Day 3 Assignments

[Andrew Boyd]

Assignment 19.8.22 Transformational Journey

My Vision:

For Hitler’s Choirboys to be so compelling that Mel Gibson and Steven Spielberg will battle it out to make their best WW2 blockbuster since Hacksaw Ridge or Schindler’s List.

What I learned from this assignment is:

Keep it simple. Get the beginning and the end and then fill in the blanks. New ideas come when you start to do this.

Arc Beginning: Well-meaning nice guy who pulls his punches, a peacekeeper rather than a peacemaker.

Arc Ending: Determined father-figure adept at tough love, because sometimes you have to win the war to win the man.

Internal Journey: From a man hobbled by personal humiliation to a leader who learns when not to pull his punches.

External Journey: From kindly US Army chaplain to the man who brought Hitler’s henchmen to their knees.

Old Ways:

Soft hearted

Unwilling to confront

Afraid of his own anger

Pulling his punches

Unable to understand evil in men

New Ways:

Tough-minded while still tender-hearted

Willing to confront to win the person, not just the argument

Turning negative anger into positive compassion

Hitting hard to score a knockout

Coming to understand – and overcome – evil in men

[Lisa Paris Long]

Lisa Long’s Transformational Journey

My Vision: I will do whatever it takes to be comfortable saying that I am a writer by creating impactful stories with amazing characters in order to sell my scripts.

What I learned from this assignment is setting up the arc in advance will indicate the structure of the story later.

Tell us the Character Arc for your Protagonist:

MOLLY

Arc Beginning: Scared and abandoned.

Arc Ending: Unafraid and free of the burden of her past.

Internal Journey: Shy and afraid to strong and unafraid.

External Journey: From trying to find her own way to thriving with other’s help.

Old Ways:

· Devastated

· Insecure

· Shy

· Afraid

New Ways:

· Content

· Outgoing

· Unafraid

· Happy

[Antonio]

[WIM2] Antonio Flores’ Transformational Journey

======================================

To write profound stories that make the audience feel inspired,

empowered to achieve ongoing growth today and in the future.

— Antonio Flores

======================================

What I learned from doing this assignment:

This lesson prompts me to review once again the strategies to produce a profound story.

2. Tell us the Character Arc for your Protagonist:

Arc Beginning: A quiet child, vulnerable, sensitive, unselfish

Arc Ending: A young man, then an elder, forthright, bold, righteous, cognizant and finally… eternal

3. Give us their Internal/External Journey.

Internal Journey: from an insecure, vulnerable child, he becomes cognizant, fearless.

External Journey: weak child grows into bold mighty warrior, yet, distanced from his beloved star, he ages; but then comes a twist and he earns the ultimate power of a star.

4. Tell us their Old Ways at the beginning of the movie and their New Ways at the end.

Old Ways:

• insecure, a child estranged by his star father
• incomplete, vulnerable,
• unreliable, unable to control his power
• a half-breed, yet, more a human than a star,

New Ways:

• assertive, a bold warrior supported by his star father
• complete, trusted by his beloved star girl
• able to restore the universe balance
• no longer half-a-star, he becomes an eternal constellation with a legend of his own

• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by  Antonio Flores.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by  Antonio Flores.

[ROBERT Ingalls]

Subject: Rob Ingalls’ Transformational Journey

MY VISION:

To be a Talented writer that delivers quality fast, with the film industry seeking me out.

WIL: Doing this has made a dramatic change in the story as I originally envisioned. Not sure if good or not. Let’s see where this goes…

==========================================

Title: NIRVANA GOLD

Concept:

A giant Buddha statue made of pure gold is stolen by thieves who tunnel underneath and hollow it out.

Character Structure: Dramatic Triangle

===============================

PROTAGONIST Character Arc

Arc Beginning (Character at beginning of film):

TikTok Influencer wanna-be, self-centered, shallow, fake-it-’til-you-make-it.

Arc Ending (Character at end of film):

Connects with local villagers and saves their prized statue, which gives them hope and meaning, from being stolen.

===================

Internal Journey (mind and emotions change):

From Self-centered, shallow, has no real friends, to caring for others and trying to help meet their needs.

External Journey (action and experience change):

From how he looks and appears on TikTok videos to turning off the camera from himself and focusing on others.

===================

Old Ways (behaviors, emotions, and thinking patterns present before the change):

– Self-centered

– Shallow

– Videos his entire life as though others want to watch it

New Ways: (behaviors, emotions, and thinking patterns replace the Old Ways)

– Puts away camera, except when filming others to help them

– Cares about others

– fights for others instead of himself

[Ron Chepesiuk]

Ron’s Transformational Journey

Vision: I want the success and recognition of being an in demand, A-list screenwriter who writes successful films that are financially profitable, award winning and of enduring quality.

What I learned from doing this assignment is that as much– or more—work must go into preparing the script as there is in writing it.

Protagonist: Lucia

Tell us the Character Arc for your Protagonist:

Arc Beginning: ambitious mail order bride who will do
anything to achieve her goal of being successful in America, even killing
her powerful godfather husband

Arc Ending: The bribe realizes that money and success
aren’t anything and thwarts her husband’s murder

. Give us their Internal/External Journey.

Internal Journey: from ruthless and ambitious to
realizing there is more to life than achieving success at any cost

External Journey: From selfish and scheming wife to caring about her husband

. Tell us their Old Ways at the beginning of the movie and their New Ways at the end.

Old Ways: selfish, ruthlessly ambitious, scheming,
manipulative, ,,

New Ways: Loving, understanding, wise, protective

[Marcus Wolf]

Marcus’ Transformational Journey

My Vision: I have well-founded confidence that what I write is excellent and will be acknowledged as excellent by everyone who reads it.

This lesson taught me to begin the writing process by focusing on the protagonist’s journey, rather than developing the overall story arc, which the protagonist just gets squeezed into. After coming up with my concept, I had a flat two-dimensional protagonist. After giving it enough thought, I came up with a character arc that, in turn, opens up a whole vista of opportunities for the story itself. When your main character has a purpose that you, as a writer, commit to, anything can happen in the story.

Now I think I have a character framework from which I can create an intriguing character who contributes to the story in an enriching way. In the past, I usually didn’t plan my characters’ journey in advance. Sometimes a journey sort of appeared for them and sometimes, the characters were nothing more than bone heads speaking lines. Then I couldn’t figure out why the script wasn’t any good.

(Title: “Beyond the Faded Trail”

Concept: A builder and his team go to a ghost town to dismantle it for or wood and find thieves’ treasure stored there. His men mutiny over the treasure, then the thieves themselves show up.)

Protagonist Character Arc:

Arc
Beginning: An ex-soldier and adventurer trying yet another in a series of
get-rich-quick schemes.

Arc Ending: A
part of his community committed to creating a legacy in his town.

Protagonist Internal/External Journey:

<div>Internal
Journey: From a careless schemer to a committed planner.
</div><div>

External
Journey: From happy-go-lucky party guy to businessman and craftsman.

</div>

<div>Protagonist’s Old Ways at the beginning of the movie and his New Ways at the end:
</div><div>

Old Ways: An
adventurer primarily concerned with getting rich then getting out.

</div><div>

New Ways: A contributing
and respected member of his community.

</div>

[victor Valleau]

WIM Module 2-Lesson 3 Vic Valleau

TRANSFORMATIONAL JOURNEY

PROTAGONIST

CHARACTER ARC

BEGINNING: He is weak, actually begs/prays to get away,

yet brags in bars and keeps fathering kids, avoids any

responsibility for his 40 kids A surrogate father?

ENDING: Fights for custody, stupidly. Admits to his mistakes,

develops inner strength from facing up to his mistakes, builds

support network, becomes Uncle Bob for 40 children..

INTERNAL JOURNEY: Desperate for love, Bob goes from

hates his life to loves his life.

EXTERNAL JOURNEY Bob becomes social, gregarious,

extroverted.

OLD WAYS lazy opportunist, cowardly, victim

NEW WAYS motivated, courageous, inspirational.

[Monica Arisman]

Subject Line: Monica’s Transformational Journey

Vision: I will continue to learn everything I can through all different media to apply what I learn to become the best screenwriter I can be. To be successful in getting my movies made and to win awards in the process.

What I learned from doing this assignment to take an in-depth look at the character arc and look for the hero’s deepest wounds and fears and how these would change as the movie went on.

2. Tell us the Character Arc for your Protagonist:

Arc Beginning: From an
arrogant, highly decorated intelligence yes man to… <div>

Arc Ending: …the guy
that saves humanity against the corrupt powers that be.

<div>

3. Give us their Internal/External Journey:

Internal Journey: Strong
and afraid who has suppressed his moral code will do any job for his
superiors.</div><div>

External Journey: From
the always reliable “hit man” with no conscience to the one who sees what’s
going on and finally does something about it.

<div>

4. Tell us their Old Ways at the beginning of the movie and their New Ways at the end.

Old Ways: </div>

Didn’t
want to look at his life.

Basically
did his job with no emotion and never questioned orders.

Was
alone and lonely.

Was
brainwashed into believing his superior’s ways were the only ways.

New Ways:

Released
from his wound.

Fights
for a cause he believes in.

Ready
to find love.

Ready
to do what’s necessary for the greater good.

</div></div>

[Deleted User]

Karen Crider Transformational Journey

My vision is to become a stronger writer.

What I learned: That the writing usually has the goods. The imagination, the story, the imagery, the plot, the resolution– but can be no better than the writer who writes it.

Concept: A hyena deposed from his clan, must win acceptance in another, or survive the lions and predators inside the wild forest edges alone.

Logline: After being deposed from his clan, a depressed hyena, living from grub to grub, loses his laughter, but must win the Olympic Hyena Laughing Contest to gain survival in another clan.

Traits: haunted, furtive, timid, clueless

Final Title: Solo Act

ARC BEGINNING: As a hyena cub inside his den, a WOLF invades, killing his brother. Later, he gets kicked out of his clan trying to defend his mother. He’s a timid hyena, an off-key laugher; depressed, with no confidence who tries to win a laughing (singing) contest. One that awards the winner admittance in a large clan with many members. The kind of clan most need to be a part of, to ward off predators and hunger.

Traits: haunted, furtive, timid, clueless

Final Title: Solo Act

ARC ENDING:

Shadow matures, survives, learns to battle the elements and predators. He proves to be a good. He loses his timidity, finds his fierceness and his revenge against the wolf who murdered his brother. A wolf so ruthless and formidable, he earns a spot in the wolf pack. His confidence has lent his voice a new timbre. When the wolves howl, when they voice their fierceness, inside their wildness exists a laugh rebounding more threatening off the terrain. One so resolute even the most terrible predator shudders…

Internal Journey:

Terrified to the max, Shadow lives in fear after the wolf kills his brother. He has no confidence; fears retaliation from others, and nurses longer than his remaining sibling. He lacks luster. His laugh is kin to a whine. He avoids confrontation and slinks into the shadow he has become. He is the target of any attack. Without his mother protecting him, he would have died long ago. He is timid, clueless, haunted, furtive, yet intelligent.

External Journal:

The head matriarch slings Shadow, a three-year-old hyena, out of the clan into the dangerous life of the wild. He is cut, bruised, humiliated and depressed. He has no pride. He cries, whines and stays on the periphery of his clan’s boundaries for as long as he dares. He’s terrified of wolves, but perfects his running ability when predators come to close. His mother mourns him. Shadow recognizes her in her laugh. (A hyena’s laugh i.d’s the laugher’s, sex, age, and even their hierarchy in the clan.) He becomes solitary, inexperienced in hunting, and a grub eater. He’s prone to attack, rather than retaliation. He’s a target to everything alive, even the ants.

Old Ways: He practices for the laugh competition, and dreams of inclusion, but he loses the competition. He is chased off by those who hate him. More prone to flight than fight. Scared of his own shadow. Stays hungry and gaunt. Looks mangy and weak, lives on grubs, has no confidence, lives solitary. He’s constantly hungry, has a furtive look to his eyes, and a scarred muzzle. His laughter surrender to a monotonal, tone deafness. He scans his old clan as they hunt. His mother watches him from a distance and mourns. The clan makes their kill, a five-hundred-pond zebra they clean up in twenty minutes. A lion arrives, but Shadow’s can’t find his mom. She is missing.

New Ways: He saunters closer and finds his mother under attack. Without fear, without thinking, Shadow attacks the lion attacking her. The lion recedes into the brush. He saves her life and finds he is capable of battle. He guides her to safety and starts hunting prey. He runs down a warthog and drags its carcass to feed upon. They gorge themselves before vultures and other scavengers show up. He guides her back to her clan, but no one believes Shadow has saved her. They jeer him, and he’s angered by their lack of respect. They do not know he is an accomplished hunter, bold, capable and able to stand against the fiercest prey or the strongest predator.

Shadow knows he can take care of himself. A type of self-actualization deepens his laugh. His fierceness helps him puts on weight, his fur thickens. He takes dust baths and even an occasional dip in the river. He’s strong, handsome and able to hold his own, unlike the timid, furtive cub that has faded in his memory and is gone forever.

[Lynn Vincentnathan]

Lynn Vincentnathan’s Transformational Journey

VISION: I am determined to become a great screenwriter capable of getting my screenplays in various genres produced into movies that inspire vast audiences to mitigate climate change.

I LEARNED that I could create before & after ideas that show a better character journey than just starting out writing the script, which has me further looking for backstories that explain the injured/stymied starting points and various personality types that fit, etc.

WEATHERING IT (RomCom) is about two college students who try to overcome family fights about global warming and get married during the worst ever Texas freeze.

——————————-

ELLIE FERRIS’S JOURNEY

TELL US THE CHARACTER ARC FOR YOUR PROTAGONIST 1

Arc Beginning: Ellie is unable to get others involved in eco activism and she’s afraid of romantic involvements

Arc Ending: Ellie has gotten the big oil engineer & arch climate denialist to do the right/better thing and gets happily married to his nephew, plus brings her hermit Uncle Ely out of his shell.

—————————————————————

GIVE US THEIR INTERNAL/EXTERNAL JOURNEY

Internal Journey: Ellie goes from the wound of her father abandonment and climate anxiety (she feels/knows everything, including marriage and the fate of the world, is doomed to failure) to overcoming her wound/anxieties and feeling confident and happy that she can do something realistic and important and make marriage work and help “save the earth.”

External Journey: Ellie goes from causing her own failures to be effective and avoiding romantic entanglements to doing something positive, her part in “saving the earth” and to getting happily married.

—————————————————————-

TELL US THEIR OLD WAYS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MOVIE AND THEIR NEW WAYS AT THE END

Old Ways: afraid to go outside her comfort zone and petition denialists and those not “eco-aware” and afraid to get romantically involved, rejecting/hurting guys who try to love her.

New Ways: to confronting and appealing to everyone about eco-harms, helping them to get into the program, and getting involved with & married to Jim

=========================================================================

JIM HIGSON’S JOURNEY

TELL US THE CHARACTER ARC FOR YOUR PROTAGONIST 2

Arc Beginning: Jim is afraid to cross his Uncle Fred (runs a big oil engineering consultancy and is an arch climate denialist) to do what he really wants to do

Arc Ending: Jim goes against his uncle both in marrying Ellie and in reducing his obligation to Uncle Fred, and with Ellie’s help convinces Fred to go into energy efficiency/conservation and alt energy consulting.

—————————————————————

GIVE US THEIR INTERNAL/EXTERNAL JOURNEY

Internal Journey: Jim hurts from losing his father to death and is afraid his uncle will cut off his college funds, feels the need to deny himself and please his uncle to being independent and being happy with Ellie, who gives him the love he felt lacking. Maybe he’s afraid his uncle (who has a heart condition) will die, again leaving him fatherless again. From weak to strong.

External Journey: Jim is following his uncle’s wishes against his own inclinations to he’s following his dream of doing something good for humanity & establishing a family with Ellie.

—————————————————————-

TELL US THEIR OLD WAYS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MOVIE AND THEIR NEW WAYS AT THE END

Old Ways: Jim does whatever others want (which is partly good, helping others with their goals)

New Ways: Jim is working toward his own goals and bringing the others’ goals into alignment with his.

[Mary Lynn]

CHERYL – I CANNOT COPY AND PASTE FROM WORD INTO THE FORUM. MUST RETYPE EVERYTHING. UGH.

Mary Lynn Mabray – WIM2 – Lesson 2 – Transformational Journey

Vision: To become a sought-after writer for high concept -movies

What Did I Learn: Every story and every character have a beginning and an end that changes their lives in a profound way.

Protagonist: Helen Harper – famous chef specializing in desserts

Arc – Beginning – Burned out for television show – Looking forward to family time – though she still feels out place without her husband even with her family – doesn’t want t see or create a recipe of any kind.

Arc- Ending – Discovered the secret to the Christmas cookie recipe for the North Pole that makes the reindeer fly and gives Santa his magic.

Internal Journey – from, tired, irritable, lonely and compliant

External Journey – to energized, happy and sure of her future.

Old Ways – agreeable, feels life is passing her by and she will never be happy again but accept her fate if her television show makes her son-in-law happy.

New Ways: takes action on her own, listens to her heart, knows despite the age difference that her future is with Nick.

[David Holloway]

Dave Holloway’s Transformational Journey

My vision: I would like to be a successful writer in Hollywood, with a number of successful movies to my credit that put forward a core belief about environmental, political, or personal development issues.

What I learned doing this assignment is the crucial nature of the transformational journey and how important it is to clearly define it before writing the script.

Character Arc

Arc beginning: Nigel is a cautious young man with little experience in the adventurous, combative real of life, who is fearful of those experiences.

Arc ending: Nigel is confident that he can handle himself when facing danger and possible violence.

Internal Journey: Nigel goes from fearing physical conflict and trying to avoid it to a more accepting attitude and a confidence that he can withstand it.

External Journey: Nigel goes from never having any physically combative experiences to surviving several of them and realizing he’s more capable of handling them than he thought.

Old Ways: Nigel is afraid of physical conflict and tries to use his intelligence to anticipate and avoid it and avoids situations where it’s likely to arise.

New Ways: Nigel has developed a taste for adventure and no longer has such fear of it and doesn’t make every effort to avoid it.

[Paul Dees]

My Vision: I am a writer/director/producer that writes and makes films of all kinds, and I am recognized by the industry as both a highly successful filmmaker and as a person that’s easy to work with.

What I learned from doing this assignment was to set up a road map for the protagonist’s journey that goes from the beginning all the way to the end of the story.

Special Agent Rick O’Brien

Arc Beginning: FBI agent haunted by his past, assigned to stop a terrorist.

Arc Ending: His past is resolved; the terrorist is brought to justice.

Internal Journey: From depressed and nearly suicidal to confident and at peace.

External Journey: From being just another FBI agent, to being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction and being promoted to field office supervisor.

Old Ways:

Pessimistic about life, often feels
like he wants to end it all <div>

Blames himself for a work related scenario
that ended tragically

Distances himself from his family

Goes through the motions at work

New Ways:

Optimistic about the future </div>

Reconnects with his family

Inner demons over tragic scenario are
resolved

Exemplary FBI agent

[Amy Falkofske]

Amy’s Transformational Journey

Vision: I want to become known as an expert in the family-friendly genre and make a full-time living as a screenwriter.

What I learned doing this assignment is…this really helped me focus on my protagonist’s character arc, which is something that is usually weak in my screenplays.

Stephanie

Arc Beginning: Proud princess

Arc Ending: Commoner using her fame for good

Internal Journey: Shallow and proud to reflective and caring

External Journey: From princess to commoner

Old Ways:

Only thinks of herself

Depends on her name and her clout as a royal to get her way

New Ways:

Concerned about others

Humble

Depends on her own strength

[David Penn]

David’s Transformational Journey

My vision for this program to learn the skills to propel me to A list status.

What I learned from this assignment is the importance of having your main character(s) transform during their joiurney, shedding their old ways and adopting new ones.

Character Arc: Chas goes from being careless, flippant, lying to himself and others to being responsible, mature, and unafraid of reality.

Internal journey: from ignorning reality and lying to everyone to facing reality head on and being responsible.

External journey: a drifter, living on a boat in SF and unemployed to working for his dad in PA, en route to medical school.

Old ways: flippant, irresponsible, lying, immature

New ways: responsible, mature, honest with himself and others

[Dana Abbott]

WIM2 – Dana’s Intentional Lead Characters

My Vision: I intend to perfect my skills to become a successful screenwriter, scripting acclaimed and profitable films, recognized by my peers, and living an adventurous life.

What I learned during this assignment:

I have a better understanding of my character and a vision for her arc.

Character: Ruth Griffin

Arc Beginning: Tormented hostage

Arc Ending: Fearless survivor

Internal Journey: From pampered political wife to strong heroine who defeats her captor

External Journey: From kidnap victim to the woman who captures a serial kidnapper

Old Ways:

Moneyed and pampered
Dependent on others
Fearful
Victim

New Ways:

Self-reliant
Determined
Strong; fearless
Survivor

[Alan Wood]

Alan’s Transformational Journeys

My Vision:

I do whatever it takes for me to be a true wordsmith that spins wildly original and entertaining screenplays that are passionately sought out by top industry professionals who turn them into critically and publicly acclaimed major motion pictures distributed by the top studios in Hollywood, all while writing from wherever I may be leisurely traveling the world at the moment.

I learned a great technique for insuring that there is both an internal and external journey for the protagonist.

Arc Beginning: Down on his luck, no confidence or belief in himself or his dream, fast food employee.

Arc Ending: Completely confident, no one’s fool who has achieved his dream of owning his own fast food restaurant.

Internal Journey: From weak and afraid with no confidence to strong, fearless high achiever..

External Journey: From depressed fast food employee to highly successful restaurant owner.

Old Ways:

Depressed

Afraid, bullied, and defeated.

Didn’t believe in himself.

Accepted the dominance of others. (His boss. Bullies.)

New Ways:

Confident.

Can kick ass. No more bullies.

Courageous.

Business owner. A financial success. Living his dream.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by  Alan Wood.

[Joyce Davidson]

VISION

I want to write uplifting scenes in drama and humor for memorable movies that attract actors.

WIL: A character came to life in my mind when I thought I had no clues.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by  Joyce Davidson. Reason: copy

[hari messer]

The Transformational Journey

My Vision: I want to write screenplays that enable me to work with like minded creative people in the industry to produce profound movies that will have a long lasting positive effect on the world.

What I learned…The inner story is just as important as the outer one.

Colt McBride

Arc Beginning: Suspended cop. Running away from it all.

Arc Ending: Has defeated the aliens and saved the planet.

Internal Journey: Bitter. Anger issues. Lost faith in humanity, especially women. Not open to love for fear of getting hurt again.

External Journey: From down and out suspended cop to confident, able to handle anything life throws his way, hero.

Old Ways:

Doesn’t trust anyone.

Loner, just wants to be left alone.

Won’t go out of his way to help others.

Afraid of being hurt

Only sees things from his wounded perspective

New Ways:

Puts himself on the line for others

Willing to love again.

Renewed sense of energy and cause

Can handle loss

Sees the bigger picture

[Frances Emerson]

MODULE TWO LESSON THREE

FRAN’S TRANSFORMATIONAL JOURNEY

MY VISION: I want to write great movies. Movies that are magical, movies that move people and tell the truth. I want to write movies that stars will want to be in.

WHAT LEARNED: As I was brainstorming this all down it was becoming a “write what you know” exercise for me and it just flowed. Trust your inner self to know what to do and let your inner self come through and just do it.

MEREDITH’S TRANSFORMATIONAL JOURNEY

ARC BEGINNING: an average screenwriter, wife, loyal to husband, wants to make him happy, turns a blind eye to his dalliances, wants to make marriage work for her daughter’s sake, puts her career on the back burner to promote her husband’s career.

ARC END: no longer allows her husband to dominate her wants and needs, he’s gone. She’s divorced him. No longer turns a blind eye to his dalliances. She becomes a great, in demand, screenwriter after her Oscar win. No longer puts her career on hold. Her only other priority is her daughter and it’s her daughter who encourages her mother to take the leap of faith and write the script—and divorce her father because of his affairs.

INTERNAL JOURNEY: doesn’t feel good about herself. She questions her abilities as a writer. She believes her career just wasn’t meant to be because she hasn’t been able to be as successful as she wanted. She believes her husband and marriage come first before her career.

EXTERNAL JOURNEY: She has a talk with her agent about the diary she’s discovered. She takes the leap of faith her agent has in her. She begins to do the research, the homework on her new script. She confronts her husband’s infidelities and divorces him on the advice of her daughter and agent. She begins to put her wants and needs first. She gets a new producer and director to work with.

OLD WAYS: has accepted her “role” in life: wife, mother, taking the backseat to her husband’s career, wants and needs. She doesn’t give herself much credit for being a great, competent writer. Doesn’t think for herself. She turns a blind eye to her husband’s infidelities.

NEW WAYS: She wins an Oscar for her script. She thanks her agent and her daughter, but not her ex-husband. She divorces her husband for adultery. Tells her daughter not to allow the man in her life to dominate her wants and needs and put his career ahead of her—to the detriment of her career and self-esteem and well-being. Loves what she does. Teaches her daughter to work at what she loves with gusto DESPITE BEING TOLD she can’t do it because SHE CAN!

Meredith gets the wake-up call when she learns how young Olga and her sisters were when they were murdered. Life was too short for them, cut short by the circumstances of the times. She never became was she was meant to be in her short life—the Grand Duchess or a Queen. Meredith learns she cannot have that happen to her—or her daughter and fights to change that because she remembers in her youth what was her first thoughts before she met Jerome. She wanted to become a great screenwriter and win an Oscar. This is what she was meant to do with her life and she’s not going to let that pass her by any longer for someone else’s dream.

[Renee Miller]

My Vision: I will work hard to become a well-respected writer that has my movies produced and has enough work to keep me busy and keep the lights on.

What I learned doing this assignment is how to think about the character’s transformational journey. This has always been an afterthought in previous scripts, but I see how it is important to think about these things at the beginning of the process.

Arc beginning: Claire is a selfish party girl who comes across as uncaring and who refuses to appear vulnerable.

Arc ending: she is willing to sacrifice herself to save a missing girl.

Internal journey: from selfish and uncaring to selfless and courageous.

External journey: from a cynical, selfish party girl to a selfless and caring person who is willing to sacrifice herself to save someone else.

Old Ways:

– selfish

– never takes anything seriously

– cynical

– estranged from her family

New Ways:

– selfless

– willing to work with others for the greater good

– willing to sacrifice herself

– committed to the cause

[Joe Donato]

Joe Donato’s transformational Journey

My vision is to persevere and stay the course of building steady daily routine, and disciplines that produce consistent writing of exceptional quality. Ultimately, the fruit of those habits and disciplines will be a track record of great marketable scripts that will make other successful talented pros seek me out.

What I learned: These four categories (Arc, Internal Journey, External Journey, and old/new ways) overlap. It was a task to actually flesh them out as four seperate categories instead of one or two nebulous generlizations. They still overlap. I sense they are still in adolescent stage, but at least the ideas are front and center which will allow me to refine and evolve them to maturity during the continuing outline process.

Tell us the Character Arc for your Female Protagonist:

Arc Beginning: Doesn’t care for the pizza guy, puts all her energy into the dance studio.

Arc Ending: Is in love with the pizza guy, willing to partner with him in new building venture.

Give us their Internal/External Journey.

Internal Journey: headstrong, proud and alone; in denial about her needs/desires.

External Journey: struggling sole-proprietor to flourishing business partner.

Tell us their Old Ways at the beginning of the movie and their New Ways at the end.

Old Ways: Overly self-reliant. When she is naiive, she blindly trusts the landlord and demonizes the pizza guy.

New Ways: Is open to the discovering her shortcomings in business and is willing to let people teach and guide and/or lead with wisdom. totally doesn’t trust landlord.

Tell us the Character Arc for your Male Protagonist:

Arc Beginning: Doesn’t care for the dance teacher, puts all his energy into the pizza parlor and always hostile to landlord.

Arc Ending: Is in love with the dance teacher, willing to partner with her in new building venture; no longer under jurisdiction of landlord.

Give us their Internal/External Journey.

Internal Journey: headstrong, proud and alone; naively waiting for the “right” ie: “perfect” girl to just manifest in God’s timing, to proactively seeking out a relationship with dance teacher

External Journey: struggling sole-proprietor to flourishing business partner.

Tell us their Old Ways at the beginning of the movie and their New Ways at the end.

Old Ways: Overly self-reliant. Hostile to anyone who might have a different approach.

New Ways: Has much more patience and more graceful with people who have a different approach/method/understanding than him.

[Andrew Foerster]

Drew Foerster’s Transformational Journey

MY VISION IS (living as if it is already fact): I am an award-winning produced Hollywood screenwriter with an excellent reputation that is represented by an outstanding manager and whose life is filled with creativity!

What I learned from doing this assignment is…Made me think about my lead in new and different ways that makes him more three dimensional.

MARC (protag)

Tell us the Character Arc for your Protagonist:

· Arc Beginning: A selfish, under-achieving security guard who hears voices in his head.

· Arc Ending: Risks his life to become the hero he needs to be to save his daughter

Give us their Internal/External Journey:

· Internal Journey: Crippled by fear and inaction to strong and mindful

· External Journey: From loser with his life in chaos to the hero that saves a bunch of children

Tell us their Old Ways at the beginning of the movie and their New Ways at the end:

· Old Ways: Selfish. Got kicked out of the military. Jumps from job to job. Doesn’t believe in himself. Afraid of everything. Living in an unemotional state

· New Ways: Finding his sense of self. Finding purpose. Using his talents to solve a mystery. Fighting to save his daughter. Finding his courage.

[Nancy Meyer]

Nancy’s Transformational Journey

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>My Vision: To create a polished portfolio and and do whatever it takes to get a manager, and then sell multiple TV and or feature scripts.

What I learned doing this assignment is that laying out the transformational journey for your characters, it creates a clear pathway from start of script to finish.

Protagonist: FREYA

Arc Beginning: Walled workaholic overcome with guilt/loss

Arc Ending: She has helped the caretaker to absolve his guilt and pass over, shifted focus to living and resolved her guilt

Internal Journey: From suffering with survivor’s guilt to finding the will to live again.

External Journey: From reluctantly investigating the mystery of a fugitive to discovering the truth that releases the fugitive from his guilty fate.

Old Ways:

War correspondent forced to do a “fluff” piece to have a mental break

Walled, isolated, not interested in digging in – cantankerous

Lost her will to live

Writer’s block

Haunted by past memories that she can’t explain

New Ways:

Curious about the Caretaker

Let’s wall down to share dreams

Discovers her past life

Has the evidence to absolve a guilty man

Needs to fight for survival of the storm

Brave, finds the will to live – released from her guilt

[Scott Billings]

Scott Billings

What I learned: This helped me decide which concept to write. The main character clearly goes on a transformational journey. The other two concepts had less potential for that.

DOOMSDAY–A suicidal cop is given one day to convince an alien planning to destroy the Earth that humanity is worth saving.

Tell us the Character Arc for your Protagonist: Mike Spivak

Arc Beginning: burned-out, suicidal cop

Arc Ending: enlightened, hopeful and accepting

3. Give us their Internal/External Journey.

Internal Journey: From suicidal cop to enlightened and hopeful

External Journey: From jaded cop to saving humanity

4. Tell us their Old Ways at the beginning of the movie and their New Ways at the end.

Old Ways:

Angry about the death of his partner

Frustrated at perverted justice system

Bitter at being abused by others

Ready to kill himself

New Ways:Sees the value of livingMore empathetic with othersSees the bigger picture in human existenceNo longer is bothered by what others think.

[Wynona Bice-Stephens]

(Bice-Stephens) Transformational Journey-Protagonist

2022 is my year to break through!

What I learned-my protagonist, Alex, isn’t exciting enough, he’s just an all around nice guy. Going to add some secrets. Need to reevaluate—his character arc goes down while Antagonist goes up, should we save him from her at the end? Or let her win this time for a sequel?

Character Arc:

Beginning-Happy go lucky young immature student

End-Serious, scapegoated man

Internal/External Journey

Internal-Forced to mature by the minute

External-Free, fun-loving kid to defeated, imprisoned man

Old Ways vs New Ways

Old-Laughing, independent, trusting everyone

New-Quiet, withdrawn, cautious of everything

[Gregory Kiernan]

[WIM] Greg’s Transformational Journey

My vision is that by the end of this course I have elevated my writing to a professional level and have sold my first script. My vision for the next ten years is that I am a multimillionaire, have won an Oscar and have a whole wall of framed movie posters that represent my success.

What I learned from doing this assignment is that when contemplating the journey and changes the protagonist will go through I come up with sources of conflict I hadn’t considered before now.

Arc Beginning: A thief who should have gotten a heavier sentence but ratted on his fellow thieves to save himselfArc Ending: Someone who’s turned over a new leaf by turning himself in and is serving his time like a manInternal Journey: From being mean and self-centered to being kind and considerate External Journey: From a remorseless outlaw to being a rehabilitated prisoner Old Ways: Dodging the law, stealing, lying, pushing others away with insults New Ways: Accepting his punishment, being more honest, accepting of friendship from others

[Christopher Blanchett]

Chris Blanchett’s Transformational Journey

I am a brilliant, massively successful, professional screenwriter who writes incredible movies in a wide variety of genres which become instant-classics. I am respected by my professional peers and bring genuine, thought-provoking entertainment and uplifting emotions to hundreds of millions of movie-goers.

What I learned from this assignment is the value of big-picture character development.

Tim Walters (Unwoke)

· Arc beginning: Shy and retiring office-worker oppressed by woke corporate culture.

· Arc ending: Confident leader & influencer encouraging folks to deal with one another compassionately as individuals, not other as members of tribes pitted against one another.

· Internal journey: From timid an acquiescent to powerful and confident.

· External journey: From nebbish office-worker to confident leader inspiring authentic and respectful human interaction.

Old Ways

· Walking on eggshells

· Scared of saying/doing the wrong thing

· Apologetic

· Hides true feelings and opinions

New Ways

· Speaks mind freely

· Confident

· Happy to point out the Emperor has no clothes

· Treats others with respect without being subservient

[Dawn C Crouch]

Dawn C Crouch’s Transformational Journey

Vision – In WIM, I will listen and learn to write my best screenplay, which will be optioned and produced.

What I learned from this assignment is to use what I know about the character’s journey to find out what I don’t know.

Tallis Porter, PhD

Arc Beginning: Reclusive Niche Medical Researcher.

Arc Ending: He becomes the critical investigator that solves the hospital murders

Internal Journey: From solitary and unable to connect socially to becoming a confident leader capable of decisions and action.

External Journey: From hermit researcher of antiquated medical devices to mastering the technology in the renovated hospital.

Old Ways:

Ignorant of newer medical technology. Afraid of human interaction. Hiding out with the outdated medical devices in the basement of the old Charity. Believes in himself but doesn’t believe that anyone else will. Constantly trying to put off/evade interaction with other people.

New Ways:

Can see the logic and purpose of the new technology and the possible problems. Can interact with others meaningfully. Courageous. Willing to put his life on the line to find the murderer.

[George Petersen]

(George Petersen) Transformational Journey

My Vision is to direct one of my screenplays as a low-budget indie feature

What I learned from this assignment is the importance of change when developing a character

LONGFELLOW

Arc Beginning: Affable, perplexed attorney who can’t figure out what is going on

Arc Ending: A dogged attorney who solves the mystery

Internal Journey: From deferring to assertive

External Journey: From the hunted to the hunter

Old Ways: By the book. Deferring. Passive. Unable to challenge. Accepts life as Boring, uneventful, something to get through — with the help of a bottle. Dishonest with himself. Fears the future.

New Ways: Takes command, assertive, appreciates the mystery in life. Solves the mystery. Honest with himself and others. Embraces the future.

[Erin Ziccarelli]

Vision: I am going to create meaningful scripts that leave audiences remembering my movies and leave me excited to keep writing and moving up in the industry.

What I learned from doing this assignment is: the cause and effect relationship between the protagonist’s internal/external journey. I haven’t separated an internal and external journey in my previous scripts, so this is very helpful!!

2. Tell us the Character Arc for your Protagonist:

Arc Beginning: drug-addled inmate <div>

Arc Ending: motivated entrepreneur

3. Give us their Internal/External Journey.

Internal Journey: angry/hate-filled to inner peace/forgiving</div><div>

External Journey: black marketeer to honest businessman

4. Tell us their Old Ways at the beginning of the movie and their New Ways at the end.

Old Ways: dangerous cocaine addiction, holding grudges, feeling hate for rival crime family members, unmotivated, change as impossible</div><div>

New Ways: sober, practicing forgiveness, motivated to help himself and those around him, realizing that people can/do change

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