-
Day 4 Assignment
Reply to Post Your Assignment.
-
34 Replies
-
Paul’s 10 Most Interesting Things
4. What I learned from this assignment is that having these 10 points to focus on helps me to look for interest potential and make interest a top priority as I write.
3. Ten most interesting things:
1. Most unique about the heroine: she is a war-veteran and victim of an IED explosion in Irak in which 3 of her fellow-soldiers died and now bears horrendous scars of war.
2. Major hook in opening scene: a pretty blonde is sunbathing near the pool on a cruise ship. A man approaches and says, “Hello!” She turns around and the right-side of her face is horrendously scarred. She puts out her hand to shake his, but the flesh on her right arm is like the flesh of a roasted chicken. He decides not to shake her hand, turns and walks away mumbling, “Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”
3. Turning points:
a. In the first scene we think this is going to be a romantic encounter aboard a happy cruise ship, but discover the protagonist is seriously scarred and this is not going to be the romcom we expected.
b. The cruise ship is hijacked at night while the passengers party.
c. The protagonist is in her cabin when the hijacking occurs and from their she launches the counter-attack.
4. Emotional dilemma: Kill or not to kill. At the end, the heroine is left with three prisoners on the deck of the ship. She is still haunted by the scene of the IED explosion that killed her 3 friends. Her dilemma is: execute these men or not?
5. Major twists:
Set-up: the protagonist is taken one of the hijackers who has his gun to her head. Reversal: two of the passengers turn out to be war veterans too and kill the hijacker.
Set-up: the heroine counts on the Second Mate in the early stages of her strategy to eliminate the terrorists. Twist: he turns out to be part of the hijacking plot.
6. Reversals:
After saving the live of hundreds of passengers, when the cruise ship reaches a Spanish port, she is arrested for not respecting the terrorists’ human rights.
7. Big surprises:
Passengers, including women and children, will be brutally murdered by the terrorists. This is the “real thing”.
Other interesting points:
8. It is a “contained movie” insofar as 90% of the action takes place aboard a cruise ship.
9. It is “Captain Phillips” combined with “The 15:17 to Paris” with a female lead.
10. It breaks the mold insofar as the heroine is arrested despite the fact that she just saved hundreds of lives. So it sparks a political question for the audience: can so-called “human rights” be incompatible with saving human life?
END
-
John Alen’s 10 Most Interesting Things
1. My villain is very charming and civilized yet also psychotic and ruthless.
2. My opening scene pays off with a plane exploding over the streets of Los Angeles causing white powder to fall from the sky like snow.
3. The villain’s adult daughter is kidnapped in retaliation.
4. After being rescued by the hero, the daughter decides to help bring her mother down.
5. The villain learns that the hero and her daughter have both betrayed her, inviting her wrath.
6. The villain plans to detonate a truck full of explosives in the middle of the city.
7. The antagonist is one of the craziest villains audiences will ever see.
8. The villain is a great part that a lead actress could really sink her teeth into.
9. The villain and her daughter are both Latina and the protagonist could be African-American allowing for a diverse cast.
10. The pace is relentless with action sequences throughout the story.
What I learned doing this assignment is the importance of distilling a story down to it’s most interesting points rather than just summarizing it like a book report.
-
Mark’s 10 Most Interesting Things
What I learned from dong this assignment is that aspects of this TV series that haven’t yet been written, but I knew were there, ARE interesting when singled out to be mentioned in a pitch. Its simple, yet still a great insight, and this practice expands my ammunition to include in a more engaging pitch.
A. Unique villain: Biologist who loves killing animals.
Unique hero: Exceptional military pilot who has been taking orders all his life must now have develop confidence to give orders.
B. Opening scene hook: A Navy weapons test creates a huge lightning storm out of a clear, blue sky and lightning bolts are targeting birds, animals and insects.
C. Turning Points: The first scientist is struck by lightning.
The storm seeks a new victim, a 100-man Navy destroyer.
E. Reveal: The science team flies back to the US to escape the storm. The storm can travel across oceans and continents to find them.
The storm is Nature’s defense weapon with a lethal purpose.
Mysterious deaths in different cities lead to investigations that identify the victims as Holden’s science team
G. Character betrayals: Admiral Clay willing to sacrifice Holden to the storm for the greater good.
H. Surprise: Gina’s son has Holden’s DNA
Other interesting things in SKYFIRE
Gina, a flower child, is Holden’s first love and college sweetheart who he hasn’t seen in three years.
The Navy’s best weather expert insists the storm can morph itself into different looking weather patterns, despite the hostility of Admiral Clay.
-
Debbie’s 10 Most Interesting Things
I learned to pick out the diamonds from the script in order to build a pitch.
A Good Title: Invasive Species
The emotional dilemma is that Gabby, who has been trained to fight the reptilian invasion all of her life, is pregnant with an alien baby. Does she destroy it, or keep it?
B Three strong and unique female characters and one male villian:
Gabby: An archaeologist who has been trained to fight a Reptilian Invasion
January: A professor of mythology and a powerful witch
Grandmother: The matriarch that prepares woman to fight the Reptilian Invasion and another powerful witch.
Marty: Human collaborator with the Reptilian Princess. He controls the hybrids that are more reptilian than human
C Character betrayal:
Marty tells Cathy she will become pregnant with a hybrid who will help save the earth.
Cathy betrays Abby by not telling her the truth about the statue, then keeping Abby drugged so she won’t abort the child
D Reversals: When grandma and sister discover pregnancy, they hunt Abby like any other creature who will facilitate the Reptilian Invasion. (from loving family to enemies)
E Turning Points:
Abby becomes pregnant
Skeleton comes to life
Abby keeps baby, causing family to hunt her
F Hook of opening Scene
Gabby falls through the floor of a mine shaft.
G Big Surprise
Alien sperm comes out of fertility statue
Anna is murdered by reptilian hybrid
H Major twists
Abby becomes pregnant instead of Cathy
-
Karen Crider, 10 Most interesting things/Power Players Course
What I learned: Making out lists clarifies what I have accomplished and learned as a result. It hones down what I need to focus on in order to interest a producer, whether in a oral pitch or a written synopsis. Both are valuable and worthy of our time. Thanks.
A. What is unique about my hero:
She’s a teenager, driven to work hard at ballet like the late mother. She’s poor, both socially, academically and financially, but knows what she wants: to be a ballerina, and gain the boy she loves.
What is unique about my antagonist?
She’s rich, beautiful; helps teach ballet, succeeds in anything she undertakes– including hating my hero.
B. Major hook of opening scene:
In the middle of the doughnut kingdom, where money rules and doughnuts are the tranquilizer for the world’s problems–everyone comes and goes, midst an insignificant cake decorator, waitress and cashier, who day dreams of being a ballerina: One robed in a beautiful tutu with her adoring, white knight who takes her to ends of the earth to gaze upon her beauty and watch her perform. (This is an exaggeration, but then, most of life is.)
The story begs the question: Does the tutu makes the ballerina, or does the ballerina makes the tutu? (which is the theme of the script.)
C. Any turning points:
Her father gives her money to take biology courses in high school. She takes the money and buys a tutu at a hock shop, closing the door on nursing behind her father’s back.
D. Emotional Dilemma:
Guilt over spending her father’s biology money on a second-hand tutu at a second- hand store, that carries second- hand odors of the past owner.
Wanting to kill her brother who puts her tutu on the dog and turns him loose in the back yard. He will tell her father about the tutu if she beats him.
Dealing with the protag. who makes her life a living hell. How to deal with her, while wanting to remain charming around the boy, (who is her steady) they both love.
Lying to her father about ballet lessons, saying she’s at her friend’s house studying Algebra, (a course she is flunking, BTW) every Wednesday night when she’s at ballet class. If she tells him, he won’t let her go.
Trying to get fit for the tutu to fit, while dealing with her doughnut addiction. Practicing ballet even at dawn’s early light, instead of studying algebra to get into nursing
Worrying about going to the first ballet competition in a snug, smelly, tutu, without family support.
At the competition, seeing her best friend cozy up to the boy she loves after he breaks up with her antag. She freezes and starts on the wrong note, in more ways than one. Is it possible for her to ever trust her BFF again?
She loses the competition after her tutu ruptures. She beats up her protag, in dressing room, after protag openly eggs it on. She decks her teacher accidentally.
She goes to jail. Her father finds out what’s going on. She worries she has disappointed him. But she just cannot tote bedpans for eternity. She just can’t!
Her little brother looks at her with new respect in his eyes, as he’s a Billy the Kid fan, in his cowboy hat and scruffy boots. His hero, Billy’s, been to jail and now his sister has. She worries no one will respect her because of her record.
Worrying about her father never respecting her again, never being proud of her,on count of being jailed and also, once he sees the Biology courses are not listed on her report card, which shows she’s a reprobate.
Loses second competition to antag. Worries she’s doomed for nursing.
E. Major twists:
Buying a tutu with her father’s Biology course money. Finding a Ballet teacher.
Meeting the owner of the hock shop, who she later realizes he used to know and tutor her mother in Algebra. They become friends and strike a deal.
The protag and her best bud lose each other over a guy. They both suffer.
Covid shows up. Classes close down. She only gets a month of training. Her friend and her make-up.
Friend goes with her to competition to discover the boy they both love has been sneaking around with the antag. More conflict.
She goes to apologize to her teacher for belting her in the locker room by mistake. The teacher tells her about a competition for just five competitors. Protag. gets a scholarship, goes to the competition, and discovers the boy they both love has been dating the antag.
Protag loses to antag. Protag leaves downcrested, her friend by her side.
F. Reversals:
The competitions themselves reverse themselves into failure.
The boy they both love reverses his affections to whoever suits him.
The antag. reverses her evil intents, in every aspect of her life. She’s stuck in adolescence with few friends, no mother, a bratty brother, an unyielding father, no money, no tutu or slippers, little training and a barracuda antag.
F. Character betrayals:
Her brother almost destroys her tutu after putting it on the dog. Coup st
The betrayal of her best friend getting cozy with the guy the protag. has laid claims to.
Betrayal of the boyfriend to her best friend.
Betrayal of her father signing her up for Biology classes for nursing, when he knows she hates it.
G. Any big surprises?
The used tutu has a tag inside of it with her mother’s name on it. She’s wearing her mother’s tutu…
All through the script, the protag. recalls her mom. How she taught her ballet. How she was the best at it. At the final competition, her mom’s perfume wafts the stage. Her mom’s voice guides her through her performance. Never has she performed so well. Yet, she still loses to the antag. She leaves the performance defeated. Her father yields the death blow on the way home, telling her about classes high schoolers can take now for college credit in nursing courses. She needs to check it out…
The next day, her ballet instructor calls her to give her the number of a talent scout for the Boston School of Ballet. One trying to get hold of her. He offers her a full four- year scholarship after high school. Her ability on stage was unbelievable, he said, since she only had a month of training.
She goes to see her math tutor, worried about destroying her father’s dream. She goes home and faces her father. As a customer passes the shop window, he notices the owner giving his daughter a hug.
END.
.
-
Leland’s 10 Most Interesting Things
Item 1: Hooks
Unique Hero: She’s a woman in a police force that thinks women belong in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant. She must do twice as much to get half the recognition. She’s also tall, at 6 feet, beautiful, athletic, and exceptionally smart. With a black degree in Tai Kwan Do she has a knack for beating up the guys, including big cowboys and huge football players. They don’t like that. Jane gets the job done in spite of the roadblocks.
Major Hook in Opening: The villain, a skinny, pock-marked kid with tattoos kills our hero’s partner with a bow, placing an arrow through the sergeant’s neck. This sets the tone for the movie. Our hero is locked out of the investigation and goes to her geek friend for help.
One major turning point is when the villain captures the hero for illicit purposes. While still drugged she fights her way free, struggles with the villain, and escapes. This takes the action in a different direction.
A second turning point is when our hero is assigned a new partner, a zealot who attacks her with a vengeance because she does not fit his beliefs of what women are and should be.
Emotional Dilemma: Our hero has a past experience that impacts everything she does. That past is revealed when she is drugged, which gives the villain something to hold over her. It adds a new problem to her already existing struggles at work.
A major twist is when our hero discovers something sinister about the police chief, which she does not use against him. Another twist is when she discovers who the serial killer, someone she went to school with, but keeps that knowledge to herself.
One betrayal is when the Chief of Police assigns our hero a new partner with the intent of running her off.
One big surprise is when our villain captures our hero. She’s drugged and out of it. A second surprise is how she gets out of it.
Item 2: Things that would interest a producer:
These would include the character herself and her struggles to make it against the odds. The villain has a way of killing cops without being seen. They don’t know who he is, but he knows who our hero is and sets out to get her. Then there are the mercenaries, men sent to kill our hero’s geek friend and who our hero saves. Good thing she’s strong and athletic.
-
Emmanuel Sullivan’s 10 Most Interesting Things
What I learned doing this assignment is one way to start a pitch to a producer, manager or agent is with one of the most interesting moments in the script.
-
Subject Line: Barry’s 10 Most Interesting Things about A Taste of Cold Steel.
What I learned during this assignment is to consciously integrate and layer into the screenplay the major “hooks” that can serve as an internal structure-or guide-that enhance the marketability of my screenplay.
Ten Most Interesting Things:
1) What is unique about the villain?
a)The villain, or antagonist, is the protagonist’s father and manipulates the protagonist’s brother to kill the protagonist.
b)The hero, or protagonist, is an unemployed addict who drifts aimlessly in life. However, he finally musters the strength to find his brother and during his journey transforms himself into a ruthless psychopath committed to challenging his father.
2) The hook of the opening scene is the obvious dislike and animosity the protagonist’s mother has toward the protagonist’s brother. She takes a photo of them, then separates them and triggers the protagonist’s 15 year downward spiral that begins the hero’s journey.
3) One major turning point is when the protagonist is framed for murder and imprisoned where his father attempts to have him killed.
Another turning point is the confrontation in a parking lot between the protagonist, antagonist, the protagonist’s mother and brother. The protagonist learns that his “mother” is, in fact, his aunt and that his father raped his mother.
4) An emotional dilemma is when the protagonist, desperate for money to hire an investigator to find his brother, decides to steal from his former employer. Unaware that he’s being tailed, he commits the theft, but is caught and then framed for his former employer’s death. This places him where his father wants him to be: in prison where he can be killed.
Another emotional dilemma for the protagonist is when he is pressured into testifying before a grand jury against his brother. He does this as he feels this is the only way to find his brother, so he forces him into the open courtroom or risk never finding him.
5) A major twist occurs when the protagonist and brother meet face to face after 15 years. The protagonist knows his brother, but his brother doesn’t know him and threatens the protagonist.
The brother pauses when the protagonist speaks because the protagonist has a unique speech defect that the brother recalls. And then the protagonist hands his brother a wrinkled and weathered photo that he has carried with him for many years. A photo of the two brothers when the protagonist was 5 years old, and they are hugging for the picture their “mother” took at the opening of the screenplay before she separates them from each other.
6) A reversal occurs when the protagonist and his brother join forces to undermine the prosecutor’s effort to prosecute the brother.
7) There are many character betrayals, from the protagonist’s mother being, in fact, his aunt; an attractive financial investor misleading and deceiving a corrupt cop; the corrupt cop’s partner deceiving him; and the prosecutor’s loyalties and conflicts being exposed.
8) A big surprise is that the protagonist becomes more violent than his brother and after his father’s death, the protagonist assumes the reins of power his father held.
-
Stephen Maynard – 10 Most Interesting contents of PANDORA’S OTHER BOX.
What I learned doing this assignment. Don’t hold back. Never devaluate or underestimate the value of the writer’s contribution to making a movie.
They can make a bad movie from a bad screenplay. They can make a bad movie from a good screenplay. But they can’t make a good movie from a bad screenplay. TI TAKES A GOOD SCREENPLAY TO MAKE A GOOD MOVIE.
1. Most unique about your villain and hero? My villain and hero are childhood best friends until lust, jealousy, and greed cause one to betray his best Buddy. They are the same age but one is a loser and a scoundrel who can’t collect enough credits to graduate while the other has graduated, done his military service, and returned to his hometown to find his sleazy Buddy still trying to cheat his way to a diploma.
2. My opening scene introduces the Hero and the Heroine and shows them to be dedicated environmentalists.
3.Any turning points? When the villain is rejected by the campus beauty he launches a mission for revenge that starts with murdering his professors to steal genetically engineered WORMS that hold extraordinary powers to change old women into young submissive beauties.
4. The villain takes another big turn at the end of his transformational journey when after defining the INHUMAN SELFISH SCOUNDREL, he begins to weigh the pain and suffering he has inflicted on others. He confesses to his old friends that he has sinned, that he is beyond redemption, and takes his life.
Emotional dilemma? The Hero is torn between friendship and loyalty to the one that saved his life when they were children playing in a rip current zone and the person his friend has become. Ultimately he must decide if he will act against the Villian or look the other way just one more time.
5. Major twists? Villain employs the genetically engineered worms to turn old women into young beauties who must eat their husbands’ brains and surrender their wealth. Now rich and powerful and the possessor of compliant young women who will do his bidding, our villain’s wildest dreams are realized.
6. Reversals? Villian’s fortunes go from a poor guy with no prospects to a filthy rich guy with all the beautiful young “girlfriends” he desires.
7. Character betrayals? Villain betrays his best and only friend because he covets his friend’s girl and is envious of his friend’s accomplishments.
8. Or any big surprises? Our remorseful villain sees the folly and inhumanity of his cruelty and punishes himself – with death.
The “movie’s” locations are in and around a small coastal California college town so there will be lots of teenaged girls and no need for DISTANT LOCATION pay for cast and crew.
9. This would be a low-budget movie as the SFX/VFX is not CGI heavy so most of the props can be made practical.
10. The screenplay contains several horrifying scenes that can be used as trailers to promote the movie.
BONUS: 11. The visionary producer will appreciate that the CHARACTERS, the UNIQUE evolving variants of a transgenic MONSTERS, and the HORROR SEQUENCES are crafted not only to entertain but also to fuel sequels and, dare we say, a HORROR FRANCHISE with potential for MERCHANDISE licensing and a VIDEO GAME.
Are you salivating yet, Mr. Producer? We have the nucleus of a great project and we’re looking for visionary partners.
-
This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by Stephen Maynard.
-
This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by Stephen Maynard.
-
This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by
-
Jeff Bryce’s 10 Most Interesting Things about THE BEST PAINKILLER
What I learned is to keep these things top of mind. Be able to say them in a few words or sentence. And be ready to expand if asked.
Hooks:
· Unique Villain. Boat service and broker. Seems charming, funny, relatable, but then he smuggles, steals and is a chronic liar.
· Unique Hero. Anesthesiologist = painkiller. An expert in his world, naïve to outside world. Young grandfather & his wife are forced to care for daughter’s baby due to her drug abuse.
· Opening Scene. Introduces dirty mysterious city, the hero in three different hospital situations – a funny moment, a life & death crisis, and the inciting incident of his grandson’s cancer.
· Turning Points. The villain hatches his plan to obtain a no-liens letter to screw the hero. He’s killed. Others are injured, OD, or are killed.
· Emotional Dilemma. Jacob’s cancer: don’t pay for treatment and he’ll die. Sherry’s drug problem: fix it or she’ll die. Jack finances: steal/win money or you’ll be ruined. Steve learning he’ll never get his money from Jack: Jack doesn’t deserve to live, so I better do it and not get caught. Debra is knifed and they may lose custody of their grandson. Tom wants Jacob to know who he is/was: he’ll kill to make it happen.
· Major Twists. Smuggle goes south. Jack is lousy with money. Steve kills twice. Sherry dies. Debra is knifed. Tom kills twice.
· Reversals. Debra lives. Tom gives Steve money for Jacob.
· Character Betrayals. Jack betrays/lies to everyone. Sherry doesn’t commit to rehab.
· Big Surprises. Jacob’s cancer. Debra knifed. Sherry dies. Steve kills. Tom kills. Tom gives $.
Other things:
· City is its own oozing character. Contrast with the aseptic internal world of the hospital and hero’s house.
· Symbolism: cigarettes, drugs, hawk feathers, clear water (Clearwater, the original title), etc.
· Parallels: Hero Steve and sub-hero Tom both kill twice. Connecting bonds: lose Sherry, save Jacob.
· Diverse cast and parts, including simple voice over, cameo, one scene, minor oddball characters.
· Reminds some readers of the movie Fargo and the writings of Elmore Leonard.
· Unique Canadian location.
· Opportunities to use unique music.
10 Most Interesting:
1. Opening scene: Contrast of external city (villain’s word: dirty harbor & streets, criminals) vs internal (hero’s world: clean hospital and house). Problems draw the two worlds together.
2. Thriller is dotted with humor for momentary relief.
3. Variety of attractive roles from main to voice over & cameo.
4. Hero relies on villain who betrays him even though he knows it will kill a baby.
5. The main villain doesn’t kill, but the main hero and minor hero each kill twice, and we still root for them.
6. Each character has a unique voice and dialogue.
7. The story feels real and true; some parts are reality based.
8. Emotional dilemmas: childhood cancer, children’s aid society, hospital life/death situations, drug addiction, money troubles.
9. The authorities (cops, legal system, regulators, government, etc.) don’t help the hero.
10. Intrigue, mystery and cloud of suspicion hangs over the hero at the end.
-
Guil, 10 Most Interesting Things.
1. Go through your project and see which of these specific hooks you have:
A. What is most unique about your villain and hero? The hero, or perhaps, the anti-hero, is a dysfunctional screenwriter who, in a crazed state, kidnaps a producer. His action sets off a series of complications with a point of no return. The villain is the producer who rejects the screenwriter, but he is also the one who helps the screenwriter get rid of the bodies… not out of the kindness of his heart, but because he may be implicated…
B. Major hook of your opening scene? A screenwriter and his partner/director are in financial ruin because of their indie feature film. What the screenwriter does next makes it all much worse: kidnapping a producer. Such action sets the director and screenwriter against each other. Should they let the producer go? What if he calls the cops???
C. Any turning points? In a fit of rage, the screenwriter kills the director; and the accidental death of a porn actor (the producer’s friend who was at the wrong place at the wrong time) may implicate both the screenwriter and the producer.
D. Emotional dilemma? The unstable screenwriter’s actions lead him to kidnapping, betrayal and murder. Bad choices lead him deeper into regret and guilt, and on a journey to find a way out.
E. Major twists? The screenwriter and producer are tied together now because of the deaths of two people. They both need to work together to evade the detective. It’s a self-serving engagement for the sake of survival.
F. Reversals? As the detective close in on them, the screenwriter and producer turn on each other. The question remains: who will win?
G. Character betrayals? The screenwriter and the director betray each other, leading to the director’s death. The screenwriter and the producer turn on each other. Sloppy mistakes in the disposal of the bodies bring the detective closer to the truth.
H. Or any big surprises? The producer secretly accumulates evidence against the screenwriter, just in case… and when the detective returns with damning evidence against the producer, the blame game starts, and the question is: who will go to jail?
2. Make a list of any other things in your script that could interest a producer.
All of the most interesting things are mentioned above.
3. Organize both and select the 10 most interesting things. Post those to the forums.
N/A.
4. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and post it at the top of your work.
Breaking down the most interesting things allows us to focus what has the most potential to attract a producer and/or a manager. It compartmentalizes what is the most marketable about the script.
-
What I learned from this assignment is that having these 10 points to focus on helps me to get to the essence of your film and show what will bring in an audience.
A. Unique Hero – A gimpy grocery clerk / NHL practice goalie tries to save his daughter and his team’s season.
B. Major Hook: An underdog NHL goalie prospect leads his team to an improbable championship.
C. Turning Points: A tragic car crash destroys his family, dreams and body / after a fight and arrest, he vows to change for good.
D. Emotional Dilemma: Would Gracie & Jennifer be better off without Danny?
E. Reveal: Danny was not drunk at the accident/ Jennifer are was raped by her wealthy father, behind those safe walls
F. Reversal: Danny stops drinking after the brawl / Jenny overcomes his fear of water to save Grace / Abigail is won over by Danny’s actions towards Grace
G. Character Betrayals: Abagail sicks the sheriff on Danny /Jago (boss) dogs Danny for no reason / Jago steals Danny’s recycling idea and gets promoted
H. Surprise: Danny called to play for the Kings / After Danny saves the game for the Kings, he has the backup goalie take the final penalty shot, telling him how to stop the shot
-
Lonnie’s 10 Most Interesting Things
This was an excellent exercise, what I learned was to go deep into the story and extract out the key hooks. I learned what they were and how to clarify them as selling points.
A. What is most unique about your villain and hero? The hero is a scared 6-year-old boy who has serious breathing issues, which get resolved and he shows courage and becomes a hero against a group of villains. The villain is a reptoid, leading an underground, shape-shifting cult with intentions of taking over Washington D.C.
B. Major hook of your opening scene? Ben, the 9-year-old, see two pilots of a jetliner get murdered from the window of the boarding area. His parents believe he is telling a tall tale, but when they arrive at their destination, he is kidnapped by the replacement pilots and the hostess who served him.
C. Any turning points? Turning point, when he is kidnapped. Turning point, when a Senator takes an elevator to the first floor of the Capitol building, and finds it sailing hundreds of feet down to and underground bunker. Turning point, when Ben’s parents suddenly messages from the underground cult on their TV about Ben. Turning point, when the main villlian, a female reptoid, willingly allows Ben to escape, and thereby allowing all the hostages to escape.
D. Emotional dilemma? Either/or: The female reptoid leader, Aurora, develops affection for Ben….should she let him go and risk being exposed, or kill him as her partner, Adronis, mandates?
E. Major twists. Give us the Setup / Twist. In a twist, one early morning 4 swat team members sail down the elevator to the cult. With no one responding, they give the go ahead, and the secret service, CIA, and FBI proceed to flood the entire complex. Ben, and all those kidnapped, have magically already escaped. Also, at the end, Adronis escapes on a high speed, underground shuttle to Denver, DIA Pod. One other twist is that, instead of Aurora harming Ben, she actually heals his lungs, and throws away his inhaler.
F. Reversals? Aurora goes against a millenia-long agenda to take over the U.S. Capitol, and let’s Ben and the hostages escape, thereby destroying the plan. She develops a compassion for this little human.
State it powerfully as a “Setup / Reversal.”
G. Character betrayals? Aurora vs Adronis: they have a plan to take over Washington from their underground, high-tech bunker. This plan has been in the works for decades. But at the last minute, Aurora befriends the young human, Ben, and betrays Adronis by letting Ben escape, taking all the human hostages with him..
H. Or any big surprises? The powerful, shape-shifting reptoid,Aurora, once she is captured gives the young Ben all of her powers to heal and more. Ben escapes, reveals the cult, then heals his sister…and family.
-
Assignment 4
Gordon Roback The nine most interesting things about Camerone
What I learned from this assignment is that one needs to entice the buyer with the sizzle as well as the steak.
1. For all the other legionnaires, they live by the notion that “La Legion es ma patrie.”(The legion is my country). Pierre Trudel, the main character, is the one exception. He didn’t want to join the Legion and spends most of the script trying to figure out ways to desert. The s.o.b sergeant, on the other hand, can read Trudel’s soul and is trying to make him a better Legionnaire, even if it kills him.
2. The major hook of the opening scene is that having killed a jealous husband in a bar fight Trudel is given the choice of service in the Foreign Legion or a rendez vous with the guillotine. He opts for service in the Legion. His lawyer tells him he made a big mistake. The guillotine is quicker, faster and has more honour in it. Trudel asks, “How bad can the Legion be?” He is about to find out.
3. There are several turning points.
a) The company, at half strength, (because the other half has died or is dying from “The Black Vomit) is sent as the advance guard for the mother of all gold shipments.
b) After marching all night the 65 men are attacked by 2,200 Mexicans.
c) They manage to fight their way to a stone house near Camerone and take up defences.
d) They hold off the Mexicans, even though they are outnumbered 60 to 1.
e) The relief column does not come, as promised.
f) The Mexicans think they have the gold
g) After repulsing several Mexican attacks, again the Legion refuses to surrender
h) Out of water, food, medicine and running low on ammunition they think they are being relieved, but it is more Mexicans. A lot more.
i) They still refuse to surrender.
j) Out of ammunition, food, water and medicine the six Legionnaires still standing fix bayonetes and attack the Mexican army.
4. The emotional dilemma for Trudel is do you desert your friends when they are in deep trouble or do you embrace what is essentially a fool’s errand and fight with them?
5. What fascinates me is the existential quality of the dilemma. Here are foreigners who have no stake in carving out a French empire out of Mexico. They are not fighting to defend their homes nor their families nor their country because they have no country. They are being paid next to nothing. They can surrender at any time and live. But they refuse. For men who have nothing all they have is their honour and they are all willing to die to defend it, knowing the dogs will eat their bodies. Now contrast this with the Afghan army which was well equipped and well trained to defend their families and their country and they caved in without a fight against the Taliban.
6. The big surprise is that Trudel survives the battle and makes it back to France. Although he is being very careful he ends up getting in another bar fight and he has to kill the coquette’s brother to survive. Again he is found guilty with mitigating circumstances and is given the choice between the guillotine or service in the Foreign Legion. The film ends just before he states his choice. Then it is up to the viewer to decide what he or she would do if in Trudel’s place.
7. Given the box office success of such films as Zulu, Fury and 1917 there is a definite market for this kind of film, especially one with the romantic cache of “The French Foreign Legion”
8. This is based on an actual event which occurred on April 30<sup>th</sup>, 1863.
9. April 30<sup>th</sup> is a big day for the French Foreign Legion. As one current sergeant said, “Camerone reminds us that the battle happens at the wrong time and in the wrong place and you are vastly outnumbered and you don’t have the right weapons or enough ammunition and the sun is in your eyes and the sand is blowing in your face and no one cares if you live or die, but you fight to the death to last man in The French Foreign Legion, just like they did at Camerone.
-
Cara’s 10 Most Interesting Things
What I learned doing this assignment is that this process is extremely helpful in allowing me to see new angles for a sharper story in my rewrite and better talking points for a pitch.
1.)
A. What is most unique about your villain and hero? An ambitious poet with mediocre work.
B. Major hook of opening scene: Rilke’s mother dresses young Rilke as a girl.
Rilke’s true love is a married, famous seductress.
C. Tuning points: Rilke, and his work, are rejected by the woman he desperately loves.
Rilke befriends a famous sculptor to be mentored by him only to become his lowly secretary.
Rilke gives up his obsessive relationships to nurture his individual needs.
D. Emotional dilemma: Rilke is desperate for identity. Can he find it through love and friendship?
E. Reveal: Rilke finds fame through solitude, not relationships.
F. Reversals: Rilke is only validated through relationships, disappointed by Andreas-Salome and Rodin.
G. Character betrayals: Rilke’s mother dresses him like a girl.
Rilke has found his true love, but she’s a seductress and married.
Rilke marries his rebound love interest, despite Andres-Salomé’s warnings.
Rilke’s new wife connects him with Rodin, and he leaves her for a life in Paris.
Rilke is Rodin’s loyal confidant, but Rodin fires him after a minor miscommunication.
Rilke continues to artistically adore Rodin, Rodin behaves like a “sellout.”
Rodin nurtures the artistic genius of his young lover and abandons her when she succeeds.
Andreas-Salomé continues her affair with Rilke but never leaves her husband.
Rodin marries his lifelong live-in, but only two weeks before his death.
Rilke remains married to his wife his whole life, despite not seeing her for decades.
H. Surprise: Rilke searches his entire life for his poetic voice, finds it once he stops searching.
Rilke dies one of the most famous poets in the world, doesn’t care.
2.)
Rodin allowed his true love and artistic equal to be unfairly locked in a mental institute until her death.
The married Andreas-Salomé supposedly seduced almost all the men with whom she time – including Freud and Nietzsche.
Rodin and Rilke both lived at a famous “hotel” and shared space with Matisse, Camille Claudel, Rousseau, Isadora Duncan.
The “hotel” was pivotal in the modern movement of art and all the powerful artists at the “hotel” were invulnerably weak.
3.)
1. An ambitious poet with mediocre work.
2. Rilke’s mother dresses young Rilke as a girl, mourning his lost sister.
3. Rilke’s true love is a married, famous seductress.
4. Rilke is desperate for identity, can he find artistic recognition through his personal relationships?
5. Rilke befriends a famous sculptor only to become his lowly secretary.
6. Rodin nurtures the artistic genius of his young lover and abandons her when she succeeds.
7. Rilke is Rodin’s loyal confidant, but Rodin fires him after a minor miscommunication.
8. Rodin allows his true love and artistic equal to be unfairly locked in a mental institute until her death.
9. Rilke searches his entire life for his poetic voice, finds it once he stops searching.
10. Rilke dies one of the most famous poets the world has known, he doesn’t care.
-
Hi, Cara – You wrote list of super-intriguing ingredients in your script. Many people will want to see movie based on script with these exciting ingredients!!
-
Thank you, Mike.
-
-
-
Phyllis MacBryde – 10 Most Interesting Things
Thanks to this assignment, I learned how to analyze and pinpoint what I believe to be the marketable elements of my screenplay.
1. Specific hooks
Opening scene: The eyes of a female African Diviner stare into the future and morph into the anxious eyes of the white female American protagonist.
Emotional dilemma: A white playwright desperately seeks financing from a black producer who does not like her. From their first emotional meeting, they are in conflict.
Unique about hero and villain: Both are mature, driven women. Nothing can deter them from achieving their desire. Both are blind to how they are wrong and shattered when they come to realize it. Their opposing points-of-view are relatable. It is easy to side with either one of them.
Turning point: When the playwright does not receive funding, she has an epiphany. She’s ready. She’ll do it on her own. Risking all, she ventures to Africa to workshop her musical.
Reversals: Unaware of this development and against her better judgement, the producer funds the playwright’s project.
Character betrayals: The playwright betrays the indigenous people she has vowed to represent.
Big surprises: The playwright and the producer (both in Africa) encounter an unexpected obstacle that renders them helpless –– the Ancestor Spirits wield more power than they do. The fate of their co-venture lies in the Ancestor’s invisible hands.
2. Other Things of Interest
• Complex, emotional story. Classical three-act structure.
• Part character drama, part multi-cultural awakening, part ‘let’s-put-on-a-show’ excitement.
• Layered, substantive lead roles.
• Provocative themes that occur naturally within the context of the story.
• Nuanced supporting roles, each with a distinct voice and personality.
• Unique African talent. Unique musical instruments, songs, dance, rhythms.
• Broadway talent.
• Settings in an African world that hasn’t been seen before.
• Uplifting ending.
-
This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by Phyllis MacBryde.
-
This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by Phyllis MacBryde.
-
This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by Phyllis MacBryde.
-
This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by
-
Mark Abel’s 10 Most Interesting Things
What I learned from doing this assignment is…
Highlighting the most interesting script elements will lead to a more engaging and attractive pitch
What is most unique about your villain and hero? The hero is deliberately mislead about the villain’s identity, concealing him until the end
Major hook of your opening scene? The world’s greatest escape artist’s reckless behaviour leads to the death of his entire audience in a theater fire from which he’s ironically kept safe
Any turning points? -He reaches the brink of death in the desert but discovers the oasis. -He finds the woman who saved him, but she leads him back into danger. -He destroys the gold mine, but it only makes things worse
Emotional dilemma? Should he escape at the next opportunity? Or save the woman who saved him?
Major twists? The Mentor “helping” Felix was the Villain all along
Reversals? The beautiful oasis rehabilitating Felix is a front for a crude and brutal mining operation run by slaves under the sultan’s control
Character betrayals? The guards Felix recruits betray him to the real sultan
Diverse, inclusive cast of well-defined and uniquely voiced characters
Magic featured from start to finish with the hero generating illusions on both sides of the screen
Elegant Theme: Our guilt is relieved when we stop blaming others
-
Stephen Dexter’s 10 Most Interesting Things
A. Hero – Wes: Former well-known TV spokesperson for cat litter is desperate to jumpstart his stalled career
Antagonist – Laredo: The old dog Wes rescues, sabotages every attempt Wes makes to find him a good home.
B. Opening scene hook – Laredo, an old, scraggly mutt, gets dumped in the middle of the desert by his despicable owner.
C. Turning points – Laredo gives Wes proof of his girlfriend’s infidelity and in turn, Wes make Laredo a promise – to find him a good home and not send him to a shelter.
Laredo’s howling at night brings around Officer Amber Steel, who becomes the love interest.
When word gets out around Hollywood that Wes rescued a dog from certain death in the desert, the powers that be take notice.
Every time a possible candidate comes by to meet Laredo, Laredo sabotages his chance at being adopted.
Wes, who is in Hawaii on a month-long movie shoot learns that his sister, Emily, who said would adopt Laredo didn’t, and now Laredo is in a shelter.
D. Emotional dilemma: Wes finally gets his shot at long-awaited stardom. Time is running out for him to either find Laredo a good home, or take him to a shelter, where he will most likely be put down due to his age
E. Major twists – Laredo jumps into Wes’s convertible and Wes, on his way to his first movie shoot, cannot get rid of him. When Laredo rushes onto the movie set in the middle of a scene thinking Wes is about to be shot, the director thinks Wes is a hero for saving the poor dog. Word gets out about “the cowboy with the heart of gold” and Hollywood takes notice.
During an audition for a minor movie role, Wes is shown the door after only 10 seconds. He blows up at the director. The director now considers him for the lead, and Wes lands the role.
F. Reversals: Wes’s agent tells him to be free of any commitments if he wants to be a star. What will he do with Laredo? Nobody wants to adopt him. If he takes him
to the shelter, an old dog like him has zero chance of being adopted and will eventually be put down.
His best friend, Brock, tells him to keep the dog and try a new career because as an actor he’s washed up.
Give up your dream of being a movie star or have the dog you rescued put down. Conflict is amped up when you add Wes’s determination to be more famous than Brock.
Wes is about to tell Amber he has no time for a relationship when she relays the same message to him.
G. Character betrayal – Wes learns that his girlfriend, Lindsay is sleeping with his best friend, Brock.
Brock, who is always supporting Wes, begins to sabotage Wes’s career, when it begins to take off.
H. Big Surprise – The final scene is a movie premiere. A limo pulls up, Wes gets out and we think he finally made it big as an actor, but the premiere is for Laredo, who has now become a super star.
Other things to interest a producer”
1) Man recuses dog from certain death. Dog rescues man from certain dead-end life.
2) Laredo May be a scraggly, old mutt, but he is one of the smartest dogs ever to ever be in a movie.
3) A clever and uplifting ending
What I learned doing this assignment was:
1) Took a scene that happened on page 5 and made it the opening scene. A much better hook!
2) How to look at a script with the eyes of a producer and the value of doing just that
-
Paul A. Davis- 10 Most interesting things
1.The major hook of the opening scene is : Ms. Louse shows us her special powers by making A man have a seizure by just looking at him, then makes a teenager runs into a truck killing him instantly. Ethan Kills his moms boyfriend. To me it shows the audience they are in for a long thrilling ride.
2. Any Turning Points: The turning point is when Ms.Louse and Ethan does their first killing with each other. Showing the town they will not be bullied no more.
3. Emotional Dilemma: Martha and Ethan is both labeled outcast. So will they be better off teaming up to defend themselves or just deal with people by themselves.
4. Major Twist: When All the kids go over to bring Havoc to Ms. Louse And find out Ethan is on Ms Louse side and Havoc and Danger is coming to them.
5. Reversals: After being wounded Ethan hides out for Five years while everybody thinks he dead. Big surprise:
6.Ms. Louse lives on in spirit. Ethan carries the torch and avenges Ms Louse for ever.
7. The Audience can root for the Villains and Hero’s
8. It’s a Duo of killers
9.The end sets it up for a sequel What is most
10. Unique about your character:
The villain is a shy 14 year old who is over protective of his mom and does he’s first killing at the tender age of The hero is Shy 14 year old girl who is a happy go lucky, sweet girl who when the going gets tough will protect her family by any means necessary.
What I learned today is that you have to put the most entertaining and crucial scenes of your movie in your pitch.
-
John’s 10 most interesting things
What I learned from this assignment is that I actually had to go back and rewrite some of my script to fill these points. Adding and improving those hooks have made my script more marketable. Great assignment, Hal.
10 most interesting things
A. Unique hero: Michael gets anxiety when he is left alone with his infant son.
Unique villain: Charlie, the 31 year old who thinks he’s 21, believes that his ‘married with children,’ buddies still want to party like he does.
B. Major hook of opening scene: Babies/infants have their own language and they understand each other. Some parents have an insight to what their kids need (the mother) while some parents don’t (the father).
We hear Billy explaining how he doesn’t understand how he came into existence from (we cut to his parents having wild sex in the bedroom) … this.
C. Any turning points: Michael mans up when there is an emergency with his son. He takes control and rushes him to the hospital.
D. Emotional dilemma: Michael has never had to take care of his son for an extended period of time before. Sarah has never left her son alone for that long of a time. Billy is going through breastfeeding withdrawal.
E. Major twist: Michael, who hasn’t spoken with his father for some time, comes to help.
F. Reversals: Michael snaps at Charlie for potentially putting Billy in harms way.
G. Character betrayals: When Michael finds out it was his wife who called Michael’s father to help him out.
H. Any big surprises: At the end, Sarah reveals she’s pregnant. Sequel.
Other things that could interest a producer:
It’s a low budget script.
The comedic elements:
Michael shaves his chest thinking his son might need to suck on his nipple to stop crying.
Charlie invites strippers to Michael’s house and Billy thinks it’s a buffet.
-
Liz’s 10 Most Interesting Things
I learned to pick out the interesting moments and punches in the story to use in a pitch, and the same elements would make a written pitch or a synopsis better.
1. By the end of the opening scene, the audience knows Abigail is not a fragile spirit child, but a ruthless killer.
2. Evan, a medicated anxious boy, and an unlikely hero is the only one who can save his family from Abigail.
3. Evan finds Abigail is not his only opponent when she sends her dead “pets” (animals who have died on Flint Hill) to kill him.
4. Abigail kills Evan’s dog, but his mother thinks he killed Fuzzy to prove Abigail is real, and he needs to be institutionalized again.
5. Realizing he’s the next to die, Evan decides to run away, but his love for his sister makes him stay and fight.
6. Evan’s sister thinks Abigail is a magical friend and she betrays him to please the dead girl.
7. Evan’s mother realizes Abigail is real because she sees the pinch marks on her daughter, a way Abigail controls her.
8. Their mother goes into labor while battling Abigail. Abigail shows herself and one of her human “pets” buried on Flint Hill kills the pregnant woman.
9. Sheriff Ward arrives, ready to remove the unborn child, but Evan steals his squad car and takes his sister and dead mother off Flint Hill.
10. Evan meets up with the ambulance and his mother survives.
-
Title: How to Train Your Tutu
Genre: Comedy
Concept: A frenzied, ballet dancer practices unorthodox methods to fit into her tutu after eating doughnuts for several months during Covid 19.
Theme: Does the ballerina make the tutu; or does the tutu make the ballerina?
LOGLINE: A frenzied, teenage ballerina struggles to emulate her late mother’s ballet career, against her father’s will, and a devious competitor, who is hell bent on winning all the competitions, including the one for the boy they both love, while battling her doughnut addiction during Covid 19.
-
Robert Barite’s 10 Most Interesting Things
A. What is most unique about your villain and hero?
1. Isaiah, the hero, is a decorated Black ex-US Cavalry officer and the leader of a gang that robs stagecoaches until its wiped out by Pinkerton detectives. The villain is a fellow member of the gang who sold the gang out to Pinkerton detectives.
B. Major hook of your opening scene?
2. Although seriously wounded in the shootout with the Pinkertons, Isaiah escapes and vows to find the traitor who sold the gang out to the Pinkertons and stole the gang’s loot.
C. Any turning points?
3. The Thin Man, Isaiah’s “man on the outside” of his now-defunct gang, tracks down Isaiah, believing he is the one who stole the loot.
D. Emotional dilemma?
4. Isaiah is reunited with Kate, his lover and fellow ex-gang member. They must put their mistrust of each other aside and work together to keep the Pinkertons at bay.
E. Major twists?
5. Isaiah is framed for the murders of two homesteaders by Solomon Evanger, a second former gang member who escaped the ambush on the gang.
F. Reversals?
6. Isaiah joins Solomon and the cattle association and helps recruit an army of outlaws to invade Wyoming and wipe out the homesteaders.
G. Character betrayals?
7. Nel, the cattle association’s wife, plots with Solomon to take control of the cattle association.
H. Or any big surprises?
8. Isaiah’s Medal of Honor was issued in return for his silence for the US Cavalry’s role in a My Lai-type massacre of a Native American village.
9. Neither Isaiah nor Nel know they’re half-brother and sister.
10. Nel must hide from Cheyenne’s upper class that she’s an opium addict, former brothel worker, and part-Black.
What I learned is to keep digging – keep asking “And then what?” There are always levels under levels and to create an effective pitch we must investigate the story from all sides.
-
10 most interesting things:
1 The villain is highly intelligent, a technical wizard, who is bent on revenge and and destroying the hero cop a “one piece at at time,” breaking him down mentally and emotionally and physically before he kills him.
2. Turning point: The cop finds his wife has left him with their newborn (inciting incident).
3. Surprise: The killer gets free in the court room and goes on a killing spree before committing suicide.
4. Emotional dilemma: The hero cop is torn between doing his duty and turning in his wife.
5. Major twist: The cop discovers his wife and baby are alive after all.
6. Reversal (midpoint): The cop sees his wife killed.
7: Character Betrayal (Shapeshifter) The hero cop’s partner is revealed to have been working with the revengeful villain and tries to kill the hero cop.
8. Surprise: The hero cop’s ex-partner shows up unexpectedly, gunning for him.
9. The hero cop has 8 hours to find and turn in his wife with their baby or he, too, becomes a felon.
<div>10. The villain uses his mastery of technology and intelligence to make the hero cop face his past.</div><div>
</div><div>
What I learned: The discipline of looking for the 10 most interesting things about my script not only prepares me and guides me on how to present to a producer “my script in a nutshell,” but it is also is a great tool for writing a screenplay
</div><div>
</div><div>
</div>
-
10 most interesting things:
1 The villain is highly intelligent, a technical wizard, who is bent on revenge and and destroying the hero cop a “one piece at at time,” breaking him down mentally and emotionally and physically before he kills him.
2. Turning point: The cop finds his wife has left him with their newborn (inciting incident).
3. Surprise: The killer gets free in the court room and goes on a killing spree before committing suicide.
4. Emotional dilemma: The hero cop is torn between doing his duty and turning in his wife.
5. Major twist: The cop discovers his wife and baby are alive after all.
6. Reversal (midpoint): The cop sees his wife killed.
7: Character Betrayal (Shapeshifter) The hero cop’s partner is revealed to have been working with the revengeful villain and tries to kill the hero cop.
8. Surprise: The hero cop’s ex-partner shows up unexpectedly, gunning for him.
9. The hero cop has 8 hours to find and turn in his wife with their baby or he, too, becomes a felon.
10. The villain uses his mastery of technology and intelligence to make the hero cop face his past.
What I learned: The discipline of looking for the 10 most interesting things about my script not only prepares me and guides me on how to present SUCCINCTLY to a producer “my script in a nutshell,” but it is also is a great tool for writing a screenplay
-
<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Michael Mercer’s 10 Most Interesting Things
What is most unique about your villain and hero?
Hero is appealing, handsome, fun, caring, kind, adoring HS senior & early-college student.
Organize both and select the 10 most interesting things. Post those to the forums.
A. 1 handsome, adoring, fun guy who simultaneously has 6 girls in love with him.
B. Girls “share” boyfriend = 3 BFF girlfriends share one boyfriend.
C. Parents catch their daughter and hero in ‘romantic encounters.’
D. “4 Horsewomen of the Apocalypse” – 3 HS girls and 1 elderly woman – beat up robber.
E. Angry parents
F. Loving, encouraging parents
G. Drunk father makes homosexual advances toward daughter’s boyfriend
H. Sexually abusive father
I. Father of one girl has secret second family in another city, including wife and 2 children.
J. Death threats by father against daughter’s boyfriend.
K. Statutory rape allegations – unfounded but terrifying
L. Unexpected death of a girlfriend on Prom night
M. 6 girls who will love the same guy forever.
4. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and post it at the top of your work.
Subject Line: Michael Mercer’s 10 Most Interesting Things (in the first line of your post)
-
Kristina’s 10 most interesting things
What I learned is that highlighting the interesting components will make sure you give a pitch instead of a book report.
Since this is for a project I’m developing for a director, I’m not sure how he would feel if I outlined the story here before he sees it.
-
Still not seeing my post and testing a post.
-
Steve – 10 most interesting things
A. Unique hero: Lizzy, a young woman heading into the convent, must immerse herself in the world of the Irish mob in order so solve her mother’s disappearnce
Unique Antagonist: Aiofa, a mob wife, who wants to take over the mob
B. When her father is shot, Lizzy discovers that her father is part of the Irish mob and that the mob may have somthing to do with her mother’s disappearnce
C. When Lizzy is desperate to get information about the Irish Mob she compromises her principles steals the mob’s ledger from the leaders office
D. Lizzy must choose between her life-long dream of becoming a nun and saving the Irish mob from Aoifa
E. When Lizzy’s father is shot, she meets Aoifa who helps Lizzy find out what happened to her mother by teaching her about how the Irish mob works. Aoifa is actually using Lizzy as a spy to get information she can eliminate the leadership and take over the mob for herself.
F. The head of the Irish mob, who Lizzy beleives murdered her mother, actually help her mother get out of Hell’s kitchen
G. Character Betrayals – Lizzy discovers that her mom actually abandoned her and that her mother didn’t want to take Lizzy with her in her new life.
H. Aoifa kills Lizzy father in order to take control of the mob
Other things
– Lizzy is trying to escape the life she was born into
– Lizzy evolves from nun to mobster
– The climatic chase scene occurs on the streets of Hell’s Kitchen on the night of the 1977 New York City blackout
– Sister Anne, Lizzy’s spiritual advisory, is dialed into neighborhood and everything that is happening in it
-
Torino Von Jones Day 4 Assignment
10 Most Interesting things about MOVE
Jewelz, my protaganist is a diverse lead actor who’s afraid to love. Jeffrey Cortes, my antagonist is a master manipulator, cunning, greedy and willing to color outside the lines to achieve the desired result.
The major hook of my opening scene is the realization that Jewelz, my protaganist, is looking forward to the showcase audition, but Will, his brother, has anxiety issues and hasn’t put in the time to get a routine. Subsequently, Jewelz is selected to be a part of the Global All-stars and Will is not.
Turning points: When Will isn’t selected and Jewelz teases him, Will reacts with a parkour freerun that gets the attention of the choreographer and he is ultimately selected — much to Jewelz’s chagrin. During the pre-lims, Will freezes and Jewelz rescues the moment with a scintallating dance that pushes the team into the finals. When Jeffrey is able to scare off two of the dancers, Stephanie, their choreographer, changes the routine to feature Will’s parkour skills and takes away Jewelz’s solos. Jewelz quits the team, succumbing to his selfish desires to be the singular important dancer and the rest of the team realize they cannot win without Jewelz.
The emotional dilemma: Jewelz either realizes the definition of family is more than blood or risks a life without love from Will’s family and Fria.
Major twists: After Will is not selected during the audition, Stephanie sees him performing in a nightclub and invites him to join the dance team. Jewelz is completely focused on winning the showcase; thinks Fria is only a pretty girl with nothing interesting on the inside, but learns that Fria is the girl he’s got to have and realizes love matters more than his dancing dreams.
Reversals: Will wants to get close to Fria and Jewelz helps him devise a strategy, but when Will has to cancel a date with Fria, Jewelz takes his place and Jewelz and Fria realize they have a connection and they began a secret romance.
Character betrayal: When Will finds out about Jewelz and Fria’s romance, he decides that Jewelz will never be the brother he thought he would be. Fria overhears Will and Jewelz fighting, decides Jewelz is not who she thought and breaks up with hiim.
Big surprises: Stephanie finds out Jeffrey, her former assistant, has sabotaged her team, planted a dancer on her team with the intention of making a mistake during the finals performance.
Other interesting points: Most dance films perform better internationally, so the diverse lead actors (African-American, Asian-American, and Southeast Asian) will appeal to an international box office AND a domestic box office.
What I learned from this assignment: How to find the most interesting things about my screenplay and how to utilize them to make it appealing for a producer to request my screenplay.
-
Philip’s 10 most interesting things
I learned a deeper analysis of my script can lead to the identification of valuable marketing material.
A. What is most unique about your villain and hero?
· Ben is a frustrated nerd so obsessed with bugs that he can’t break-away from Owen, his life-long buddy in control of Ben’s destiny
· Owen is a loud, impulsive taxidermist who relishes Ben being his follower and surreptitiously controlling his life. Although on the surface he appears to be a co-protagonist he is actually the chief villain
B. Major hook of your opening scene?
The hero and two villains fight in a college class revealing that they are in a love-hate triangle
C. Any turning points?
· Owen finds a fake web page about a Drop Bear on the internet and believes it’s real
Ben and Owen quit their jobs in search of a
Drop Bear
They learn that the Drop Bear is a hoax
Owen believes the Drop Bear is a real mutant
koala and they resume their search
Regina travels to Australia to beat the boys
to capturing a Drop Bear
They are captured by the miners
The Drop Bears are destroyed in a bush fire
Ben and Owen decide to back to working with
Regina
Ben splits with Owen to find his own way in
lifeD. Emotional dilemma?
Ben must decide whether to remain Owen’s life-long
follower or break free to find his own path in life.E. Major twists?
Ben splits from Owen then saves him from the
miners and Drop BearsF. Reversals?
Ben takes time to lecture Owen and control
his fate before freeing him from the minersG. Character betrayals?
Owen invents a fictious moth that lives on
the Drop Bear to entice Ben to join him in the quest for a Drop Bear
Owen tells Ben that Ingrid is attracted to
him to entice him to resume their search for the Drop BearH. Or any big surprises?
Drop Bears go from hoax animal to real mutant
koalas2. Make a list of any other things in your script that could interest a producer.
The Drop Bear is a real myth. A Snipe Hunt type of gag played by Aussies on foreign tourists featuring hoax creatures which are evil but still cute 120 lb Koala Bears with fangs that attack people speaking in foreign accents by dropping onto them from trees.
This is a buddy comedy based around a coming of age story where two 35 year old men finally realize they have an unhealthy dependence on each and need to break free to find their own paths in life.
3. Organize both and select the 10 most interesting things. Post those to the forums.
1. The Drop Bear is a real myth. A Snipe Hunt gag played by Aussies on foreign tourists featuring hoax creatures which are evil but still cute 120 lb Koala Bears with fangs that attack people speaking in foreign accents by dropping onto them from trees.
2. This is a buddy comedy based around a coming of age story about two 35 year old men – Ben and Owen – they’re man-children
3. Characters;
Hero – Ben is a frustrated nerd so obsessed with bugs that he can’t break-away from Owen, his life-long buddy in control of Ben’s destiny
Hero or chief villain? – Owen is a loud, impulsive taxidermist who relishes Ben being his follower and surreptitiously controlling his life. Although on the surface he appears to be a co-protagonist he is actually the chief villain.
Villain – Regina – a museum director and Ben’s ex-fiancé relishing total control over Ben and Owen; her man-child underlings
4. Theme/central dilemma – Ben must decide whether to remain Owen’s life-long follower/groupie or break free to find his own path in life.
5. Opening Scene: Ben, Owen, and Regina fight in a college class revealing that they are in a love-hate triangle
7. Owen invents a fictious moth that lives on the Drop Bear to entice Ben to join him
When Ben and Owen get to Sydney they learn that the Drop Bear is a
hoax9. Drop Bears are revealed to be real koalas that have mutated due to a toxic uranium spill
Owen tells Ben that Ingrid is attracted to him to entice him to
resume their search for the Drop Bear -
Audrey’s 10 Most Interesting Things
What I’ve learned doing this assignment is how hard it is to let the ‘babies’ go. I could use lessons on how to trim to the most interesting essence and yet make it pop.
A. What is most unique about
your villain and hero?A laughter therapist is in dire
need to laugh herself, after several major losses.
The villains are biased and
suspicious persons who attack her skills of therapy, especially since she
has lost her joyousness.B. Major hook of your opening
scene?TITLE: Laughter in the Mourning
Unique combination of grief and
humor, with bursts of deep sadness
at a joyous workshop, when hero is presenting at a Laughter Therapy
Workshop.C. Any turning points?
Ghost of husband offers
insights. From her own grief experience, she learns ways to break the
taboos and secrets in our culture’s expectations regarding mourning to be
authentic..D. Emotional dilemma?
Timely – we all experiences
losses. Can laugher help or hurt for healing. And what kind of pain does
it ease.Is optimism toxic or healing?
Can hero put her skills where her pain is, or go for outside help from
grief therapists?E. Major twists?
It’s a first. Maybe a new take.
Why we laugh in grief. Dialogue sprinkles with irony, wit, sarcasm, and
genuine laughter.F. Reversals?
We can laugh ‘til we cry, and
cry until we laugh, mixed. All cathartic and all have down sides. Her
research and grief group both helps and educates for self and others.G. Character betrayals?
Dubbed ‘the laughing widow,’
she is both criticized and teased. Clients waver, and family and friends
have their own ideas on what and how she is, or should be doing.H. Or any big surprises?
Vulnerability and insecurity of
dilemmas uncover her resilience.All ages and circumstances want to hasten
healing.A great role for a bankable actor. Shows the gambit of traditional standards and expectations and taboos regarding grief. And then orchestrating more positive responses and options/opportunities for both grievers and supporters.
Comps: I’ll See You In My Dreams. Truly, Madly, Deeply
Log in to reply.