Day 4 Assignments

[Megan Schemenauer]

Megan’s Intriguing Character Layers – Part 1

What I learned doing this assignment is… that I know a lot more about these characters than I realized. Layers are revealed so gradually you almost don’t even notice it’s happening as you watch the episode. When new information is finally revealed, it gives the audience a sense of shock and discovery (For example, finding out Mrs. Grundy had an independent study with the dead Jason Blossom the previous year; or that Jughead’s father is a gang member of the Southside Serpents; or that Jughead has been living in the Twilight Drive-in)

I keep wondering, though, how I can incorporate such serious layers and still keep my show in the vein of a comedy.

TITLE: Riverdale

Character Name: Archie Andrews

Role: the popular football player heartthrob

Hidden agendas: he wants to become a musician no matter what his dad wants for him; wants a relationship with the music teacher

Competition:

Conspiracies: covering up with the music teacher the fact that he heard a gunshot on July 4

Secrets: hooking up with the music teacher; heard a gunshot on July 4

Deception: sneaking out when grounded

Wound: ???

Secret Identity: tortured artist

Character Name: Betty Cooper

Role: the all-American good girl next-door; Archie’s best friend

Hidden agendas: to get revenge for her sister Polly, to act as undercover agent solving the secrets of Riverdale; maintaining a friendship with Archie and Veronica despite her mother’s disapproval

Competition: competing with Veronica and Mrs. Grundy for Archie; competing with her mother for control over her life

Conspiracies: working with Veronica to take revenge on the football boys

Secrets: crazy runs in her family

Deception: hanging out with Archie and Veronica despite her mother’s disapproval; is her good girl act just an act?

Wound: her sister Polly’s mistreatment and insanity

Secret Identity: Nancy Drew / avenging angel

Character Name: Veronica Lodge

Role: the mysterious, rich, misunderstood newcomer

Hidden agendas: A fresh start in a new town; figuring out what shady business her mother is involved in

Competition: competing with Cheryl for Betty’s friendship

Conspiracies: working with Betty to take revenge on the football boys; breaking into Mrs. Grundy‘s car with Betty; covering up the conspiracy of her father and mother to buy out Riverdale

Secrets: why she came to Riverdale?

Deception: hooking up in the closet with Archie even when she knew Betty liked him, spying on her mother

Wound: being viewed or treated as a slut?

Secret Identity: ???

Character Name: Cheryl Blossom

Role: the bitchy cheerleader captain

Hidden agendas: to find the person responsible for murdering Jason

Competition: competing with Veronica for it girl of the school

Conspiracies: working with Betty and Veronica to get revenge for slut shaming

Secrets: she was helping Jason leave Riverdale before he died

Deception: she feigns ignorance in Jason‘s death to the police

Wound: losing her twin brother has clearly wounded her

Secret Identity: ???

[Jeff Glenn]

Binge-Worthy TV – Lesson 4

Jeff Glenn’s Intriguing Character Layers

What I learned doing this assignment is discovering who your characters are, what their layers are will change the direction of the story. You don’t know your story until you know your characters.

Example show: The Night Of

Character Name: Nasir Kahn

Role: Young man on trial for murder

Hidden agenda: survive his trial and time in prison

Competition: there may be an implied competition with his brother, who is the better son?

Conspiracies: Nasir works with other inmates to smuggle drugs into jail.

Secrets: he doesn’t tell his parents or lawyers about past arrests. He is reluctant to share his sexual history.

Deception: the arrests, the whole story of the night of the murder.

Wound: being a victim of racism. He seems wounded by both the fact that he has any sexual experience and by his lack of experience.

Secret Identity: he is both a victim and a perpetrator

My Show: Farmland

Character name: Cody Lesueur

Role: man trying to reintegrate into his family while forging his own identity

Hidden Agenda: finding ways for the land to turn a profit, even if that means selling it, leaving again

Competition: there’s a history of all four boys vying for their parents’ attention

Conspiracies: Conner and Cody work together to modernize their farming operation (behind their father’s back), when Conner finds out Cody is gay he agrees to keep that from their parents too

Secrets: there is the obvious lack of acknowledging Cody’s sexuality, but also his wanting a life different from everyone around him

Deception: Cody has a habit of bending the truth, slightly exaggerating to get work, sex, to avoid confrontations

Wound: His dad taking his three brothers fishing (he wasn’t invited). His mom saying two men kissing is disgusting. Friends ditching him. He feels unwanted, always has.

Secret Identity: Cody fights with himself on this, is he a hard-working farm boy or a big city, musing photographer. Is it possible to be both?

Character name: Tracy Butchart

Role: woman traveling through town who becomes Cody’s friend

Hidden Agenda: She don’t have an agenda. She’s reached a point of freedom, self-determination

Competition: being on the road for an extended period has taught her that if you want something you better take it now, before someone else does

Conspiracies: she enlists Cody to take revenge on a man who wronged her on the road

Secrets: she abandoned her dying mother and left her siblings to take care of their mother

Deception: Tracy dupe this man to get Tracy’s revenge, but it also forms their friendship

Wound: Tracy’s parents were not abusive, but she experienced a lot of neglect

Secret Identity: she is not an open book, but she doesn’t actively hide anything, at least now with Cody. She wants others to think she is meek and agreeable. In reality she can take care of herself better than most. She’s tough but still loves Barry Manilow.

[Megan Schemenauer]

Megan’s Intriguing Character Layers – Part 2

What I learned doing this assignment is…

TITLE: My Future Self

Character Name: Lexie

Role: the naive innocent with everything to learn

Hidden agendas: to become someone more exciting

Competition: in competition with her older and younger siblings for recognition from family and friends

Conspiracies: conspires with Alexis to take advantage of knowing the future, conspires with her best friends to keep the email exchange a secret

Secrets: her future self is giving her present advice, she had been previously contemplating running away from home?

Deception: lies to her parents and siblings about the emails

Wound: overheard her parents talking once about how she’ll never be as successful as her older sister

Secret Identity: wannabe superhero

Character Name: Betsy

Role: the athletic childhood best friend

Hidden agendas: to remain Lexie‘s best friend, to undermine Cerise, to take care of her family

Competition: competing with Cerise for Lexie‘s friendship, competing as a freshman for the varsity basketball team, competing for future sports scholarships

Conspiracies: conspires with Lexie to keep her email secret

Secrets: she’s a terrible student

Deception: cheats on tests in order to keep her GPA up

Wound: her father ran out on her family; she’s become like a second mother to her little brother

Secret Identity: the fierce protector

Character Name: Cerise

Role: the blossoming new friendship

Hidden agendas: to become an artist, to move out

Competition: unwillingly competing with Betsy for Lexie‘s friendship

Conspiracies: conspiring with Lexie to cover up the emails, conspires with Betsy to help her get her grades up

Secrets: she has a horrible relationship with her father, who is far too overprotective

Deception: she lies to her father often, she lies to her friends about her relationship with her father, she doesn’t tell her friends that her mother is dead

Wound: the death of her mother

Secret Identity:???

Character Name: Alexis

Role: the jaded professional with nothing left to lose . . . or live for

Hidden agendas: to use this opportunity with Lexie to fix her present by changing the past

Competition: competing with a know-it-all rival agent at work

Conspiracies: conspiring with Lexie to improve both their lives . . . but mostly hers

Secrets: she’s communicating with her past self

Deception: she spends her life telling lies, pretending to be someone she’s not: it’s literally her job

Wound: her best friend Cerise stole her fiancé

Secret Identity: a selfish, scared child

[Dave Arena]

Binge-Worthy TV – Lesson 4

What we learned during this assignment is that we were surprised how many of these layers were there even in a comedy.

Example Show: The Righteous Gemstones

ASSIGNMENT 1:

1. Think about your Example Show. Make a list of the places you’ve already seen Character Intrigue in the previous episodes.

Hidden agendas:

Gideon plotting against his parents
Jesse trying to get money from Martin for the ransom
Judy stealing money from the church

Competition:

You can see competition in the constant sibling rivalries between Jesse, Judy and Kelvin.
Eli vs Johnny Seasons
Eli vs Baby Billy

Conspiracies:

Scotty, Gideon, and Lucy ransom plot against Jesse
Eli plotting to take over Johnny Season’s town with his own church
Jesse’s plan to attack Johnny Seasons
Jesse’s plan to get the surveillance video from the store
Scotty and Gideon’s plan to get money from the church
Johnny Seasons leaves pamphlets outside of Eli’s new church telling people not to attend and then sends a gang to vandalize the church

Secrets:

Jesse keeps the secret of his partying in Atlanta from his wife
Jesse keeping the ransom from Eli
Baby Billy actually sold some of the family property
Gideon is the person responsible for the ransom on Jesse
Judy has her boyfriend stay overnight
Judy secretly stole and hid money from the church

Deception:

Jesse lying to his wife about the text messages and the partying
Baby Billy lied about not selling the family property
Judy lies about her boyfriend spending the night
Gideon coming home but it’s really to scope out valuables to steal

Wound:

Eli’s pain over his wife’s death
Judy being the middle child and looked over
Kelvin is in the shadow of Jesse
Gideon is not being supported in his dream of being a stunt man in Hollywood

Secret Identity:

Gideon, Scotty, and Lucy wearing masks and asking for a ransom from Jesse
Kelvin’s sexuality
Gideon wasn’t revealed until later

2. Watch the next episode and see how Character Intrigue is being used to create the need to see more episodes.

It seems to us that the writers continue opening and closing loops to keep us intrigued. For example, in this episode, Jesse deduces the blackmailers have no power and that their problem is over (close loop), but then Scotty comes to Jesse’s house posing as an old friend of Gideon’s (conspiracy/secret identity), and the loop opens back up. In addition, we’ve noticed that several of these layers of intrigue are combined. For example, when Judy is asked to perform at Baby Billy’s church (tied into Judy’s wound of being overlooked/never allowed to do anything meaningful), Eli warns her that he’s using her to get back at him (conspiracy/deception).

ASSIGNMENT 2

1. For your Inner Circle characters, fill in any of the Intrigue items that apply.

Character Name: Liz

Role: Wants to be the go-to expert in the swinger lifestyle and the audience’s guide into that world

Hidden agendas:

She wants to be out about her lifestyle and eventually a relationship expert
She often has a hidden agenda when it comes to getting her husband Eric involved with a couple or single female because he’s clueless and doesn’t pick up on flirting, etc.

Competition:

Liz vs her perfect sister Teresa
Liz vs other swingers
Liz vs people in the community that oppose her lifestyle
Liz vs other relationship experts/influencers (vanilla and swinger)

Conspiracies:

In each episode, Liz will conspire to help other swingers or even people in vanilla relationships whether they want her help or not.

Secrets:

She’s a swinger
She’s the only one other than her Mother that knows her Dad is a cross-dresser

Deception:

She deceives her daughter when she questions “where are you going dressed like that?”
She deceives others by lying about where she’s going, why she has to leave family events early, etc.
She deceives her husband Eric by not always being forthcoming about her intentions of helping other swingers

Wound:

She was sex shamed by her strict Catholic Mother
She was never good enough compared to her perfect sister
She was always the fat girlfriend of the hot chicks growing up, which has caused her to have negative body image issues

Secret Identity:

She is secretly a relationship expert using her hair salon as a front

[Mr. Brunken]

Rodney Brunken’s Intriguing Character Layers

What I learned from this assignment: By creating characters with obvious levels of intrigue, we stay interested in the narrative because we see our own layers of intrigue mirrored in their actions.

Boggs:

Secret Identity: He is the leader of a white supremacist group.

Conspiracy: He is working with other town leaders to stop Brooks from building a home for a black professional’s family.

Hidden Agenda: He wants to acquire the property Brooks owns for himself.

Secrets: He murdered Brooks’ father.

Deception: He covers up the murder and makes it appear to be a suicide.

Ana:

Wound: She is an hispanic woman trying to make it as a physician in a misogynistic community.

Secrets: She had an affair with a married professor when she was in medical school.

Deception: She lies about why she chose Catfish Bend as a place to set up her practice.

Secret Identity: Her family is on a hit list by the Cuban government.

Hidden Agenda: She is trying to seduce Brooks.

Brooks:

Wound: He was rejected by his mother while growing up in Catfish Bend. He is a widower with a 12 year old daughter.

Secrets: He has been given information that leads him to believe his father was murdered.

Secret Identity: He was a covert CIA informative in a conspiracy case.

Hidden Agenda: He is out to destroy Boggs and the rest of the power structure of Catfish Bend.

Deception: He plays ignorant when it comes to his suspicions about his his father’s murder.

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[Tom Minier]

Tom’s Intriguing Character Layers<div>

I completed the lesson and wasn’t thrilled by my results. I realized that I was just making up stuff about these characters, that was interesting, but not necessarily relevant to the story. The eye-opening moment occurred when I realized that I didn’t know where the story was going and therefore couldn’t illustrate hidden agendas, competitions, and conspiracies that would be meaningful to the characters and drive the story forward.

After putting some time into the bigger story, and then answering these questions, not only did the story expand into areas I hadn’t even considered, but also some of the characters that I put my main circle were lacking the intrigue of other characters. Because one of my goals is to keep this script contained with a tight cast, I did the exercise for all of my characters, and I am very excited about the results that came from it.

ASSIGNMENT 1:

Think about your Example Show. Make a list of the places you’ve already seen Character Intrigue in the previous episodes.

Hidden Agendas – Through the third episode we know that Eleanor is trying to hide her true nature hoping she can learn to be a good person and blend in at the good place. At the very end of episode three we learn that Jason has also been hiding his true nature as well.

Conspiracy – Eleanor and Chidi have agreed to conspire to try to outsmart the system.

Secrets – Eleanor and Jason do not belong in the good place and arrived accidentally.

Deception – Eleanor and Jason have been lying the entire time about who they really are.

Wound – I’m not exactly sure what the wound is yet, but it is clear that something is wrong with Chidi who struggles dramatically to choose a side during a personal conflict.

Secret Identity – Eleanor has been mistaken for an advocate for world peace and Jason has been mistaken for a Buddhist monk.

2. Watch the next episode and see how Character Intrigue is being used to create the need to see more episodes.

The four episode gives the full-back story of Jason allowing you to see his faults and personality. This adds intrigue because he is even more of a train wreck than Eleanor. Even worse, he isn’t terribly bright which puts Eleanor in greater risk of being exposed.

ASSIGNMENT 2:

For your inner circle characters, fill in any of the intrigue items that apply.

Poe

Hidden Agendas: None

Competition:

Poe is in competition with Trish to prove that he is right and she is wrong

Conspiracy:

He is leading an organization striving for equality through violence

Secrets:

Poe knows who Trish is and what organization she represents

Deception:

Poe doesn’t talk about the organization he represents initially

Wound:

Pandemic related: Doesn’t trust the gov’t enough to get vaccinated. He lost a couple allies due to the pandemic.

Secret Identity:

Leader of a radicalized far left movement

Angela

Hidden Agendas:

To find purpose and survive an existential crisis

Competition:

Angela vs. Stu

Conspiracy:

Secrets:

Suicidal – experiencing complex PTSD from an event that happened in her youth

Deception:

She strives not to appear to be a victim, even though that is exactly how she feels—she tries to hide her mental health but is essentially wearing for the world to see

Wound:

Pandemic related: Due to medical conditions she highly susceptible to disease and has been abundantly cautious about other people

Deeply empathic and seemingly affected by an endless list of problems both personal and environmental

Secret Identity:

Writer, journalist

Peter Cetera

Hidden Agendas: None

Competition:

Peter Cetera is in a sort of competition with FM in the sense that he is proving he is pursuing his ambitions for the right reasons

Conspiracy: None

Secrets: None

Deception:

Peter makes himself out to be a far better musician than he really is

Wound:

Pandemic related: His partner died from covid-related complications

Other: Has been living in the shadow of the famous Peter Cetera his entire life

Secret Identity

Celebrity, Influencer, Icon

Dani

Hidden Agendas: None

Competition:

Dani is kind of in competition with the entire group, as a moderate she believes she stands for everything and accepts everyone

Conspiracy: None

Secrets:

While she understands and appreciates other people’s thoughts, she feels the radical opinions of various members of the group are insensitive and poorly contrived

Wounds:

Pandemic related: Lost both her parents from the pandemic

Secret Identity:

Moderator, healer

FM

Hidden Agendas: None

Competition:

FM is in competition with Peter Cetera in the sense that he is proving he is pursuing his ambitions for the right reasons

Conspiracy:

FM’s inner most desire is to be a rapper, but it goes against basically everything he was raised on

Secrets:

FM doesn’t talk about his true desire to be a rapper

Wounds:

Pandemic related: Because of the economic decline, he lost his family farm

Secret Identity:

Rapper

Stu

Hidden Agendas: None

Competition:

Stu vs. Angela

Conspiracy: None

Secret:

Losing his faith in God

Wounds:

Pandemic related: Lost his wife from covid-related complications

Secret Identity:

Forsaken cowboy

Trish

Hidden Agendas Competition Conspiracy Secrets Deception Wound Secret Identity

Hidden Agendas: None

Competition:

Trish is in competition with Poe to prove that he is right and she is wrong

Conspiracy:

She is leading an organization determined to overthrow democracy and rebuild with “true Christian values”

Secret:

Trish knows who Poe is and what organization he represents Trish is reluctant to talk about her organization or her beliefs, she is far too cunning to put all her cards on the table

Wounds:

Pandemic related: Anti-vaxxer, basically anti-everything when it comes to gov’t mandates—lost several friends due to the pandemic

Secret Identity:

Leader of a radicalized far right movement

Florida Man

Hidden Agendas:

Florida man is determined to convince everyone to see that they are all puppets of a greater agenda

Competition:

Florida man is one the defensive regarding his ideas and begins to question her neutrality trying to get to take a stand on something

Conspiracy:

Florida man’s life is defined by his obsessions with conspiracy theories Florida Man has been abducted in the past, possibly multiple times

Secrets:

Florida man is the first to realize they are not on earth but keeps it to himself initially

Wounds:

Pandemic related: Doesn’t believe the pandemic is real, and insists there is something more devious at play


Hidden Identity:

Savior complex

Jenny

Hidden Agendas:

Hoping that she can meet someone that will give her a lead on a job Jenny is constantly questioning

Competition:

Florida Man’s endless theories and his own self image

Conspiracy: None

Secrets:

Living in her car

Deception:

Doesn’t like to talk about herself because she is ashamed with her position in life

Wound:

Pandemic related: Jenny lost her job, got sick, and has been struggling to find work

Secret Identity:

Homeless

Claire

Hidden Agendas

Save humanity from destroying itself

Competition:

The stakes are huge for Claire and Eddie as they are competing for position that will be determined based on the outcome of this experiment

Conspiracy:

Claire, Eddie and the Janitor have abducted the rest of the group in an attempt to see if their future actions at an upcoming event can be altered

Secrets:

Not from earth

Deception:

Claire, Eddie and the Janitor have designed a world that creates the impression that the chosen group believes is a weekly support group for coping with the pandemic, they are actually aboard an alien vessel and the memories from week-to-week are all implanted

Wound:

Everything is connected throughout the entire universe and earth’s internal abuse extends out to all things

Secret Identity:

Alien

Eddie

Hidden Agendas Competition Conspiracy Secrets Deception Wound Secret Identity

Hidden Agendas:

Save humanity from destroying itself

Competition:

The stakes are huge for Claire and Eddie as they are competing for position that will be determined based on the outcome of this experiment

Conspiracy:

Claire, Eddie and the Janitor have abducted the rest of the group in an attempt to see if their future actions at an upcoming event can be altered Not from earth

Secrets:

Claire, Eddie and the Janitor have designed a world that creates the impression that the chosen group believes is a weekly support group for coping with the pandemic, they are actually aboard an alien vessel and the memories from week-to-week are all implanted

Wound:

Everything is connected throughout the entire universe and earth’s internal abuse extends out to all things

Secret Identity:

Alien

Janitor

Hidden Agendas Competition Conspiracy Secrets Deception Wound Secret Identity

Hidden Agendas:

Save humanity from destroying itself

Competition: None

Conspiracy:

Claire, Eddie and the Janitor have abducted the rest of the group in an attempt to see if their future actions at an upcoming event can be altered

Secrets:

The Janitor is the silent leader of the experiment, Claire and Eddie work under him

Deception:

Claire, Eddie and the Janitor have designed a world that creates the impression that the chosen group believes is a weekly support group for coping with the pandemic, they are actually aboard an alien vessel and the memories from week-to-week are all implanted

Wound:

Everything is connected throughout the entire universe and earth’s internal abuse extends out to all things

Secret Identity:

Alien

</div>

[Suzanne Frank]

Suzanne’s Intriguing Character Layers Part 2

What I learned doing this assignment is that I just keep doing it! I re-listen to the analyses of the shows, find another way to think about it and re-do it. I also have learned I draw diagrams rather than type all of this out.

Title: Escaping to

Character Name: Zephyr Hughes

Role: the mentor, the guide

Agenda: get everyone to the Aisland

Competition: she doesn’t see any

Conspiracy: they are ALL in this conspiracy

Secret: she will be joining them

Deception: she knows one of the terrorists

Wound: she lost everything by following her guides

Secret ID: the Mystic

Character Name: Hazel Donohougue

Role: the bestie

Agenda: get to the Aisland

Competition: Zephyr, for leadership

Conspiracy: they are ALL in this conspiracy

Secret: she is a killer

Deception: she is going to kill the terrorists

Wound: she was caught in a storm as a child, because she survived and because she can “smell death” on someone, she thinks she is mean to benevolently kill them/end their misery; more recently, being confronted about the number of people who have died on her watch, then being bought off and reviled by her former boss/lover.

Secret ID: an angel of death

Character Name: Maelle MacIntosh

Role: the Sarcastic Sidekick

Agenda: speak her truth and eat herself to death

Competition: she’s beyond it

Conspiracy: they are ALL in this conspiracy; she only commits when she decides she actually wants to live

Secret: she’s a leader

Deception: downplays her skills, understanding and experience

Wound: she lost her best friend in a recent plane wreck, which led to unraveling of all her family relationships

Secret ID: The Commander

Character Name: Giorgio

Role: the Elemental connection

Agenda: get to the Aisland and find his girl

Competition: he doesn’t care

Conspiracy: they are ALL in this conspiracy

Secret: he jumped overboard and his village thinks he’s dead

Deception: he knows that whatever is in the Gulf is enormous and will change the world

Wound: his village pushed him into running away; they wouldn’t let him grow up

Secret ID: Natureboy

Character (Dadpilot)

Role: bon vivant and instigator

Agenda: go with them to the Aisland

Competition: he’s not worried; they are all pawns

Conspiracy: they are ALL in this conspiracy; he is also in a conspiracy to take down the terrorists by using these people to get to the island

Secret: He is a felon who has been blackmailed into this scheme

Deception: He and Hazel hook up.

Wound: He was the pilot who wrecked the plane (that Maelle’s friend was on). He is literally followed by the victims and his own Judge

Secret ID: the Villain (betrayer, murderer, etc.)

[Sharilyn Kyle]

What I learned doing this assignment is…episode possibilities and show dynamics stem from brainstorming.

INTRIGUE in “Big Little Lies”

1. Sexual tension between Madeline and the community theatre Director

2. Madeline’s good-guy hubby, Ed, eyes her 17 year old-daughter

3. Perry and Celest’s violent, angry sex-capades may explode

4. Little Ziggy is an eerie sleepwalker

5. Jane’s recurring nightmare and rape

6. Amabella lied on Ziggy

“8Bytes” My Inner Circle INTRIGUE:

CHARACTER NAME: Erin ROLE: Protagonist HIDDEN AGENDA: May use her porn fame to find her birth parents COMPETITION: Thin people CONSPIRACY: ?? SECRETS: She and Patty made and lost a baby when Patty was still figuring it out DECEPTION: Loves how the Porn industry accepts anyone willing to do anything WOUND: Adopted by old Yuppies SECRET IDENTITY: ??

CHARACTER NAME: Patty ROLE: Sidekick HIDDEN AGENDA: Get her make-up artistry advertised COMPETITION: Cis-chicks CONSPIRACY: Porn reporter Gina SECRETS: Wants to make another baby with Erin DECEPTION:?? WOUND: Rejected by her hyper-Evangelical Parents & community SECRET IDENTITY:??

CHARACTER NAME: Ms. Chen ROLE: Foil HIDDEN AGENDA: ?? COMPETITION: “Respectable” Porn people CONSPIRACY: ?? SECRETS: He’s in love with a blow-up doll DECEPTION: ?? WOUND: No formal education; bullied badly SECRET IDENTITY: ??

CHARACTER NAME: Walley ROLE: Antagonist HIDDEN AGENDA: Stability in care-taking for Erin COMPETITION: ?? CONSPIRACY: In cahoots with Erin’s adopted parents to keep birth parents at bay SECRETS: Not divorced DECEPTION: ?? WOUND: Abused by husband SECRET IDENTITY: ??

[Rebecca Jordan]

Rebecca:s Intriguing Character Layers – Module 1, Lesson #4

What I learned from doing this assignment is 1) I don’t have to know everything and can just answer questions that may change but that get ideas flowing. Puzzle pieces that will either fit or not. And I can heighten or make more intriguing accordingly later. 2) This is a great way to stack the deck and see a general but clear journey from beginning to end with lots of fodder to choose from and fit in…

ASSIGNMENT 1:

Think about your Example Show. Make a list of the places you’ve already seen Character Intrigue in the previous episodes.

2. Watch the next episode and see how Character Intrigue is being used to create the need to see more episodes.

Title: Secrets and Lies

Ben’s connection to Tommy and Jess. His relationship with wife. What’s going on with her. Is he T’s Dad? What’s his relationship with Jess. Why is the Detective so suspicious of Ben? Then her daughter shows up and is in jail because of her Mom. What happened to make her this way? Is Ben’s wife having an affair at work? Man on motorcycle winds up being Jess’s husband. Tommy’s Dad. But not biological. Why is he stalking Ben?

ASSIGNMENT 2

Character Name: Tanya
Role: 50 year old ex-con back in “Small Midwestern Town” to seek revenge on her high school bullies/nemesis, a trio of wealthy princesses, when she is suddenly called on by Mother Nature to save the Earth and must learn to navigate her untapped super powers to rehabilitate the planet.

Agendas: To create and sell a bogus fountain of youth product to her childhood bullies for revenge.

Competition: There will be competition with her militia choices who we may find out later are her siblings.

Conspiracies: To create a bogus fountain of youth product that will cause a horrible scary skin rash and sell it to her childhood bullies for revenge.

Secrets: She has moved back in with her foster parents who are now dead.
Deception: She has taken over her foster parents home and finances.

Wound: Was abandoned as a baby and moved from foster home to foster home being abused by and neglected. This last family were sexual abusers.

Secret Identity: Taina, daughter of Tatiana, ie. mother nature. She doesn’t know this until she finds out…

Character Name: Tatiana

Role: Mother Nature, ie. Abuela/La Vieja
Hidden

Agendas: To bring her forces/children together after spending a lifetime of planning a take over.

Competition: Civilians

Conspiracies: Her origin.

Secrets: Her children.

Deception: Mother Nature calls to rehabilitate her planet. Her super powers are waning and she needs to be powered by Tanya, ie. Taina, her daughter’s powers.

Wound: Observing the murder of her parents and becoming a prisoner. And giving up her babies at birth to answer her calling.

Secret Identity: Mother Nature.

Character Name: Lupe

Role: A 50 year old champion log sawer is summoned from reclusion to accompany and serve by Tanya’s side.

Hidden agendas:

Competition: Siblings
Conspiracies:

Secrets: Illiterate
Deception: Tries to act tougher than she is.

Wound: Abandoned at birth. Raised by Rebels

Secret Identity: Sister of Tanya

Character Name: Maeve

Role: Tanya’s #1 bully from the past. Also 50, she is now a high powered socialite and attorney running for office. She is humbled and invests when Tanya creates a popular fountain of youth product. Or will she support the militia?

Hidden agendas: Is she just vying for campaign support?

Competition: Tanya’s #1 bully from the past. Is she deeply jealous or in awe of Tanya, still?Conspiracies: Will follow along with Tanya’s plan initially to sabotage but changes….?

Secrets: ???

Deception: Running for office.

Wound: No relationship with husband, feels inadequate.
Secret Identity: secret society..?

[Evelyn Petros]

Evelyn’s Assignment for M1/L4/A#1 – Big Little Lies

In doing this assignment I learned that in a bingeworthy series, each episode should reveal a little more of each character’s lives, like pieces in a puzzle, to create intrigue. What characters say about each other is also important in revealing character. Some of the puzzle pieces I noticed in Episodes 1-4 follow:

Hidden Agendas: E2 – What is the reason Jane choose Monterey as the place to relocate with Ziggy? We don’t yet know. E4- Why is Chloe accessing her mother Madeline’s cell phone? Will she be spying on her mom’s messages in future episodes? E4 – What is Jane planning to do with a gun and target practice? Is she using those to protect herself and Ziggy, or is she planning murder? E4 – After Bonnie’s yoga class Ed tells Bonnie intimate things, e.g., that he loves sweat on women. Why does he say this? Is he hitting on her? E4 – Why does Amabella lie to her teacher who thinks Amabella is still being abused? Is she protecting someone?

Competition: E1 & E4 – Madeline’s jealousy of Bonnie revealed. E2 – War between Madeline and Renata revealed. E2 – Ed & Nathan’s macho competition during arguments revealed. E4 – Madeline’s jealousy of Bonnie is partly over how alive Bonnie is while managing her life, work, and household, and how dissatisfied Madeline is with her life.

Conspiracy: E2 – Madeline & Celeste think they have found out the identity of Jane’s rapist and plan to help Jane confront him.

Secrets: E1 – Ed says Madeline is drawn to damaged people and that Celeste is damaged.

E2 – Ed tells Nathan he was a bullied child and that Madeline’s father abandoned her and her brothers, he also tells this to Bonnie in E4. E3 – Madeline’s affair with Joseph a year before is revealed, and that she cheated on Ed with him. E3 – Perry tells marriage counselor that he fears being run through (abandoned) by Celeste. E3 – Celeste reveals the dirty secret of angry sex between her & Perry to marriage counselor. E4 – Jane won’t tell Ziggy the name of his father. E4 – Perry reveals that Celeste fell apart emotionally during her previous law career. E4 – Celeste tells Madeline that mothering is not enough for her, and Madeline admits the same. E3 & 4 – Jane tells Celeste about the rape that resulted in Ziggy. E4 – Bonnie says to Ed “We all have baggage” but doesn’t reveal hers. E4 – Jane tells Madeline she would recognize her rapist from his voice and smell! (I bet we’ll see this actually happen in a future episode.)

Deception: E4 – Jane lies to Ziggy about his father to “protect” him from the ugliness. E4 – Madeline lies to Ed when he asks what she is thinking about and does not tell Ed about her recent “kissing incident” with Joseph and her conflicted feelings toward him. E4 – Madeline tells Celeste a sanitized version of her “incident” with Joseph, but Celeste figures out what really happened. E4 – Perry and Celeste hide Perry’s abuse from their 2 boys. E1-4 – Perry constantly gaslights Celeste as a power ploy.

Wound: E2 – Madeline’s wound (revealed by Ed) that her father and first husband (Nathan) abandoned her, and she fears her 2 daughters will abandon her when they grow up. A3&4 – Jane’s wound is the rape. Ziggy’s wound is he feels like he’s not like the other kids at school because he doesn’t have a father and doesn’t know why his Mom moved to Monterey.

Secret Identity: E1 – Who is Amabella’s attacker? E4 – Ed loves to dress up in costumes (vampire & Elvis). Is it a fetish? E4 – Madeline has a secret Facebook profile & her alias is “God.” E3 & 4 – who is Jane’s rapist? (I’m thinking it’s Perry. So far, Perry seems to be the the overtly violent one in this series, or is that too obvious? Hmmm, if Perry is the criminal, then maybe Ziggy is Amabella’s attacker, since he is the carrier of Perry’s “demon seed?” And maybe Ziggy finds out who his father is & takes Jane’s gun and kills him? I don’t think he would do this, but I think the identity of the rapist has something to do with the shoe prints we keep seeing on the sandy beach. I have only watched the first 4 episodes so far, so I don’t know.)

[Evelyn Petros]

Bingeworthy TV Series – M1/L4/A2

What I learned from this assignment: How to add intrigue to the main characters in my show. However, I need to be careful not to distract from the main journey of my main character, Mira Santiago, so I may have to eliminate some stuff. (Hoping that it’s easier to delete stuff than to add stuff? Or, some of the intrigue can come to fruition in the 2nd year of the series?)

Evelyn’s Inner Circle Intriguing Characters in “Opera Aloha”

Mira Santiago

Role: An out-of-work NYC opera singer reeling from romantic letdowns and incipient bankruptcy, is forced to accept a last-minute gig to sing the leading role in an opera that nearly wrecked her career three years earlier.

Hidden Agenda: To save her professional reputation, her morals, and her vocal technique, she must defy the stage director’s risqué staging, and circumvent the volatile conductor’s lethargic tempi.

Competition: Mira takes revenge on a soprano rival who sabotages her.

Conspiracies: : Mira enlists costume designer and assistant conductor to help her save her professional reputation.

Secrets: Underneath the diva behavior, she’s a woman with a good heart.

Deception: She deceives the stage director. She discovers that the wife of the conductor is cheating on him and sends him an anonymous note that has repercussions.

Wound: The trauma of surviving a plane crash with her brother that killed their parents when they were kids left Mira with aviophobia and claustrophobia—she hates planes and elevators.

Secret Identity: When going makeup-free, Mira is often mistaken for a teenager.

Jake Sutherland

Role: Successful cookbook writer, Vietnam vet and foster father who has let himself go after the end of his last love affair.

Hidden Agenda: He acts to save the woman he loves from the clutches of a lothario, but must do it incognito, so he won’t offend her or be accused of stalking.

Competition: He competes with Wynston Irving Trapnell for Mira’s love.

Conspiracies: He answers an ad to swap homes with one of Mira’s neighbors in NYC so he can be close to her.

Secrets: He blames himself for the loss of his Vietnamese fiancée in 1975 during the fall of Saigon, though he was able to save her son and adopt him. He hates opera because his mother made him sit through an entire Wagner “Ring Cycle”in Bayreuth, Germany when he was a boy.

Deception: He undergoes a physical makeover but won’t tell his friend Kris Van Kampen why.

Wound: He blames himself, a veteran Army helicopter pilot in Vietnam, for failing to spirit his Vietnamese fiancé out of Saigon in 1975, though he was able to save her son and adopt him.

Secret Identity: He’s the anonymous sender of flowers, chocolates and poetry that follow Mira from Hawaii to NYC to Florida and finally to Vienna, Austria.

Wynston Irving Trapnell (“Wyn”)

Role: The charismatic architect of Opera Aloha’s Samuel Yee Memorial Opera House in Honolulu; a bachelor.

Hidden Agenda: He collects opera singers for sport.

Competition: He’s not aware of any competition until Mira starts receiving gifts (flowers, poetry & chocolates) after her performances.

Conspiracies: ?????

Secrets: All three of his ex-wives divorced him and moved away with their children.

Deception: He deceives Mira about his relationship with Daphne Dee Bliss, and lets Mira think he is the one who is sending her love poetry, flowers and chocolate.

Wound: His mother abandoned his family when Wyn was a boy leaving him with a fear of abandonement by the women in his life. All three ex-wives divorced him, taking their kids with them and leaving him emotionally wounded and subconsciously punishing his lovers. He leaves them before they can leave him.

Secret Identity: He has a soft spot for sick children and volunteers at Honolulu’s Shriner’s Hospital, entertaining them as Dr. Dim Wit, the Clown.

Daphne Dee Bliss

Role: A predatory young interior designer from Houston with clients on Oahu and Maui.

Hidden Agenda: She’s a fraudster who targets wealthy bachelors.

Competition: She’s in competition with Mira for Wyn’s attention.

Conspiracies: She’s part owner of a Honolulu gallery that sells fake art and antiques to wealthy, unsuspecting bachelors.

Secrets: She moved to Hawaii after her parents disowned her when she was a teen.

Deception: She uses her feminine wiles to worm her way into the affections of wealthy, unsuspeting bachelors older than her whose homes need renovations and furnishings, and bilks them out of thousands of $$$$$$.

Wound: Getting pregnant and having an abortion caused her religious parents in Houston to disown her.

Secret Identity: She’s a barracuda pretending to be a sweetheart.

Kris Van Kampen

Role: Mira’s best friend since their Catholic School days in Baltimore. She’s an artist and owner of the Purple Orchid Gallery in Kahului, Maui; a divorcée and mother of three, now living with her kids and her common-law rancher husband in Hana, Maui.

Hidden Agenda: She tries to play matchmaker to Jake and Mira, but her efforts fail, or so she thinks.

Competition: none

Conspiracies: She’s working with her FBI agent brother-in-law to nail Daphne Dee Bliss for unethical business practices. She’s suing her ex-husband for child support.

Secrets: She’s serving as an informant for the FBI on their case against Daphne Dee Bliss.

Deception: She pretended to be Daphne Dee’s friend while gathering evidence against her.

Wound: Her ex, Dr. Jeffrey Skinner, a leading Honolulu dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon, is not sending child support for their 2 kids, Sean and Susie, and is filing for custody which terrifies her.

Seret Identity: She’s an FBI informant.

Nigel Blasenfort

Role: Mira’s agent; the founder and President of Blasenfort Artists Management, Inc. in NYC.

Hidden Agenda: He resorts to lies, bribery and other unethical conduct to steal clients from other NY agents.

Competition: Agents in every agency for performing artists in NYC.

Conspiracies: ???

Secrets: He tries to keep his illegal Italian immigrant lover from being deported by the US immigration authorities. His business is foundering because of his extravagant lifestyle.

Deception: He lies to Melanie Hollik, the General Director of Opera Aloha, and to his clients for profit.

Wound: He comes from an impoverished background in England’s coal country and is trying to make up for it ASAP.

Secret Identity: A pirate in the musical world.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 10 months ago by  Evelyn Petros. Reason: I had forgotten to add what I learned from doing this lesson