext: He will say one thing and mean another, tough to get a straight answer out of him. His decisions are based on how he’ll benefit. He’s not afraid to makeup answers.

Character Name: Puck

Traits: nerdy, insecure, devious and intimidated

Subtext: Devious

Character Logline: Nerdy Puck is a moral compass during the trip, constantly holding his uncle accountable while plotting to stay two steps ahead of his cousin.

Possible areas of subtext: Puck will ask questions to set someone up to see if they’re lying – to get their tell, he will play the nerd card to seek help with anything physical.

Character Name: Sal

Traits: manipulative, smartass, sneaky, bit of a bully

Subtext: Sneaky

Character Logline: Sal is a mini-Jack, a sneaky storyteller and convincing liar – the one most apt to initiate trouble, benefit from it then abscond from blame.

Possible areas of subtext: Sal will play off of Puck’s competitive nature to get the better of him. Count on Sal to never admit to anything.

[Julia Keefer]

Since Jake and Litonya are married, I am working with them as the third person to see if this improves my scenes.

A. BB. Traits are clean, conscientious, careful, and helpful. Subtext is a hatred that dissociates into psychopathy. Need is to kill. Logline: BB/Betty is a hit man/woman who wants to live peacefully on boats but must serve his/her boss Ibrahim and help Jake, Litonya, and the kids so no one uncovers his/her crimes.

B. Ibrahim is polite, educated, generous, rich. Subtext is a depression that hides his impotency, his loss of faith after the condo collapse that killed wife and son, his betrayal of Litonya and the EE Company, and his greed. Logline: Ibrahim al Harbi is CEO of STEMGARCHS who must overcome the milk of human kindness and compassion to maintain his position with its perks.

C. Litonya is strong, brilliant, beautiful, connected to the earth as a rock climber and geologist. She has no social skills so she will be the one character on the nose or silent. Her mission is to save the earth from humans. Jake is positive, performative, fit, and cheerful. He is afraid he will lose his perky personality when he gets PD and his mom Alzheimer’s and Dad ALS. His mission is to get Ibrahim’s Brain Buffet drugs for these neurodegenerative diseases. He may be forced to kill but not illegally so he must get the FBI or CIA on his side.

[Richard McMahon]

Richard’s Subtext and Loglines

What I learned doing this assignment is… such a straightforward exercise that broadens my characters. Indeed another layer to them. And I hope this makes them much more appealing to future readers.

Name: Shane

Traits:

Loyalty

Fearless

Tactful

Natural born leader

Subtext: Tactful

Character Logline: Knowing he is the true leader of the people, a tactful warrior must do everything in his power to keep tradition alive and support the new, ineffective and hated, clan chief.

Possible areas of subtext:

Lying to others when he should know better. Defending the indefensible. Questioning tradition and culture.

Name: Illena

Traits:

Amazonian

Diplomatic

Scheming

Sexual

Subtext: Scheming

Character Logline: Unable to rule due to tradition, the only daughter of a fallen clan chief schemes with whomever she can to rid the world of her male siblings.

Possible areas of subtext: With non-related characters to kill brothers. With her lover, who is a life-long family friend. Putting her brothers in danger through lies.

Name: Malachi

Traits:

Aggressive

Intimidated

Mouth works before brain

Short-sighted

Subtext: Intimidation

Character Logline:

Born to rule, the eldest son of a fallen clan chief must ignore his inner failings and portray a fearless leader to those that know the true person.

Possible areas of subtext:

In all his actions
and conversations

[Amy Falkofske]

Amy’s Subtext and Loglines

What I learned doing this assignment is that subtext isn’t just in dialogue, it’s also in the characters’ actions.

Name: Andrea

Traits: well-spoken, image conscience, playful, competitive, concealing

Subtext: Afraid to say

Character Logline: Andrea is a tough-as-nails news anchor who holds her own secrets close to the vest.

Possible areas of subtext: Andrea is tough on the people she interviews, but when alone, she cries about the state of her life.

Name: Meagan

Traits: nurturing, motherly, conniving, deceitful

Subtext: lying

Character Logline: Meagan is a soccer mom who pushed Andrea into the supercollider to get rid of her so she could take over her family.

Possible areas of subtext: Meagan is sweet and nurturing to Josh, Chloe and Benjamin, but nasty to Andrea when they are alone together.

Name: Josh

Traits: inquisitive, honest to a fault, dad jokes, his kids’ biggest cheerleader, self-censoring

Subtext: polite

Character Logline: Josh is a strait-talking detective who when it comes to his family, says what he has to to keep the peace.

Possible areas of subtext: Josh is a shark when he is interrogating a criminal, but he’s a pushover when it comes to his family.

[Michelle Damis]

Day 2 PS80 Michelle Damis Subtext and Loglines

What I learned doing this assignment is that I think I over-analyze things. It is probably a lot simpler than I’m making it out to be in my head. I’ve been trying to tell myself this is just to help me be creative and explore that it isn’t a right or wrong answer.

Fill in this format for each character.

Name: Ted the Vampire

Traits: Idealistic, Honest, Loner, Practical

Subtext: Loner

Character Logline: Ted is a vampire who needs a place to live but instead finds a family he wishes he could be part of and must protect.

Possible areas of subtext: throughout his narration/dialogue, having a sit down dinner, being jealous or wistful of family photos, when he goes to movie for the first time, answering the door on Halloween, each time we see him alone, and disconnected.
———————-
Name: Nina

Traits: Impatient, Determined, Moody, Wounded

Subtext: Wounded

Character Logline: Nina has a painful secret that she must face when a stranger moves in with her parents and forces her to realize how she is treating them.

Possible areas of subtext: When she looks at family things that should be happy, going to the therapist, conversations with friends, how she treats her parents, her conversations on the hotline, her conversations with Ted.
———————-
Name: Marin

Traits: Articulate, Self-disciplined, Meticulous, Strategic.

Subtext: Strategic

Character Logline: Marin is a successful, retired public defender, wife and mother who is baffled as to why her only daughter despises her, she also holds a painful secret.

Possible areas of subtext:

She always has a plan. She comes across as having to control outcomes. How she plans , dinners, workouts, events etc…

———————-
Name: Jim

Traits: Accessible, Loyal, Generous, Nostalgic

Subtext: Nostalgic

Character Logline: Jim is the kind of person
that helps everyone out and always does the right thing, he has had a great
life and he loves to revisit fond memories.

Possible areas of subtext: Talking about is Father. The scene where they go see an old movie. His
general conversations that will endear Ted to him.

[Jodi Harrison]

Jodi’s Subtext and Loglines – Day 2

I found this exercise to be a challenge thinking of subtext for the characters. It took me in a different direction with one of my characters but it did add more dimension to them.

Name: Pamela Karras

Traits: Stubborn, Compassionate, Homebody, Devoted to family.

Subtext: Stubborn

Character Logline: Pamela is like a dog with a bone STUBBORN, who CONCEALS information if she feels it will be to her advantage, she borders on manipulative.

Possible areas of subtext: Acts clueless of facts when she’s trying to get more information. Having been brushed off by the Governor makes a plan of action in rebuttal. She has decided to run for Governor, but leads her family to feel they made the decision. She conceals her arrest which cause her problems.

Name: Governor Chad Babbitt

Traits: Hypocrite, Chauvinist, Loves his wife, unethical

Subtext: Unethical

Character Logline: Chad is an UNETHICAL Governor who only cares about his power and will bribe or threaten anyone who stands in his way.

Possible areas of subtext: He unethically takes the constitutional rights of women away to appease his base. He threatens Pam’s family members. He has Pam’s Husband’s governmental contract rescinded, which makes sixteen people jobless.

Name: Chloe Carter

Traits: Activist, Caring, Refined,

Subtext: Refined

Character Logline: Chloe is a refined Social Worker who has learned the best way to get a long is to go along. She is Mount Vesuvius ready to blow.

Possible areas of subtext: Chloe’s Manager keeps piling work upon her once it is found out that she is helping her friend Pam. After she is attacked she doesn’t complain, Pam gets angry for her. Chloe’s home is impeccable as well as her manners and behavior. Internalizing, she sings show tunes when she is upset.

[Pablo Soriano]

Pablo Soriano’s Subtext and Loglines

What I learned: Subtext adds a bit of strength to each character. It even makes them break from their normal traits a bit to help the story move forward.

Name: Irma

Traits: Dutiful, protective, modest, sensitive, tactful

Subtext: Tactful/Withholding

Character Logline: Irma is a protective mother that convinces a gangster that she will work for him only to leave town and head to Texas with her two sons.

Possible areas of subtext: Without lying, she tells her sons that their father isn’t coming with them to Texas but what she doesn’t tell them is that he was murdered and that the three of them are running for their lives.

———————-

Fill in this format for each character.

Name: Frank

Traits: Direct, competitive, cunning, shady

Subtext: Shady/Corrupt

Character Logline: Frank is a drug runner that has been blackmailed by the border patrol but secretly continues to smuggle drugs at the risk of going to prison in order to maintain his expensive lifestyle.

Possible areas of subtext: His production team thinks that they are just catching immigrants but Frank keeps a contact in Mexico and continues to sneak drugs across the border without them knowing.

———————-

Fill in this format for each character.

Name: Miguel

Traits: introverted, crafty, resourceful, reserved

Subtext: Reserved/Discreet

Character Logline: Miguel is a semi-professional gamer that tends to cheat to get the upper hand on his opponents in order to win the cash prize to help his elderly mother.

Possible areas of subtext: He uses a VPN for all of his accounts and is constantly browsing incognito to keep his and his mother’s illegal status private as they are both undocumented immigrants.

———————-

[Emmanuel Sullivan]

What I learned doing this assignment is subtext is an insightful way to understand a main character’s motivations, drive and history. I never thought of a character logline, but it makes sense to have a simple sentence of their role.

[Jennifer McCay]

Jennifer’s Subtext and Loglines

WHAT I LEARNED: I’m seeing that I already had built in a ton of subtext into my story (which is a satire) naturally, and it all works to further the story dramatically.

Name: Jessica

Traits:

Smart as a whip

Deeply insecure

Tries to appear perfect at all times visibly

Southern belle

Subtext:

Underneath her facade of Southern graciousness, she is a smouldering cauldron of rage.

Character Logline:

Jessica is a high achiever whose insecurity nags at her, causing her to lash out and punish those who get in her way.

Possible areas of subtext:

Any number of different revenge fantasies that she puts into play

Name: Amanda

Traits:

Smart as a whip, and things come easily to her

Snarky Southerner with heart and a bite

Dreamer

Little tolerance for jerks

Subtext:

Her kindness belies her unwillingness to participate in or take b.s. from anyone.

Character Logline:

Amanda is a natural achiever with a big heart whose natural skepticism repels her from Jessica until Jessica appears vulnerable, leaving Amanda open to be Jessica’s next victim.

Possible areas of subtext:

Always acts kind unless she doesn’t trust you, wins easily and loses with good sportsmanship, but doesn’t want to see someone cheat and will do what it takes to reveal it [NEED TO FLESH THIS OUT IN SCRIPT]

Name: Jessica’s father David

Traits:

Deeply into appearances

Career-focused to a fault

Never loses his cool, but gets deadly calm when upset

Pretentious as hell

Subtext:

It’s clear he’s focused on his career and how his family looks to the outside world, but also cares about Jessica in his messed-up way.

Character Logline:

David tries to mentor his daughter Jessica to win in the ways he and his wife have in politics, and even though he appears compassionate to his constituents, underneath it all he just wants power at any cost.

Possible areas of subtext:

I mean, the guy is a career politician. He’s walking subtext.