Day 4 Assignments

[Lois Wickstrom]

Lois’ Character Story Lines

What I learned doing this assignment is…I have no idea how this is going to help me come up with new plot ideas for these characters.

Meff

Beginning: He’s late to his 11th birthday party because Coach punished him

Turning Point: He gets sprayed by a skunk and becomes a skunk

Midpoint: He tries to go to a Skunk Party

Turning Point 2: An owl tries to kill him. He sprays the owl.

Major Conflict: He runs to the hen house where his sister, who loves skunks, pets him.

Dilemma: As a skunk, he loves being petted. As a boy, he hates it. Also, he’s terrified of that owl. He has no choice – he is a were-skunk. He will become a skunk whenever he gets sprayed. He decides to avoid being sprayed and work indoors.

Ending: He gets sprayed with the skunk-spray for hunters. He’s a skunk and a customer (employee of villain) wants to buy him.

Howland

Beginning: He gets some of the asteroid on the Skunk Farm and uses it to make a drug that will turn him into an owl.

Turning Point: He becomes an owl and swoops down on Meff.

Midpoint: Meff sprays him

Turning Point 2: He flies off crazily, stunned by the spray

Major Conflict: The asteroid is on the skunk farm. That’s private property. He needs it to be an owl. As an owl he wants to eat skunks. He doesn’t want to be sprayed.

Ending: His employee may buy a skunk from the Skunk Farm for a pet.

Kamali

Beginning: She steals a piece of asteroid from the Skunk Farm and gives it to Howland

Turning Point: She sees Howland become an owl, using the asteroid to make the drug.

Midpoint: She sees Howland attack a skunk (as an owl.) She loves skunks.

Turning Point 2: She goes to the Skunk Farm shop to buy a pet skunk.

Major Conflict: Her job involves doing what Howland wants. But Howland wants to eat skunks.

Ending: She enters the shop just as Meff becomes a skunk. She wants to buy him.

[Lisa Molenda]

Lisa’s Character Story Lines

What I learned doing this assignment is that I am a procrastinator, when there is something confusing and difficult for me. Once I did it, I realized it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be.

Jane = J, Dr. Berkwood= DB, Marc=M

Essence: Jane goes to a pig vigil at a slaughterhouse with other fellow vegans

Turning Point: Jane gets hit by a slaughterhouse truck and lies on the ground, motionless and bleeding.

Act 1:

Essence: (J opening) Jane is a kind and loving person. She feeds the animals outside and takes care of her sick mother, and is in school for her PHD in biomedical research.

M opening- Marc stalks Jane at home and follows her to school. We don’t know who he is.

DB opening: Dr Berkwood is covering for Jane teaching her class since Jane is late.

M&DB TP1- Marc comes in to Jane’s classroom looking for DB. He compels her to allow him to enroll in the program with Jane.

Jane TP1: Jane doesn’t have a caretaker for her mom, so she gets her brother as a last resort to stay with her while she goes to a pig vigil.

Act 2:

M&J midpoint: Jane goes to a slaughterhouse to advocate for animal rights. She gets hit by a slaughterhouse truck in the process.

DB midpoint: Dr Berkwood sees Jane getting hit by the slaughterhouse truck but doesn’t see what happened to Jane after.

M&J Turning Point 2/Midpoint: Marc gives Jan some of his blood to save her life then swoops her away to his home.

DB Major Conflict: Dr Berkwood is worried about Jane and stressed about her work and home life.

Act 3:

M&J TP2: Jane wakes up on Marc’s couch. He tells her who is and what happened. He tries to give her a bag of blood, but she won’t take it because it’s not vegan.

Turning Point: Jane has to choose whether she wants to feed on blood to survive, or die.

Act 4:

Essence: people are lined up in chairs, but from ports in their necks with metal connectors sticking out. Bags, being filled really fast and being mixed in huge tanks

Turning Point: Someone’s port clogs and the staff complains that the’re holding up the line. The person with the port is scared, and is dragged through a steel door. Marc is there.

M ending: Marc is seen at a gruesome place where people, identified only by numbers, are getting blood drawn from large metal ports in their necks.

Marc conflict: Marc wants to help Jane but he also works in a business she would not agree with.

Act 5:

Jane major conflict: Jane goes home to tend to her mother. Her brother is angry and tells her he will never do that again. Jane calls out from school and teaching in the lab.

D B major conflict: She is stressed about work and home life and worried about Jane.

DB ending: Dr. Berkwood gets a disturbing phone call, which causes her even more distress.

J ending: Jane feeds on Ammo when he stops by to check on her.

Dilemma: Did Jane kill Ammo? How will Jane maintain her vegan ethics as a vampire?

[Brenda Clarke]

LESSON 4: Character Story Lines

I see by doing this that my secondary characters’ journey is slightly less the main protagonist but every episode may vary with the amount of information/storyline of the two main characters.

HARRIET WRIGHT

Beginning: A middle class horse trainer is suddenly distraught when the households’ maid suddenly doesn’t return from her day off.

Turning Point: She decides to ride into town to find Rosie
Midpoint: Harriet gets a lead which points her to the local coach house

Turning Point 2: Harriet discovers the girls have gone to Bristol

Major Conflict: Harriet neglects her animals/business and dashes off to Bristol. Her mother cannot understand her daughters sudden change in mood since the maid went missing.

Ending: Revealed that Harriet is in a lesbian relationship with her maid Rosie.

ELLIOT OTTO EDWARDS

Beginning: An aristocratic gentleman is in bed with his handsome young lover, a common sailor.

Turning Point: Early the next morning the “Molly House” is raided. The Sailor helps Elliot escape out the window but is arrested himself.

Midpoint: Elliot lies to his servants saying that he was drunk and fell off his horse, with regards to his injuries.

Turning Point 2: Elliot’s father finds his son has locked himself in his room and won’t come out.

Major Conflict: Elliot struggles emotionally within himself, he begins to drink, afraid and unsure of what to do.

END/Dilemma: Elliot unsure what to do next, does he dare to rescue/find his lover Richard? or close the door on a very lucky escape from the authorities, as he doesn’t want anyone to know, especially his father, about him being a homosexual.

[Griffith Lambert]

SU Bingeworthy

Module 3 Lesson 4

Griff’s Character Story Lines

What I learned doing this assignment: I have been focusing on the wrong Protagonist. If this is a coming-of-age story the Protagonist(s) must be the brothers. It’s difficult to juggle this in an ensemble cast because the parents and the daughter of the neighbor are also equally important characters. I also think I have a least one and maybe two unnecessary characters to flesh out in the pilot. They can come in later since most of the first season will be told in flashback.

Randy’s Story Line Structure:

Opening: Randy is an angry teen who misses his father and challenges his mother. He relentlessly bullies his younger (but bigger!) brother, Todd.

Turning Point 1: Randy can’t get anybody to select him for team sports due to his small size.

Midpoint: Randy acts out, continually getting in trouble at school.

Turning Point 2: Randy and his brother are picked up by police and brought home. The cops are confronted by the neighbor’s daughter, Marcey, who defends the boys.

Dilemma: Sports is Randy’s passion, but he is not taken seriously. He takes out his frustrations on his brother and his mother, Stephanie.

Major Conflict: School authorities have threatened to intervene in the household if Stephanie can’t be effective in getting the boys to school on time. Then Mom disappears.

Ending: Randy is left to face the mystery of his mother’s disappearance and must work together with his brother.

Todd’s Story Line Structure:

Opening: Todd is the younger but bigger brother of Randy. He is a smart and sensitive kid who must endure Randy’s bullying and a home with no father.

Turning Point 1: Todd is approached by a couple of school lettermen about joining the football team. This infuriates Randy.

Midpoint: Neighbor Brad observes Todd being picked on by Randy and offers to show him how to defend himself.

Turning Point 2: Todd becomes tired of the drama at home and mentions it to a school counselor, which he later regrets.

Dilemma: Todd is a good student but plays dumb so as not to antagonize Randy. This backfires.

Major Conflict: Todd and his brother are in danger of being removed to foster care if Stephanie can’t get it together.

Ending: When Stephanie disappears foster care is inevitable, but Todd and his brother feel guilty about pushing things this far, and they decide to work together to find Stephanie.

Marcey’s Story Line Structure:

Opening: Marcey appears to be an irresponsible Party Girl, taking off to the desert for days at a time for what her father, Brad, assumes to be Raves. In fact she is part of a group leaving supplies for immigrants crossing the border into Arizona.

Turning Point 1: Stacey confronts Marcey about her lifestyle.

Midpoint: Marcey becomes concerned that she has a stalker.

Turning Point 2: Marcey has to warn Stephanie to back off and mind her own business.

Dilemma: Marcey’s cover story gives her father terrible angst, but she thinks its better than telling him the truth.

Major Conflict: Marcey’s cover story is about to be blown by Stephanie, who is looking for a sensational story to break her out of her rut.

Ending: Marcey is also missing.

Stephanie’s Story Line Structure:

Opening: Stephanie is a frustrated writer overqualified to write a parental advice column.

Turning Point 1: Stephanie becomes overwhelmed with deadlines and the responsibilities of raising her two challenging teen boys.

Midpoint: Stephanie is increasingly interested in what Marcey across the street is up to.

Turning Point 2: Stephanie is confronted by her boys about the scant time she has for them.

Dilemma: Stephanie needs to pay more attention to her boys but the opportunity to get a major story is a distraction.

Major Conflict: School authorities threaten to remove the boys to foster care.

Ending: Stephanie goes missing. Did she run away from her stressful situation, or is there foul play involved?

Brad’s Story Line Structure:

Opening: Brad is the nerdy music teacher across the street and Marcey’s father. His secret is that he gave up being a rock star to raise Marcey after her mother died of a drug overdose.

Turning Point 1: Brad finds there is interest in getting the old band back together.

Midpoint: Brad confronts Marcey about her lifestyle, not knowing it’s a cover for her more dangerous activities helping migrants cross the desert.

Turning Point 2: Brad offers to help Todd learn some self defense tactics to protect himself from his bullying brother.

Dilemma: Brad is not sure Stephanie will approve of the skills he is teaching to Todd, especially the handgun lessons.

Major Conflict: Marcey finds it impossible to keep up her slacker image in order to protect Brad.

Ending: When both Stephanie and Marcey go missing, Brad wants to help Randy and Todd find their mother in hopes it will also lead to Marcey.

Randy (R) Todd (T) Stephanie (S) Marcey (M) Brad (B)

Teaser:

Essence: Shadowy figures are sneaking around in the
desert at night.
Turning Point: The people are surprised and scatter
when they get lit up by Border Patrol vehicles.

ACT 1

Essence: (S Opening) Stephanie is an overwhelmed single mother with 2 teen boys who push her buttons constantly. She is unhappy with her work and wants to break a big story.

(R Opening) Randy is infuriated that he can’t get on a team at school but Todd gets offered to join the football team.

TP Stephanie can’t get the boys to school on time and they rack up another tardy.

ACT 2

Essence: Stephanie comes under more scrutiny from school while her video blogs get viewer push-back and her job is threatened.

(S Opening) Stephanie misses a deadline trying to get the boys to school but they are still late.

(TP1) When Marcey comes loudly home Stephanie confronts her about her slacker lifestyle.

(Midpoint) The boys are sent home from school.

(TP2) The school wants to schedule a home visit with a social worker.

ACT 3

Essence: Stephanie is threatened with foster care for the boys.

(R Opening) Randy and Todd are picked up by police while they are walking home after being sent home early by school VP.

(TP1) Marcey confronts police. Turns out she knows a little something about civil rights.

Midpoint: Stephanie assumes the boys were sent home for misbehaving when it was really her fault for being late again.

Act 4:

Essence: Stephanie tries to talk to the boys, but they
confront her about their absent father and her unavailability.
Turning Point: The confrontation escalates to a major
blowout argument.

Act 5:

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Essence: The argument between Stephanie and her boys
spills out the door and into the cul-de-sac, where it escalates to involve
the neighbors.
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(TP) Police are called and everyone is ordered to go home.

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Lock In: Next morning, the boys wake to find Stephanie
missing. They soon discover that Marcey is also missing.

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