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Day 3 Assignments
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Lesson #3, Assignment #1
Wendy Weising
From the show Lost
Kate
A. Role in the show: Kate survived the plane crash with Jack. She is his closest confidant and helper. She is strong and does things that she doesn’t want to do because they need to be done. She comes across as innocent and sad.
B. Unique Purpose/Expertise: She is determined to help Jack. She wants to start over and live a better life. Because she was an escaped convict, she knows how to use a gun, get away from danger, and survive difficult situations. She is a perfect helper for the Island.
C. Intrigue: She is an escaped convict. Everything she does is to run from it or try to act like an innocent person. She has even fooled the group that hikes to the mountain. They ask her to keep the gun.
D. Moral Issue: In order to look innocent, Kate must lie—or withhold the truth. She is conflicted about the US Marshall who is dying. Her old self wants him to die so that he cannot tell the others about her. Her new self doesn’t want him to be in any more pain. She gives the gun to Sawyer to kill the US Marshall.
E. Unpredictable: Because the conflict pulls her two different directions, will she hurt someone again or will she do the right thing in the eyes of the law?
F. Empathetic: Even though she caused a crash to get away from the US Marshall, she drags Ray’s (the driver) body away from the burning car to the edge of the road so that he will be saved. She also wants to make sure that he gets his money for turning her in. Kate wants to tell Jack what she did, but he says that she shouldn’t. He wants her to live going forward because everyone deserves a fresh start.
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What I learned doing this assignment is: The character’s back story, their history, is important in creating BW characters. Each of the six points relate not so much to who the character is now, but the experiences they lived and how that shaped who they are today.
The dilemma is solved because of the tools their life experiences gave them. The morals they live by, or cast aside is again, shaped by their experience. Even their predictability is habit shaped by experience only to be shattered by a new experience.
ASSIGNMENT 1:
I switched from Supernatural to Breaking Bad. BB has the more engaging characters and would rather model my BW show on them.
Walter White
A. Role in the show: Primary protagonist. Every decision and action he takes has ripple effects affecting everyone on the show.
B. A brilliant chemist cooking extraordinary meth. His science background got him accolades, but not money. Now, his science background will empower him and make him rich.
C. In the beginning it is his spectacular background in science, we see glimpses of this through his awards. Then, the secret is his cancer and third, of course, is his meth making/dealing. All this information in the pilot.
D. In regard to the cancer, is it morally right to hold back such information from your spouse? Then it becomes a question of whether making meth, even for noble reasons can be morally justified.
E. A mild mannered chem teacher deciding to cook meth is unpredictable. This is compounded by his recent cancer diagnosis which emboldens him to be more aggressive and assertive, something he never did before.
F. Even when he’s doing something criminal, like assaulting the teen in the clothing store, it’s done for noble reasons. This “bad acts for good reasons” exponentially increases with his meth dealing.
ASSIGNMENT 2:
1. Tell us the journey of your show. Born and raised in Hawaii, a young woman wants desperately to distance herself from her upbringing and be more cosmopolitan. The one thing she can deny, but cannot escape is her connection to the supernatural, and she must embrace her abilities and her connection to the islands to save her younger sister who was kidnapped by spirits intent on ending mankind.
2. Who are the main characters that will sell your show?
a. Primary protagonist – Noelani Kamakawiwa’ole (NK).
b. Adam Kane – A blond, blue eyed haole washes ashore in Waikiki with no memory. He has an uncanny ability to understand the languages and cultures of the diverse population of Hawaii. Despite his looks, he is connected to the islands in deep, spiritual ways.
3. Answer these questions for each of those characters.
a. Role in the show: NK – Her primary motivation is to find her missing sister who disappeared 10 years ago. Everyone believes she was murdered, but NK knows that it was the spiritual world that took her. NK feels guilty for the abduction because she was forewarned years ago by a spirit and she chose not to listen as it would acknowledge her special abilities, abilities she tries desperately to disavow.
b. Unique Purpose/Expertise: Despite going missing 10 years ago, NK knows that her sister is still alive, whether in the material or spiritual world. Her expertise is her ability to see things others can’t see and to understand things others can’t understand.
c. What is secret beneath the surface: ?
d. Moral Issue: How far will NK go before she feels compelled to acknowledge her special abilities? Is she willing to allow innocent people to be hurt? Is she willing to sacrifice mankind?
e. Unpredictable: ?
f. Empathetic: The loss of a loved one is always tragic, but the desperation of knowing that the loved one is still out there, alive is even more heartbreaking and desperate. Guilt over something that had dire consequences is something we all experienced.
Adam Kane
a. Role in the show: Although he looks like an outsider, AK’s role is to guide and assist NK as she steps into the world of the supernatural. It is also his role to help NK embrace her identity as he searches for his own.
b. Unique Purpose/Expertise: His purpose is to help NK in the material and supernatural world. In the material world, his good looks and charm helps resolve many of NK conflicts and his understanding of gods, demons and mythology of every religion and faith helps NK in the spiritual world.
c. His entire backstory is a secret that reveals he is a demi-god sent to help NK.
d. Moral Issue: ?
e. Unpredictable: ?
f. Empathetic: Besides his good looks and charm, his lack of identity and the quest to find who he is, is something I believe many people can relate to.
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Subject line: Ben’s Engaging Main Characters
What I learned doing this assignment is having characters that are not engaging
make them dull and dull characters will cause the audiences to lose interest and
that will cause the show to get cancelled or even get made in the first place.
So engaging characters are just as important in a great show.
ASSIGNMENT 1:
Watch the next episode of your Example Show to see any places the lead characters might fit this model.
Tell us the name and Engaging Profile answers for at least one character from your example show.
MICHAEL SCOFIELD
A. Role in the show: A structural engineer and Lincoln Burrows’ brother.
B. Unique Purpose: To break his wrongly accused brother out of prison.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
He’s planning to break out his brother, Lincoln.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
He set up his cellmate, Sucre, with a fake phone causing him to lose his conjugal.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
When Michael discovered investigating his brother’s innocent will lead nowhere and Lincoln
has two months to live, he decided to install himself in the prison to break out his brother.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
John Abruzzi cut off his toe when he refused to tell him whereabouts of Fibonacci.
ASSIGNMENT 2:
Now, do the process with your show.
1. Tell us the journey of your show.
Rain goes from being an ugly beggar girl abandoned by her birth father to
entering Affinity Academy to learn magic and joining Terra to change the rule
of teaching magic to pretty ones only.
2. Who are the main characters that will sell your show?
Rain, Reed Dune, Mo Dune, and Terra.
3. Answer these questions for each of those characters.
RAIN
A. Role in the show: An ugly beggar girl abandoned by her family.
O’ller’s daughter and Terra’s adopted daughter.
B. Unique Purpose: To learn magic and prove her birth father wrong.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
She’s not really Rain, but Whyller that has taken over Rain’s body.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Killing and forcefully taking over others’ bodies.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Brutal and vicious.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
She enters Affinity Academy to learn magic and prove her birth father
wrong while slowly dying from disguise she’s wearing.
REED
A. Role in the show: Mo’s son and Rain’s love interest.
B. Unique Purpose: To change his rigid father and be with the woman he loves.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
He’s secretly helping Rain to change the rule of teaching magic to pretty ones only.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Breaks their family value – Obedience.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Prideful, Unforgiving.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
His father is pressuring him.
MO
A. Role in the show: Head of Sparrow Agency and Terra’s best friend.
B. Unique Purpose: To take back his position from Terra and become
the leader of the underworld of magic.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
He has illegitimate son.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Will execute anyone who breaks the rule without trial.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Uncompromising, Ruthless
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Their passed on teacher gave his rightful position to Terra.
TERRA
A. Role in the show: Head of Affinity Academy and Rain’s adopted father.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: A strategist who wants to find his brother
to save his life.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
He introduced the rule of teaching magic to pretty ones to increase his
magical powers.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
He cursed an unborn child to make it ugly, Readily commits unethical acts.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Manipulative, Merciless
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Mo is conspiring with teachers to take over his position.
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Linda Anderson’s Engaging Main Characters
What I learned doing this assignment is how far this took me in figuring out the characters and conflicts.
ASSIGNMENT 1:
Show: The Righteous Gemstones
A. Role in the show:
Jesse, the oldest son of Gemstone ministryB. Unique Purpose / Expertise: Puts entire family in jeopardy; has most trusted
position in the familyC. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?: Prays with convoluted belief that he’s due to have
Jesus make his misdeeds go away because he’s doing God’s workD. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries is he crossing?: He’s being blackmailed with a compromising video and
attempts to kill the blackmailersE. Unpredictable: What will he do next?: Has no moral compass when it comes to protecting
himself and getting money from the church’s followers. Will do whatever
helps him achieve his goals even to extreme measures.F. Empathetic: Why do we care?: He’s never measured up to his father’s expectations.
ASSIGNMENT 2:
Journey of your show.
Having her memoir rejected
via a supremely snarky letter from Candice, a New York editor, throws Louise
into a severe crisis. She’s determines to change everything about her bland and
boring life. So she can use a pen name to write a publishable memoir, she
steals the life of Derrick, her intriguing young condo neighbor and
“recovering” alcoholic. After Candice falls in love with Derrick’s memoir and
writes a pre-publication blurb about it, Mark, a corrupt FBI agent, who has
been hunting Derrick, Sr., a crime boss, mixes him up with Derrick, Jr.
Louise’s and her daughter, Janice’s, unexpected journey on the run with Derrick,
Jr. forces Louise to use resources and experience she’s acquired over decades to
keep all of them from getting killed. The whole scheme blows up when Derrick,
Sr. comes back into his son’s life. Louise comes to a new level of respect and
appreciation for the bland life she described in her rejected memoir.Main characters that will sell your show?
Louise
A. Role in the show: Main character with mid-life crisis
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: She drives the story with decisions she makes due to low self-esteem and desperation. She’s a fact-checker for a local newspaper and is extremely accurate and precise.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?: She’s a widow who outwardly misses her husband but secretly has regular disturbing afterlife visits from him in which he denigrates and criticizes her, as he did throughout her marriage.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries is she crossing?: Without his knowledge or permission, stealing her neighbor’s life and writing about a new memoir, using his name.
E. Unpredictable: What will she do next?: The conflict between her well-regulated lifestyle and nature with Derrick’s chaotic life cause her to make choices that are totally out of her comfort zone.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?: She’s every middle-aged woman who wants a do-over of her life.
Derrick
A. Role in the show: Antagonist/Change Agent: Louise’s condo neighbor (they share a wall)
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: He’s Louise’s instrument for fulfilling her wish to have a life of adventure instead of the life she considers to have been boring. He’s an expert on teas.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?: As Louise subtly interviews him about his life, he morphs into stealing details of his father’s life—a man who is a infamous crime boss in hiding.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries is he crossing?: He’s a recovering alcoholic who loses his balance due to emotional issues with his father and regret over having accidently killed his sister while driving drunk.
E. Unpredictable: What will he do next?: Alcohol releases his inner monsters and fear fuels his need to go on the run when the FBI agent finds and threatens to kill him.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?: He’s a tortured young man who used to own a tea shop and has dyslexia.
Candice
A. Role in the show: Editor at NY publishing company who has a fit of anger about her life and takes it out on Louise by sarcastically trashing her memoir.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: Being a NY editor, she’s very precise and good at her job. She’s the key to Louise finding acceptance in legitimate publishing.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?: She dreams of being recognized as a top notch editor with her own imprint.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries is she crossing?: She’s getting emotionally involved in Derrick as she reads his memoir and acting unprofessional in efforts to meet him.
E. Unpredictable: What will she do next?: Because she has large ambitions, she’s willing to take risks on Derrick that her publisher wouldn’t like, including giving him a bigger advance than an inexperienced writer warrants and authorizing a huge marketing budget for the book.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?: She’s every young professional, lonely woman who is undervalued, overlooked, and underloved.
Mark
A. Role in the show: Corrupt FBI agent who threatens Derrick
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: He is the cause of Derrick, Louise, and Janice needing to go on the run and into hiding.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?: He works for a competing crime boss and is tasked with killing Derrick, Jr. who he has confused with Derrick, Sr.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries is he crossing?: Involved in organized crime.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?: Don’t know if/when he’ll figure out he has the wrong Derrick and what he’ll do when he does.
F. Empathetic: Why do we
care?:
He’s laughably inept at just about everything but endears himself to superiors
by being obsequies and anticipating and fulfilling their every need.Janice
A. Role in the show: Louise’s grown daughter
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: Breaks up with her boyfriend, loses her job in California, and moves back in with Louise
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?: She believes Louise needs her and convinces herself that living with her mother is in both their best interests. She’s falling in love with Derrick.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries is she crossing?: Figures out Louise is stealing Derrick’s life and blackmails her mother with the information to get more money from the publishing advance.
E. Unpredictable: What will she do next?: When Louise has to go on the run with Derrick, she joins in the adventure to keep an eye on her meal ticket and occasionally tries to help and protect her out of a growing love and respect.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?: Louise has always tried to make a fantasy life and motives for Janice because the real daughter doesn’t fit into her well-regulated worldview.
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Assignment #2
What I learned from doing this assignment is that my characters are more alive and richer than I could ever have given them credit.
Tim Barley’s Engaging Main Characters
Journey: From an average, everyday man running away from his family’s past to man of god-like power… and responsibility.
Alex Stone:
Role in the show – Average man running from his responsibilities is forced into a brand new world of magic and science
Unique Purpose/expertise –
Expertise: Actually quite smart and intuitive
Purpose: To learn and accept his family’s legacy of power and to keep others from getting ahold of it
Intrigue – He is taught his power and to accept it, using it to get ahead the easy way, finding that power corrupts…
Moral Issue – Cheating his way at work, etc. with his new power, Is it okay to use this power to destroy others?
Unpredictable – Will he or won’t he accept his power and use it for “good”?
Empathetic – He’s an every man who now has to accept his responsibility and become “more” than he is when he’d rather just “be.”
Allistar:
Role in the show – Friend of Alex since childhood, sounding board and protector of Alex and his secret
Unique Purpose/expertise –
Expertise – Combat skills, brilliant tactician
Purpose – Keep Alex safe from all threats
Intrigue – Mission to keep Alex safe without making himself know
Moral Issue – Keeping a life long secret from Alex
Unpredictable – Fighting Alex’s girlfriend. Taking out others that would expose him – doctors’ results, etc.
Empathetic – Feel for him having to keep this secret from Alex for such a long time, knowing that it’s killing him.
Jade:
Role in the show – Alex’s girlfriend and secretly a member of a fmily enemy of his family
Unique Purpose/expertise –
Expertise: Assassination, spy craft
Purpose: Spy on Alex, and try to lure him into giving up his power
Intrigue – Hiding her family’s identity and her powers from Alex
Moral Issue – Is she capable of double crossing someone she might actually love?
Unpredictable – Frustrated for having to be with Alex for so long without being able to make a move
Empathetic – Feel for her in a relationship that she was forced into, but might be liking it
Feenix:
Role in the show – New friend at work, introduction into the new world and help him learn his powers
Unique Purpose/expertise –
Expertise: Mind powers, profound empathy
Purpose: Trying to get Alex to accept his family legacy and powers
Intrigue – Is her real goal to help Alex with his powers or to procreate with him to create an offspring?
Moral Issue – He zest for offspring to prove to her mother what she can do may push Alex away to the enemy.
Unpredictable – (I hate saying it) hormonal, wish to be a mother but not lose her edge
Empathetic – A lost soul beholden to her mother’s wishes that we can understand
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This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by Timothy Barley.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by
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June in Handmaid’s Tale
Journey: Surviving and trying to escape the prison of being a handmaid in order to reunite with her daughter who was forcefully taken from her
A. Role in the show: the primary heroine through whose eyes and voice we see the ugliest parts of humanity manifest in a violent, dystopic, hypothetical future America
B. Unique Purpose/Expertise: to survive the normalized violence and trauma that is everywhere around her
C. Intrigue: the closer June gets to Mr. Waterford, Nick, and Offglen, the more dangerous her situation becomes
D: Moral issue: at the moment, June is moving into dangerously close relations with Nick who may be an Eye
E: Unpredictable: the more June’s real personality comes out, the more she is punished, and the more danger she is in
F. Empathetic: She has undergone hell, both prior to being a handmaid, and after becoming one; she is representative of many contemporary women who value their independence in work and over their bodies, hence, the rights that are stripped from her are the absolute worst nightmares for these same contemporary women
Theodora in my show Theodora
Journey: In Constantinople, Theodora, once a theatre actress and a prostitute, rises to become one of the most influential, and also violent Empresses in the history of the Byzantine Empire.
Main characters: Theodora, Narses, Antonina
Theodora
A. Role: primary heroine through whose eyes we see the ancient world of Constantinople and the challenges faced by women born of a certain class in their dreams of rising higher
B. Unique Purpose/Expertise: uses her wit, charm, intelligence, and acting expertise to move through the complicated social circles of the Byzantine empire and to rise in power
C. Intrigue: the more that Theodora rises to power, the more she is positioned in sticky moral situations where the only choice to protect herself involves harming another, a moral dilemma that eats away at her religious sensibilities
D. Moral Issue: to defend her life and her title as Empress, Theodora is forced to engage in inherently violent politics
E. Unpredictable: the more Theodora is pushed to the edge/mistreated by society, the stronger and more resourceful she becomes, but also the more violent her means
F. Empathetic: her childhood backstory and traumas were not her fault; she has true loyalty to friends but has been betrayed by many people in the past; she uses her power also to end child sex slavery, and to create transitional homes for prostitutes hoping to move out of the profession
Narses
A. Role: the court eunuch through whose eyes we see the political intrigue of Constantinople
B. Unique Purpose/Expertise: like Theodora, has learned to act submissively for survival, but is most loyal to Theodora; he records her story at her death bed and acts as her eye for any harm that may be coming her way
C. Intrigue: he is most loyal to Theodora because he is in love with her, and goes to great lengths to protect her from impending harm without her ever knowing
D. Moral Issue: keeping his feelings at bay for the sake of propriety and maintaining his status as the most trusted court eunuch
E. Unpredictable: the more he falls in love with Theodora, the more he acts out in a way that causes suspicion in the courts and to Emperor Justinian
F. Empathetic: he was sold into slavery as a child and forced to become a eunuch i.e., castrated against his will
Antonina
A. Role: Theodora’s best friend throughout her life, from their training into the theatre, all the way to Theodora’s years as Empress; her relationship demonstrates the vicissitudes of life-long friendship, the twists and turns it can take
B. Unique Purpose/Expertise: initially, she is the one who teaches Theodora about intimacy and pleasure, and sexual agency as a sex worker; later, she is the only one is brave enough to challenge Theodora about her political decisions
C. Intrigue: she increasingly has her own political goals which she keeps secret from Theodora; she is also conflicted because a part of her has loved and will always love Theodora
D. Moral Issue: must choose between lying to Theodora or protecting her status/her husband Belisarius’s status/post
E. Unpredictable: the more pressure she is put under by her husband and the political power plays of the court, the more she is forced to choose between loyalty to Theodora and survival
F. Empathetic: born to become an actress like Theodora, she had no choice in her profession; experienced instances of sexual violence, but protected others, including Theodora from having to endure the mistreatment she received
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Module 1 Lesson 3 Engaging Main Characters
What I learned doing this assignment is that I have a cool story, but I haven’t found the best way to describe it yet. While asking these questions can help refine it, my concept for this story is so multi-leveled, that at times I just have to write my way into it, and to revise it later…
I watched “Breaking Bad”, “13 Reasons Why” but those were used as examples for this exercise, so switched to “The 100” for this exercise.
A. Role in the show:
Clarke is the uber-responsible lead committed to keeping everyone safe on a radiation-saturated earth by (primarily) peaceful means.
Bellamy is a former would-be assassin also committed to keeping everyone safe, but who prefers violent means to do it, particularly against outsiders.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Clarke has both medical healing and leadership abilities. Her purpose is to keep others safe.
Bellamy can inspire the 100 to follow him. His story purpose is to be a foil to Clarke.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
Clarke hasn’t forgiven those she blames for her father’s death. She is also attracted to Finn, but when his girlfriend arrives, feels she must give him up.
Bellamy hasn’t revealed he was the chancellor’s would-be assassin, nor that his motivation in stowing aboard the pod was to be with his sister. He doesn’t necessarily want the adults to arrive on earth, because under the Ark’s rules he would be executed.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they
crossing?Clarke finds that her anti-violent stance can’t hold in a world where others espouse violence.
Bellamy will do anything to save his sister, even if it means sacrificing others to do so.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Clarke-discovers that violence sometimes gets her what she wants.
Bellamy-what will he do to conceal his past as assassin and protect his sister?
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Clarke- her motivation is so good, she really cares about people. She lost her father to ‘floating’ when he was only trying to do good by informing people of things they needed to know.
Bellamy – he promised to care for his sister from her birth, and will do anything to protect her, even though she’s ungrateful most of the time.
My show “Living My Lives” with first season called “Celt”
1. Tell us the journey of your show.
From cranky Oversoul with a single minded desire to stop its earthly incarnations to an Oversoul who’s concerned about helping each life purge its unique regret.
Celt’s journey is from a naïve, psychic, boy who second guesses himself to a powerful, arrogant gladiator, who ultimately has to reconcile what he’s become with his original spiritual beliefs.
2. Who are the main characters that will sell your show?
Oversoul
Celt
Writer
3. Answer these questions for each of those characters.
A. Role in the show:
Oversoul – the character who can’t become an angel until it discovers and helps purge each of its past lives’ dilemmas/regrets.
Celt- the first season subject who subjects himself to slavery to save his village from harm.
Writer – the woman who wants to solve the plot and to help the Oversoul become an angel, so she can evolve.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Oversoul-chose the blueprint for each lifetime, knows the ‘stories’ of each lifetime.
Celt has ability to adapt to changing circumstances, to see/communicate with gods/goddesses, to learn languages easily, and is physically strong.
Writer – works in tandem with the Oversoul, shares knowledge of the lifetimes.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
Oversoul is not very fond of human reincarnation, and not very fond of its lives. Oversoul doesn’t understand why it has to focus on them.
Celt regrets volunteering to go with the Romans and wants to return home. He feels guilty because his linguistic skills don’t keep his fellow slaves from harm.
Writer- has the power to change the plotline more easily than the Oversoul.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they
crossing?Oversoul doesn’t want to listen to its characters nor to intervene.
In order to fit in, Celt first hides his psychic abilities from his tribe. Later, to fit into the paternalistic Roma society, he has to betray his matriarchal values by demeaning women and animals.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Oversoul – what is it willing to do to help its various lives change the course of their history – or to change their perceptions of it?
Celt – how can he succeed without using his tongue? How will he succeed in Rome as a bestiarus/gladiator without betraying his own principles? How will he deal with his own guilt when he adopts Roman ways?
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Oversoul – the more it delves into its own lives, the more we understand about why it doesn’t want to be human any more.
Celt – gave up his own freedom to save his village, and pays dearly for it. Agonizes how he could do things differently at every step.
Writer – wants to fulfill her destiny and feels getting story right is last chance to do so.
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(Laurie Brown’s) Engaging Main Characters
What I learned from doing this assignment is how the characters provide challenge and conflict for the other main characters which gives them a role and purpose in the show, beyond entertainment value
Assignment 1 THE YOUNG POPE
Lenny Belario – is the new Pope, the youngest ever and the first from America.
His role in the show is lead character who we will see the journey through his eyes.His unique purpose is to lead the Catholic Church – one billion people on their journey with God.
What is the secret beneath the surface. Who is his Sr. Mary and what is the story of his childhood and why she raised him.
Moral issue – How can he lead the Catholic Church if he doesn’t believe in God? Or was he joking?
Unpredictable – This guy is impossible to predict. He doesn’t mean what he says.
He won’t address the cardinals so they can’t leave the Vatican. He seems to refuse to state publicly his plans or intentions. He doesn’t follow any of the rules or abide by the ways things are typically done at the Vatican.Empathetic – His apparent love and respect for the woman who raised him makes me empathetic to him, especially considering he is an underdog in a doggy dog world of the Papacy.
Assignment 2
What makes a lead characters engaging on multiple levels?A. Role in the show:
Johnny is obedient, by the book, ambitious and we see the character
through her eyes on her journey to reach the highest rank in the military in 1953. She grew up poor and her dream was to go into the military like her Daddy.
Bette is cheeky, a risk taker and knows who she is and is not about to
be pushed around. Not as ambitious as Johnny because she wants a life! Plus she is independently wealthy so has less at stake. Having grown up rich, she’s not afraid to pull a few punches. Her role in the show is to challenge Johnny to fall in love and take risks.
c. Marge is ambitious, a climber, maybe a sociopath who needs to take Johnny down to succeed. She is the antagonist who uses the unique rules of the women’s army to do her dirty work.
d. Mark is Marge’s secret, her illegitimate son, and also the younger version of his mother, who takes her ruthless behaviour to an extreme – hate.
Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Johnny’s unique purpose is to succeed at becoming the first colonel in
the first women’s nursing corp. Her hard work, obedience, and common sense has allowed her to succeed at her chosen path, overcoming all odds.
Bette is totally different. Bette got in the military as a way to get out of marriage. Her unique purpose is to fall in love by finding the woman of her dreams. She has more of an independent spirit and says out loud things that Johnny doesn’t even dare to think.
Marge’s unique purpose is to be Johnny’s antagonist and cause the worst thing imaginable to happen to Johnny, her love for Bette exposed.
Mark’s unique purpose is to finally break Johnny of her naïve ways and push her over the edge of her secretive life to finally defend herself and her lifestyle.
Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
a. Johnny, Bette and Marge are all closet lesbians, keeping the secret
from the military, only Johnny, not very self aware, doesn’t know it yet, and doesn’t want to jeopardize her career, even if she figures it out that she is. Until she meets Bette. This secret and the journey to keep it from the Military, and Marge’s goal to out Johnny and Bette leads to lies, cliffhangers, and danger, for Johnny. Lots of lies, misleads and sabotage between Margie and Johnny. Marge is outright deceptive, uses underhanded strategies, schemes and techniques to get what she wants.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? Johnny’s moral boundary crossed is number one, sleeping with a woman, and number two
becoming a liar. She loses her moral compass in order to have love and naively thinks it is OK if she can keep it a secret. She justifies it like she is not doing anything wrong if no one knows. Bette’s crosses her moral boundary when she coerces Johnny into a sexual relationship because that’s what she selfishly wants, leading them to get caught, by Marge. Marge crosses her moral boundary when she rats on Johnny for her own selfish gains. And Marc crosses his moral boundary when he sets out to kill Johnny and her lesbian friends at the cabin.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? Bette’s repressed sexual urges lead her and Johnny to do the unthinkable. They will always be at risk from that day forward, and what will they do to continue their affair, and keep it covered up. Johnny will do anything to keep her position as leader of the corp. Marge will do anything to unearth Johnny and catch her in the act that will lose her her job. Bette, having been raised wealthy, will constantly surprise, taking risks in a military not friendly for women. What caused Johnny to go before the tribunal in the opening scene will be a loop that will always lead the audience to look for the unpredictable.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care? We really like Johnny – she’s just a good egg and she doesn’t deserve to get sabotaged. We love it that she is breaking the glass ceiling in the military. We want Johnny to get what she wants, including the love of her life and we want Bette to, also. Bette’s personality make her a fun person to root for because she’s a leader, but still the underdog. The army is setting up the impossible obstacles for their happy life. We are afraid and shocked by the injustice of the Army and Johnny needing to go in front of the tribunal. Margie, as a character, represents the hypocrisy of the army and the outright injustice that can be accomplished under these repressive rules. But we like her, too, because she’s got a secret son, and we admire that in her and feel sorry that this could get her ousted from the military. These many unfair situation really keeps the audience hooked.
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Thought I posted this already, so doing it now.
4. Answer the question, “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.
Each half season of the series is radically different, so it was really hard to describe the intense dynamics of exponential change.
ASSIGNMENT 1:
Watch the next episode of your Example Show to see any places the lead characters might fit this model.
Tell us the name and Engaging Profile answers for at least one character from your example show.
Lost is an ensemble show, so its characters are a bit diluted to share screen time. It’s the 3rd episode and the only thing that I’m really captivated by is the island itself. The island makes a more interesting character than the humans by far.
A. Role in the show:
Island: provide a challenge to the characters.
Kate: Help with missions for survival.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Island: expertise is adding mystery
Kate: Kate does what needs to be, even if it makes her uncomfortable.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
Island: Polar bears on an island, strange transmissions, etc. We know very little, with new reveals each episode.
Kate: Why was she in jail? She seems normal.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Kate: She was a prisoner, so she must have crossed a moral boundary to land in handcuffs.
Island: This island has been dangerous for at least 16 years.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Island: Anything can happen on the island and we only know a little about what is going on.
Kate: She’s actually the prisoner, so what we thought we knew about her is wrong.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Island: The island is so mysterious.
Kate: We’ve seen her deal with fear, learn a lesson from Jack, and face it.
Deadline: 24 hours
ASSIGNMENT 2:
Now, do the process with your show.
1. Tell us the journey of your show.
When the Earth goes through a series of radical transformations, only two childhood friends can keep the world from complete destruction. Each half-season the stakes will raise exponentially, from the national level all the way to the multiverse level.
2. Who are the main characters that will sell your show?
James Wong/None of the Above(“None”) and Maria Cortez/More Jobs(“MJ”)
3. Answer these questions for each of those characters.
A. Role in the show:
None: An out-of-the-box thinker with a trainload of crazy ideas. His brain gets him in and out of trouble.
MJ: She protects None from himself and others. MJ takes over the presidency when needed.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
None: Expertise: Solving problems, although not necessarily without creating new problems.
MJ: Expertise: Uses her martial arts skills to handle danger.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
None: His insecurities around MJ drive him to be a player. He is blocking out memories. After the brain implant, he hides the entity in his head from MJ.
MJ: She hides the reason she can’t be physical with None. She keeps the secrets on the surveillance tapes from James to keep him safe. She must combat a conspiracy that goes to the highest levels. Almost no one can be trusted. She must keep the drone strike and the plane she shot down (and blamed on terrorists) secret.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
None: None. He would never break an oath or lie, regardless of the consequences, including his own death.
MJ: She shoots down a plane with Americans and does an illegal drone strike against conspirators that tried to kill None.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
None: From changing his name to None of the Above and running for president to using his brain to come up with unexpected ways to save Earth.
MJ: When she should run away, she runs into danger. Nothing is off the table against those that hurt her best friend.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
None: The assassination attempt took his beautiful mind, leaving him a broken man.
MJ: She’s traumatized by the White House attacks and must regain her footing.
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