Day 5 Assignments

[Andrew Kelm]

Andrew Kelm’s 4 Act transformation Structure

Vision: I am going to do whatever it takes to be a great writer of TV and movies who is sought after by people I respect within the industry and has multiple successful TV series produced.

What I learned doing this assignment is… a four act structure can be sketched out quickly and efficiently using these tools.

FATEMONGER

Concept: a psychic with a blind spot for abusive men uses subtle manipulations to murder a sexual predator who seduces her to get to her sons.

Main Conflict: Daphne and Roy — helping people vs. taking advantage of them; Roy wants to go down the road of getting something for nothing while Daphne sincerely wants to help people.

Daphne Old Ways:

• insecure victim

• dependent on her mother
• caught up in patterns of negative abuse from men
• undervalues her intuitive gifts

Daphne New Ways:

• powerful and ruthless
• independent
• dangerous to abusive men
• makes sure she gets paid what she’s worth.

Daphne Internal Journey: from insecure victim to confident and controlling

Daphne External Journey: From poor psychic selling card readings in her mother’s beauty salon to successful therapist with wealth and a following

Act 1:

• Opening: Daphne doing a card reading in her kitchen above her mother’s hair salon. She tells her client that some things are fated and others can be changed… Interaction with mother and sons to establish context… Mother constantly annoyed about how much noise the boys are making.
• Inciting Incident: Roy steps into the salon to avoid someone pursuing him; mother is on him right away — if he is not there for a reason, he needs to leave; he spots a sign advertising Daphne’s readings and arranges to have one as an excuse to stay; Daphne reads him like a book and sparks fly between them.
• Through the rest of the act, Roy is wooing Daphne and she is coaching him how to channel his manipulation skills toward being a successful salesman.
• Turning Point: fight with mother; Daphne and Roy pack up the kids and leave.

Act 2:

• New plan: Daphne, Roy and the two boys set out to forge a new life
• Plan in action: they go from living in their car to Daphne coaching Roy to success as a car salesman while she turns her card reading into a successful therapy practice.
• Midpoint Turning Point: Roy starts neglecting his job and spending nights away from home; Daphne finds cocaine in his jacket pocket.

Act 3:

• Rethink everything: Daphne realizes their relationship is not going to be perfect, but for the sake of the family they have built, decides not to throw him out.
• New plan: Daphne decides to become more independent, throws herself into improving her skills, takes on Buddhist meditation, Jungian psychology, writing books
• Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift — Daphne finds out that Roy has a young gay lover.

Act 4:

• Daphne doubles down and takes her own new lover, determined to remain detached from Roy’s shenanigans, and this works fine until her new lover turns majorly abusive and kinky — holding a gun to her head in the middle of sex – and one of her sons tells her that Roy has been spending a lot of time with the other son alone in his room.
• Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Daphne manipulates Roy into confronting her new boyfriend over the abuse, knowing that he has a gun and is a hot head; Roy gets killed and boyfriend is arrested.
• Resolution: Daphne is free of Roy and the other boyfriend, established in a successful career and beyond suspicion.

[Zeke Farrow]

VISION FOR SUCCESS: I will deliver delicious, surprising, seemingly effortless work, that is constantly in demand and causes people to recommend me for original and rewrite projects without hesitation.

WHAT I LEARNED FROM DOING THIS ASSIGNMENT IS by putting the pieces in place, it’s easier to define them.

TITLE: Mitchwich

CONCEPT: On graduation day, a petulant cynic goes back in time to the first day of high school and changes the event that he thinks ruined his life and when he returns, he meets his worst nightmare – HIMSELF.

OLD WAYS:

Anti social

Victim of bullying

Afraid of intimacy and friendship

Doesn’t believe in himself

Doesn’t like himself

NEW WAYS:

Charismatic

Forgiving

A good friend

Has a sense of humor about himself

Has the courage to talk to Sophie

ACT 1:

OPENING:

– MITCH’s magic trick fails. Mitch has a panic attack and shits all over SOPHIE.

– It’s 4 years later and Mitch is caught in his old ways – Bullied by SIMON, Afraid to speak to Sophie, His one friend is ROBBIE who he treats bad.

INCITING INCIDENT:

– Mitch gets in the time machine he built and goes back in time to the first day of Freshman year to fix the trick and stop the poop.

TURNING POINT:

– Mitch gets in his time machine to go to the future and disappear forever, but his machine breaks down a week early and Mitch meets… NEW MITCH.

ACT 2:

REACTION/NEW PLAN:

– Mitch pretends to be Old Mitch’s cousin Mitch. Navigates the new future: His mom divorced his dad and is a shark real estate agent. His dad lives alone in a bachelor apartment working on the ‘algorithm’ that will change advertising, Sophie and New Mitch still aren’t dating. Robbie is gay and dating Simon. His dog doesn’t know how to do any tricks. Old Mitch is petrified of all of these changes. His new self. His new relationships.

NEW PLAN IN ACTION:

– Mitch helps New Mitch rehearse for his magic show and becomes sick with envy that New Mitch has fulfilled his dream, but doesn’t know how to express his feelings.

TURNING POINT:

– During the spectacular magic show, New Mitch gives Mitch the opportunity to do the magic trick again. He does. Nervously. The trick goes well. This time he doesn’t shit on Sophie, but it’s lack luster and rusty in Mitch’s hands. It doesn’t change who he is.

ACT 3:

RETHINK:

– Mitch doesn’t have his baggage anymore. He can be a new him.

NEW PLAN:

– Mitch realizes that he can have a chance to be a good friend to Robby. He can learn to have empathy for Simon. He can have a chance to woo Sophie. He can help his father. He can give his mom the love she needs. But he can’t save his dog.

– New Mitch and Mitch fall out.

TURNING POINT:

– Mitch was wrong about Time Travel. It’s not a closed loop. He’s created a multiverse. Mitch will have to live his whole future in the wrong timeline.

ACT 4

CLIMAX:

– He can have his old life back. He has to travel back in this universe to before he went back to… And then travel forward in time and he’ll end up with his whole life back.

– Mitch has to fix the time machine. Go back. Leave to go back forward the moment he left.

RESOLUTION:

– Mitch is able to fix his relationships with his mom, dad, Robbie, Simon, his dog, and Sophie.

[Tina Steffan]

Tina’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

My Vision: My writing enables me to live an exuberantly creative and productive life in prosperity.

It was very confusing to work in this 4 Act structure. I did it anyway, resistance is futile…

Concept

ARGUS’ EYES (Horror)

A teenage girl has her disfigured face reconstructed at a beauty clinic in the Black Forest, only to discover that her new face is just a mask and she is now the livestock for a blind demon who has stolen her eyes for himself.

Dramatic Triangle

Main Conflict

Val must find a way to escape the demon that has her trapped under a false face to keep her as his livestock.

Old Ways:

ferral

stays quiet when mistreated

runs from her oppressors

doesn’t believe anyone wants her because she is one-eyed ugly

“life is shit and then you die”

schemes to get what she needs

doesn’t trust anyone

steals from ‘friends’ – doesn’t believe anyone could be her real friend

rejects her witchy grandma because she rejected her

New Ways:

confronts authorities

risks her life to save the others

embraces her witchy heritage

sacrifices her newfound beauty to free herself

kills the demon

stands up for herself

accepts friendship and love

Act 1:

Opening

All Val wants is to be left alone, but gets attacked by a guard in the ‘troubled youth center’ in Utah, she stays passive, he has a freak accident before he can harm her. —Val is protected by an amulet from her mother

Inciting Incident

Val (on booty juice to calm her) is blamed by the director for the injuries of her guard. Begs him to send her to her grandmother. When he rejects her and humiliates her. he dies of a freak accident.

Turning Point

Val fears she will be blamed for his death and escapes. She decides to search for her estranged grandmother. rob her and punish her because she left Val to grow up in this hell instead of taking her in as a baby after her parents died. Val flies to Germany.

Act 2:

New plan

travels to her grandmother who manages a beauty clinic in hte Black Forest. Gets warnings on the way, cursed place. Finds her family name on a memorial for burned witches in 1600.

Plan in action

Grandmother nicer than expected, warm welcome but with mixed messages.

Val sticks to her plan and tries to find valuables to steal. Finds old stuff from her mother, can’t make sense of it.

The clinic patients and her grandmother are acting weird.

Val uses her mother’s glasses and sees behind the masks – she sees their gauged out eyes.

Midpoint Turning Point

Sees the demon for the first time at group with patients. He feeds on them and leaves. After he’s gone everyone forgets he was ever there. (we know now)

Act 3:

Rethink everything

Before Val can follow her instincts she gest the facial – her eyes gauged out and covered by the mask. With the facial she can’t take a step without being watched.

Val needs a friend – Ayla from her youth facility arrives, invited by her grandmother.

New plan

Ayla gets a facial so Val can follow the demon and find out where he lives / how they can kill him.

The demon discovers her and feeds on her until she almost dies.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift

Her grandmother drinks poison to make the demon feed on her and die with her but it fails.

Grandma dies. Val and Ayla are too weak with their masks sucking out even more energy.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict

Val accesses the blood well where she can lift the spell and rip off her mask. Without it she is blind, both her eyes gauged out. But with her mother’s glasses she can see.

Resolution

The demon feeds on the patients. Val sprays them with blood from the well, thes get free from the masks. With their powers returning together they can force the demon to return their eyes.

[Erik Wooten]

Erik’s 4-Act Transformational Structure

My vision is to achieve true excellence as a
screenwriter which causes me to be a consistently working writer, with actual
movies made from some of my scripts, and to become wealthy as a screenwriter,
develop relationships in the movie industry where I am recognized as a truly
original writer, and to become indispensable in the market in which I want to
write.

What I learned doing this assignment… I re-learned that this assignment brings the story to life piece-by-piece! It was pretty thrilling doing this, and just creating the basic plot points also brought to my imagination the events leading up to them and following them.

CONCEPT: Two orphans escape from their orphanage during a fire and move into the country’s biggest shopping mall where they decide to find parents, realize that they only need each other, then face losing each other forever when back at the orphanage one of them is going to be adopted.

MAIN CONFLICT: Penny and Mara must survive in their environment as children with no parents and no home while also avoiding being caught and sent back to the orphanage.

(Penny)

Old Ways: Tough with a protective shell / Doesn’t need anybody / Wary of the grown-up world

New Ways: Accepts love / Strong and believes in herself and in the love of the world

(Mara)

Old Ways: Timid / Afraid / Subordinate to Penny / Needs more imagination

New Ways: Assertive / Sure of herself and her place in the world / Loves Penny

Act 1

Opening:

Penny sneaks into the kitchen at the orphanage, looking for the kindly chef who always slips her extra food. The chef is not around at the moment, but the burner is on with oil simmering….

Inciting incident:

…Penny accidentally starts a fire (not knowing)! The fire becomes a large blaze, and Penny escapes through a window–and finds Mara in the alley too, having also escaped by herself.

Turning point:

Penny and Mara enter the mega-big mall….

Act 2

New plan:

Penny and Mara now must get oriented to their new, vast environment, figure out how to navigate and how to find the necessities for their survival, while avoiding being found out.

Midpoint turning point:

Penny
and Mara get separated, and Sarah leaves the mall (gets a new job).

Act 3

Re-think everything:

Mara’s chance to go back to the orphanage has come, but she now doubts that she wants to break away from Penny and starts to re-think her whole attitude toward going back to the orphanage. Penny now being relatively secure after having been taken in by the wealthy, boozing lady realizes that she needs Mara and becomes convinced that they can be OK on their own as long as they can be together.

New plan:

Mara’s plan is simply to forget the orphanage and find Penny again, using all the wiles and survival skills she has learned from Penny. Penny decides to leave the wealthy boozing lady’s place and find Mara.

Turning point:

The
girls are found and taken back to the orphanage!

Act 4

Climax:

Mara is on the cusp of being adopted (while Penny is not). Penny and Mara have one last moment together, holding onto each other for dear life. Mara’s prospective adoptive parents waver, not able to bear the girls being separated, but it wouldn’t matter, because Mara refuses the adoption. Neither of the girls have known it, but Sarah and her fiancé have also been in the orphanage trying to work out an adoption but were told that Mara has already gotten parents. Penny is led out of the office and spots Sarah about to exit the building. She yells after her and runs after her!

Resolution:

Sarah and fiancé adopt Penny and Mara ???

[Claudia Wolfkind]

Claudia’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

Vision: To become such an excellent writer that I know every script I write will be well received by the industry, that my scripts will sell and be produced, and I’ll live the life of my dreams. To also become so empowered that fear is to be laughed at, instead I relish and look forward to pitching, meetings and much more.

What I’ve Learned Doing This Assignment: That you can fill in the blanks with your 4 Act Structure and make outlining so much easier. It also helps you see the big picture and make sure you are delivering on the promise of the premise.

Concept: A germaphobe Martha Stewart wannabe must
take over her family’s cleaning company while her father recuperates from
a heart attack and meets the love of her life, who happens to be the
world’s biggest slob <div>

Main Conflict: Her fear of
germs is destroying her life and ability to interact with people and move
on her dreams

Old
Ways:
Afraid
and hiding out
Must
wear protective gear all the time
Must
control everything
Terrified
of germs

New
Ways:
Able
to be out and meet people/do interviews
Able
to go without protective gear most of the time
Able
to be more flexible, to trust and allow others to take charge
Has
a healthy respect but no longer terrified of germs

Act 1:

Opening: Abby is walking her dog down the street, both are in disposable booties, she is also in gloves and a mask.

Does an on-camera event from home, teaching viewers about organization. It’s from her home, there’s a studio set up in her home.

Her best friend and publisher needs her to go on tour for her book that’s coming out. She’s afraid to meet people / go places because of the germs.

Inciting Incident: Her father has a heart attack. She goes to the hospital and is told she is the only one who can take on the family business (cleaning) while the father recuperates. Meets Jack at the Hospital elevator, not knowing he’s going to visit her father.

Turning Point: Goes to cleaning business, meets maids who are not welcoming, realizes that the business is in serious financial trouble, and someone is trying to take them over.

Act 2:

New plan: Abby attempts to clean things up, first in the office. Trying to deal with germs. She tries to push the maids to do more work in less time. Runs into Jack again, and again.

Plan in action: Abby attempts to do some cleaning herself to see what the maids are up against. She goes to clean Jack’s home (not knowing it’s his home). Tries to find a way out of the debt. Jack tried to help her confront her fear. She’s trying to deal with him being a slob.

Midpoint Turning Point: The maids have had enough and issue a sick out/strike, no one is cleaning. The business gets a Notice of Action for failure to pay bills.

Act 3:

Rethink everything: Abby thinks about selling the business. She can’t keep cleaning by herself. Tries to hire new people. Most are a big failure. Jack doesn’t think he’s got a problem.

New plan: Jack brings on his friend, Boomer, to look over the contracts and the accounting books and hopefully find a way out. Boomer says it’s over, best to sell as quick as possible. She gets a big job to prepare for an important formal event.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: new maids have quit. Bills are due, the lights are literally going out; clients are cancelling left and right. Abby can’t deal with Jack’s slobbery.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Abby and Jack find out Boomer is behind the takeover. Abby has to pull off the big event by herself. She goes to the maids one last time and apologizes.

Resolution: Maids feel sorry for her and help her nail the big event. Abby is given a huge cleaning contract that will 10X the size of the business. Her Dad is well enough to come back. Abby puts the lead maid (who was her nemesis) in charge.

Boomer is fired by his dad for not making the deal happen. Jack shows Abby his plans for her business.

Abby goes on her book tour, in front of TV audiences.

</div>

[Ian Greenham]

Ian Greenham’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

Vision: I am confident that completing this program will significantly enhance my screenwriting skills.

Doing this assignment I learned the technique of developing a 4-Act Structure.

· Concept: Doctors seeking a bone marrow donor for a promising young defense attorney diagnosed with leukemia discover a suitable donor, serving a life sentence in prison for a murder she claims she did not commit.

Main Conflict: Aly’s
life is threatened by a bout of leukemia, requiring the identification of a suitable bone marrow donor.

· Old Ways: Aly has no family members to celebrate with on special occasions

New Ways: Aly
has a twin sister to
celebrate with on special occasions.

Act 1:

Aly Silvers successfully defends a
client against a murder charge.
Aly is diagnosed with leukemia.
Aly needs blood transfusions and a
bone marrow transplant.

Act 2:

Nurse Jenny Levitt from the Blood
Donations Center is charged with finding a suitable donor for Aly.
Jenny meets Aly and sees a
remarkable similarity in appearance between her and a donor from the
women’s prison, Nicki Holder.
Jenny gets a donation from Nicki.

Act 3:

After receiving a donation from
Nicki, Aly recovers.
Jenny tells Aly that Nicki is her
twin sister.
Aly goes to visit Nicki and learns
that she is in prison for a murder she claims she didn’t commit.

Act 4:

Aly investigates the circumstances
of Nicki’s conviction and discovers serious flaws in the prosecution’s
case.
Aly succeeds in a court petition to
have Nicki’s conviction set aside.

[WIM: Module 2, Lesson 5: Four- Act Transformational Structure – June 8, 2022]

[Eclipse Neilson]

Eclipse Neilson 4 Act Transformational Structure

VISION: I want to be a great award-winning writer, known for my genre, who creates the most beautiful films that inspire others to feel deeply, pause, and ponder ways to make the world a better place.

WHAT I ‘VE LEARNED: I am letting this story unfold and at times it is hard and I remind myself I can all change it if and when needed. There might be more detail than I need right now but it helps me stay in the flow of this story.

TITLE: THE NUN AND THE WITCH

Genre: Inspirational / Drama

Dramatic / Buddy

Concept: An introverted Nun, destined to become a saint, bonds with a powerful Witchy Healer to achieve an ancient task – but all hell breaks out in the village in reaction to their love for each other.

Main Conflict: Two deeply spiritual women from opposite ends of the spectrum – one a Christian and the other Neo-pagan must overcome their own discrimination to join forces to fight the hatred and relentless bigotry taking over the town.

Old Ways: Priestess Lunea
Fiercely independent
trusting none –
does not really believe she is lovable (except by her 13-year-old daughter)
Deeply connected to earth-based traditions and her warrior spirit.
New ways:
Standing as a gentle leader and protector of all.
Accepts she is lovable and lets others see her deepest vulnerabilities,
Expresses her deep love for Sister Anne.

Old Ways: Sister Anne:

Mostly trapped in her subservience and haunted past.
Never speaks up or stands up to people.
Lost how to be playful humor.
Humble with fear but pure of heart.
New ways:
Standing as a gentle strong leader, a fierce protector of all the young and vulnerable, and feels like a free woman.

Old Ways: (antagonists) Priestess Lunea and Sister Anna think the other needs to learn the real meaning of the almighty to save themselves and humanity.

New Ways: Lunea and Sister Anna learn to love and respect each other’s belief and join forces to fight the true evil of humanity – hatred

Act 1:

Opening: Takes place in the starry heavens of eternity. Two silhouettes of cloaked souls (Lunea and Anne ) are sent back by the council of the universe to help save the heart of humanity from being lost forever.

Their souls move through a dark time tunnel. Flashes of the tragic endings of each of their many lives together. Beginning in an Egypt tomb where they both drink poison together and lay side by side in rest smiling. Further down the time tunnel in the (1930s) two female archeologists discover the grave but quickly rebury it realizing it must be kept a secret.

They arrive at the closed iron “Door of the Remembering”. It creaks open to the present where the two souls’ lives are now in opposite places – one being a witchy priestess trying to set up a new age shop and raise a young daughter (Athena) as a single parent. The other – is an obedient Nun caring for her beloved, ailing minister Father Sinclair and at the same time is trying to help hold together a congregation from falling into the hatred and discrimination that is emerging throughout the country.

Inciting Incident Father Sinclair ( mentor (1) ) dies leaving everything for Sister Anne to carry on. But he haunts her as a ghost wanting her to return to the essence of the ancient teachings of Jesus, warning her that an evil force is taking over the town and the planet and their church. He admits he has failed and needs her help.

Turning Point– Sister Anne heartbroken over the loss of Father Sinclair, turns to her new friend/confidant Priestess Lunea for guidance, knowing she will understand the strange hauntings by Father Sinclair. They realize they must join forces to fight the evil emerging in the town.

Act 2:

New Plan: Lunea’s spirit guide The Old One ( mentor 2) joins Father Sinclair (mentor 1) and both from the other realm guide the two women to identify the sources of evil.

Plan in action: With help of the Old One they both time travel to their past lives to find the clues they need to banish the evil. On one journey they discover a profound secret from the burning times when they both were burned as witches.

Midpoint Turning Point: The Old One performs a powerful ancient ceremony- the fusing of the souls between Lunea and Anne to fight evil. They commit to never betray each other – no matter what.

Act 3:

Rethink everything: The people in the village realize that their Nun and the Witch are friends and begin to attack Lunea and her daughter Athena. She is rejected and bullied in school. The town’s hatred grows against all of them. This forces Anne to stand in her power speak her heartfelt truth and carry out the mission Father Sinclair was never able to do.

New plan: The Old One and Father Sinclair instruct Lunea to join the church. One Sunday Sister Anne asks Lunea to share her understanding of the sacred text. The congregation walks out enraged.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift.

Lunea and Anne one night steal the church’s crucifix and carry bring it ceremoniously up the hill to stand in the arms of an ancient statue of the Mother Goddess (perhaps Mother Mary.)

The congregation finds out. Enraged they seek Anne and Lunea out. There is a shooting on the steps of the church. Both Priestess Lunea and Sister Anne take the bullet first while trying to protect Athena. But all are shot.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict.

It looks like a miracle because Athena’s bullet wound is healed by both Lunea’s and Sister Anne’s hands in front of everyone just before they collapse and die. The townspeople witness the miracle. They never really know who did the healing of Athena – But the spirits of the heavens appear at that moment as Angels and cloaked Ancients. The townspeople have an awakening.

They carry one large casket up the hill. Priestess Lunea and Sister Anne are buried together on the hill (their favorite place.)

Time tunnel appears again. We move forward to the door of the Future. It opens slightly and we see an image of Athena (Lunea’s daughter ) at the pulpit as the new preacher of the church.

The last image is a gravestone inscribed – Here rest Priestess Lunea and Saint Anne side by side. Heart by heart – Soul by soul for all eternity.

The door of time closes once again.

In the dark, a flame is lit and we see the original burial of the two Egyptian skeletons that the two female archeologists had discovered and secretly recovered.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by  Eclipse Neilson. Reason: forgot to put the list of old ways. And I have changed Sister Karina's name to Sister Anne

[Lori Lance]

Lori Lance’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

Vision: I want to be a professional screenwriter recognized by the industry as the go-to for family-friendly scripts and have multiple successful movies produced.

What I learned: While my outline seems overly simple, mapping out the big picture points helped me a great deal, and I believe each point moves the story forward and delivers on the concept.

Concept: A family hires an AI to help around the house when mom’s away for work, but the AI wants to take mom’s place permanently.

Main Conflict: An AI is hired to help around the house but becomes a threat to the family.

Old Ways: Mom did everything for everyone in the family and always put her desires last. The rest of the family takes advantage of the mom and is unappreciative.

New Ways: Mom finds common ground where she can have her dreams come to life and still be there for her family. The family learns to work together and has a new appreciation for one another.

Act 1:

Opening – It opens with an average family and their hectic morning routine. Mom warns everyone that she will soon be out of town for work and that they will have to pick up the slack.

Inciting Incident – The family agrees to hire an AI to help fill mom’s shoes instead.

Turning Point – Unbeknowst to the family, the AI wants to permanently take the mom’s place.

Act 2:

New plan – The AI is winning over the family. It’s all fun and games with the new AI, and life seems to be perfect for the family.

Plan in action – The AI makes a plot to get rid of the mom.

Midpoint Turning Point – The family discovers the AI’s evil plan.

Act 3:

Rethink everything – Maybe the AI isn’t so great.

New plan – The family decides to get rid of the AI.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift – Getting rid of the AI isn’t so easy, and now the AI is out for revenge.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict – It’s one last fight to the “death” as the family pulls together to get rid of the AI.

Resolution – With the AI destroyed, the family can find a new normal, working together for everyone’s good.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by  Lori Lance.

[Jeff Chase]

Jeffrey Alan Chase’s Transformational Structure

My vision: I will do whatever it takes to become the best screenwriter I can be – an “A” list writer who is praised for high concept ideas, great execution, a string of successful movies and is always ready to share his knowledge and do what he can to help a writer on the way up.

What I learned from doing this assignment is: It forced me to dig deep into my story and my characters, come up with the pieces of my four-act structure and lay them out so they make sense and have a good, logical flow.

Title: Shards
Genre: Mystery Thriller

Concept: A woman with no childhood memory is involved in a cat and mouse game with a cunning hypnotist, not knowing the man is responsible for both her amnesia and the death of her treasure hunter father.
Main Conflict: Sarah is desperate to remember how and where her father disappeared. When she suspects her hypnotist is manipulating her memories, she must get into his head to learn what he knows.
Sarah’s Old Ways:
o Feels overpowering guilt that she’s somehow responsible for her father’s death
o Buries herself in her job where she repairs broken pottery
o Low self-esteem
o Afraid
o Dependent on drugs and alcohol to dull her emotional pain
Sarah’s New Ways:
o She won’t allow herself to feel guilty
o She puts the pieces of herself and her life back together
o Exudes confidence
o Courageous
o Trusts her spirit to guide her, not drugs or alcohol
Act 1:
• Opening: Flashback of 6-year-old Sarah being thrown off a desert cliff at night
• Inciting Incident: Sarah receives an ancient Anasazi Indian pot to repair. It has the same design as the small shard she wears at her neck and she is triggered to learn more about the owner – hypnotist, James March.
• Turning Point: Sarah makes a commitment to March to do whatever will be necessary for her to remember how and where her father died in the desert twenty years before.
Act 2:
• New plan: Seek answers by asking questions of her 6-yeare-old self via hypnosis
• Plan in action: Allow March to control both the hypnosis and the questions
• Midpoint Turning Point: March tells Sarah that she “remembers” something that can’t be true. She suspects March is manipulating her memories for some unknown purpose
Act 3:
• Rethink everything: Trust that her memories coming back are “true” for her.
• New plan: Get into March’s head, learn what he knows and why he is manipulating her
• Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: March accuses Sarah of avoiding her issues and suggests that they should travel to the scene of the crime in the desert and see if the location triggers her to remember what she needs to.
Act 4:
• Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Sarah and March venture into the remote desert of the Navajo Reservation and re-discover the treasure cave.
• Resolution: Freed from her prison of guilt, Sarah’s memory returns. She realizes March is the one who murdered her father and tried to kill her. She must fight him and wins as March falls to his death from the same cliff that he threw her from twenty years before.

[CJ Knapp]

CJ’s 4-Act transformational Structure

Vision: I am a confident and empowered writer who embraces challenges and changes and writes highly sought-after projects with fresh and exciting ideas. I will be produced and hired to write projects that get produced.

WIL: Again – love the reminders and creating the “intent” meaning deliberately picking / delivering against the subtext and what’s below the surface.

Title: MEMORY HUNTERS

Concept:

In a future with technology to retrieve memories, a Memory Retrevalist, caught in the mind of a psychopath struggles to find a way out before he destroys her mind and kills her.

ASSIGNMENT

Concept – In a future with technology to retrieve memories, a Memory Retrevalist, caught in the mind of a psychopath struggles to find a way out before he destroys her mind and kills her.

Main Conflict – Mya discovers someone is accessing the minds of criminals illegally and is set up to silence her.

Old Ways:

Naïve

Self-centered

Afraid

Practices avoidance

Didn’t understand the true value of what they could do

New Ways:

Confident

Collaborative

Courageous

Believes in what she is doing

Understands what happened to her

Act 1:

Opening – Mya in conflict with her sister over her migraines from the brain tumor

We learn the 3 rules of memory hunters

Mya’s doctor wants to do more tests – anomalies in her brain tests

Inciting Incident – Mya meets her first “customer” an elderly woman and Mya finds out her son is abusing her.

Turning Point – Mya tells her boss she’s found some anomalies in the logs – he ignores her. His boss is in the office.

Act 2:

New plan – Mya continues to research the system anomalies – and she gets locked out of the system.

Plan in action – Mya is scheduled to enter the mind of an embezzler to get the location of the stolen money.

Her friend / partner / teammate – Comes out of the mind of a psychopath and he is wrecked emotionally and must go home.

Midpoint Turning Point – Mya is inserted into the psychopath’s mind but she thinks at first it is the embezzler so unprepared.

Act 3:

Rethink everything – Mya realizes she’s in the psychopath’s mind. And it brings back bad memories of her own.

New plan – The psychopath was expecting her – knows all about her and her previous escape –

she goes for the escape hatch

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift – The escape hatch is locked, and no one knows she’s in the wrong mind.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict – Her partner realizes what’s happened – builds a key – but Mya has to throw it away as the psychopath is on her heels.

Resolution – Mya uses her memories, her pain and the memories and the pain of the other victims in the psychopath’s mind to break the psychopath’s mind and escape.

Mya uncovers who is making deals with the criminals and who set her up

Mya’s boss is a red herring – it was her boss’s boss – and Mya breaks her mind (?) not sure on this part

Mya confronts the son who is abusing his mother in the beginning and gets her justice.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by  CJ Knapp.

[Rebecca Sukle]

Rebecca Sukle’s 4-Act Transformational Structure

Vision: My vision for my success from this program is to be the go-to writer for producers looking for incredible scripts for successful movies enjoyed by a vast viewing audience.

What I Learned: I learned that by using this method of filling in the blanks you can quickly build an four act structure with good pacing and intriguing cliffhangers for each act. Going over it a second time allows you to add other big picture points that pop up in the reading.

Concept: To prevent coal and iron police from massacring men, women, and children working a picket line, a WWI Silver Star recipient must, without detection, execute the rabid commander who violently dominates their community.

Main Conflict: Ragman discovers ways to redirect his anger into cunning and self-restraint to kill the Commander and not get caught.

Old Ways: Done with war and killing, short tempered, worried about loosing control, avoidence, self-centered, not a joiner.

New Ways: Controlled, focused, confronts evil, shows compassion, asks for help, throws rocks to defuse his anger.

Act 1:

Opening: 1917 Battlefield in France, Ragman sees a morter blow up his brother. Later, he picks off 16 enemy soldiers but leaves the 17th man, their officer, remain alive.

Ten years later, Ragman, a family man and mine mechanic, debates walking out with the other miners in solidaity with a UMWA called strike. His gut tells him the strike will lead to war, and he is done with war.

Inciting Incident: An army of Coal and Iron Police invade the town and the brutal Commander, Bucholtz, violently dominates the community.

Turning Point: Buchlotz savagely whips Ragman’s brother, a carpenter who leads the miners with building barracks before the upcomming evictions. Ragman promises to take over and complete the project that will embed him into the union war.

ACT 2:

New plan: Ragman enlists his radical younger brother Albert, ex-Marine boxing champ, to help finish the barracks. Whenever, Bucholtz harrasses Ragman to provoke a fight, but heeds his wife’s advice to reign in his temper so not to be arrested or killed.

Plan in action: Bucholtz conviscates tarpaper rolls and other supplies; Ragman and Albert improvise to finish the housing on time.

Midpoint Turning Point: Bucholtz orders his men to brutilize the younger brother of Ragman’s wife Ludie, orders one of his men to “take” her younger sister, and he rapes Ludie. Ludie and her sister cover up the attack but Ludie becomes depressed. Ragman wants to confront Bucholtz but his wife and mother talk him out of it.

ACT 3:

Rethink everything: Ragman helps Ludie’s father rent a house on a farm and sells his invention so he can move Ludie and his sons away from Russellton. The carpenter recovers and leads barracks building in another town.

New Plan: Bucholtz arrests the carpenter on company property, whips him, and throws him in jail. Ragman and Albert break him out but two weeks later he dies from the flu.

Midpoint Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: Albert gets sick from the same illness and unable to work. Harmarville miners move into unfinished barracks. Conrad, he young man ordered to rape Ludies younger sister, shows up looking for her and declares his love. Ragman chastises him for knocking her up, and learns Bucholtz impregnated the girl and raped Ludie. He asks Conrad to spy on Bucholtz.

Albert recovers and plans to lead a protest in Russellton; Conrad informs Ragman that Bucholtz plans to kill Albert first and massacre the picket line. Ragman asks for help from his friend Anthony who works at union headquarters. Ragman must kill Bucholtz to prevent the killings. Together they craft a plan for him to do it silently and without detection with Anthony as backup.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Albert trained the pickets on peaceful protest; but, Anthony replaces him. Ragman, disquised, hides in the crowd his knife ready. An unsteady Bucholtz roars in on his horse as the crowd pushes Ragman away. Bucholtz aims his gun at Anthony, the shot a signal to open fire.

Resolution: Ragman grabs a rock and throws it at Bucholtz but hits the horse. The horse rears, the gun goes off, frightened the horse dumps Bucholtz, tramples him, and bolts away through the crowd. Shocked, police and protesters freeze still and silent. Ragman slips out of his disquise undetected. The crowd cheers; Bucholtz is dead. Problem solved.

[Linda Anderson]

Linda Anderson’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

Vision for your success from this program:

Audiences around the world view and love my meaningful screenplays—one of the most satisfying and energizing accomplishments of my life.

What I learned doing this assignment is sticking with the high points gave me more confidence in the structure.

· Concept: The true story of an ex-cop with PTSD and an abandoned dog with BIG issues who team up to bring light into their darkest places.

· Main Conflict: In this dual journey buddy movie, Allen and his dog, Leaf, are each challenged with emotional damage from their pasts as they face fears of Allen’s death or disability and the possibility of Leaf going back to the animal shelter or being euthanized.

· Old Ways, Allen, protagonist: Distrustful, introverted, emotionally damaged

· New Ways, Allen, protagonist: Open, resilient, optimistic, in charge of creating the life he wants for himself and his family

Act 1:

Opening: Allen, as a police officer, is ambushed by a criminal
aiming a gun at his head.
Inciting
Incident: Allen’s doctor tells him he
has a brain aneurysm that could burst at any time and requires brain
surgery.

Turning
Point: Allen commits to the surgery
even though his father was debilitated for the rest of his life with a
stroke from the same condition.

Act 2:

New
plan: Allen stuffs down his emotions
with methodical plans, paperwork, and coping with Leaf, the severely
emotionally damaged, abandoned dog he’s recently adopted to prepare for
the possibility of his death.

Plan
in action: Allen creates a “memo” to tell
his wife, Linda, about the condition and need for brain surgery and a Manual to show how to do everything with bills, etc. in case he dies.

Midpoint
Turning Point: Leaf and Allen are bonding,
but the dog turns their home into a war zone, growls at strangers, bites
the groomer, and risks animal control taking him away from his home or even,
being euthanized.

Act 3:

Rethink
everything: Allen has to face his fears
and emotions and realizes he has very little control over what’s happening
with him, the dog, and his wife’s reactions to the situation. </div><div>

New
plan: Allen starts opening up to Linda and looking at life from Leaf’s point of view to come to a greater
understanding of how to survive all this.

Turning
Point: Huge failure / Major shift:
Allen has a vivid, detailed dream that no one will give him a ticket to
The Building of Life. He shares his dream with Linda in Leaf’s presence
with startling consequences the couple misinterprets. Allen is told he
also now has a blood clot aimed at his heart that could kill him at any
time.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate
expression of the conflict:
Moments before Allen’s surgery, in his inner vision, Allen sees Leaf
giving him his ticket to the Building of Life. The surgery is a nail-biter—much
more involved and taking longer than expected with a Code Blue call.

Resolution: Leaf becomes a key player in Allen’s touch-and-go healing
and recovery, as he opens up emotionally and grows to trust Linda’s
and Leaf’s love for him.

[Leona Heraty]

Leona Heraty’s 4-Act Transformational Structure

My Vision: To be the best family comedy screenwriter in the industry and have my many scripts produced into fabulous movies!

What I learned doing this assignment is…the four-act structure is much easier to use because it breaks down the second act into two parts, and this makes the plot much easier to write.

Concept: A cowardly teenage tour guide leads her group in the wrong direction and they end up at an abandoned country club overrun by giant termites.

Title: Tara vs. the Termo-Lytes!
Genre: Comedy (family)

Main Conflict: The termites are mutant, and they get bigger with anything they eat, and they’re intent on eating Tara and the members of her tour group.

TARA

Old Ways:

· Bumbling

· No sense of direction

· No self-confidence

· Scaredy cat

New Ways:

· New sense of direction

· Total self-confidence

· Fearless

· Brave

4-Act Transformation Structure

Act 1:

Opening:
A bottle of green solution
falls onto the floor, breaks into bits. The fluid flows towards termites
who are eating the base of a cabinet. Tara is driving with her Google Maps
on, giving her directions. Her cell goes dead and she’s stuck. She
makes a wrong turn and ends up going the wrong way on a one-way street.
She gets pulled over by a cop she knows and is given a ticket.

Inciting
Incident: Tara’s Mom and Dad need an
extra driver, so they rope her into being a tour guide for their home
garden tour, even though she has other plans and doesn’t want to do it.

Turning
Point: On the garden tour, Tara takes
a wrong turn, they go in the wrong direction, then her car runs out of
gas. It starts to storm and Clara points them in another direction, which
after a while leads them to nowhere.

Act 2:

New
plan: Tara says she remembers this
area as a kid and that there’s an old lane up ahead they should turn on,
and it’s a short-cut to an abandoned mansion she went to as a kid on
Halloween.


Plan
in action: They end up taking the wrong
turn and end up at an abandoned country club. The first entrance is
boarded up, so Tara suggests they try different entrance points. Each one
is locked…until she finds an unlocked door that leads to an old locker
room that leads to an office that looks like an old laboratory.

Midpoint
Turning Point: They hear horrible loud noises
outside the office laboratory…they open the door to an empty outdoor lap pool
where giant mutant termites see them and start to move towards their
hiding place.

Act 3:

Rethink
everything: Tara says the mutant termites
must have been concocted by the green solution on the workroom table. If
they try to hide, the Termo-Lytes will eat them! They’re trapped, so they
must fight back and kill the mutants.

New
plan: Tara notices that the
Termo-Lytes eat anything but they don’t eat avoid the palm fronds from the
palm trees. When a palm frond falls on a Termo-Lyte, it shrivels up and
melts. She says they should lure the Termo-Lytes near the pull until them
fall in and then throw balloons at them filled with rain water and cut up
palm fronds.

Turning
Point: Huge failure / Major shift: Jebbie,
a child, is captured by the biggest Termo-Lyte who puts him on a table for
their feast, as they prepare to eat them at a dinner!

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate
expression of the conflict:
Clara reveals she owns the abandoned country club and she created the green
fluid to find an eco-friendly way to get rid of the termites, but it made
them into giant mutants. The group gets busy making the water balloon
until Clara and several others are picked up by the Termo-Lytes and put on
the table for dinner.

Tara starts pelting the mutants and one by one, they
turn and chase her to the pool. One by one, they fall in, and then Tara
pelts them with more balloons, but it’s not enough to stop them. So she
climbs a tree above the pool and starts cutting off palm fronts and tree limbs
that fall into the pool. It kills all of the Termo-Lytes except for one,
that grows up into the top of the tree, where Tara shoves a giant palm
frond in its nose and kills it!


Resolution:
Clara reveals she owns the
abandoned country club and she created the green fluid to find an
eco-friendly way to get rid of the termites, but it made them into giant
mutants. The storm subsides and they finally get cell service and Tara
calls her Mom and Dad to come and pick them up.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by  Leona Heraty.

[Tracy Lawson]

I will do whatever it takes to become a successful novelist and screenwriter with multiple successful movies produced.

I feel completely confident creating the structure of my story.

Concept: A woman bringing supplies to her husband at Valley Forge agrees to carry an urgent message for General Washington. Now an assassin is hunting her, trying to get the message back.

Main Conflict: Anna sets off for Valley Forge with confidence, but spends the early part of her journey making mistake after mistake—and she learns from them. When she is pursued by the assassin who tries to steal the message for General Washington, she relies on her recent experience and the survival skills she has developed.

Old Ways:

<div>
Usually accepted
the dominance of her elders</div><div>

Dressed as a
woman

Orphaned as a
child, indentured servant as a teen

Did not fit in
with planter class

Married for love
rather than for material comfort

Hears about the
war secondhand, from newspapers and returning soldiers

</div>

New Ways:

<div>
Defies
convention and her elders’ disapproval
</div><div>

Will do anything
to keep her children from being orphaned the way she was

Puts herself in
harm’s way

Travels 200
miles alone on horseback, to a place she has never been

Dresses as a man

Takes on the
responsibility of carrying an urgent message to General Washington

Witnesses and influences
history in the making

</div>
<div>

Act 1:
Anna spends the
Christmas holidays with her uncle’s family, missing her husband, Benjamin,
who is away with the army in the same unit as Anna’s three brothers.
Her brother-in-law
Thomas comes to visit. He has deserted from the army to bring home the
body of the youngest brother-in-law Baylis, who died of smallpox.
Anna receives a
letter from Benjamin which says two of Anna’s brothers are ill, and they
all lack sufficient food and clothing in winter camp at Valley Forge.

</div>

Act 2:

Anna canvasses for
blankets and clothes for the soldiers, but fears any aid she sends will
not reach her husband in time, if at all.
She decides she
must travel to Valley Forge and deliver the supplies herself, and defies the incredulous reactions of her family. On the road,
she is presumed to be a doxy, and accused of being a spy.
A congressman at
York reveals to Anna there is a conspiracy against General Washington
which could cause the United States to lose the war.

Act 3:

Anna agrees to
carry the message to Valley Forge and deliver it to the general herself
Though the
congressman assured Anna no one would suspect a woman of carrying anything
important, the next day, a man stops her on the road and claims the congressman
changed his mind and wants the letter back. When she refuses, he pursues
her.
Anna pulls out
all the stops to evade the man. She hides, she bribes a ferryman to take
her across a river ahead of others to give her a head start. On the last
leg of her trip, she stops at a field hospital, fearing her brothers are
ill inside. The assassin catches up to her, and as she races the last few
miles in the dark, she is thrown from her mount, and loses precious time.
When she finally gets back on the road, she is turned about and traveling
the wrong way. She rides right into the clutches of her pursuer.

Act 4:

They race the
final leg of the journey to Valley Forge. When she arrives at the picket
line the soldiers demand she state her business, and they don’t believe
anyone is pursuing her. They accuse her of being a spy.
As the soldiers
escort her into camp to the commander in chief’s headquarters under guard,
her husband happens by. With him by her side, she explains what happened,
they proceed together to see Washington. He accepts the letter but lays it
aside, unread. He is polite but reserved and gives no indication that he
believes Anna’s story.
During Anna’s
stay in camp, she nurses her brothers, delivers the supplies, and learns
Washington did read her letter and used the intelligence to prepare for a
visit from the Board of War, and thwart the plans of his enemies.
On the way home,
Anna witnesses the Marquis de Lafayette express his loyalty to Washington
and crush the final plans of Horatio Gates to usurp Washington’s position.

[Aaron Can Hoff]

Aaron’s 4-Act Transformational Structure

MY VISION: I am going to work harder than anyone to be an incredible writer who the industry seeks for projects that have consistent commercial success.

What I learned from doing this assignment is that by laying out this journey, I now have the bones of the structure for an outline.

CONCEPT: A black tow truck driver gets out on probation after being setup by a dirty Sheriff and begins to expose years of corruption and racist murders committed by the lawman, things he would kill to keep hidden.

MAIN CONFLICT: Protag desperately tries to expose the crimes of the corrupt Sheriff while the lawman keeps his iron fist around the town and his secrets hidden.

OLD WAYS: Prisoner mentality – go along to get along. Compliant with or backs down from authority. Does as he’s told. Accepts things as they are.

NEW WAYS: Fury, Defiance, Contempt, Accepts nothing, Won’t back down. Would rather die than see the Sheriff get away with these crimes.

ACT I:

Opening: Pro’s last day in prison, he’s respectful to guards, takes orders, has no questions about anything, does as he’s told. He’s pulled over on the way home from jail, expired license, he‘s arrested and goes right back to jail – he keeps calm, calms his family down, doesn’t want to rock the boat.

Inciting Incident: His uncle gives him a beat-up tow truck and signs over his LLC to him. He’s now a small business owner. His biggest contract is the Sheriff’s department.

Turning Point: He discovers evidence that the deputies are breaking the law.

ACT II:

Reaction: Pro freaks out and goes to uncle. He ends up putting the evidence back where it would logically be found by the deputies.

New plan: The plan starts to form in his head that he will conduct his own investigation into the Sheriff and his deputies. It goes nowhere because he’s passive/submissive. He’s so bad at it that the deputies get suspicious of him. List of attempts doing the old way & each failure.

Midpoint Turning Point: Pro has nephew who is an up-and-coming HS football receiver – TP is when a deputy shoots kid in the leg right before workouts with college scouts – tells him to send a message to his uncle.

ACT III:

Rethink everything: Pro starts changing to new ways – breaking laws, etc.

New plan: He’s pissed – gets smart and seeks help from others to start new/improved plan. Starts recon on enemies, figures them out.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: The deputies kidnap his nephew.

ACT IV:

New Plan: Pro goes full press – he kidnaps, tortures, bombs and burns cops and their families – an eye for an eye for his nephew. Raids their houses, cabins, sneaks into the Sheriff’s station. He is gathering intelligence on what has happened to all the other missing black folk of the town. He slowly gets answers, and they all point to the Sheriff.

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: On the voting day for Mayor, all the dominos that Pro set up start to fall: the State Police arrest a couple deputies, Pro blows up the Sheriff’s secret stash of millions, he kidnaps Antag’s wife and then swaps her for him. He begins to torture Antag until he gives up where his nephew is. And when he finds him, he finds every other person that crossed the Sheriff or his deputies in the past 25 years, all buried in town the entire time.

Resolution: The one clean deputy, a Mexican Marine, is now the Sheriff. He’s an ally to Pro, understands full well what Pro had to do, and isn’t too bothered by it at all. Pro is the new King of the town! An inspiration to all the black townspeople, who begin to take on the Pro’s new ways – they’re more sovereign, confident, bold and stand up for themselves.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by  Aaron Can Hoff.

[Pat Fitzgerald]

Pat Fitzgerald’s 4 Act transformation structure

Vision: I have the courage and confidence to write contest winning screenplays and will go on to have my scripts optioned and produced.

What I Learned: This is a great way to create a story line, and if I allowed myself to be fluid and the confidence in my creativity all the blanks got filled in. I’m also allowing myself to not get married to any of these ideas. Better ones my come in the future.

Concept: Planning to bilk geezers out of their money two aging strippers book a tour in assisted living homes, only to find true love for the first time ever.

Main Conflict: Will they continue with their “on the surface” life, taking money from whomever, whenever, or will they finally realize their happiness isn’t totally dependent on get rich schemes?

Jaki Sue’s old ways:

Working crappy low-paying jobs to pay the bills.

Conning men into thinking she’s attracted to them, for a chance to get at their money.

Weary of her lifestyle.

Believes that one big score will be what it takes to get her out of her doldrums.

New Ways:

Settles for comfort over riches.

Is able to accept and give true love.

Is content within her own skin.

Lives an honest life.

Act One:

Opening: Jaki Sue frantically works an online transcription job, hoping to make her weekly financial goal so she can make a payment on her overdue mortgage.

Inciting Incident: Jaki Sue’s roommate, Judee, comes home with the news that they can make a halfway decent amount of money dressing up like clowns to entertain at an assisted living home.

Turning Point: In the midst of their lackluster clown act a nursing home resident, Russel;, blasts some raunchy music on his iPod, and Jaki Sue and Judee break into a seductive – as seductive as clowns can be – dance. Russell hands Jaki Sue $50 for brightening his day.

Act Two:

New Plan: Jaki Sue and Judee plot to take their clown act to various nursing and assisted living homes, thinking they may be able to sneak private dances for some residents and earn some substantial tips.

Plan in Action: In the midst of the gals’ act gaining popularity, Jaki Sue feels guilty about conning residents out of their money. And Jaki Sue can’t stop thinking about Russell.

Midpoint Turning Point: A local news channel does a story about the gals’ act, interviewing some residents who say they gave the gals substantial tips to take it all off.

Act Three:

Rethink Everything: Jaki Sue visits Russell, and there is an attraction she can’t deny. But is she attracted to him or the money she thinks he has.

New Plan: Russell admits that he hates living in assisted living, and Jaki Sue invites him to stay with her, for substantial rent.

Turning Point: Russell’s family interferes, informing him that since they have is financial power of attorney, if he leaves assisted living, they will cut him off from his retirement funds.

Act Four:

Climax: Realizing she cares more deeply for Russell than she does for his money, Jaki Sue confronts Russell’s family with her honest feelings for their father. She’d find a way to care for him regardless of his financial situation.

Resolution: Jaki Sue and Russell elope, and much to her surprise he turned his financial power of attorney over to her.

[Veronica Turowski]

Veronica Turowski’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

My Vision: I want to be a successful writer who writes several scripts a year and sells them to producers who are eager to make my vision a reality by bringing my scripts to completion so everyone can watch my movies on the big screen.

What I learned from doing this assignment is putting in what you think works and then filling in the blanks made the process easier. Stepping away numerous times truly helped when I got stuck.

Title: Justice from the Grave

Genre: Thriller

Concept: While at a funeral, a professional mourner is told by the deceased they were murdered, but when no one believes the mourner, she decides to find and stop the serial killer before he kills his next victim, only to discover she is a ghost and is the mother of the serial killer.

Main Conflict: Eppsa must find and stop a serial killer, only to discover she is a ghost, and the serial killer is her son.

Old Ways:

· Always worried and searches for her son, Hayden, who ran away as a teen.

· She thinks mourning at funerals helps her cope with her depression.

· She’s lonely and can’t find inner peace since her husband died and her son ran away.

· Doesn’t have self-confidence and feels invisible.

New Ways:

· Hunts for the serial killer.

· People/ghosts go to her for help.

· Discovers she’s a ghost. Has the confidence to do the right thing.

· Torn that she must stop her serial killer son but knows she must, or he will keep killing. She kills for justice.

Opening: A man is murdered. Eppsa wakes up in an ER chair. It was only a dream. She pulls the curtain back. There’s a code blue. Doctors and nurses run for a room. She sees the spirit of a man leave the room they just entered. He disappears. She leaves the hospital.

Inciting Incident: While she and the other mourners surround an open grave, she notices the ghost of the deceased in the distance. Lonnie is the ghost from the hospital. He tells her he didn’t kill himself; he was murdered by a serial killer. He can’t rest until the killer is stopped and then tells her who the serial killer will murder next.

Turning Point: She reads an obituary. The man in the obituary is the same one Lonnie told her would die.

Act 2:

Reaction: She is shocked Lonnie knew the next victim.

The Plan: She contacts the police. They don’t seem to care, and they tell her to stop pranking them (it’s because they only hear static). She goes back to the cemetery to find Lonnie.

Turning Point 2: MIDPOINT: While waiting at the police station to report a serial killer, she overhears cops talking about people dying from TikTok challenges. She sees her son outside the police station. She runs after him, but he gets in a car and drives away.

Act 3:

Rethink: She talks to a counselor for advice and to get her medications changed.

Turning Point/Midpoint: Lonnie tells her another victim will die in two days. He thinks the victims are people who hurt the serial killer in his childhood.

Eppsa puts a list of the names together who have died. She remembers these were her son’s friends in high school. She fears Hayden will be a victim, too. She needs to stop the killer before Hayden becomes a victim.

Act 4:

Climax: Eppsa does research for something. A headline catches her eye. It says, “Husband kills wife in a murder-suicide. The beloved husband was discovered to be a serial killer. Their teenage son was taken in by a church member.”

She goes back to the cemetery. On the front of the headstone, both of their names are on it with the same death date. She realizes she’s dead.

Eppsa knows where her son is located. She does something and lures him back to their old house, which is now revealed as abandoned and falling apart. Somehow, she kills Hayden to save the world from a serial killer.

In the final scene, Hayden’s wife and son await his arrival for his surprise birthday party.

[Kelly Joseph]

Kelly’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

I want to be an empowered writer who consistently produces salable scripts.

I learned to empower myself and just fill in the blanks without criticism.

Concept: A troubled teenager is taken to a boot camp to change her behavior but learns that the camp is run by aliens who create copies of them then kill the teens.

Main Conflict: Quinn battles the aliens.

Old Ways: looks for fights, confrontational, self centered

New Ways: focused, selfless, fighting for a cause

Act 1:

Opening: Quinn parties like a rock star comes home and tells parents off.

Inciting Incident: After attending another party Quinn is kidnapped by maked individuals.

Turning Point: Quinn is stuck at a teenage boot camp for troubled youth and there is no way out.

Act 2:

New plan: Quinn notices that things at the camp don’t seem to add up. The aliens make great food and have engaging reflective activities that seduce the teens.

Plan in action: Quinn tries to warn others but her peers think she’s nuts

Midpoint : Turning Point: Quinn witnesses the alien transforming into one of the teens and killing them. The aliens begin watching Quinn’s every move.

Act 3:

Rethink everything: Quinn figures out the alien plan.

New plan: Quinn convinces some of the teens to leave with her. But some of the teens still think Quinn is nuts.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: Quinn’s plan works but the aliens learn and strike back by doing a mass transformation slaughter.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Quinn battles the aliens and outsmarts the leader.

Resolution: Quinn returns home a changed teen but no one believes her story.

[Terrie Shaft]

Terrie’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

I write screenplays that get turned into crowd pleasing successful films using a process that allows me to enjoy my equestrian hobby.

What I learned doing this assignment is really reinforcing what I already know – read of the assignment early (like before sent an email), draft next day, revise. This is not great but iterations help.

Concept: A US Marshall is charged with getting a conspiracy theorist into witness protection, but it’s her ex and his crazy theories are true.

Paige:

Old ways: clinical, remote, avoids interacting with people due to inability to trust
New ways: able to trust and connect with her peers

Old ways: paranoid but gullible, angry, self absorbed

James/Jason
Old ways: paranoid but gullible, angry, self absorbed
New ways: sees how his beliefs in conspiracy theories has harmed his life

ACT 1

Opening: Paige at work. Congratulated on some work accomplishment by her peers. everyone shares great weekend plans, she invited to drinks to celebrate. Nope, she’s getting caught up on paperwork – note: somehow need to make clear her profession

James/Jason in a car escorted by a US Marshall. Someone he’s not followed the rules, maybe left custody to hide on his own. Claims he was being stalked it’s not safe. Told we checked. Had round the clock protection. As he’s escorted to a grand jury hearing shots are fired. He’s whisked away to safety. I told you so to the US Marshall

Turning point:Paige in her apartment. Late 10 or so. Pulls something out of the freezer and tosses in the microwave. Phone rings – her boss. She’s needed for WITSEC. She argues, she’s behavioral, makes no sense. This guy’s a bit paranoid, maybe they need behavioral to get this guy to play by the rules.

ACT 2

New Plan: Paige will be in charge of James/Jason’s protection.

Plan in action: Paige meets James, but he’s really Jason. They dated when she was a police officer. So she refuses, an ex, can’t be okay.

He insists. If she’s protecting him, he won’t testify. He’ll lose protection. Then he won’t need it. The case is against domestic terrorists. James/Jason spouts conspiracy theories every chance he gets.

She’s pressured into taking the assignment, it’s important.

James come onto her when they are alone. She stops him.

Midpiont Turning Point: Their cover gets blown, another attempt on James/Jason. Paige has to admit his paranoia is reasonable because almost no one knew where they were. So they are on the run, just them.

ACT 3

Rethink everything: Paige has to admit his paranoia is reasonable because almost no one knew where they were. Paige someone on the inside must be setting them up

New Plan: just her and James/Jason. Find a place to be safe, but cut themselves off from the Marshall service. Leave the current district, go to the district where she was first started. As they travel to the new location we get some backstory, how his paranoia almost got her fired – that’s when she left him. Somewhere in here they sleep together.

Paige realizes that some of James’ conspiracy stories are actually true. She sets information traps to lure out the person who is after them.

Series of challenges getting to the ‘safe’ location –car accident? Get lost? Brainstorm this.

ACT 4:

The information traps Paige come to fruition.

I need to figure out who it is, what’s the conspiracy, who is setting them up and it’s consistent with one of his conspiracy theories.

Face off: Paige sets up the villain. James tries to escape Paige even though he trusts her he doesn’t trust the people she works for. Paige manages to get him to testify. Outs someone in the government whose been helping the domestic terrorists.

Ends: He’s settled into a new life (doing what?)

Paige goes back to her chosen profession. She agrees to go out with her peers, the paperwork can wait.

[Robert Smith]

BOB SMITH’s 4-ACT TRANSFORMATIONAL JOURNEY

My vision for success after this program:

I want to become a great writer who delivers entertaining, informative, and uplifting movie scripts that sell and get produced.

What I learned from doing this assignment is…?

Working through the 4 Act Transformational Structure is a good discipline to make sure that the concept and characters are working.

TITLE: “Angels in Gangland.”

GENRE: Gangster Comedy.

L

CONCEPT: A slain Cosa Nostra mobster (Lou Tasca) cannot get into the World to Come because of his life of crime. His only hope to redeem himself is to do an act of nearly impossible supreme good, namely, persuade the wiseguy who killed him (Carlo Vizzini) to quit the mob, trash his oath of silence about mob activity, surrender to the FBI. and enter the Witness Protection Program.

Four Act Tranformational Structure

ACT 1 1-30 Pages

Opening The killing of Gangster Lou Tasca by friend Carlo Vizzini.

Inciting incident Lou can’t get into the World to Come because of his life of crime

But his spirit guide Rabbi Solomon (a Rabbi Lou had known in life) gives him a mission to wipe his slate clean: Persuade his killer to quit the mob and join the FBI Witness Protection Program. A collateral good: Do the same for Sam, Rabbi Solomon’s son, who is also a friend and associate of their crime family.

Turning Point: Lou’s old ways are his gangster culture: he wants revenge on Carlo not his redemption although that is Lou’s only ticket to the world to come. He also think’s it is “Mission hopeless” to try and persuade a wiseguy to turn rat. Yet, he is moved to undertake this mission under Rabbi Sol’s guidance that nothing is hopeless.

ACT 2: 10-30 pages.

New Plan: Too enthusiastically, and against Solomon’s counsel, Lou appears to Carlo and makes Carlo look insane to their boss Tony Rizzo who already (rightly) suspects Carlo and Sam of selling drugs and now sees Carlo talking to Lou (invisible to all but Carlo). Tony believes both Carlo and Lou should be executed. (Tony gave Carlo the order to kill Lou in Act 1.)

Turning Point: Lou sees he made a mistake appearing to Carlo and put Carlo’s life and Lou’s own mission in jeopardy. So, Lou a new way of approaching his mission, namely, following Solomon’s guidance. And think in terms of Carlo’s well-being. and says he will follow Solomon’s gujidance.

ACT 3: 20-30 pages

Rethinking everything: After Tony asks Russian crime boss Oleg Oransky to have his

ex-KGB goons to spy on Carlo and Sam to confirm they dealing

drugs – a step toward killing them, which accelerates the time Lou has to persuade Carlo, and by extension, Sam to go into

Witness Protection, An added complication, Sherrie (Carlo’s fiancé) calls in a spirit medium to release Carlo from Lou’s spirit.

Rabbi Solomon now trains Lou in spirit possession of Carlo to chase the medium out of the situation so that their mission for Carlo and Sam may proceed unhindered.

A. Multiple Insights: Lou realizes he must have good will with Carlo, and be an affirming spirit not a demon (a dybbuk.) In other words,

B. Lou more than ever sees that the Old Ways of revenge don’t work.

C. Lou and Solomon must up their game and get to Tony before Tony gets to Carlo and Sam and kills them.

Turning Point 3: All is lost, because Tony is expected to kill Carlo and Sam.

ACT 4: 25 pp.

All is lost (cont’d) Tony gets support from Oleg. It appears that Tony is

ready to kill Sam and Carlo.

CLIMAX: Oleg however turns out to be an FBI informant and warns his

case officers that Carlo and Sam’s lives are in danger.

This creates the situation in which Sam, Carlo, Sherrie are persuaded to surrender to the FBI and even Tony is persuaded.

RESOLUTION: Lou and Solomon celebrate that not only Carlo and Sam but with all the other ‘hoods turned informants’ they had a jackpot of souls. Lou gets his entrance into the world to come (acted out as getting a Metrocard to use to get home, to the Bronx.

Although, he alludes to himself and Solomon doing this kind of mission again. They’ll be a team called “The Better Angels.”

• This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by  Robert Smith.

[Paul Mahoney]

Paul Mahoney’s 4 Act Transformation Structure

Vision: My vision is to be a successful full-time writer with a good steady income, who constantly learns, enjoys life, creates employment for others and brings joy, fun, fulfilment, health, happiness, inspiration & an attitude of gratitude to my partner and others.

What I learned doing this assignment is writing something, anything can help move things along. I definitely don’t know what will occur when, but I know that I have to layer in the sub-plots of the relationships with his Ex and also his therapist.

Concept: God grants a young boy his wish to be the world’s fastest at something, unfortunately for him he is destined to be the world’s fastest ejaculator.

Major story hook: When a young boy gets what he wished for it turns his life into a nightmare and he wants to kill himself.

Main Conflict: Getting Dan to look past what others have or don’t have and to focus on his inner self to find true happiness.

Old Ways: Depending on God (others) for making his life better, unconfident, scared of women and relationships, embarrassed.

New Ways: Knows his happiness depends on himself, confident, not scared of anything, proud

3. Fill in each of these with the answers you have right now.

Act 1:

Opening: Fat Kid watching other kids win races, be popular etc.Inciting Incident: Kid Loses and is embarrassed at a foot race.Turning Point: Kid prays to God to make him the fastest at something, anything. As an adult his life is hell and so he…

Act 2:

New plan: Decides to commit suicide.Plan in action: Tries to hang himself from a pipe in his apartment. It breaks, he falls knocking himself out. Ends up in a psychiatric ward. When he realises where he is he decides to try and OD on pills.Midpoint Turning Point: In the psychiatric ward he tries to OD on pills and then… he sees God.

Act 3:

Rethink everything: Dan realises that if he wants to be better, he must change the way he thinks.New plan: He tries to get a lobotomy.Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: They won’t let him do a lobotomy.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict – Has to choose between Ex or Therapist.Resolution – Chooses to be happy. Maybe that’s not being in a relationship right now. Maybe that’s me being comfortable with who I am before I can even think of committing to a relationship, understand?

4. Once you have created the 4-Act Structure for your Protagonist, go back over it to see if there is any big picture points you need to add.

Yes, need to add in the subplots with the ex, therapist, best friend and landlord.

[Jaelle Dragomir]

Jaelle’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

My Vision: I’m an award-winning screenwriter that is sought after by people in the industry, who creates scripts that change lives to bring a new vision to the world, and I’m richly rewarded.

What I learned: a lot

Concept: Madam Blavatsky, a brilliant Theosophist, creates the perfect human to save humanity, but the perfect human makes life miserable for everyone.

Main Conflict: Madam Blavatsky wants Maitreya to become the perfect human, however, Maitreya refuses .

Old Ways: Publicly wants to stand out, seeks attention of media, values self based on what others think

New Ways: is content to be her true self, understands her place in the universe is no less nor more than anyone else.

Act 1:

Opening: MB studies large volumes of ancient texts and confers with other Theosophists. She searches for the alchemy that will create the perfect human.
Inciting Incident: Turning Point: The “masters” that she evokes through her psychic abilities instruct her to find Maitreya.

Act 2:

New plan: Get media attention. Search Asia.
Plan in action: the search is on
Midpoint Turning Point: the boy is found.

Act 3:

Rethink everything: Maitreya is obnoxious; not the perfect Human.
New plan: Get rid of Maitreya and start again
Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift; The world is in a greater mess than it was before. All is lost. Humanity will end.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Maitreya confronts Helena with his truth.
Resolution: Everything is actually fixed.

[Amechi Ngwe]

Amechi’s 4 Act Transformational Structure
MY VISION


I am going to be in the top 1% of action/comedy writers in the industry who writes major action films.
What I learned doing this assignment is the best way to negate the old ways and push the protagonist towards the new ways is just to have the old ways fail to do what the Protagonist needs them to do.
CONCEPT: An obsessed fan of a Superhero works his way into the superhero’s life and clashes with the superhero’s sidekick.
MAIN CONFLICT: Kanaan and Rhapsody compete with each other for the favor of the Superhero and Rhapsody’s mentor, Blackout.
Old Ways:
Afraid of the city
A nobody
Victim
Oppressed
Gives up easily
New Ways:
Knows he is dangerous
A feared superhero
In control
Determined

Act 1:
• Opening – Rhapsody is attacked by gang members, but beats them up. She enters an apartment and sees it is filled with items related to the Superhero Blackout. Kanaan lives in a rough part of the city by choice and his father tells him that he is not making a difference. His family lives in the suburbs but his choice is to live where it’s more dangerous, precisely because it’s where Blackout protects. On his walk home, he is forced to run from a criminal gang.
• Inciting Incident – Blackout is injured saving Kanaan by a new type of weapon that a criminal is carrying, and Kanaan saves his life, before Rhapsody has to intervene and save Kanaan.
• Turning Point – Kanaan has earned Blackout’s trust by helping to find out about the weapon and Blackout allows Kanaan to see his hideout, despite Rhapsody’s protests.
Act 2:
• New plan – Kanaan works with Blackout to see if the city’s billionaire Mayor is involved with developing the weapon that can hurt Blackout.
• Plan in action – Kanaan goes to work with the Mayor. Kanaan learns self-defense from Rhapsody and Blackout. Kanaan builds a friendship with Blackout. Learns from Blackout’s mentor/butler how to take care of him. Rhapsody doesn’t let Kanaan come out to fight crime with them.
• Midpoint Turning Point – Blackout’s Mentor/butler is killed. It appears random but Kanaan is sure the Mayor had something to do with it. Kanaan takes over the mentor/butler’s duties. But Rhapsody threatens him and tells him that she’s looking into his past.
Act 3:
• Rethink everything – Kanaan tries to keep his past secret from Rhapsody. Kanaan helps Blackout deal with losing his mentor/butler. Rhapsody wants revenge while Kanaan preaches justice to Blackout who sides against Rhapsody. Kanaan wants to help them go out and fight crime but Rhapsody vetoes it. Kanaan helps investigate the Mayor in secret anyway, getting a job with him and working to uncover his secret weapons business.
• New plan – Kanaan reminds Rhapsody that she’s just one in a series of sidekicks that Blackout has had. Kanaan lures Rhapsody into his hidden apartment, which is filled with Blackout related items. He’s an obsessed fan. And the place is rigged with explosives. Kanaan, outside, blows the apartment up while Rhapsody is inside.
• Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift – Kanaan tells Blackout that the Mayor must have killed Rhapsody. Blackout goes after the Mayor. Kanaan learns that Rhapsody is still alive and coming after him.
Act 4:
• Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict – Blackout fights through the Mayor’s bodyguards and takes the Mayor prisoner. Rhapsody finds Kanaan at Blackout’s hideout and tries to kill him. Kanaan has set up Rhapsody to look evil in front of Blackout who intervenes and fights with Kanaan. Rhapsody is beaten and falls into the river, seemingly dead.
• Resolution – Kanaan is now Blackout’s sidekick and helper. Rhapsody has survived, but joins the criminals to cause chaos in the city as revenge against Blackout and Kanaan who are now a crime fighting team. Kanaan meets with his family and says he is making a difference now. A criminal gang is harassing a woman. Kanaan steps in to save her.

[Kevin Cunningham]

Kevin Cunningham’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

My Vision: By making my high-quality writing and speaking known in many venues (the Industry, Youtube, podcasts, books), I will create a reputation as a profoundly powerful, thoughtful, and skilled writer, and be sought after for new and rewrite activities at the highest levels.

What I learned from doing this assignment: Being forced to identify structural turning points definitely helped me see how the concept plays out in the story. In particular, focusing on the hero’s transformational journey makes it a very specific story: it has a clear arc. It will be interesting to add the other dimensions of the story, to give it some surprises and reversals.

——

Concept: A woke New England town votes to give their land back to the Native American tribe they stole it from centuries before – putting leadership of the town in the hands of a clueless slacker native teen

Main Conflict: A slacker native teen, appointed leader of a town, must overcome his own immaturity and many competing partisan forces to successfully keep the town out of breakdown and bankruptcy, and protect his tribe’s future.

Old Ways:

– lazy, would rather just play video games

– inarticulate, mumbly, doesn’t even know his own language

– ashamed of his heritage, but also an outsider to mainstream culture

– awkward with the opposite sex

– buried in a “can never win” dead-end attitude

New Ways:

– visionary, responsible, moving forward great goals

– helpful to people, as a leader

– an honest, powerful speaker, including in his tribe’s tongue

– honoring all cultures deeply, including his own

– has mature relationships with women

– steeped in an “everyone can succeed” mentality

– does things, doesn’t just think things

——

Four-Act Structure (Protagonist’s Version)

Act 1:

Opening:

– Mukki plays video games, avoids native culture, pines for Powwow Princess.

– Mukki’s native tribe is troubled with opioid addiction, threatening their meager numbers.

– The Fox family prepares for retirement.

– The Masnubic family prepares for a big push on Town Meeting motions:

1. changing “Selectmen” to “Select Board”

2. changing the state flag to get rid of the oppressed Indian image

3. changing “Columbus Day” to “Indigenous People’s Day”

Inciting Incident:

– Town Meeting puts forward a motion to go all the way and turn over their land to the natives.

– Mr. Fox unexpectedly casts the deciding vote – and the motion passes!

Turning Point:

– Mukki’s tribe discusses what to do – the grandfather must cope with the opioid crisis.

– He assigns Mukki to serve as the tribe’s representative – and run the town!

– Mukki is appointed “Mayor” of the town

Act 2:

Reaction (new plan):

– Mukki tries to figure out how the town runs – everybody tries to advise him.

– Mukki decides it isn’t too hard, just run the meetings – but he has no clue how to do this.

Plan in action:

– Mukki doesn’t listen to the town employees, but instead tries to follow all the political groups.

– Mukki at a big meeting fails catastrophically – flails on all the issues.

Midpoint Turning Point:

– The Town Accountant reports: the town is deeply in debt, and will go broke soon if they can’t pay.

– Everyone in town turns against Mukki, fearful for the loss of their homes and their cherished projects.

– Because the natives own the town, the crisis is on them: if they fail, they will lose ALL their land!!

Act 3:

Rethink everything:

– Mukki decides to work with his peers rather than the hostile grownups/politicians.

– Mukki turns also to his grandfather to seek out native wisdom, which he’s pooh-poohed his whole life.

New plan:

– Mukki tries to enact some simple approaches – a bake sale? selfless contributions?

– Mukki decides to work with the town employees and volunteers, who know how to run the town.

– The politicians and townsfolk try to take matters into their own hands – and anarchy ensues.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift:

– Mukki and his new allies can’t figure out a way to pay the debts.

– Mr. Fox suggests a path: sell the land for a casino.

– To save the town (and the tribe) from massive debt, they have one choice: to sell off their homeland!

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict:

– Mukki realizes that Mr. Fox had engineered this whole crisis for his own ends: Mr. Fox owns the company that would make a huge profit out of buying up the land dirt cheap!

– Mukki brings the townsfolk together as a team in the common cause of saving their town.

– They discover that, though the colonist’s had stolen the land from his tribe, his tribe had themselves stolen it from another tribe before that. This negates the original transfer to his tribe!

– The town reverts to its previous legal status and picks up where it left off – able to pay its debt.

Resolution:

– Mukki has taught the town new ways of working together, discovered and valued his native heritage, and found new friends/lovers. Mr. Fox fails to destroy the town for his sneaky business deal.

[Kristin Donnan]

KRISTIN’S 4-ACT TRANSFORMATIONAL STRUCTURE

VISION: “I want the personal, professional, and financial freedom and joy that come from writing so well that I’m in demand, selling beyond my wildest dreams, and making worthy projects—on a big scale and with my active, collegial participation.”

WHAT I LEARNED doing this assignment: that with the support of the structure, I am able to see how the characters’ old and new ways DEFINE their next moves. I’m sure this outline will change, but moving quickly shows me that it’s not as intimidating a process. I learned that if I listen to Hal and just KEEP MOVING, it’s not as hard as “trying to make it right” the first time around.

CONCEPT: REX APPEAL / Comedy — The true story of a small-town paleontologist who sues the government after the feds seize his T. rex, the largest in the world.

MAIN CONFLICT: What starts out as a custody battle over a dinosaur becomes a battle of titans—a fossil hunter fighting for his freedom and reputation against federal lawyers and a judge who want him to go down and lose everything.

OLD WAYS: Isolated, insecure, brow-beaten by his family, Peter Pan (never growing up)

NEW WAYS: Involved, speaking his mind and heart, taking on the role of leader, fighting for what’s right

Act 1:

OPENING: Protagonist (leading his band of merry paleontologists) is returning from a dig, talking about science. They stop at a gas station and accidentally leave a kid behind. Totally oblivious; rag-tag vehicles; naïve and rural.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, government attorneys meet in secret to try to gather evidence that these guys are stealing and mishandling precious artifacts.

INCITING INCIDENT: Dinosaur seized by the feds. It’s a big moment for the opposition, and the judge greases the wheels to make it happen.

TURNING POINT: Protagonist sues the feds. Opposition doesn’t expect this, and commits to really fighting dirty. Meanwhile, the landowner plays the race card, which plays on public sentiment.

Act 2:

PLAN: At first the protagonist tries to reason with people, with the assumption that the guys just “illustrate” their innocence by being themselves. However, the Opposition is cynical, simply repeating their fake news (like Trump does, as if it’s true). Reason fuels their fire, and causes the public to wonder, “if there’s smoke, is there fire?”

During this first process, our guys realize that the Opposition wants them to be guilty! They never imagined that someone would skew facts to make them look bad. It’s not the Midwestern way. To make this more effective, the Opposition presents (to the public and in court) a line of reasoning that basically recasts history—redefining and going backward…making our guys have to rewind and rewind to defend past actions.

PLAN IN ACTION: Using the old ways, our protagonist proceeds with logic and transparency, a sense of insecurity about his self-worth, and a desire to please. It’s like feeding lions with juicy bunny rabbits.

When he meets with the opposition, they are ruthless, cynical, and “sure.” The Opposition approaches with an assumption of guilt, so the meetings are two-faced (“professional” on the outside, ruthless on the inside). And when one person simply says, “that didn’t happen,” and the protagonist knows it did, he begins to question himself.

When the protagonist meets with his own lawyers, they are 5 steps ahead, not really listening, assuming that the boys made mistakes at the very least. It’s a chess match, not a search for the truth. There’s a cavalier handling of their lives—they feel as if they’re just pawns in lawyers’ lives / notches in their belts.

So they look to the public; organize marches, tell their story to the press, talk with pals—looks like subterfuge to the cynical; their lives are peeled back and examined. Even friends begin to question the truth and their honesty.

And in the process, they discover that their colleague was smuggling! Someone really was breaking the law! But they didn’t know! OH NO!

MIDPOINT TURNING POINT: The forces of antagonism are 10 times bigger than we thought!

This is not just something you can explain away; the stakes are sooooo high: INDICTMENTS. The grand jury has spoken! The Opposition struts around.

Act 3:

RETHINK: Protagonist realizes he has to get ruthless / own his power / think like the Opposition. Protagonist stands tall and becomes a leader.

NEW PLAN: He goes through every accusation and rips it to shreds. He doesn’t let the Opposition snow him under with paper. He begins to consider this enormous case as a huge mountain of rock—he’s moved them many times, one shovelful at a time. “We know how to do this.” As he finds evidence supporting “his side,” he realizes that the opposition isn’t as knowledgeable as they’re pretending to be.

TURNING POINT / MIDPOINT / HUGE FAILURE & MAJOR SHIFT — ALL IS LOST: Family and lawyers disagree about how to proceed. Brother/partner says protagonist is being selfish, but he’s not. Now he’s willing to put himself on the line—and “doing the right thing” is really being strong for the group. He’s standing all alone, and still holding it together for everyone. As the family fractures, the opposition celebrates. The protagonist is hanging on the cliff by his fingernails.

Act 4:

CLIMAX / ULTIMATE EXPRESSION OF THE CONFLICT: The test is the courtroom—with point after point made from their time in the field; the protagonist makes his case by working in his natural environment. Little by little, his side gains ground. But making the opposition mad is also dangerous. With each win, the judge piles on with negative rulings and unfair instructions.

And we don’t know about that one juror….

RESOLUTION: The protagonist uncovers something that proves bad intent on the part of the Opposition. Maybe the tainted juror, maybe the journalist who screwed up the plea bargain….?? Also, he’ll have to choose against “cutting the baby in half” for his brother—by giving away the dinosaur he loves. And saving everyone else.

[Joseph McGloin]

Vision: I am a talented, highly regarded, efficient, relaxed, happy, WGA screenwriter

What I learned from doing this assignment is how much fun a Romcom is to write. It’s an opportunity to explore love in all its facets. And a happy ending is guaranteed. The outline process gives a very good overview and can be tweaked as the story deepens. Subtext seems to be starting to shine through in a few areas, along with potential layers for a deeper and more complex story. Time will tell how it all comes together.

Concept: A future female president has a guardian angel who abandons his mission when he falls in love with her.

Main Conflict: Jane is an independent politician who bolts from situations she can’t control, while her guardian angel tries to steer her clear of challenging situations for her own good.

Protagonist #1:

Old Ways:

· micro-manages situations and people

· creates and forces situations

· acts like a helicopter parent

New Ways:

· allows people the freedom to act on their own

· stands back to allow situations to unfold

· acts like a lover

Protagonist #2:

Old Ways:

· treats her constituency like a herd vs. individuals

· runs from situations she can’t control

· stridently single

New Ways:

· loves her constituency

· sticks with situations where she is not the one in control

· has a loving relationship

Act 1:

Opening: In Heaven, Max is shown potential guardian
angel assignments including one for Jane.Presdon. He is not interested as
Jane is too independent to respond to his “adjusting” (interfering in) her
life circumstances so she can fulfill her destiny. Not his specialty.
Inciting Incident: Max is assigned to Jane as a good
match for both. He rebels. She feels his dismay without knowing its
source. His superior Clarence – who glares at the mention of the “other” one
– is sure this potentially difficult assignment should be given to a more senior
angel.

Turning Point: As a quite grumpy Max watches scenes
from her life to date, he is moved by her present situation to the point
that he feels only he can “guide” her next steps for her own good.

Act 2:

New plan: Max accepts the role on a temporary basis,
until she is clear of the impending danger. Jane is instrumental in
passing sweeping gun advocacy bills that in theory are about citizen
safety.
Plan in action: Jane resourcefully counters every
attempt of Max’s to keep her from connecting with a scumbag politician. He is
frustrated but not defeated, and frankly in awe of her take-charge
approach to situations.
Midpoint Turning Point: Clarence appears to Max to
tell him that he must change into a human body as his micro-managing and
pushy approach need to be tempered. It simply has too great an impact on
Jane’s life. Clarence must return right away. There is a growing concern for
the future of humanity that the higher-ups are debating. Jane is catapulted into the national
limelight when her boss is arrested for vote tampering.

Act 3:

Rethink everything: Max as a human unknown to Jane
has to get close to her. He interviews as a political aide. Jane deals
with the cut-throat realities of national politics in surprisingly humane and
non-political ways. Max’s role is made easier when Jane’s political
advisor has a sudden health crisis and she appoints Max in his place
before he leaves the interview room.
New plan: Help Jane while not trying to hover over
her or he will be extracted. Clarence will be watching him closely. Jane
realizes she needs warm human contact to balance the downright inhuman
politicians she is now forced to deal with.
Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: Max
realizes he is in love with Jane, and feels his love causes him to lose
his objectivity so he cannot remain in his “role.” A manufactured scandal
ruins her presidential candidate boss’s reputation just before the
election. Max resigns from his position as aide.

Act 4:

Final Plan: Heaven. Clarence agrees that angels and
humans live in different realms. Max
should return to Heaven so a new guardian angel can be assigned to Jane. There
remains a great deal of concern for humanity itself, and its survival in
these trouble times. It’s difficult to see how humanity can survive. But
Jane seems to be a key figure.

Back on earth, Jane fights back against the false scandal and turns the tables on her boss’s foes and as a result she, the boss, is now a shoe-in for President.

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Max lets
go of all of his desires to shape her future so she is free to explore her
life as Presidential aide – that is what love does. Her boss decides to leave
politics to be with her family due to the impact the scandal had. She
suggests Jane as the candidate. The power mongers in her party agree. Jane has one demand: independence from
all outside forces except the love of her life – Max. But he has died
Resolution: Timing is everything. Clarence has pushed
a plan being kicked around to open the suffering world to the angelic
realm to give humanity a chance to survive its own destruction. And
Clarence has nominated Max as the test case. Max returns to his body. Only a moment
has passed since his departure. The
two finally are together.

[CLAIRE RILEY]

Claire’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

MY VISION:

I have a fabulous career as a screenwriter working in both TV and film, and I have tremendous creative, financial, and personal success. I specialize in writing LGBTQ+ projects and I am the go-to-girl for writing lesbian stories.

What I learned: Do the best I can. It does not have to be perfect. More details of the story will come to me as we do more and more exercises.

Concept 1

Title: YOU ALWAYS KILL THE ONE YOU LOVE

Genre: Horror

When the ghost of an evil psychiatrist possesses the lesbians on an isolated movie set, forcing each woman to kill her own spouse, a timid psychic must stop it before it possesses her or her wife.

Main Conflict: Maeve and the evil ghost

Old Ways:

Kowtowing to the wishes of her wife

Hiding her psychic powers

Hiding how smart she is

needing approval of others

New Ways:

Confronting and disagreeing with her wife

Owning and using her psychic powers

Owning how smart she is and outwitting the ghost

Acting from what she believes is best and not caring about the approval of others

Act 1:

Opening: Frightening scene that turns out to be from the movie they are shooting

Inciting Incident: Maeve tells Sybil that she senses a dark energy on the set. Sybil dismisses her.

Turning Point: The first woman is possessed and kills her own wife.

Act 2:

New plan: Tells Sybil that there is an evil spirit and wants to have a seance

Plan in action: Sybil does not believe her and she and the consultant psychiatrist approach it as a mental/emotional issues

Midpoint Turning Point: Second woman is possessed and murders her wife.

Act 3:

Rethink everything: Maeve believes the women were possessed and caused to kill their spouses.

New plan: she has a séance to investigate who the spirit is.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: Maeve feels herself being possessed.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Maeve battles the ghost of the evil psychiatrist and gets rid of it.

Resolution: Maeve saves Sybil from the ghost

Concept 2

Title: RESCUING LOVE

Genre: Thriller

When domestic terrorists kidnap her girlfriend and frame her for the kidnapping, a daring CIA agent must outwit the FBI and the terrorists before her girlfriend is forced into heterosexual conversion therapy.

Main Conflict: CIA agent, Eve, and the kidnappers.

Old Ways:

Hesitant toward girlfriend

Emotionally guarded

Putting work first

New Ways:

Tells everyone her feelings for girlfriend

Rescuing girlfriend is her only priority

Risks her life to rescue girlfriend

Act 1:

Opening: Eve and Debbie are together

Inciting Incident: Debbie and Eve fight. Debbie breaks up with Eve

Turning Point: Eve goes to Debbie to apologize and discovers she is missing.

Act 2:

New plan: look for Debbie herself; contact local police and FBI

Plan in action: Gets nowhere. Seems like they are not looking for her. They ask her questions as if she is a suspect

Midpoint Turning Point: FBI arrest Eve for kidnapping Debbie

Act 3:

Rethink everything: who kidnapped Debbie and is framing Eve?

New plan: Get out of jail. Find Debbie herself. This looks personal to Eve,

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: Eve discovers that there is a domestic terrorist group that kidnaps queer people and forces them into conversion therapy and it is likely that they kidnapped Debbie.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Eve battles the kidnappers and rescues Debbie.

Resolution: Debbie’s parents are arrested for arranging the kidnapping. Debbie is in hospital recovering. Eve asks Debbie to marry her.

[Jane Turville]

Jane’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

MY VISION: I will make my living as a screenwriter by selling my own narrative scripts and successfully fulfilling writing assignments.

By doing this assignment I was really able to start putting all sorts of ideas into something a bit more cohesive. And, I also discovered who my murderer is!!

Concept: In this parody on tea cozy murder mysteries, a Poirot-like character and a Miss Marple-like character compete to prove which of them is the greatest detective only to discover that a murder has happened and that one of them is the next victim.

Main Conflict: While two world-class sleuths bicker and compete over who is the best detective, a murder most foul occurs. Blamed for letting this happen, the two sleuths must work together to find the murderer or one of them will be the next one to die.

June Marvel:

Old Ways: – Always observing from the outside

– Insists on being right; intolerant of being questioned

– Is judgmental in a very kindly way

– Refuses to be vulnerable

New Ways: – Excited to be directly in the scrum of the case

– Okay with being wrong

– Empathetic

– Accepting that other methods of catching criminals work too, including making herself vulnerable

Percival Heriot:

Old Ways: – Completely dependent on his own cerebral power and reasoning

– Vain; only he has the right answer

– Intolerant

– Obsessive/Compulsive

New Ways: – Willing to be wrong

– A bit more tolerant of other people’s untidiness

– Appreciates knowledge of the human heart as a way of reasoning

– Willing to work as a team

Act 1:

Opening – June Marvel, convalescing at a nursing center after hip surgery, discovers that the blow hard detective Percival Heriot is moving in for a month to attempt lifestyle changes for a heart condition. They do not get along.

Inciting Incident – Tired of Percival’s bragging, June challenges him to a competition. Each must commit a small crime – no one gets hurt and no property is damaged – and the other one must solve it in a weekend. Self-assured, Percival takes the challenge and the competition commences.

Turning Point – The nursing center’s physical therapist is murdered.

Act 2:

New plan – Each detective believes the other to be responsible for the death and set out to prove that the other’s plan went terribly wrong.

Plan in action – Ignoring what could be important clues, each detective focuses on the other.

Midpoint Turning Point – An attempt on Percival’s life that also nearly kills June convinces both that there truly is a murderer at large.

Act 3:

Rethink everything – The detectives must work together to solve they mystery before the murderer can strike again, and kill one or both of them.

New plan – They plan a set up where June will pretend to be dead which will allow Percival to flush out the murderer.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift – The murderer knows that June isn’t dead and takes advantage of the situation to kill her.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict – Believing June is dead, Percival uses her methods of observing human behavior to expose the killer.

Resolution – June has outwitted both Percival and the murderer and is very much alive. Both leave the nursing center at the same time, parting ways as comrades in arms and, maybe, just maybe, friends.

[Hope McPherson]

Hope McPherson’s 4-act transformational structure

Vision: To be a working, trusted screenwriter who su[[orts herself by writing smart films that are produced and enjoyed, while also working on writing assignments for other industry professionals.

What I learned: Filling in the blanks can make all the difference. Likewise, skipping and moving on is a truly freeing way to get things done.

Title: A NOVEL REVOLT

Concept: One week before her wedding, an author’s characters escape her book and insist on rewriting her life.

Main conflict: Shelby must save her fiancé from her book’s characters when they suck him into her manuscript while also wreaking havoc her life just days before her wedding.

Old ways:

· Isolated from fiancé and friends due to writer’s block.

· Low self-worth (has her 7^th-grade bully in her head).

· Trouble dealing with emotions (even little things set her off).

· Trouble making decisions.

New ways:

· Accepts her own and others’ imperfections.

· Makes decisions and rolls with the results.

· Learns to laugh at herself (finds joy).

· Discovers inner courage to stand up for herself and current bully.

Act 1

Opening: Shelby ignores calls from her publisher and her fiancé, but calls her maid of honor with an outrageous request. She writes and deletes and writes and deletes, but mostly stares at her laptop.

Inciting incident: Shelby discovers her characters are suddenly doing their own thing in the pages. They aren’t doing what she wrote!

Turning point: Two of her characters (the antagonist and a maid) disappear from the manuscript completely.

Act 2

New plan: Shelby drags her fiancé along as she does last-minute wedding chores. She uses her tape recorder to record any/all bits of inspiration for her manuscript.

Plan in action: Shelby discovers the wedding venue has burned to the ground; someone has altered her dress , and the caterer canceled and all that’s available is a hot dog food truck. Her publisher tracks her down and gives her 24 hours to deliver the manuscript or find another publisher.

Midpoint turning point: When she listens to the recording, it’s not her voice. The manuscript’s antagonist, Cyrus, introduces himself – and it’s his voice on her tape recorder! Her fiancé has disappeared.

Act 3

Rethink everything: Shelby discovers her fiancé is now in her manuscript.

New plan: She tries to write him back out, but Cyrus steals her laptop.

Turning point: (Huge failure/major shift) Shelby must save her fiancé from being deleted permanently when Cyrus throws her laptop into a roaring fire pit.

Act 4

Climax/ultimate expression of the conflict: Shelby enlists Rosie’s help, and she writes herself into the manuscript and is sucked inside.

Resolution: Now with her newly written, more badass persona, Shelby saves Andrew and the two of them take on Cyrus and defeat him.

[Tom Wilson]

Feature – Drama – BORN AGAIN

Tom’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

My Vision: By maintaining his quality writing standards I shall establish a reputation for being a skilled, professional writer who can be counted on to come up with meaningful alternatives.

By doing this assignment – I learned to ensure the concept synchronizes with the turning points and the transformational journeys are clearly set up.

Concept – When a Navy Seal brings home his severely wounded pal from the Afghan War, he discovers his friend’s high tech wizard father is secretly programing locals so he can control them.

Main Conflict – John fights with Mel’s dad, BioPulse CEO Philip who programs town people to use their brains to answer extraterrestrials’ cosmic questions, for Mel’s soul. Because Philip has cancer he wants to program his son Mel to replace him as BioPulse CEO.

John’s Old Ways –

· A scholar known for spouting facts and figures during Seal exercises

· Certain Mel and his family are model, honest, law-abiding citizens

· Sees no reason to fix problems that don’t exist

John’s New Ways – When a Navy

· Up to date on how badly Philip treated the town’s people

· Aware of how dangerous for Earthlings the game Philip plays with the ET leader is

· Races against the clock to find a solution before everyone is blown away

Four Act Structure – Protagonist

Act I
Opening – John’s surprised when he and Mel who is still in a coma are met by a medical team sent by Mel’s dad Philip, CEO of BioPulse, a huge life science company with patents on cell therapies that program patient’s T-cells to kill cancerous tumors. John’s dad says all town’s people are reprogramed and fluent in the ET language. Shows him a fake rivet he put in his neck. It resembles the rivet BioPulse planted in everyone.

Inciting Incident –Early one morning John hears strange noises, goes outside and finds Mel rowing a boat that’s up on blocks. They were both on the rowing team in college. They reminisce about their youth. Mel remembers only things when they were young, not recent events. BioPulse goons round up Mel and return him to the compound.

John’s ex-girlfriend Molly seduces him. He wakes up early and sees BioPulse orderlies outside her house. He sneaks out as they enter to capture him. John tells Reed, BioPulse chief medical officer, he’s glad Mel’s conscious again and asks when can he visit him. Reed: Phil won’t allow it. They hope to discover a new procedure to enable others with injuries like Mel’s to recover the way he did.

John sneaks in, speaks briefly with Mel who replies in the same unrecognizable language. John believes his friend is being experimented on and fears he may not last long.

Turning Point 1 – John goes to police chief Saul and says they need to rescue Mel. Saul says Phil has the right to save his son. He says go home and sleep it off.

John visits Edward who is Phil’s uncle who started BioPulse with Phil’s dad. He says Phil has programed an army to take over the US government. John hears a tone coming from Edward’s head. Edward passes out from a pulse sent to a chip in his skull.

Act II
Reacting New approach –

Late at night John goes to Reed’s house and wakes him up. He collects on an old debt Reed owned him since high school. He caught Reed having sex with one of the football players and never said a word about it. Now he reminds Reed of it and requests he get him into BioPulse to see Mel.

An hour later Reed arrives at work early and lets John slip in through a side door. They rouse Mel. Reed gives him a shot to bring him out of his fog and tells Reed he has only a few minutes.

John and Mel share what they know. Mel says he heard he was going to be moved today and it seems inevitable. John says it’s not and finds a uniform Mel puts on. They lip out the side door just as the employees arrive as the sun comes up.

Midpoint – John takes Mel to the state police and they claim Philip experiments on his own son and it’s killing him.

Turning Point 2 – John escapes and uses a fake ID to get into BioPulse to save Mark.

Dilemma: In their ET language, Mel urges patients to revolt. They’re happy where they are.

Act IV
Climax: Ultimate Conflict – Mel shows John how to reprogram computer controls to restore patients’ brains. Philip leads his security squad in there is a mob scene brawl. John escapes through a window and union leader McKinsey and tells him to call a meeting in the town square at once.

Everyone assembles. Philip arrives and presents his case. Meanwhile John and Mel sneak back to BioPulse and reprogram computer controls to restore patients’ brains.

Resolution – John and Mel return to the town square where they see the people ignore what Philip says and chatter excitedly among themselves. They all seem to be awakening from a deep slumber. The state police arrive and take Philip into custody. John embraces Molly.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by  Tom Wilson.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by  Tom Wilson.

[Bobby Sacher]

Bobby’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

VISION: A writing life that is mine to do with as I please. I am in control, relaxed and utterly content – and constantly searching for the next world to create. Independently wealthy, always creatively engaged, sought after, and utterly fulfilled!

Concept: An aspiring serial killer is forced to join forces with the high school bullies meant to be his victims, when the cabin they’re partying in is attacked by zombies from the nearby Civil War graveyard.

Genre: Horror/Comedy

Title: JASON VS THE ZOMBIES

CHARACTER: Jason (Protagonist)

ARC BEGINNING: A timid, bitter, wanna-be killer

ARC ENDING: A courageous hero who saves the day! (and makes friends!)

OLD WAYS:
hides out and fantasizes (avoids reality)
broods
bullied and frightened of everyone
never stands up for himself

NEW WAYS:
confronts reality
hopeful and optimistic for the future
takes action despite his fears
stands up for himself, and everyone else

EXTERNAL JOURNEY: From a sad-sack loser, to a hero everyone relies on to find a way to beat the zombies and save the day

INTERNAL JOURNEY: From timid and bitter to courageous and hopeful

4 ACT STRUCTURE:

ACT I: Set Up and See Old Ways

OPENING: Jason’s Dream: high school couple (DEREK & VIOLA) chased through woods by a masked killer. Derek abandons Viola, runs up hill – stabbed to death! Killer approaches Viola, helps her to her feet: it’s Jason! She’s VIOLA, his love – and now she’s his!

Jason wakes – he’s a loser, late for work.

INCITING INCIDENT: Jason works in diner kitchen, fixing electronics. Forced to bring food to Derek and his cronies (incl. Viola) – Jason is “pantsed” by HACK – lead bully/psycho. Mocked, covered in food, humiliated.

TURNING POINT: After abusive father mocks him for “dreaming” instead of taking action, Jason vows to live out his fantasies! Packs duffel with weapons: flail, baseball bat, his father’s gun (forgetting the bullets), etc, heads out to follow bullies to cabin in woods.

ACT II: Challenge the Old Ways

REACTION: Jason follows car into woods, envisioning various deaths/winning over Viola.

PLAN: Jason’s car breaks down, has to trudge through woods to get there. Hurts himself on weapons. Has chance to kill Hack in the woods – chickens out.

Jason is a failure – as usual. Hears his father’s voice, mocking him.

TURNING POINT 2/MID-POINT/MIND-FUCK: Jason attacked by zombies in the woods! Flees to the cabin, leaving duffel bag behind. Has to beg to be taken inside.

ACT III: Profound Moments that Give Us New Ways

RETHINK: Hack lets Jason in – “this’ll be fun!” Jason has to convince them there are zombies. More mockery – until someone is killed. Find a way to work with these assholes.

NEW PLAN: Surrounded by Civil War zombies. Searching house for weapons. Not much (footballs? Lacrosse sticks?). Infected house members turn – zombies IN the house!

TURNING POINT/”ALL IS LOST”: Jason gets his duffel bag of weapons from woods – everyone discovers Jason was there to kill them. Hack is infected, and runs outside – now leading Zombies (and he knows all the ways into the house!)

ACT IV: Test the Change in Character: PROVE New Ways!

FINAL PLAN: The survivors and Jason have it out about bullying/Jason’s own issues – bullies realize they’ve been assholes, Jason realizes he “may have overreacted” – pool their minds to come up with a final plan

CLIMAX: Jason uses his special skills (electronics?) to lure Hack (now zombie leader) and zombies away from house so others can escape. Jason decapitates Hack (uses his flail? Something?)

RESOLUTION: Jason victorious – wins love of Viola? Or her cousin?

[John Trimbach]

John T’s 4 Act Transformational Structure<div>

<div> VISION – o become an industry new face known for reliable box office and concepts that intrigue and entertain audiences the world over. What I learned doing this assignment is that as a story takes shape, new possibilities surface. </div><div> </div><div>Concept – Phil, an airline captain, is pursued by Scott, an FBI agent who suspects that Phil is a serial killer who kills on layovers.. Main Conflict – When Phil discovers that Scott suspects him, he manages to slip away just before another young woman is murdered.</div><div>
</div><div> Protagonist: Captain Phil Conner </div><div> Old Ways: lets no one in, ignorant of other’s motivations, ignores the rules, close-minded to other possibilities, doesn’t trust law enforcement. </div><div> New Ways: open to other points of view, approachable, open to new relationships, crime consultant, lifesaver, absolved and vindicated. </div><div>
</div><div> Arc Beginning: distraught, obsessed, unsettled loner </div><div> Arc Ending: hero, crime solver, ready for a new relationship Internal Journey: from guilt-ridden, impatient to grounded and happy and fulfilled. External Journey: from a suspected serial killer to hero </div>

<div> Act 1: </div><div>Opening – A young woman is murdered by someone she knows but we don’t see the killer. Inciting Incident – Phil is seen leaving the scene, Scott investigates, suspects Phil. Turning Point – we see that Phil is innocent. Or is he? He can’t be in two places at once, can he? Phil seeks the counsel and support of flight attendant, Louise. </div><div>
</div><div> Act 2: </div><div>New plan – Phil decides the only way to vindicate himself is by finding the real killer. Plan in action – Phil constructs an elaborate map of cities, clues, tracking the real serial killer. </div><div>Midpoint Turning Point – Phil catches Scott tailing him just after another murder. Phil eludes him, barely. </div><div>
</div><div> Act 3: Rethink everything – Scott discovers Phil’s map of the murders. Louise warns Phil. He is now a wanted man, must go underground. </div><div>New plan – Phil discovers an MO pattern to the killings, heads to the next murder scene to stop it and prove his innocence. </div><div>Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift – Phil arrives too late, yet another murder. Phil figures it must be an airline person. But who? </div><div>
</div><div> Act 4: Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict – Phil figures out where the next murder will happen, heads to the scene. Scott catches up to him. Louise, really Lewis, stabs Scott. Phil saves him, Lewis falls to his death. </div><div>Resolution – Phil is a hero with a new lease on life.
</div></div>

[Peter Field]

Peter Field’s 4-Act transformational structure

Vision: My scripts are so good they could be published on their own, and William Goldman would want to write the introduction.

What I learned doing this assignment is that it doesn’t have to be perfect right now, or maybe never. It does have to be done, so here goes.

COLD DAY IN SEOUL

CONCEPT: A former Force Recon commando tries to rescue an old flame from a military uprising at a world peace conference, only to discover she’s the one trying to undermine it.

MAIN CONFLICT: A Force Recon commando comes up against his greatest adversary, an old girlfriend, now the ranking negotiator at a world peace conference in SE Asia.

Old Ways

· Blindly follows orders/status quo

· Intentionally overlooks questionable scenarios

· Won’t allow himself to be vulnerable

· Resents female authority

New Ways

· Learns truth about a botched past mission that left him for dead

· Recognizes genuine love for one-time fiancé

· Fights for a cause he never believed in

· Stands up forces inside his own government

Act 1

Opening – on vacation in SE Asia, DV confronts a pickpocket accused of stealing secret docs at big tourist site; thief gets away and police think DV is in on theft

Inciting Incident – friend bails him out of police custody w/ caveat that DV must help w/ easy protection detail of American negotiator at upcoming peace talks

Turning Point– night before talks commence, a violent uprising derails peace talks

Act 2

New Plan— DV agrees to become human shield (w/ friend B. Chiang) to ensure peace talks go forward

Plan in Action— DV and BC identify multiple combatants from multiple SE Asian countries (Korea, Japan, China, Indonesia, etc., each w/ own unique martial art fighting style)

Mid-Point – it seems American negotiator (JH) is behind uprising; police suspect DV is involved

Act 3

Rethink everything— is it really JH, or is JH a front for deeper plot to upend peace talks?

New Plan—must stick to JH like a cheap suit, has to protect her from rogue assailant that almost takes them both out

Turning Point/Huge failure/Major shift – DV and BC team up to retrieve secret docs, are attacked by multiple assailants; DV learns who was behind injury that led to his forced retirement

Act 4

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict—confronts own government, saves JH from committing atrocities

Resolution— real culprit exposed

[Renee Brown]

(WIM) Renee Brown’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

“My scripts are the cream that rises to the top: I am an A-list screenwriter.”

What I learned: At this point, this story has more holes than Swiss cheese. But Swiss cheese makes damn good grilled cheese sandwiches.

STARCROSSED CHANCES

With help from a magical stone, two star-crossed lovers are reunited decades later in a small Montana town that keeps big hearted secrets.

Main Conflict:

After a stupid misunderstanding, Ally and CJ destroy their young love. Both their lives spin tragically off course only to collide decades later. They must heal years of resentment and heartbreak if they are to have a second chance at love.

Old Ways: Protagonist Ally

Bases her idea of love around hyper – idyllic post war stories from her grandmother. Abandons her professional dream because of a perceived insult. <div>

Runs away from love. Believes in the hardships of life.

<div>

New Ways: <b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Protagonist Ally
Bases her idea of love on realistic / imperfect beauty of true love right before her. Reconnects with her personal passion. Runs toward love. Believes in magic.

Act 1:

Opening: We see how a mystic stone made its way to America via a WW2 War bride.

Intro protag: Ally is frustrated in a job she has no passion for and reminisces with her best friend on the life she thought she would have.

Inciting Incident: Ally buys the mystic stone from an ancient hippy in a Missoula Antique shop, who sold it to her with a yarn about how it heals old heartbreaks and offers new chances.

Turning Point: She loses her job / we see flashback to when her life went off course.

Act 2:

New plan: Ally heads to Soaking Spring Montana to get her head together. Stays at Lillian’s Resort Motel because it reminds her of her long-lost grandmother whose name was Lillian.

Plan in action: Takes the stone with her to Soaking Springs – little does she know that she’s entering a bit of a twilight zone where all her life’s heartbreaks will collide in a town that time forgot.

Midpoint Turning Point: At Lillian’s, Ally tastes a bread that only she and her long-lost Nanna know how to make… or so she thought.

CJ, Ally’s long-lost lover is the grounds keeper at Lillian’s. He spots her, she does not see him.

Act 3:

Rethink Everything: CJ reels with a flood of memories of Ally and we see his side of how things went south with them years ago.

New Plan: Ally and CJ have an awkward reunion. They soak in the hot springs, exchange stories about what happened to them after the breakup. Sparks fly.

Ally tracks down the baker in town to find out who is making this bread and learns that her long lost Nanna didn’t disappear after all. She founded Lillian’s Resort Motel, but she mysteriously left years ago.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: Ally and CJ get in a huge fight over their breakup of years ago. Ally leaves Soaking Springs, but not before she finds out Her long-lost Nanna is in a rest home in Missoula the whole time.

Act 4:

Climax / ultimate expression of the conflict: CJ tracks Ally down in Missoula and offers his heart again. She waffles. He leaves — rebuffed.

Ally finds the rest home, visits her Nanna (Lillian) and finds out that Lillian made up most of the WW2 love stories on which Ally based her unrealistic idea of love.

Ally leaves the mystic stone with Lillian and returns home, disenchanted.

Resolution: Ally commits her heart to CJ and they Finally seal the deal with an epic kiss.

Alone in the rest home, Lillian holds the mystic stone as she drifts off to sleep thinking of her long-lost soldier. She dies in her sleep and is reunited with him.

One of the nurses at the home nabs the mystic stone to sell to this shop she knows that buys stuff in Missoula. It returns to the ancient hippy in the antique shop and returns to its case… waiting for its next opportunity to give STARCROSSED CHANCES.

</div></div>

[Jenifer Stockdale]

Jenifer Stockdale’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

Vision – I will write everyday not only producing high volume but high quality scripts that will ultimately be made into popular television shows and movies.

What I learned doing this assignment is that all those years I spent NOT doing outlines were so wasted. THIS is the way to do it!

Concept – SPLICED: When a psychiatric nurse is blamed for murder of a former patient, she has to fight to maintain her freedom, her job, her family and her sanity.

Main conflict – Dacey is accused of killing Tom but it was her husband who did it and set her up.

Old Ways: apathetic, depressed, delusional, non-assertive, lets people walk all over her, accepts things as they are

New Ways: fights for her rights, doesn’t allow people to walk all over her, doesn’t take the blame for something she didn’t do, makes things better.

Act 1:

Opening – Dacey working at the hospital, respected by staff and patients alike, taking charge, handling things when a patient causes self-harm and everyone else is losing control.

Inciting Incident – Tom comes to her house after he is discharged, she calls an Über and sends him home

Turning Point – Dacey hears that Tom is missing and then that his body was found badly beaten in an alley and she is a suspect. Dacey tells the detectives that she doesn’t remember anything about that night (they assume she was drunk/on drugs/crazy) and she just decides she is crazy. She finds a blood spot under a rug and cleans up, but has some weird flashbacks of someone getting hit with a bat.

Act 2:

New plan – she admits to having remembered Tom coming over but sent him away in an Über, tries to defend herself

Plan in action – she tries to use her children and her husband as alibis/character witnesses, but although her husband is supportive to her face when he talks to detectives his story is against Dacey

Midpoint Turning Point – the blood stain that Dacey found and cleaned up reappears and she starts to see Tom’s ghost

Act 3:

Rethink everything – she is afraid of Tom’s ghost, she keeps scrubbing the blood stains, starts to think that maybe Tom isn’t there to hurt her but to tell her something.

New plan – investigates the murder herself, finds evidence that it is her husband

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift – calls in the detectives to tell them she has solved the crime but only produces more evidence against herself. She is arrested and brought to her hospital as a patient.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict – Someone calls to Dacey (in nurses’ outfit at her locker) maybe says “Darcey” – a woman turns around, but it is not the woman we have been following – it is a woman we have seen as a nurse but who has never been focused on, the person tells her “She’s awake” Darcey says she’ll be right there, in the room a doctor is explaining to a new nurse how “Christina” hears everything when she is in that “state” and splices everything she hears together to make a life for herself

Resolution – the real Dacey (Darcey) comes in and talks to Christina who complains about stuff like Tom being dead, Darcey tells he isn’t dead.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by  Jenifer Stockdale.

[Holli Castillo]

Holli’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

My vision: I am going to do whatever it takes to write amazing, resonating, Oscar-winning movies so I am respected in the professional writing world and can quit representing derelicts and perverts for a living.

What I learned doing this assignment is I am not completely sure of my turning points yet and may need to make them stronger, and I don’t have everything figured out yet, but I’m going to go with the process and figure it out on the way.

1. List Concept, Main Conflict, Old Ways, and New Ways

Concept: When a former pageant girl turned police rookie is suspended, she sets out to capture the city’s top ten most wanted criminals, and makes a deal with number 10 to help her catch the first nine.

Title: Designer Boot (title still in progress)

Main Conflict: To save her job, Lucy hunts down the top ten most wanted.

Lucy’s Old Ways:

Rigid rule follower

Never questions authority

Sees everything is right or wrong, black or white

Completely trusts the law and the justice process

Lucy’s NEW ways:

Questions the entire criminal justice system

Follows her own moral code

Realizes some rules need to be broken and breaks them

Completely trusts her own instincts

External Journey: From a disgraced rookie to bad-ass bounty hunter.

Internal Journey: From being a staunch rule follower who sees everything in absolutes to trusting her own instincts in her new moral code.

Act 1:

Opening – Lucy at work being obedient and getting razzed for being the beauty queen rookie.

Inciting Incident – Following the rules, Lucy lets the number 10 most wanted escape and is suspended.

Turning Point – Lucy pursues number 10 on her own but loses her and causes a melee in the process. Lucy is in even more trouble with the department now. When she explains what she was trying to do, the sergeant agrees to keep her on if she can catch all top 10 before her suspension hearing, believing she can’t do it.

Act 2:

New plan – Lucy goes after the entire top 10 list using available sources.

Plan in action – Using her friend on the force as a source of information and her pageant social media followers, Lucy apprehends and turns in the wrong suspect.

Midpoint Turning Point – Lucy’s suspension hearing gets moved up to one week because of her mistake.

Act 3:

Rethink everything – Lucy tracks Ten and offers to help her clear her name if she helps her catch the top nine before her hearing date.

New plan – Lucy catches number 4 through 8 with Ten’s help and finds evidence to clear Ten.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift- Cleared of her charges the day before the hearing, Ten abandons Lucy and leaves her to find the top 3 on her own, but Ten gets taken by the Sergeant’s henchman.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict – Lucy is about to take the top 3 down when Ten texts her for help. When no one from the station believes her, Lucy has to give up the top 3 and save Ten on her own. Lucy live streams the rescue, including the confession of the sergeant, who was out to get Lucy from the beginning.

Resolution – Lucy is given her job back but decides the rules don’t work the way they’re supposed to, and instead joins Ten’s firm as an apprentice bounty hunter.

[hilton Garrett]

Hilton Garrett, Four Act Transformational Structure

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My vision: I will learn and use the lessons of this course to write marketable scripts that producers love.

What I learned: That by identifying these elements in the outline the structure takes shape.

Concept:

A hiker, Benny Smith, camping with his girlfriend, discovers a human skeleton in the woods, and recognizes a gold charm he gave his girlfriend in high school.

Main Conflict:

Antagonist Benny Smith wants to know why the girl he gave the necklace to, Jaime, ghosted him. The man she is now living with is a militia leader bent on destroying government property and all government. Benny is a threat and must be eliminated.

Old Ways:

No commitment to much of anything.

Just drifting along, stuck in the past pain of rejection.

Doesn’t trust relationships

New Ways:

Courage and determination to bring down the militia.

Now able to love and be loved.

Act 1:

Opening: Benny and Anna Lee camping and hiking

Inciting Incident: Benny finds the bones

Turning Point: Benny finds the necklace

Act 2:

New plan: Benny decides to return to the sheriff’s office

Plan in action: Benny goes back to the site of the bones

Midpoint Turning Point: Militia comes to retrieve the bones and Benny sees Jaime (to whom he gave the necklace) for the first time in 20 years.

Act 3:

Rethink everything: The sheriff is in on it. Benny has no allies. He discovers that the militia plans to blow up the Federal Reserve building in Atlanta. Alone with Anna Lee he must act.

New plan: Benny and Anna Lee infiltrate the militia compound.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift:

Bennie and Anna Lee are captured. Nobody is coming to help them.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict:

Benny gets free and confronts Bird Dog and Jaime. They argue, fight. Benny gets the upper hand.

Resolution: Benny and Anna Lee escape.As they drive away the compound blows up in the background. Benny is now free to actually be with Anna Lee without the wound of his past.

[David Scott Smith]

David Scott Smith’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

(I posted a few minutes ago, but it didn’t appear on the site… Trying again)

MY VISION: I am going to do whatever it takes for me to become a legend in both the filmmaking community and popular movie culture, so much so that audiences will stand in lines around the block to see my movies the way I did for Star Wars, ET and Raiders, and I will be buried with the 5 Academy awards given my work, and a tombstone that reads, “Awesome as fuck!”

What I learned: We haven’t really focused on describing the Main Conflict, that’s interesting to do. I also rewatched The Godfather – holy crap, that’s a 3 hour movie! They weren’t sticking to 100 pages like our example! And finally, this outline is a bit weaker than I was hoping it would be. But I’m submitting it anyhow, just so that I can keep moving through the lessons.

Title: Connect the Dots

Concept: The true story of the only man in the military who believed in a signals intercept trainee and helped her expose the largest network of Soviet spies ever uncovered – ultimately answering the question, “Who really brought down the Soviet Union?”

Main Conflict: A lead Soviet Agent is wreaking havoc on Western interests in Cold War Berlin with a campaign of car bombings, espionage, snipings, and infiltrating Field Station Berlin with spies. Storm is one of his targets and must go to war with him and his entire network of spies!

STORM Old Ways:

Small time rookie black op

Self interested

Insecure

Afraid of his superiors

Accepted the dominance of others.

Ignorant of the large secret network of high level soviet agents

STORM New Ways:

Runs vengeance missions across enemy lines

Courageous

Fighting for a cause

Manipulates the Soviet Agents

Can read the Morse Code

Has empathy for his team

Act 1

Opening: Storm prepares intensely for a mission. He’s nervous & excited – this will be his first mission behind the wall, and he’s going to rescue someone from the clutches of the Soviets.

Inciting Incident: He is smuggled through a checkpoint and into East Berlin where he meets his “package” – a defecting engineer he must smuggle out of Russian-controlled territory.

Turning Point: At the border, barely 50 feet from freedom, Storm’s “package” is killed by a sniper right in front of him! Storm is shot at as well, and he escapes with his own life only by sheer luck.

Act 2:

Reaction: Storm tells his wife that she won’t see him for a while, because it is unsafe for him to be there. Storm’s boss removes him from field work, and assigns him to the signals intercept fusion room on base where he has secret orders to scan recent transmissions looking for clues about who might have been behind this and how they knew where he was going to be.

Plan in action: Storm follows orders, but comes up with nothing. Lots of chatter, no intel. Then he meets one particular signals intercept operator, Queen Bee, who tells him of a porch light at her apartment that she thinks is flickering code. He confirms that it is, assigns a team to transcribe it discreetly, and he and QB search for the source of this browning out of circuits. They trace the wiring to one apartment in her building.

Midpoint Turning Point: Ignoring orders, Storm arranges a break & enter. Once inside, they discover their suspect – dead – acid melting his face. There’s an empty space where the radio used to be, and nothing else – except the guy’s code book, apparently dropped by someone in a rush to clear out of the place. Storm photographs and replaces it exactly where it was, to hide the fact that they found it.

Act 3

Rethink everything: Just when they thought they had the bad guy, he’s dead & they don’t know who killed him or why, so the mystery deepened. But they have a big clue, his code book. With this they can break the Soviet cipher for one day. They also learn his frequency schedule, and are able to listen in on live transmissions, discovering a new type of transmission technology that had previously been ruled out as static – micro bursts.

New plan: Storm has to admit to his boss that he disobeyed orders, but the intel they got is worth it.

* Queen Bee works on creating technology to document the micro bursts so that they can break the code

* Now that the baddie is dead, Storm returns home to be with his wife and kids.

* Impressed by Storm’s moves, his boss sends Storm “over the wall,” with the help of American spies in the East Bloc, to commit the military’s first Cold War vengeance killing in retaliation.

* Once Queen Bee breaks the micro bursts, they are able to track down individual soviet agents, and they map out hundreds of agents spread out all across the world, including in the United States (the discovery of sleeper cells)

* Again with the help of a network of American sympathizers, Storm is sent to turn Soviet agents to our side or else kill them.

Turning Point: Huge Failure / Major Shift: But these moves have a huge cost – in one night, the Soviets kill the entire network of American spies across the Eastern Bloc that helped Storm on his missions, including a dear friend of his, and Storm finds a bomb planted on his car, nearly killing his kids and wife. Other members of his team are killed. Queen Bee survives.

Act 4

New Plan: Storm believes that a new level of violence is necessary as vengeance for this. Queen Bee disagrees. She doesn’t see an end to the fighting, and wants out.

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: One of the Soviet agents Storm turns reveals that they have someone in Field Station Berlin – Storm’s right hand man, his archivist.

* Storm confronts the Archivist

* Storm is asked about Queen Bee’s sanity in a Section 8 investigation, he can’t reveal what they do together, and that she’s brilliant, and so he confirms that she doesn’t fit in well.

Resolution: Storm is promoted to “Psycho” – a (fictional) Special Forces term for bad ass mofo.

[Marianne Post]

Marianne’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

Vision: To empower myself to smile at today’s writing challenge and have fun solving it. Why? Because that’s how I’ll craft screenplays industry insiders are itching to read and produce. That’s how I’ll get my movies made.

What I learned doing this assignment is work quickly before perfectionism takes over. Just use the lesson as a guide and plug in details, even if they’re not great. This helped me tackle this potentially overwhelming assignment. This isn’t set in stone. I can fix and elevate later.

Concept: Feuding twins must team up to honor their terminally ill father’s wish — finding the family’s treasured time capsule — before his time ends

Main Conflict: Jane challenges her brother to a competition for finding the time capsule, winner takes all

Old Ways: Both siblings work against each other and resent each other

New Ways: The Siblings realize they can’t find the time capsule without each other’s help and don’t want to compete anymore anyway. They find a way to work together and find the treasure.

Act 1:

Opening: Jane celebrates a major win at work

Inciting Incident: The siblings’ father ask them to come see him

Turning Point: Jane tells her brother she can’t work with the guy who stole the love of her life, doesn’t need him and challenges him to the competition — whoever finds the time capsule keeps the prize

Act 2:

New Plan: The siblings ignore their father’s request to work together and each decides to do whatever it takes to find the time capsule and win the competition

Plan in action: Both fail as they ignore friends and family. They turn to sabotage and leave a path of destruction

Midpoint Turning Point: The sabotage leads to injury and causes undo stress on their father

Act 3:

Rethinking everything: John tries to reason with his sister and understand the pain he caused her by engaging in a relationship with a man she thought she loved

New Plan: John chisels away at the armor Jane’s built around herself. Meanwhile she starts to understand the ‘Love of her life” was never hers and the sabotage she’s unleashed on her brother could have grave consequences

Turning Point: Huge Failure / Major Shift: Jane almost kills herself and her brother because of a sabotage scheme that inadvertently levels their childhood home with them almost in it

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of conflict: Just as the siblings were starting to make up, their childhood house gets leveled with them in it and results in an epic verbal fight

Resolution: Jane coming to terms that her brother didn’t steal the love of her life. They were meant to be together and she refused to hear that. John realizes his sister’s success had nothing to do with better opportunity or education, just unfaltering drive and focus to figure out how to succeed

Siblings make up and find the time capsule before their father passes. It contains not only prized possessions from their childhood, but their inheritance (deed to the house and valuables inside)

[Micki Hess]

Micki’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

My vision: Be recognized as a writer that will work with the industry and would do what it takes to be that WRITER.

What I learned from doing this assignment is understanding my character and her arc, internal and external journey and old and new ways. It is like having a chart of the character and coming alive in the script.

I am EMPOWERED!

Title: FIREWORKS

Genre: Comedy

Concept:

Let the fireworks begin; a worn-out family is fed-up with the sisters’ feud; so they plan to lock them up until the feud is over during the holiday.

Title: FIREWORKS

Genre: Comedy

Concept:

Let the fireworks begin; a worn-out family is fed-up with the sisters’ feud; so they plan to lock them up until the feud is over during the holiday.

Arc Beginning: People Pleaser Put others before her needs and wants.

Arc Ending: Self Pleaser

Internal Journey: Meek and seeking approval to Strong and no approval

External Journey: Standing up for what she wants.

Old Ways:

Protect sister’s feelings

Try to please everyone

Deny herself of happiness

Vowed to be a widow for the rest of her life.

Live her life for everyone but herself.

New Ways:

No longer denying her feelings

No longer vowed to be widow

Her happiness means the world to her

Live her life for herself

No longer protecting her sister’s feelings

Act 1: 25 to 30 pages — Set up and see Old Ways.

Opening:

A long road with bends and trees along the side. Turn onto a side road and travel down the windy road. .

A two story with an attic window sits along the lake. The couple gets out of the car and heads inside the house.

Inciting Incident:

Sisters start arguing. And asks to find a tablecloth in the attic.

Turning Point:

They get locked in the attic.

Act 2: 20 to 30 pages — Challenge the Old Ways.

New plan:

Find a the tablecloth and get out of the attic.

Plan in action:

Find her senior year album and leafs through it. Remembering John and the breakup.

Midpoint Turning Point:

Blake grabs it and starts ripping it up. Dakota yank the book from her.

Act 3: 20 to 30 pages — With Midpoint change, Profound moments that give us new ways.

Rethink everything:

Dakota realizes that Blake is not going to let her have happiness.

New plan:

Revealing that she has rights to be happy as anyone else.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift:

Blake reveals that John cheated on Dakota while they were dating.

Dakota doesn’t believe Blake.

Blake finds a letter from John. He tells Blake her loves her not Dakota.

Act 4: 25 pages — Test the change in this character! Prove New Ways!

Climax/Ultimate

expression of the conflict:

Dakota grabs Blake and slaps her. The sisters fight.

Dakota says she is marrying John with Blake without Blake standing next to her.

Resolution:

Dakota marries John with Blake standing next to her sister as the fireworks explode in the night sky.

[Michelle Damis]

Michelle Damis’ Four-Act Transformation

I will be a prolific writer that is sought out because of my ability to truly touch people and create memorable stories and I will have financial freedom and time with my family as I travel the world.

“What I learned from doing this assignment is that I have some holes that I need to figure out. And I need ot see how my story fits the 4 act plan a bit better.

Concept: When a famous comedian
cancels her show last minute, two middle-aged sisters find themselves
having a wild night they’ll never forget.

Main Conflict: The sisters get
caught in the middle of a divorced couple, law enforcement, an informant,
and drug dealers.
Old Ways: Never says NO, settles,
lacks confidence, stays quiet. Accepts mediocrity.
New Ways:
Puts her foot down. Wants more-choose more. Brave. Speaks up.

Act 1:

Opening
– All the “life” stuff that is happening to both the sisters but more-so to
Jo.
Inciting
Incident – They have been so looking forward to a night out for their
birthday – but the comedian cancelled and they did not get the notification
Turning Point – Jo would normally
throw in the towel and quit in defeat but she decides to go out and have
fun with a few women they just met that were also supposed to go to the
concert

Act 2:

New plan- all the fun of a crazy
night, new friends, new experiences
Plan
in action – not sure
Midpoint
Turning Point – the stolen cell phone sends things careening down a
dangerous path

Act 3:

Rethink
everything – oops we are in danger the chase begins
New
plan
Turning
Point: Huge failure / Major shift – someone gets hurt, taco truck stolen
to get to hospital – Jo gets fired

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate
expression of the conflict – chase is not over, end up in the comedian’s hospital
room (it’s all YOUR fault!!!)
Resolution
– Jo stands up for herself and refuses to be fired. Promise of a relationship.

[Caroline Fritz]

[WIM] Caroline’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

My Vision: I will perfect my process of writing great scripts and be recognized by the industry as good at what I do and have successful movies produced.

What I learned: Because my movie is an action movie, I went and looked up the Action lessons and found that I need to meet the conventions of an action movie:

Highly Skilled Hero: MI6 agent who is by-the-book

Mission: Save his American friend’s wife from an arms dealer

Demand for Action: He must save her or she dies!

Antagonist: Arms dealer and also his double-crossing friend

Escalating action: A ransom drop turns into a shootout, the friend disappears, and the hunt for the perpetrator ensues.

Mission Track

Motivation: While on a holiday Callahan Terry, an MI6 agent, and his wife, Bridget, met Aaron Copley and his wife Gabrielle, at a resort in Sardinia and hit it off. The resort was attacked by terrorists and many people died, including Bridget. Aaron and Gabrielle helped Callahan and Aaron was the lead agent for the CIA tracking down and arresting the terrorists. They have been trauma-bonded friends ever since.

Inciting Incident: Callahan visits Aaron and Gabrielle at their home in Virginia; it’s his first ever visit to the U.S. Gabrielle is kidnapped on her way to the supermarket.

First Action: After the ransom call comes in, Callahan shadows Aaron to the drop and Aaron is also kidnapped.

Obstacle: Callahan reaches out to the CIA to help but his offer to help is rejected and he is warned to stay away from the case after being interrogated at risk of being deported.

Escalation: The arms dealer beckons Callahan to his lair in Mexico but he is being followed by the CIA and must lose them.

Overwhelming Odds: Callahan embarks on a desperate cross-country trip to the arms dealer’s lair and sneaks into the heavily fortified fortress in the dark of night with the CIA on his trail.

Twist: During his surveillance, he finds out that Aaron is working with the arms dealer. Gabrielle is nowhere in sight. Callahan worries for her.

New Plan: Callahan works to separate Aaron from the compound.

Full-out attack: Aaron acts as if he is giving up but summons the arms dealer and his men and Callahan is in a fight for his life.

Success: The CIA show up in the middle of the firefight and arrest Aaron. The arms dealer escapes. Callahan finds Gabrielle unharmed.

Concept: An MI6 agent on a visit to the U.S. doesn’t know who to trust when his friend’s wife is kidnapped.

Main Conflict: Callahan must find his friend’s wife who has been kidnapped by an arms dealer.

Old Ways: Callahan is a by-the-book MI6 officer.

New Ways: Callahan must break the rules to get to the bottom of the kidnapping.

Act 1

Opening: Callahan is undercover at an event in Bahrain looking for a terrorist. He stops an attack on the members of the House of Khalifa and takes down the terrorist. He is rewarded and urged to take some time off, so he visits Virginia to see his American friends, Aaron and Gabrielle Copley. Aaron is a CIA agent.

Inciting Incident: Gabrielle is kidnapped on her way to the store.

Turning Point: Callahan shadows Aaron to the ransom drop and he also is swept up.

Act 2

New plan: Callahan reports what happened to the CIA.

Plan in Action: Callahan is interrogated and threatened with deportation. The CIA has no idea what is happening.

Midpoint turning point: Callahan hears from the kidnapper, an arms dealer who killed Callahan’s wife at a resort in Sardinia.

Act 3

Rethink everything: Callahan is filled with rage but needs to be objective.

New plan: He travels to Mexico to save his friends with the CIA after him.

Turning Point: huge failure/major shift: Callahan finds out that Aaron is on the arms dealer’s side and was paid to deliver him.

Act 4

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Callahan gets into a firefight with the arms dealer’s men.

Resolution: Aaron is arrested by the trailing CIA agents. The

[Linda Kish]

Linda’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

My Vision is: I will do whatever it takes to be a sought-after profound writer with many successful movies produced and an Oscar on my mantel.

What I learned doing this assignment is I had an outline in my head, but when I went through this process I realized I needed to move up some of my plot points and make turning points stronger.

Title: RISE OF THE FALCON

An Action Thriller.

HIGH CONCEPT: The head of a cartel is dying and puts his succession up for competition with a point system that rewards crimes based on the degree to which they promote his infamy. Will a low-level worker abandon his morals to beat the ruthless heavyweights and protect his family and community?

Internal Journey: From afraid and protective of his morals to sacrificing his morals and becoming a leader.

External Journey: From low-level Falcon to powerful Cartel Lord who kills his competition.

Old Ways:

· Values morals and does all he can to not cross a line.

· Not ambitious.

· Accepts situation and keeps his head down.

· Refuses to entertain a coup.

· Allows cartel heavyweights to disrespect his family.

New Ways:

· Determined.

· Strong.

· Sacrifices morals to protect family and community.

· Fights to stay in power for the greater good.

ACT I:

Opening: Joaquin ushers his son away as they witness the cartel killing a man who was stealing drugs. He teaches his son how to keep his head down and avoid getting pulled into the dangerous and most immoral cartel activities or becoming a victim.

II: Rodrigo, the drug lord, announces he’s dying and there will be a competition to select his successor. The points are based on how they promote Rodrigo’s infamy, but he will not tell them what activities rank highest, they should think like him/like a drug lord and know.

TP 1: Joaquin and his daughter are tormented by a man claiming he will be the next head of the cartel.

ACT II:

New Plan: With the most evil cartel members making the biggest moves in the competition, Joaquin feels the only hope for his family is to join the competition and win.

Plan in Action: Joaquin tries to earn points without crossing too far over his moral compass. Rodrigo urges him to quit to protect him from aggravating the inevitable winner.

Mid-Point: Joaquin is backed into a corner and makes his first kill – earning competition points.

ACT III:

Rethink everything: Realizes he is now a target of the top competitors and has to abandon his morals if he not only wants to win but survive and keep his family safe.

New plan: Uses what he learned from his father and from being a confidant of Rodrigo to know what will get the most points as he knows he is behind the others. Goes on a tear to win points.

TP 3: Huge failure / major shift: Arturo earns major points with an evil action – making him the expected winner with just 48 hours until the end of the competition – and to celebrate he rapes Joaquin’s wife. (Joaquin is missing – b/c he is in US to take out Director of Border Patrol)

ACT IV:

New Plan: Joaquin kills the Chief of US Border Patrol.

Climax / Ultimate expression of the conflict: Rodrigo anoints Joaquin the new drug lord and tells him his first duty is a mercy killing as the pain has become unbearable and he wants to go out with a bang. Joaquin kills him and then the other top competitors.

Resolution: Joaquin is the new cartel lord and the community is safe, but there is a twist…

[Peter Symons]

Peter’s 4 Act transformation Structure

Vision: I will be a prolific screenwriter of movies and streaming content and work with the best in the business.

What I learned doing this assignment is… Hal’s the man and Cheryl is the woman!

MEAT WAGON

Concept: Carlos is a reformed gangster who takes a night job driving a hearse – a tough job by any measure – made supernaturally challenging because the body in the back is his.

Main Conflict: Carlos and Jude – Carlos is trying to live a new life, but Jude pulls him back into it. Carlos’s sins transcend his mortal life and follow him into the afterlife.

1. Carlos Ramirez Old Ways

• Carlos wants to leave his old life as a murderer and drug dealer behind.

• His wife and son give his life meaning.

• Carlos has embraced the Catholic faith thanks to his mentor, Father Diego.

• He’s helps young men to avoid the gangster lifestyle.

2. Carlos Ramirez New Ways

• After his former gang kills his wife, Carlos slaughters them with a poisoned machete like his gangster handle El Escorpión – but in his berserker rage, he doesn’t realize that he’s fatally wounded.

• He wakes up in a coffin being driven to Hell!

• Father Carlos petitions Santa Muerte on behalf of Carlos.

• Carlos’s soul is saved from damnation; his penance is to ferry the souls of the damned to Hell.

MEAT WAGON/THE HEARSE

ACT I

Opening: Carlos and Father Diego smuggle a mother and child in the back of a hearse across the Texas/Mexico border. They avoid getting caught because one of the state troopers belongs to Father Diego’s parish. After the family is reunited, Carlos gets busy souping up the engine of another 1937 hearse.

Inciting Incident: Jude, Carlos’s former gang associate throws a wad of cash & drugs at Carlos to get him back to the thug life. But Carlos refuses to take the bait. Jude is insulted.

Turning Point: Carlos’s old gang shoots and kills Dani during his son’s baptism.

ACT II

Reaction: Carlos burns his old gang’s ‘destroyer’ house to the ground and slaughters them with a poisoned machete. Jude shoots him and escapes the carnage.

New Plan: Carlos hides inside the funeral home connected to the church of the old priest. Father Diego, also the local undertaker, starts to receive bodies from the coroner. Carlos watches from the shadows as the old man performs a strange ritual over one body in particular – he shaves the head, tattoos a symbol on its forehead and places a large coin in the mouth and sews the lips shut.

Turning Point/Midpoint: The police show up and question the old priest about Carlos. He tells them he hasn’t seen him since the baptism. Father Diego says that Carlos is dead to him.

ACT III

Rethink: A desperate Carlos grabs the vintage hearse and makes his escape. He doesn’t notice that there’s a coffin in the back. Carlos’s cell phone rings. It’s Dani! He loses her signal. He thinks he’s losing his mind.

New Plan: Carlos wants to finish the job and kill Jude, but Father Diego confronts him. He reveals that he had to intervene on his behalf with Santa Muerte. The old priest takes off his clerical collar and opens his shirt to reveal an autopsy scar. He too was once a bad ass on his way to Hell until someone intervened for his soul. Carlos realizes that he’s dead. He didn’t survive the encounter with his gang. The body in the coffin is his own!

ACT IV

Climax: Carlos rises from the coffin and spits up embalming fluid and the old coin– the price paid to Santa Muerte for his passage from the land of the dead. Carlos is forced to kill the undead Father Diego to complete the ritual and free the hold priest.

Resolution: Carlos runs down Jude with Meat Wagon. He is the new ferryman, just like many lost souls before him.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by  Peter Symons.

[Jack Purdie]

Jack P’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

MY VISION: I will do whatever it takes to write a script that is recognized by the industry and leads to multiple successful movies.

WHAT I LEARNED: This formula works for setting up a story structure. Hard work, but effective!

CONCEPT: A young lesbian and old man fall in love and discover they have shared multiple lifetimes as soulmates.

MAIN CONFLICT: Two people fall in love who couldn’t be more different and must navigate their differences in order to succeed as a couple and as friends.

OLD WAYS/NEW WAYS:

Jay

Old ways: Controlling, over-confident “ugly
American” closed-minded spiritual skeptic.

New ways: Compassionate listener with a generous heart and awakened soul.

Lina

Old ways: Naïve and impetuous; self-destructive; closed off to emotion, spiritually conflicted.

New ways: Self-aware and focused; overcoming addictions and bad behavior; emotionally and spiritually aware.

ACT 1

OPENING: Jay meets Lina on vacation at a café. Lina is attacked by a drunken customer and Jay saves the day.

INCITING INCIDENT: Jay and Lina go on a road trip, a fling for both that ends with a hook-up with another girl and a drunken quarrel. It appears to be over before it even began.

TURNING POINT: Jay goes off by himself, is struck by lightning during an electrical storm, and discovers in a NDE he and Lina are soulmates with multiple past lives together. Jay meets with Lina and tells her his revelations. She doesn’t believe him and they part ways.

ACT 2

REACTION: Jay returns home (US) and is haunted by dreams of past lives with Lina and others. Lina is kicked out of her parents’ house with no options. She contacts Jay and he agrees to help her find her own place in the city.

NEW PLAN: Even though Lina doesn’t believe they are soulmates, she accepts his help and they begin a long-distance relationship.

PLAN IN ACTION: Jay researches reincarnation, begins to believe he has multiple soulmates in this lifetime, and realizes he is in love with Lina. She is grateful for his help, says she loves him too and they begin planning a life together when he returns.

MIDPOINT TURNING POINT: Jay returns to Lina and they are madly in love. They share the tiny apartment in the slums of CAC (Central American City) and become a blissful couple.

ACT 3

RETHINK EVERYTHING: At first all is well. Then they slowly revert to their old selves: Old Jay is controlling, insecure, teetotaler, non-smoker, homophobe. He is having money problems and tells her she needs to get a job. Lina is an alcoholic, smoker, spends most of her free time texting or talking in Spanish on the phone. She is trying this domestic thing with a man, but it’s not really her. She misses her old life and girlfriends. She comes come drunk very late one night and they have a big fight.

NEW PLAN: Jay confronts her about her lifestyle and says she has to change. Lina tells him she’s not really attracted to him and she is going to do whatever she wants. She gets drunk and passes out in the bathroom. She packs her bag and leaves after a quicky. Jay leaves the apartment and starts to make his exit plans from this miserable failure.

TURNING POINT/HUGE FAILURE/MAJOR SHIFT: They reconcile again and go on another road trip to celebrate her birthday. It is a roller coaster ride ending with her rejecting his advances one last time. He explodes and belittles her, then refuses to talk for the remainder of the trip. He leaves for home after an emotional farewell.

ACT 4

CLIMAX/ULTIMATE EXPRESSION OF THE CONFLICT: THREE MONTHS LATER. Jay writes to Lina apologizing for his actions. He reiterates his love for her and everything he has learned makes it clear they are soulmates and should keep trying. He returns to CAC and they have dinner. She thanks him for everything he has done for her but she has moved on, she doesn’t feel anything for him, there is no such thing as soulmates.

RESOLUTION: ONE YEAR LATER. Jay returns to CAC and meets Lina’s girlfriend. Lina admits to realizing there is something unique, they may be soulmates, but too much has happened to go back and try again. They agree to becoming “friends for life.”

[Sandra Nelles]

Sandra’s Transformational Structure

Vision: I am doing what I love to do as a writer with several successful produced movies.

What I learned doing this assignment is how to create a 4 Act structure around the transformational journey.

Concept: The adventures of a young sea captain lured into the dangerous, terrifying world of crude oil smuggling, where he faces a firing squad if captured.

Main Conflict: To smuggle or not to smuggle. Either way he faces death.

Old Ways:

· Naïve, blindly obeys

· Dedicated and driven to be the best

· Insecure and self-doubting

· Ignorant of the smuggling world

· Afraid and anxious, drinks alcohol to steady his nerves

New Ways:

· Self-confident and accomplished

· Serene and courageous in any situation

· Relaxed and optimistic

· Honest and trustworthy, legitimate profession helping others

· Clean and sober, recovers from his wounds and addictions

External Journey: From a struggling new sea captain to running a top smuggling operation.

Internal Journey: From timid and afraid to confident and fearless.

Act 1

Opening: Television blares showing a football game. Sloane mixes a highball in the kitchen and moves to a chair in the living room. There’s a knock on the door.

Inciting Incident: Sloane discovers his ship crew is smuggling oil.

Turning Point: Sloane is badly beaten up when he threatens to report the smuggling to the authorities.

Act 2

New Plan: Sloane tries to ignore the smuggling. Then asks to transfer to another ship, however this crew is even more corrupt.

Plan in Action: Sloane asks to meet with Mr. Big, a money changer, who is secretly behind the smuggling operations. Sloane proposes a deal for the two of them to work together.

Midpoint Turning Point: Military raids begin on Sloane’s house.

Act 3

Rethink Everything: Sloane leaves the ship and smuggling. He tries several legitimate jobs that all fail.

New Plan: Mr. Big convinces Sloane to come back. Sloane moves the operation to another location and they try smuggling whiskey.

Turning Point: Huge Failure/ Major Shift: The military police are aware of the new illegal operation. Mr. Big sees the only way out is to sink the ship.

Act 4

Climax/Ultimate Expression of the Conflict: Sloane gives up his life of crime and enters a residential alcohol and drug treatment program.

Resolution: Clean and sober, Sloane meets a wonderful woman on a spiritual singles website and they fall in love. Sloane becomes a counselor and works in a prison helping inmates.

[Valeriya Ordinartseva]

Valeriya’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

My Vision: I am a masterful, ahead-of-the-game, and out-of-the-box writer full of ideas and creative energy. My writing is fresh, impactful, iconic, beautiful, and effortless, and my projects deliver outstanding commercial and artistic success. I create a lot, it’s fun, quick, and easy. My whole life is that way.

What I learned from doing this assignment is…

– It’s much easy to notice what’s missing in a short/broad strokes/big picture outline.

– It’s faster to write anything and edit it a few times than to write something great at once. Plus it allows space for thinking, and for ideas to flow.

– Focusing on structure and practicing to build it is the most important skill that can significantly improve my writing at this point in my career.

– I remembered that structure and possibilities that it holds really fascinated me ten years ago, and I’m eager to get back to my enthusiastic studies and experiments.

7RDRD4

Concept

Robots became too human and people start the dehumanization program to get rid of them.

Main Conflict

Can a girl brought up by a robot prove that she isn’t one before she and her robot get killed?

Old Ways

Trying to fit in

Feeling inferior and making herself smaller

Hiding

Isolated

New Ways

Taking risks, brave

Confident

Doing her thing

Caring for others

Act 1 – Human:

Opening

A robot kills a person putting the existence of all human-like robots in danger.

Inciting Incident

Throwing itself away, the robot finds a baby girl in the waste. It brings up the human child.

Turning Point

The robot gets an invitation for a humanity test.

Act 2 – Robot:

New plan

The girl steals the invitation to pass the test instead of her robot.

Plan in action

The girl fails, she is recognized to be a robot and is sent to recycling. The robot saves her and others.

Midpoint Turning Point

They are all caught.

Act 3 – Game on:

Rethink everything

For the sake of fairness and entertainment, people offer the robots to play a humanity game, in which those who fail get destroyed.

New plan

Robots and people help each other to go through trials.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift

A mysterious flying robot kills those who found the solutions for everyone in previous rounds.

Act 4 – The score:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict

Our robot fights the mysterious one. Turns out the politician running the dehumanization program is a robot.

Resolution

Both robots die. The girl lives to build a world where humanity comes first for every creation.

WHAT DOESN’T KILL ME

Concept

Following her therapist’s advice, a woman brings an “under-the-bed monster” that doesn’t let her lead fulfilling life out into the light to learn how to live with it. But the monster has plans of its own.

Main Conflict

Which one of them survives the other?

Old Ways

Confused

Scared, living in fear and anxiety

Lonely

Low self-esteem

Suppressing her feelings

Sad

New Ways

Free

Creative

Empowered

Clear

Trusting herself

In love with life

Confident

Act 1 – Wake up call:

Opening

Irene is depressed, lonely, and unhappy. Something bothers her at her place, she is afraid of every sound. She doesn’t notice she hurts herself (pinching, biting nails and lips). Her wisdom tooth starts bothering her. Her life and relationships are ugly. It becomes obvious to her when her successful childhood friend comes to town, the one who lives her life to the fullest. They meet and Irene realizes she needs help.

Inciting Incident

Irene has a nervous breakdown for no reason and decides to go see a shrink. The shrink suggests communicating with the monster that presumably lives under Irenes’ bed. Irene starts talking to the monster.

Turning Point

The monster comes out.

______________________________

Act 2 – Run or hide it:

New plan

Irene is scared she calls her mom who invites her to come over for a weekend.

Plan in action

Irene goes out, trying to escape from the monster. It follows. She hides in the club. She brings home a guy and locks the door and windows to keep the monster out. The guy disappears. Irene goes to see her family. The monster is there. Irene’s niece gives her cryptic advice on dealing with monsters.

Midpoint Turning Point

The monster comes back. Irene’s friends and family disappear.

______________________________

Act 3 – Monsters’ showdown:

Rethink everything

Understanding she can’t run away, Irene starts hunting the monster. Irene decides to pretend she is a friend of the monster and do whatever it wants to get rid of it.

New plan

Irene fights the monster and gets hurt.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift

Irene’s niece has to stay with her because her sister is in the hospital.

______________________________

Act 4 – Monsters united:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict

Irene decides to kill a kid to get rid of the monster. The monster stops Irene from committing murder. Irene realizes she has been terrorizing herself and others all this time. She embraces her fears and breaks free from them. Monster gives her a gift. It shows Irene what she wants and helps her get rid of her fears.

Resolution

Irene becomes an artist who can see other’s monsters. Her art is a reminder that sets them free. Her paintings are in the gallery. She dates a guy she likes. The kid can sense the presence of her own monster.

[Bob DeCarli]

Bob DeCarli’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

My Vision: To master my craft to the point where I’ve earned a reputation as the screenwriter top producers, directors, and stars can call upon when they need someone to save the day.

What I learned: What I constantly need to re-learn and be reminded of – to keep moving forward knowing that it’s not “perfect” and I don’t have all the answers.

CONCEPT: A judge is set up for a crime he didn’t commit, and his only hope for clearing his name is the criminal he just sentenced to death.

Main Conflict: The Junior Judge has been framed for a crime he didn’t commit, and must fight to clear himself before being arrested and jailed.

Old Ways:

-rude and demanding

-close-minded & Judgmental

-self-centered and egotistical

New Ways:

-Open-minded

-Confident but Humble

-Compassionate

Act 1:

Opening: A young, pompous JUNIOR JUDGE gossiping with his LAW CLERK about random stuff, then walking out into the courtroom and sentencing a man to death, with zero compassion or concern.

Inciting Incident: Anonymous, ominous demand that he either recuse himself from an upcoming case or resign from the bench. Or else.

Turning Point: His key card to enter the courthouse has been deactivated and Federal Marshalls, rather than protecting him, are there to arrest him.

Act 2:

Reaction: Goes to the Chief Judge, and asks for assistance (and we’ve had a setup already that they have a bad relationship and she’s been hostile to him). She tells him she can’t help him. Nothing personal. She tells him what she’d tell her best friend: turn himself in.

New plan: A Wild Escape Plan: Join an EXISTING escape plan that the man he just sentenced to death is a part of. He disguises himself as the Guard driving the prisoner transport.

Plan goes wrong: Everyone except him and Death Row are killed. He’s going to leave Death Row chained in the transport but releases him and takes him with him when Death Row yells, “I know who framed you” or “I can clear your name.”

Plan in action:

–Death Row agrees to tell what he knows to the Chief Judge, at the Junior Judge’s insistence. Death Row is skeptical: She never liked Junior. What makes him think she’s not part of the plan to frame him? They manage to both get back inside the courthouse, with Junior actually managing it by acting with humility and getting someone to whom he previously was rude to help him.

Midpoint Turning Point: Junior and Death Row manage to get in to speak with the Chief Judge. It looks like she’s beginning to believe them – when she’s killed by a gunshot through a window and the gun used is tossed in through the window, framing the two of them for the murder.

Act 3:

Rethink everything: He cannot convince someone else of his innocence without opening his mind to the possibility that many of the defendants he’s sentenced were actually innocent.

New plan: Junior Judge is now convinced his sponsor, SENATOR NOAH CROSS, is behind the plot to frame him, and sets out to gather evidence to prove hit. [PLACEHOLDER]

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: He witnesses the killing of his Law Clerk, the only person he believed was still loyal to him, and upon whom he was counting to help clear his name. Evidence revealed making it look like the Junior Judges was obsessed with the Law Clerk and he killed her because she rejected his sexual advances.

Act 4:

The Junior Judge finally accepts that Death Row is actually innocent, and pledges to clear his name, despite having given up on clearing his own name. He realizes that the Senator who sponsored his nomination was the person who framed both him and Death Row.

Junior Judge and Death Row concoct a plan to expose the Senator for being behind the murder of the Junior Judge’s Law Clerk.

Junior Judge and Death Row confront the Senator, and it looks like their plan is succeeding – but then the Law Clerk appears at the Senator’s side! She was behind the plot to frame the Junior Judge all along, with the promise that she would get the nomination to replace him.

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Junior Judge and Death Row come up with some tricky, brilliant way to both clear themselves AND expose the Senator and the Law Clerk. [OBVIOUS PLACEHOLDER]

Resolution:

Now having developed the true qualities necessary to be a wise judge, the Junior Judge disposes of a case compassionately, the scene mirroring the first sentencing scene, and showing how he has changed.

[Jamie Handley]

VISION: To sell my script or limited series with future spin-offs to a great producer. And made!

Concept: WITHOUT RECOURSE

With no recourse to sue, two women battle with the FDA and AMA when one has a life threatening medical condition and her doctor and attorney are part of the medical mafia.

What I’ve learned is I know that this is just a rough draft and things might be out of whack or in need of restructuring but it’s a start. I am going to go back over it and take in the big picture points to see if I even got them. But for now I am turning this in to get to the final lesson in the module. I just reviewed my structure and discovered many areas that need revised and completed but I’m still turning it in as is!

Main Conflict

Justine becomes deeply involved with her best friend’s medical condition until she learns that her BFF underhandedly gets her attorney and ex involved and later discovers there is a medical mafia which could involve her doctors. Justine must make a choice to continue the crusade or let her go and die a lonely death.

Old Ways

Justine is altruistic to a fault.

Justine takes her needs and her family last.

There are trust issues

Justine believes that being needed is how she finds her worth.

Justine’s daughter, Gracie, isn’t respected.

Justine fears success and questions her ability to write.

New Ways

Justine surrenders to the reality that the medical and legal system are bigger than she imagined.

Justine can let go of other’s needs and still be in relationship with them.

Justine and Gracie come to terms and bond in new ways.

Justine knows what she wants in life.

Success is a new adventure.

EXTERNAL JOURNEY – From always helping others to putting herself and family first.

INTERNAL JOURNEY – From being needed by others at her expense to finding her voice and self-worth.

Act 1:

Opening

1991 – Justine is in a severe accident in Lake Tahoe. 2020 – COVID begins. Justine is caring for her dying mother with the help of her daughter, Gracie and her significant, Dave, who lives with her. Justine breaks her hip. Day after surgery she demands an AMA and returns home. Next day her mother passes. One year later. Justine and Gracie argue about money and work issues with Dave.

Inciting Incident

Justine gets a call from Lauren’s brother crying for help. Lauren hasn’t been out of bed for over a week.

Turning Point

Justine flies to Lauren’s in Las Vegas and calls paramedics. Justine finds a new surgeon to get an outside evaluation; they learn the options are few and highly risky, more importantly; the two surgeons are at fault.

Act 2:

New plan

Justine returns home and begins to research. Arrangements are made with surgeons; Barrett Neurological and UCLA Spine Institute.

Plan in action

Lauren contacts Peter for advice who is her ex and legal counsel, unknown to Justine. Lauren fights with Justine; refuses to get help but then succumbs. Lauren’s brother needs help with getting a cell phone. Justine steps in for Lauren and gets him a phone on her plan. Gracie needs help starting her floral business while Dave continues to do nothing.

Midpoint Turning Point

Justine returns to Las Vegas to discuss the findings from the two institutes with the new surgeon. Her case is hopeless. Lauren shares a magazine article about the medical mafia in Las Vegas, which she has had all along. Peter stops by, gives Lauren legal documents to sign, and takes all her medical records. With Peter is in the picture Justine become conflicted. When Justine returns home Gracie confronts her mom about not being there for her when she needs her the most.

Act 3:

Rethink everything

Dumbfounded with Peter involved Justine takes pause, not knowing what her place is in helping Lauren. There’s more to this picture than what is being told.

New plan

Deal with it! Justine hunkers down in research, still dropping everything in order to help Lauren. Things get worse in the home with Gracie and Dave. Lauren begins to avoid Justine’s calls. Justine takes it up a notch and connects the FDA, AMA, surgeons and manufacturers with Lauren’s medical issues.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift

After investigating the medical mafia, dealings with the FDA, AMA and Justine’s own doctors, Justine becomes fearful that Peter and Lauren’s surgeons could be connected. Justine informs Lauren of the possibility, connecting the dots and Lauren turns on Justine leaving her hanging after Justine states she doesn’t trust Peter. Lauren ghosts Justine.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict

Justine receives a certified letter from the District Attorney in Las Vegas regarding a wiretap on her brother’s phone. Justine is forced to call Lauren. Justine cancels his service. He’s connected to some druggie selling narcotics. Justine’s doctor confirms that what she has discovered with the two surgeons, FDA, AMA is correct and that the mafia is real. Justine breaks down in the doctor’s office as he points to the big picture in the medical system the bigger picture, which is her life at home. He gives her advice that is long overdue.

Resolution

Justine flies to Oregon to be with her older sister who she confides in. She needs the help and asks for it. Gracie calls and lets her know that Dave has landed a big job, her business license came through and she landed a big account to supply all their floral events and needs.

[Kevin Patrick Goulet]

Lesson 5 – KEVIN’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

MY VISION: Develop a successful methodology for writing screenplays resulting in the completion of this / other screenplays which all ‘read’ at a PRO/story-telling level, culminating in the selling of my screenplays… produced projects (films or series), worthy compensation -and more screenwriting opportunities. Rinse and repeat- many times over.

What I learned with this assignment: While it is another evolution of the story -yet to be fully conceived- it is a giant leap closer to solving the puzzle.

Concept Logline: Life story of Jazz Pianist Vince Guaraldi using the ‘PRESENT/PAST’ approach/layout for construction of the screenplay.

Main Conflict: Vince Guaraldi wants to be a jazz piano recording artist, but he is not connected- does not understand how the business works, how to get “IN”, find a record producer, get a recording contract, He is essentially at a dead-end.

Old Way -Study, watch the great musicians up close in the clubs, play/learn Jazz by the book, know the sound and style of other Jazz Greats already established in the jazz world; following the lead of those who have already made it. Do exactly what they are doing. Become a member of a Jazz Band already established (replace some other piano player). Beg to be part of a recording deal anywhere, at any recording company that will have you!

New Ways- Be himself, write & create his own musical compositions; different from what anyone has already created, different from what the public knows- has already heard. Form his own band/Trio of musicians to record his own tracks… do it the Vince Guaraldi way!

Cannot yet list them all (don’t have them all figured out yet) but there will be several brief scenes that are PAST flashbacks, relevant to moving the PRESENT story/conflict forward.

(Plan: use ‘PRESENT/PAST’ approach/layout for construction of screenplay).

Act 1: OPENING: …PRESENT time — 1965 / majority of film… ‘PEANUTS’ Cartoon Producer Lee Mendelson -crossing Golden Gate Bridge returning from meeting with Peanuts creator CHARLES M. SCHULZ – hears song a jazz on car radio …Vince Guaraldi’s minor radio hit song, ‘CAST YOUR FATE TO THE WIND’… Mendelson Loves it! MUST KNOW who that piano player is…! MENDELSON absolutely must find this musician, GET that guy …VG… hire him to score upcoming PEANUTS CARTOON project!

INCITING INCIDENT: …PAST time —1945… High School, jealous Talent contestant sabotages Vince’s chance to perform in the talent show. VINCE is so excited, has a revelation this is what he wants to do on a much bigger scale in front of even larger crowds!

TURNING POINT: …PAST time — 1945… Celebrating after winning the School Talent Show! Then, Vince receives KOREAN WAR draft Notice. His life has just been completely upended.

ACT 2: NEW PLAN: Vince- now in Korea ‘peeling potatoes’ (He’s a ‘mess’ cook) finds some fellas who are also budding musicians, manages to put together some trios, quartets of players to entertain fellow troops- imagines carrying this further when he gets back home to America.

Of all people, one day THE General, Douglas MacArthur makes a brief stop-over at this ARMY Base. He sees Vince playing the Piano. And says to him, “Son you’re a real musician, you don’t belong here.” MacArthur pils some strings for the tiny Guaraldi; helps get him back home to America.

PLAN IN ACTION: Back in San Francisco, Vince’s Mom -now divorced for 2nd time- is really struggling. Vince was sending her his GI his paychecks, but still not enough. He gets job after job to help Mom Carmella pay bills. – At one of his jobs, Vince nearly loses some fingers. Vince spends nights in SF Bay area Jazz Clubs, sitting front & center- watching the best Jazz musicians on the West coast up close, seeing how ‘it’s’ done. Vince starts auditioning for club jobs, gets some breaks playing parties then auditoriums, colleges… starts to make some inroads- working for little money, but beginning to make name for himself. Vince + old H.S. girlfriend, now back together (SHIRLEY MOSKOWITZ); she becomes Mrs. Vince Guaraldi in 1953. MIDPOINT TURNING POINT: PAST — Vince is hired by Jazz Musician CAL TJADER (only three years older than Vince but already a legend in Jazz). Vince ‘rotates-in’ at Piano with the band’s other players -sort of his first big break.

Act 3: RETHINK EVERYTHING: PAST — A Club Owner asks Vince back- Vince is quickly disappointed, learns He will be the warm-up piano act in the Lobby, doing ‘covers’ of songs made famous by other Jazz Greats. Adding insult to injury, the Club owner says to him one night, “Guaraldi, you play that song almost as good as the guy who wrote it.” This comment stings but ‘births’ a plan in Vince- to start creating his own music no one’s ever heard before.

NEW PLAN: PAST —Vince- writing, recording- looking for a record label to produce his first pressed vinyl recording for Him

TURNING POINT: Huge failure / Major shift: PAST — Monterey Jazz Fest., Vince now has his own TRIO; they Blow the roof off the FEST!!! / His first record is soon produced & released…: IT IS A BOMB! WHY? Because there is no original Guaraldi material: the album is wall-to-wall covers of music already successfully recorded by other well know musicians from several different music genres (Bebop, Swing, Classical).

1955 – Son David Anthony is born. 1966 – Daughter Dia Lisa is born.

-VG’s first Hit record, “CAST YOUR FATE TO THE WIND” provided VINCE with a ‘bump’ in income; ‘a bump’ for members of his Trio too.

CAST YOUR FATE… was the hit record song Producer LEE MENDELSON later heard on the car radio while crossing the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge)

The Lil’ Black Porsche 356 Convertible: Vince and TRIO band-mate/buddy/Drummer JERRY GRANELLI each bought a Porsche 356 (Jerry’s was Silver) and they often raced around the hills of SF like maniacs .

1963-64: Vince meets a ‘Club’ girl she becomes his Girlfriend ‘on the side’ (all musicians doing it back then (?) GRETCHEN KATAMAY- with Guaraldi after Guaraldi and wife Shirley divorced in 1968.

Vince’s 1964 Album, “THE LATIN SIDE OF VINCE GUARALDI “(1964) features Vince standing on a wooden box (the words, ‘Brazilian Coffee’ stamped on the side). Katamay was much taller than VG… some humor in the picture’s conception but not found to be very amusing to Guaraldi’s wife Shirley

Act 4: CLIMAX/ULTIMATE EXPRESSION OF THE CONFLICT: PRESENT — At a PRIVATE SCREENING for the CBS Brass (Executives) hate it. HATE everything about A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS and most especially the MUSICAL SCORE. Vince doubting himself can he cut the mustard (?) or not? Maybe he does not have what it takes.

Resolution: (Vindication) PRESENT — Vince Guaraldi’s score/music from ‘A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS’ Wins in the rating game 2nd > highest NIELSEN RATINGS of ALL TIME. CBS does an about-face- Orders another PEANUTS Cartoon Special (It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” which leads to more Peanuts Special and in all Guaraldi will score 17 Specials between 1965 and 1978… On the morning of his death (died later that evening of a heart attack), Guaraldi had finished the ‘score’ for “It’s Arbor Day Charlie Brown”; the final Peanuts Special he worked on before his death.

…

(Epilogue) Present-day (2022…?)- Concert featuring jazz musicians DAVID BENOIT, WYNTON MARSALIS, GEORGE WINSTON playing LINUS AND LUCY … they all saw the PEANUTS – ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ and heard Guaraldi’s music when they were young; and it made them all want to be musicians.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 11 months ago by  Kevin Patrick Goulet.

[Edward Brown]

Edward Brown 4 act transformation structure

write sell rewards

concept Creator connects two total opposites to learn parable go giving lessons that can be used to save planet

Main conflict: Detroit roofer wants professor Tanya to come to Detroit, she laughs and tries to vamp George to come to Siberia — thus neogiations via Go Giving

Tanya Czarina who wants to rule, prissy , structured, VAMP

George: creative mess who is too easily vamped and tries to please while not taking care of himself

Creator concerned fewer believers, fewer dad as partents, and nukes on path to recreate mars like extinctions

ACT 3 20-30 PAGES – WITH MIDPOINT CHANGE, PROFOUND MOMNETS GIVES US NEW WAYS

HERO MUST RETHINK AND CREATE NEW PLAN

Have multiple insights why things not working

See old ways won’t work anymore

Must up their game, which means they must change

Now hero has new plan which they never did before

Could be training, now partners, new actions never took before

All is lost

ACT 4 TEST THE CHANGES PROVES NEW WAYS

[Kevin Ash]

· Kevin Ash’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

· Vision: I will be living in paradise, writing prolifically at my leisure, respected and sought after for my interesting and thought provoking films.

What I learned from doing this assignment is this needs tweaking and maybe reorganization, complex story. But it’s a start.

2. Give us the following:

· Concept: The true story of a loose cannon, Evan, who battled addiction for years and won against all odds with the help of his father, inspiring all those around him, after his tragic death at 21.

Main Conflict: Evan acting on his instincts and
brilliance only to let substance abuse derail his agenda every time.
Old Ways: Only
thinking of self

Causing damage to property
Ignoring authority
Being reckless

New Ways: Thinking mainly of others

Developing a philosophy
Becoming a thoughtful artist
Helping others to overcome personal doubt

3. Fill in each of these with the answers you have right now.

Act 1:

Opening: Evan having great times and winning over
everyone around him.
Inciting Incident: Introduction to alcohol at age 9
Turning Point: Near fatal car crash at age 14 after
huffing

Act 2:

New plan: goes into rehab, gets sober
Plan in action: drinking with his father talking about
addiction and controlling it.
Midpoint Turning Point: Getting into harder drugs with
girlfriend, serious consequences.

Act 3:

Rethink everything: Decides he can handle his alcoholism
by himself
New plan: Goes off on his own and disappears into
music/art
Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: Found in
stupor in apartment, shell of himself. (suicidal?)

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Enrolled in
immersive program living with strangers.
Resolution: Comes out of program, goes on spiritual
journey discovering himself and philosophy… ends up trying to help ex
girlfriend, dying because of it accidentally, organ donor saves 22 others.
(?)

[Laura Koons]

Laura Koons’ 4 Act Transformational Structure

My vision: I am an Oscar winning Screenwriter known to elevate the careers of A-list actors and directors. I am financially abundant and have the flexibility to write wherever and whenever I want.

What I learned from doing this assignment is to just roll with it. I can always go back and adjust.

Concept: A gifted architect longs to follow in the footsteps of her father who she lost at the age of twelve and subsequently found herself dumped on the doorsteps of an orphanage by her estranged mother.

Main
Conflict: Never feeling good enough

Old Ways:
hiding from who she is, refusing to date, cuts off relationships, distant,
closed off, doesn’t believe in love, doesn’t feel confident to show her
work

New Ways:
finding confidence in her profession and love life, learns to trust, open
to receive what she deserves

Act 1:

Opening: Heather’s
loving father dies

Inciting
Incident: dropped off at orphanage by estranged mother

Turning
Point: Estranged mother arranges the deed of Heather’s lakehouse property to
be put in her name.

Act 2:

New plan: Heather
starts sharing her accomplishments

Plan in action:
Accepts the FBI Agents advances

Midpoint
Turning Point: Estranged mother arrested for insider trading claiming she
has evidence that Heather is part of it. FBI Agent has an arrest warrant
for both.

Act 3:

<div>Rethink
everything: sell the lakehouse property.
</div><div>

New plan: Trust
no one.

</div>

Turning
Point: Huge failure / Major shift FBI Agent stops the sale. Heather’s best
friend supports it.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate
expression of the conflict: Heather finds the original deed in her father’s
name with the help of the FBI Agent.

Resolution: Mother
is dying, resolves to do the right thing.

[Rosemary Lismore]

WIM Module 3 Lesson 5 – Four Act Transformational Structure

I am a sought after writer, who creates memorable characters, whose scripts win academy awards, allowing me to dream for a living, (Spielberg is not the only one), providing an affluent lifestyle while living respected by friends, family, movie industry pros. I am consistently brilliant, writing the most important movies of our time.

What I learned: damn this is fun. I have clarity and can write without hesitation.

Create a first draft of your 4 Act Transformational Structure.

Concept – Alexis a ballet dancer extraordinaire, must learn to overcome the dictates of others in

order to show A Navy Seal Team they are unwittingly staring a war.

A girl with superior physical abilities is drawn into a scenario where she is aware the Navy Commander is plotting to blow up a massive cache of ordinance close to the North Korean border. She is thrown in with a Seal Team on the guise of training them her one good escape move. The Seal Team seeing her only as inferior tolerate her and must learn to trust her when she proves her move works. But when she comes to them with a story of a plot their Commander is hatching, they must decide if they trust her or their Commander. They are in effect fighting against each other going after the same goal. Peace.

Main Conflict: Alexis has no strength of character to have her ballet master see his error in choreography she goes on to have no strength to inform a navy seal team they are in danger of starting a major conflict. Her conflict is with authority figures who are in the wrong.

Old Ways – suck it up buttercup and move on with your day, acquiesce, lose energy, live downtrodden.

New Ways – explores various avenues so as to have something to help demonstrate what she is trying to inform. Doesn’t tolerate what she opposes during conversation, she verbally challenges anyone/everyone.

Act 1:

Opening

Alexis is rehearsing with her partner an original work the artistic director/choreographer has prepared. She and her partner see the way several moves cannot follow each

other, but it is her ending move that demonstrates the problem. He won’t speak up – snob – jealous of her career accomplishments so early, she is left hanging.

Inciting
Incident.

She is declared incompetent and is sent off on sabbatical to train with a martial arts master to find her mojo / better attitude.

Turning Point

Alexis after 5 hours of training w various martial arts classes to ‘find her level’ she sits in a room with wingback chairs, and is not noticed. A seal team enter with the senseii and while standing they load in a video of a pilot being dragged out of his crashed jet and beaten and dragged off. – into north korea.

Act 2:

New plan

Alexis has screamed out, no! how could the pilot not have known the defensive move we learned all day – she is caught by the team and the senseii and they ship her off to train navy seals this move.

Plan in action

Midpoint Turning Point

Alexis gets messages out to her ballet mates one Korean, one Russian, and asks for help re what to do, says she is with a seal team training them and Commander X is in charge. They inform her he is under investigation something to do with stolen ordinance.

Act 3:

Rethink everything

She knows now she must get the seals who have been tolerating her training, to listen to her. She starts to learn their hand signals and becomes familiar with them.

New plan

She will get the notes her mates have armed her with to one seal she will start a love interest with.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift

The commander sends her to a male prison as he and the warden are conspiring together- under the guise of this amazing training she can offer prison guards. She’s too far away and out of communication !

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict

She is in the prison and locked doors open as she approaches and manages to walk thru the library where she meets a seal who says he has been forgotten, that he was working undercover to discover a plot to steal munitions but fears his family/friends have been told he is dead. He gives her a note for the seals and he does a hand gesture she recognizes from the team. Again, doors open and she returns to the base where the seals are. She must now get the seal team on her side, give them the note in – confidence from the Commander – whom they follow without question. They explain the commander has sent down orders their team is off to south korea. She forces the note in his side leg pocket and makes the hand gesture. Seal team leader walks away reading the note perplexed she would know that particular hand gesture. Alexis is nabbed by soldiers and bagged and taken to the border of n and s korea and left in an munitions box.

Resolution

The seal team have broken out their team member from prison and take him to s korea with them. They question their orders before automatically blowing up the ordinance. The commander is there! He confronts the team and says it’s her or the ordinance. Choose, he lifts the bag off her head. And they withdraw weapons, the newly released prisoner who is a closer friend with one seal, grabs his mates’ hand gun from his side leg pocket and stands with the commander – holding the gun against the seal team. The ‘closer’ mate stealthily lifts his auto rifle and shoots his mate, the commander yells for 2 soldiers behind him to take the girl and lock her in the ‘barn’ with the ordinance and blow it. A Russian (off camera) spy shoots from the side out of our sight, the 2 soldiers and the Commander and walks off perhaps allowing himself to be seen by the seal team.

Alexis runs to the seals and they settle all. Back on stage now, she has rewritten the choreography to a standing ovation and flowers. She looks up in the sky and does the hand gesture. The seals are in a helicopter watching her performance on a laptop and roar when they see her do the hand gesture.

[Teresa Rodriguez]

Teresa Rodriguez’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

MY VISION: I WILL BECOME A HIGHLY RESPECTED AND INFLUENTIAL WRITER/PRODUCER WITH MY OWN SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTION COMPANY THAT I CAN LEAVE AS A BLESSING TO MY CHILDREN AND MANY GENERATIONS TO COME.

What I learned doing this assignment is that it’s a great idea to go through the structure to build in the Protagonist and then go back through for the Antagonist’s storyline.

Concept: Snow White’s great, great-granddaughter, Lily White, runs away to America to escape her perfectionist fairytale life.

Main Conflict: When a mysterious villain plots to kidnap Lily she enlists the help of seven “little people” but when things go wrong Lily must choose whether to save the lives of her little friends or her true love.

Main Theme: True beauty comes from within; Lily is not the typical “perfect” fairytale princess but her heart is perfectly pure. The talking mirror is the only one that encourages her, tells her that she is like her great-great-grandmother and that she is indeed “the fairest of them all” although Lily doesn’t believe it.

• Old Ways:

• – Ignorant of life outside of perfect fairytale land

• – Afraid, timid

• – Unconfident

• – Lets her dad, the King, intimidate her

– New Ways:

– Can survive in a new world

– Courageous

– Wise/Skilled

– Fights and saves her friends

Act 1:

Opening: An extravagant birthday party is thrown for Princess Lily complete with red-carpet entrances of the rich and famous, a barrage of paparazzi, and circus acts that thrill the party-goers. Everything and everyone must pass a “perfection inspection” before being allowed into the party.

We get a taste of the King’s enormous wealth and meet Princess Lily who is supposed to be getting ready for her grand entrance but she’s in the woods playing with her animal friends as they throw her their own minimalist birthday party.

Inciting Incident: Princess Lily is late for her grand entrance and the King is furious. When she does arrive, she trips down the stairs causing her dress to rip open exposing her undies. The King tells her what an embarrassment she is to his perfect kingdom, that she’ll never make a good ruler and he wishes he had a boy instead.

•

•

• Turning Point: Lily, knowing she will never be perfect enough, she fakes her own death, and runs away headed to America.

(But one of the King’s dwarfs sees what Lily did, and tells her father and the father tells the dwarf to follow her and protect her.)

Act 2:

• New plan: She gets to America, free and on her own for the first time.

•

• Plan in action: Lily is in the unperfect, real-world with no money, nowhere to go, and no one she can count on. Her luggage gets stolen, then her purse. She meets the Dwarf, now in disguise. He has befriended other dwarfs to play his family/friends. She goes into a store and takes whatever she wants, she’s never had to pay for anything before.

•

• Midpoint Turning Point: Lily gets arrested.

•

•

Act 3:

• Rethink everything: Lily has to live in a homeless shelter where she meets a handsome commoner.

• New plan: He helps her get her first job in order to survive. She learns to stand up for herself for the first time. He teaches her Krav skills to build her confidence. She uses those combat skills to help him fight off some thugs, sent by the Dwarf to take the co-worker out.

• Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: There is a threat to kidnap Lily. She recruits the dwarf and his friends to help her. She makes a plan using the new combat skills she learned along with tricks from her animal friends and escapes the kidnapper. However, the dwarfs and handsome co-worker are all taken away.

Act 4:

• Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: The kidnapper tells Lily she must choose to either save the dwarfs or the handsome co-worker.

• Resolution: Lily figures out the kidnapper is the Dwarf and fights him. Using her new skills, she prevails accidentally tearing off his mask to reveal his identity. She saves the dwarfs however the co-worker is in a coma, but she saves him with a kiss. The King arrives and is impressed with Lily’s new skills and confidence as she stands up to him for the first time. He apologizes for always wanting a boy, tells her he is very proud of her, and that she will make an excellent ruler someday. (Does Lily decide to stay in America???)

[Elizabeth Wang-Lee]

Elizabeth’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

My Vision: I write kickass, creative and emotional blockbuster movies, TV series and graphic novels like my writing heroes (eg. Jonathan Nolan, Joseph Weisberg, etc.) and be in constant demand.

What I learned from doing this assignment: I learned that 4 act transformational journey helps set the milestones of the entire story in 4 acts. It makes the writing easier and frankly my head became clearer. I did get some new insight that helped break thru the barrier.

Character: Rizzo (protagonist) is a memory scientist

Arc Beginning: Isolated and anti-social and can’t forget and let go

Arc End: Can lead a team to save her brother and stop and invasion.

Internal Journey (mind and emotion): afraid of stepping out and letting go to fearless and actually letting go

External Journey (action and experience): Forced to interact with people when she hates to willing to be a team player and ends up stopping a doppleganger invasion.

Old ways

· Thinks she can’t do anything without her twin brother

· Afraid of leaving her secure apartment

· Doesn’t socialize.

· Egocentric

· Holds on to people and things. Afraid of letting go

New Ways

· Can tell that Marcus is an imposter

· Willing to overcome her agoraphobia and travel to the parallel world to find the real Marcus

· Courageous

· Willing to let go

Act 1:

Opening –Rizzo must make a presentation at the University of her memory system which she and her brother developed or risk losing the whole thing. But he brother has been missing for months and presumably dead.<div>

Inciting Incident- Rizzo is kidnapped by secret government personnel and is led to her missing brother Marcus who is injured and suffering from PTSD after a secret mission. She has been asked to use her memory recall system to figure out what happened. <font face=”inherit”>Turning Point- After reviewing Marcus’ memory it ‘appears’ Marcus has killed his squad leader in the last mission. Everyone is shocked including Rizzo who refuses to believe her brother is capable of murder. </font>Marcus<font face=”inherit”> is under house arrest.</font>

Act 2:

Reaction: Rizzo resigns. She is allowed to visit Marcus to spend some quality time with him. She tells him she’s going to find a way to bring him home. She’ll figure out an escape plan. </div><div>

New Plan: Meanwhile Rizzo pretends to be interested in the facility to figure out the lay of the place. She meets Sara and Billy (victims saved in last mission). She looks at the memory footage. Power goes out. Sara is killed. Billy her son remains unscathed. This puts the whole crew and facility in lock down mode.

Midpoint Turning Point: Marcus is the first suspect. Now they really lock him in jail. Chances of Rizzo getting him out is zero. This freaks Marcus who nearly chokes Rizzo to death in a swing of moods, revealing a dark side of him she’s never seen before.

Act 3:

Rethink everything: Rizzo does some more research into Marcus memory. She cannot reach further back than the mission with her methods- there is a block. She also tries telethesis and is not able to connect with him. She realizes this person is not the Marcus she knows. She sees in the memory the final clue that shows he’s an imposter. The real Marcus is in Black Time, was calling out her name.</div><div>

New plan: She must go to Black Time to find Marcus because he called out for her. The General doesn’t allow it – says she’s crazy and not trained.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: Suddenly Marcus is killed. This shocks everyone. Who is the killer? Several people including Rizzo are nearly killed. Billy is now missing in the facility. The General cracks down on all security.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Rizzo decides to battle her agoraphobic self and train for the journey whether the general allows it or not. She tricks her way in going into Black time. There she finds Marcus who is gravely injured and is able to stop the invasion.</div>

[Jill Clifford]

Jill Clifford’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

My Vision: I am going to become skillful enough as a screenwriter that I can to get my scripts into the hands of producers, and ultimately get one or more into a produced feature film.

What I learned from doing this assignment is that “filling in the blanks” helps to organize the plot better than the vague ideas of the story.

Give us the following:

Old Ways:

* Angry at the world

* Hating Hispanics

* Distrustful of women

* Alone and lonely

* Rubber-stamping deportation of any illegal Hispanic immigrants

New Ways:

* No longer angry at the world

* Accepting and respecting Hispanic people

* In love with a Hispanic woman

* Taking consideration for circumstances and peril of illegal immigrants in his INS work, instead of outright deportation of all

Act 1:

Opening: Undercover INS agent Hagen tries to save a young girl from a prostitution ring.

Inciting Incident: Hagen’s sister is raped and murdered.

Turning Point: Hagen reluctantly takes another undercover assignment to find his sister’s murderer and other illegals.

Act 2:

New plan: Hagen goes to a farm as an illegal Hispanic migrant worker “Alexandro” to search out illegal aliens and hopefully his sister’s murderer.

Plan in action: Hispanic woman Isabella befriends “Alexandro” and helps him to learn farming and naively to identify other illegal immigrant workers.

Midpoint Turning Point: “Alexandro” and a dozen other illegals, including Isabella, are taken to the desert by farm manager Clint to be shot.

Act 3:

Rethink everything: Clint’s jammed gun allows most of the workers to escape, but now they must survive getting out of the desert without Clint finding them.

New plan: “Alexandro” learns desert survival, finding water and food, from his fellow workers, while being hunted by Clint.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: Clint now hunts them by helicopter, so they have no place to hide.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: After “Alexandro” shoots down the helicopter, he has a face to face confrontation with Clint, but the migrant workers come en mass to rescue him and the other survivors.

Resolution: Hagen gets “green cards” for the fellow workers who saved him, and asks Isabella to marry him.

[Kevin Patrick Goulet]

Lesson 6: Kevin’s Build In The Genre Conventions

My Vision: Develop a successful methodology for writing screenplays resulting in the completion of this / other screenplays which all ‘read’ at a PRO/story-telling level, culminating in the selling of my screenplays… produced projects (films or series), worthy compensation -and more screenwriting opportunities. Rinse and repeat- many times over.

What I learned with this assignment: The devil is in the details…, but in a good way. The more I examine the story’s different acts, the more I can discover if the scene/situations are driving plot forward, are analogous to the overall story line.

Concept Logline: Life story of Jazz Pianist Vince Guaraldi using the ‘PRESENT/PAST’ approach/layout for construction of the screenplay.

Main Conflict: Vince Guaraldi wants to be a jazz piano recording artist, but he is not connected- does not understand how the business works, how to get “IN”, find a record producer, get a recording contract, He is essentially at a dead-end.

Old Way -Study, watch the great musicians up close in the clubs, play/learn Jazz by the book, know the sound and style of other Jazz Greats already established in the jazz world; following the lead of those who have already made it. Do exactly what they are doing. Become a member of a Jazz Band already established (replace some other piano player). Beg to be part of a recording deal anywhere, at any recording company that will have you!

New Ways- Be himself, write & create his own musical compositions; different from what anyone has already created, different from what the public knows- has already heard. Form his own band/Trio of musicians to record his own tracks… do it the Vince Guaraldi way!

Cannot yet list them all (don’t have them all figured out yet) but there will be several brief scenes that are PAST flashbacks, relevant to moving the PRESENT story/conflict forward.

(Plan: use ‘PRESENT/PAST’ approach/layout for construction of screenplay).

Act 1: OPENING: …PRESENT time — 1965 / majority of film… ‘PEANUTS’ Cartoon Producer Lee Mendelson -crossing Golden Gate Bridge returning from meeting with Peanuts creator CHARLES M. SCHULZ – hears song a jazz on car radio …Vince Guaraldi’s minor radio hit song, ‘CAST YOUR FATE TO THE WIND’… Mendelson Loves it! MUST KNOW who that piano player is…! MENDELSON absolutely must find this musician, GET that guy …VG… hire him to score upcoming PEANUTS CARTOON project!

RED INK HERE —– Vince’s 5th birthday party: family has gathered in his backyard for an evening birthday celebration. Vince’s Father arrives late, drunk and for a gift to his young son, he tosses Vince a crumpled paper bag. Inside Vince discovers a used bricklayer’s diamond-shaped trowel. —–END RED INK

INCITING INCIDENT: …PAST time —1945… High School, jealous Talent contestant sabotages Vince’s chance to perform in the talent show.

RED INK HERE —– Vince’s Father (Vince Dellaglio) pays a kid $5 dollars to interfere in his son’s ability to participate in the talent show. —– END RED INK.

VINCE is so excited, has a revelation this is what he wants to do on a much bigger scale in front of even larger crowds!

TURNING POINT: …PAST time — 1945… Celebrating after winning the School Talent Show! Then, Vince receives KOREAN WAR draft Notice. His life has just been completely upended.

ACT 2: NEW PLAN: Vince- now in Korea ‘peeling potatoes’ (He’s a ‘mess’ cook) finds some fellas who are also budding musicians, manages to put together some trios, quartets of players to entertain fellow troops- imagines carrying this further when he gets back home to America.

Of all people, one day THE General, Douglas MacArthur makes a brief stop-over at this ARMY Base.

RED INK HERE —– As the fellas are getting ready to perform in front of this largest gathering of soldiers ever at this base it is discovered that the ‘shabby-to-begin-with-piano’ has been tampered with; stuffed with potatoe-skin peelings meant to ruin Guaraldi’s piano playing. —– END RED INK

He sees Vince playing the Piano. And says to him, “Son you’re a real musician, you don’t belong here.” MacArthur pils some strings for the tiny Guaraldi; helps get him back home to America.

PLAN IN ACTION: Back in San Francisco, Vince’s Mom -now divorced for 2nd time- is really struggling. Vince was sending her his GI his paychecks, but still not enough. He gets job after job to help Mom Carmella pay bills. – At one of his jobs, Vince gets a job at the San Francisco Chronicle Newspaper working in the basement as a ‘Printer’s Devil’ (deals with the giant printing press/production run of newspapers as they are printed on the press

Vince nearly loses some fingers. Vince spends nights in SF Bay area Jazz Clubs, sitting front & center- watching the best Jazz musicians on the West coast up close, seeing how ‘it’s’ done. Vince starts auditioning for club jobs, gets some breaks playing parties then auditoriums, colleges… starts to make some inroads- working for little money, but beginning to make name for himself. Vince + old H.S. girlfriend, now back together (SHIRLEY MOSKOWITZ); she becomes Mrs. Vince Guaraldi in 1953.

MIDPOINT TURNING POINT: PAST — Vince is hired by Jazz Musician CAL TJADER (only three years older than Vince but already a legend in Jazz). Vince ‘rotates-in’ at Piano with the band’s other players -sort of his first big break.

RED INK HERE —- Other, rotating piano player (not happy ‘new’ player Vince is a part of Tjader’s band) has taken the sheet music -which is supposed to remain with the piano- for Vince- to use in the ‘Set’. —– END RED INK

Act 3: RETHINK EVERYTHING: PAST — A Club Owner asks Vince back- Vince is quickly disappointed, learns He will be the warm-up piano act in the Lobby, doing ‘covers’ of songs made famous by other Jazz Greats. Adding insult to injury, the Club owner says to him one night, “Guaraldi, you play that song almost as good as the guy who wrote it.” This comment stings but ‘births’ a plan in Vince- to start creating his own music no one’s ever heard before.

NEW PLAN: PAST —Vince- writing, recording- looking for a record label to produce his first pressed vinyl recording for Him

TURNING POINT: Huge failure / Major shift: PAST — Monterey Jazz Fest., Vince now has his own TRIO; they Blow the roof off the FEST!!! / His first record is soon produced & released…: IT IS A BOMB! WHY?

RED INK HERE —– Record Label (Fantasy Records run by MAX & SOL WEISS) brokers a terrible deal with Vince (as they have made with other Jazz recording artists), essentially taking 90% of any profits from sales, etc. of all recordings proceeds. —– END RED INK

Because there is no original Guaraldi material: the album is wall-to-wall covers of music already successfully recorded by other well know musicians from several different music genres (Bebop, Swing, Classical).

1955 – Son David Anthony is born. 1966 – Daughter Dia Lisa is born.

-VG’s first Hit record, “CAST YOUR FATE TO THE WIND” provided VINCE with a ‘bump’ in income; ‘a bump’ for members of his Trio too.

CAST YOUR FATE… was the hit record song Producer LEE MENDELSON later heard on the car radio while crossing the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge)

The Lil’ Black Porsche 356 Convertible: Vince and TRIO band-mate/buddy/Drummer JERRY GRANELLI each bought a Porsche 356 (Jerry’s was Silver) and they often raced around the hills of SF like maniacs .

1963-64: Vince meets a ‘Club’ girl she becomes his Girlfriend ‘on the side’ (all musicians doing it back then (?) GRETCHEN KATAMAY- with Guaraldi after Guaraldi and wife Shirley divorced in 1968.

Vince’s 1964 Album, “THE LATIN SIDE OF VINCE GUARALDI “(1964) features Vince standing on a wooden box (the words, ‘Brazilian Coffee’ stamped on the side). Katamay was much taller than VG… some humor in the picture’s conception but not found to be very amusing to Guaraldi’s wife Shirley

Act 4: CLIMAX/ULTIMATE EXPRESSION OF THE CONFLICT: PRESENT — At a PRIVATE SCREENING for the CBS Brass (Executives) hate it. HATE everything about A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS and most especially the MUSICAL SCORE. Vince doubting himself can he cut the mustard (?) or not? Maybe he does not have what it takes.

RED INK HERE —– TIME MAGAZINE reviewer is brought in to see the screening of the Cartoon. Plan being by the CBS brass the review will be so awful they will never have to air the cartoon on television again. —– END RED INK

Resolution: (Vindication) PRESENT — Vince Guaraldi’s score/music from ‘A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS’ Wins in the rating game 2nd > highest NIELSEN RATINGS of ALL TIME.

RED INK HERE —– TIME MAGAZINE article- an absolutely ‘glowing review! It is the polar opposite of what they had hoped for… —– END RED INK

CBS does an about-face- Orders another PEANUTS Cartoon Special (It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” which leads to more Peanuts Special and in all Guaraldi will score 17 Specials between 1965 and 1978… On the morning of his death (died later that evening of a heart attack), Guaraldi had finished the ‘score’ for “It’s Arbor Day Charlie Brown”; the final Peanuts Special he worked on before his death.

…

(Epilogue) Present-day (2022…?)- Concert featuring jazz musicians DAVID BENOIT, WYNTON MARSALIS, GEORGE WINSTON playing LINUS AND LUCY … they all saw the PEANUTS – ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ and heard Guaraldi’s music when they were young; and it made them all want to be musicians.

[Reginald Joseph]

Reginald’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

My Vision: I am going to utilize my talents as a writer to catapult myself to the A-list, causing people in this industry to consider my writing among the best in the business.

What I learned from doing this assignment is by putting some of the pieces together, I have discovered new challenges and abilities for the lead characters in my story.

Concept: After multiple attempts to rid their neighborhood of a gang leader who continues to terrorize citizens, a member of a group that calls themselves the Vipers decides to strike back by bringing his own version of terror.

Main Conflict: Anson Haley has a fear of becoming a target for the gang prevents him from speaking out against violence in his community.

Old Ways: Afraid that if he steps up, members of the gang will target him and his home next. Hides inside, peeking through the curtain as gang members terrorize citizens.

New Ways: Confronts one of the gang members about his loud music. Stops one his neighbor from being raped by several gang members and doesn’t cower when they threaten his life.

Act 1:

Opening: An elderly woman is knocked to the ground by a thug during a police chase.

Inciting Incident: After a gang leader is snubbed by a local convenient store owner and his son, he orders members of his crew to beat up the boy, putting him in critical condition.

Turning Point: A disabled Vet saves his neighbor from being gang raped by firing his gun and nearly killing one of the gang members.

Act 2:

New Plan: Anson realizes that things are getting worse in the neighborhood and fears that if he doesn’t do something, he or one of his neighbors will fall victim to the violence.

Plan in Action: Cleans out a secret room in his basement.

Midpoint Turning Point: Uses information about Leon’s real father to draw him into his home, where he drugs him and locks him in a wooden box in the basement.

Act 3:

Rethink Everything: Anson realizes he’s in over his head and decides to confide in his friend Shirley who is one of the other members of the group.

New Plan: Unsure if she will reject his suggested method of reclaiming their neighborhood, Anson focuses his efforts on bringing the gang its knees by cutting off the head.

Turning Point / Huge Failure / Major Shift: After realizing Leon is missing, gang members begin searching homes and threatening the lives of its residents. Anson fears this may result in someone getting killed and considers giving himself up by letting Leon go. Even after receiving multiple texts from Leon, pleading for them to leave the area, gang members are refuse.

Resolution: Leon promises to leave the neighborhood and change his ways if he’s set free.

[Joaquin Gray]

Joaquin “Ibn Gray’s” 4 Act Transformational Structure

My vision for the completion of this class is to write A plus intriguing screenplays that will be produced into extremely profitable movies, which I will cash large checks from.

What I learned doing this assignment is the simple structure of drafting skeletons for a character to grow into. I also learned to remind myself that perfection is not needed at this time.

the following:

Concept – The story of a Black American family that migrates from Georgia to Texas after the emancipation proclamation of 1863. Little did they know slavery would not be outlawed in Texas until June 19th, 1865, the day and fight of a lifetime. <div>

Main Conflict – Brewford fights a ruthless plantation owner attempting to enslave every black American in Texas, before the law to end slavery is recognized nationwide.

Old Ways – Quiet, meek family man, non-confrontational.

New Ways – Skilled warrior, Active on the battlefield, defender of his community. No fear of standing up to his enemies.

Act 1:

Opening – It’s 1863, Brewford travels with his family on a wagon pulled by two horses across the open plains. They arrive at a home in a secluded area and look to settle in, it’s the 1865 Inciting Incident – Four men on horses with guns approach the home harassing them. </div><div>

Turning Point – The men with guns tell Brewford and family they are in Texas now, slavery is not outlawed, and they better leave town. (Possibly 24 hours)

Act 2:

New plan – Brewfod meets with a few black families living in the same area, to discuss their rights to freedom without harassment. They decided to seek help from the local sheriff located in the nearest town. </div><div>

Plan in action – A few men along with Brewford’s teenage son ride into town to meet with the sheriff and show freedom papers.

Midpoint Turning Point – While at the meeting, Brewfords son and two other teenage girls are kidnapped by Clyde Fordwood and his men. The sheriff doesn’t intervene.

Act 3:

Rethink everything – Bewford returns to his neighborhood with news of the incident. </div><div>

New plan – The women suggest going to rescue the children with the men.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift – while at the meeting Clyde’s men return to the home and murder a child.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict – Brewford and a few men and women ride to the town to rescue the children. A major gun fight happens. </div><div>

Resolution – Brewford’s posse kills Clyde and his men just before the US Marshalls rides into town declaring slavery has been outlawed in the state.

<font color=”#4d5c6d” face=”SF UI Text, sans-serif”>Joaquin “Ibn Gray”</font>

</div>

[Marcus Armstrong]

Marcus Armstrong’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

MY VISION: I am going to be so disciplined in the daily writing process and become such an adept writer that my successful screenplays will launch me into a full-time writing career.

What I learned from doing this assignment is how the process is helping me slowly develop the story. I am still not convinced this is progressing as I would like, but I am continuing to just fill in the blanks. Work deadlines have limited my writing time so I am a little behind, but I intend to catch up over the next couple weeks.

Concept: An environmentalist kills poachers using the same means as they killed their game.

Main Conflict: The battle between the protection of endangered trophy animals and the sanctity of human life.

Old Ways:

• Insecure

• Avoids conflict

• Incapable of dealing with his anger toward animal poachers

• Refusal to get involved

New Ways:

• Confident

• Deadly animal rights avenger

• Calculated eye for an eye mentality toward victims

• Incapable of walking away

Act 1:

• Opening: Edmund is a child in a poor family with a domineering and abusive father and a mother who can’t protect herself or her children.

• Inciting Incident: After suffering another beating from his father, Edmund witnesses his father drowning a litter of kittens just because they were inconvenient.

• Turning Point: Edmund vows to study Zoology and use his education as a platform to protect animals from monsters like his father.

Act 2:

• New plan: Edmund has graduated and now works as a zookeeper. The increasing incidence of ivory poachers and baby seal killings has him outraged.

• Plan in action: Through extensive research, networking and a series of trials, Edmund finally scores a meeting with the National Wildlife Federation to encourage them to go after poachers.

• Midpoint Turning Point: Edmund learns that the National Wildlife Federation actually turns their back on poachers in exchange for their financial contributions to the agency.

Act 3:

• Rethink everything: Edmund suddenly realizes that money controls everything and no agency will take on this battle.

• New plan: Edmund decides to defend the animals by retaliating against the poachers in the same manner they were killed.

• Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: After a number of mercy killings, Edmund is nearly caught by Raymond, the U.S. Marshal agent tasked with tracking him down. Edmund’s former Zoology classmate and girlfriend is now married to Raymond, but her lifelong love for Edmund causes her to sabotage her husband’s efforts to capture Edmund before Raymond could identify him. Despite this apparent alliance with Isabella, Edmund decides to abandon his mission and simply run away.

Act 4:

• Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Edmund has returned home and intends to drown his father in the same manner as he drowned the kittens years ago, but just short of killing him, he has a change of heart and allows him to live. Raymond has since identified Edmund and followed him only to witnesses Edmund seemingly about to drown his father. As Raymond is about to shoot Edmund, Isabella shoots her husband.

• Resolution: Edmund and Isabella return to the Ivory Coast to work together to fight poachers.

[Gisele FRAZEUR]

Gisele Frazeur’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

My vision: I am going to work diligently to become a brilliant, reliable screenwriter who is sought after, regularly produced, highly paid, and awarded. Artistic fulfillment and financial freedom will result from the achievement of this goal!

What I learned doing this assignment is: It is like moving puzzle pieces around. You need to make the story FIT the structure, not the other way around.

Concept: A perfumer joins forces with a down-and-out detection dog to nose out her sister’s killer.

Main Conflict: Undercover Police Detective Hank Sanford is in league with a drug cartel. He is gleaning scientific information from his perfumer sister-in-law (Darin August) that aids in transporting drugs undetected by sniffer dogs. When he fails to deliver info to the cartel, the cartel murders his pregnant wife (Livie) as a warning. Darin resolves to avenge her sister’s murder: unaware she is being manipulated and exploited by the man responsible for Livie’s death.

Old Ways: Workaholic. Alcoholic. Avoids meaningful relationships. Self-loathing. Insecure.

New Ways: Vulnerable. Balanced. Sober. Beneficent. Fearless. BAD ASS!!!

Act 1

Opening: Infamous perfumer Darin August has been nominated for several industry awards. She attends the awards ceremony with her pregnant sister, Livie. A riot mounts outside of the awards ceremony. Followers of gangster, gone rapper, gone televangelist – – Leff-T, are protesting Darin for having turned down a commission to make a celebrity fragrance for him. Darin and Livie are physically accosted by the mob as they exit the awards.

Inciting Incident: Livie and Darin are shot upon their return to her home following the awards.

Turning Point: in the hospital Darin learns of her pregnant sister’s death. Police believe Darin was the target of the murder and Livie was collateral damage.

Act 2

New Plan: Darin resolves to solve and avenge Livie’s murder. Meanwhile – – she seeks comfort in Hank who leads her down a path back to imbibing – – to calm her nerves. He also provides her with a firearm in order to protect herself.

Plan In Action: Darin commences researching and following Leff-T. In a drunken rage she shows up at Leff-T’s home demanding answers. Leff-T returns her safely to her home.

Midpoint Turning Point: Leff-T is exonerated by the police and cleared as a suspect. He makes a televised speech requesting that his followers stand down and instead pray for Darin and her loved ones.

Act 3

Rethink Everything: Darin is laid off from her job because of the bad press she has been garnering. Darin gets back on the wagon and recommits to her sobriety. Sober — she becomes increasingly aware of Pookie’s (Hank’s detection dog) increased agitation and urgent need to communicate something to her.

New Plan: Darin enlists the assistance of one of her AA sponsees (Dharma) to help her understand Pookie’s increasing agita. Dharma, now a hooker, showed dogs in her youth and is familiar with training and communicating with them. She enlists the assistance of Leff-T, who has intel from his old gang connections that Hank is in bed with a drug cartel.

Turning Point: Pookie is hit by a car – – potentially critically injured.

Act 4

Climax: Darin puts the pieces together and believes that Hank’s involvement with the cartel is responsible for Livie’s murder. She follows him to a meeting with a cartel member. She confronts him with the truth and a gun after the cartel leaves. Leff-T has followed Darin. A showdown and a shootout take place between Darin, Hank, and Leff-T. Hank confesses and is shot by Darin.

Resolution: Darin wins an award for the “Dog Perfume “she promised Livie she would create. Her husband, Leff-T, and their baby daughter, Livie, and Pookie watch the presentation. Darin dedicates her award to them.

[Farrin Rosenthal]

Farrin Rosenthal’s 4-Act Transformational Structure

Farrin’s Vision: To do what it takes to become a highly paid A-List Hollywood writer whose produced movies will entertain audiences around the world.

What I learned doing this assignment is how to build a 4-act structure around my protagonist’s transformational journey. The only way to put our character through hell is to know his or her old and new ways, then figure out the main structure of how, when, and why the character will change. We need a plan and structure begins to give us the bones we will build from. My 4-Act structure is a work in progress, far from perfect, and that is okay. It gives me something to work with and improve going forward. I will never become stuck because I know this is just the beginning and not the end of the creative process.

Title: TRAPPED

Genre: Thriller

Concept: Claustrophobic and trapped in a box at the bottom of a pool for stealing $3.6 billion in Bitcoin from the Russian mob, a Los Angeles retail store manager has just 60 minutes to
prove his innocence and save his family.

Main Conflict: Tom must escape his watery grave and save his family by defeating a Russian mob boss.

Old Ways: Trapped. Afraid. Penny pincher. Does not see the big picture. Clueless to the truth of what is happening.

New Ways: Free. Strong. Wealthy. Can overcome his fears. Knows the truth

Act 1:

Opening: Tom wakes up trapped in a dark box. We see Tom’s old ways and family before.

Inciting Incident: Tom and his family are kidnapped by the Russian mob.

Turning Point: Tom finds out where he is and that he is accused of stealing $3.6 billion from a Russian mob boss who is holding Tom’s family hostage.

Act 2:

New plan: Tom’s claustrophobia starts to overwhelm him. Susan, Tom’s wife must step in and help, gets Tom to focus on the day they got married in Hawaii.

Plan in action: Tom now able to focus, but can’t talk his way out of box, Ivan ups his threats against Tom’s family. Tom calls police. He doesn’t know where he is, police can’t find him, his plans fail.

Midpoint Turning Point: Tom’s box starts to fill with water. The threat to his life just increased and time to escape is running out even faster now.

Act 3:

Rethink everything: Nothing Tom is saying or doing to escape is working.

New plan: More desperate, Tom tries to be tougher.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: At the very last second, water at its highest point in the box, with the least air and space left, Tom finally confesses.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Tom is let out of the box with seconds to spare. He slowly learns the truth while pretending to access the stolen accounts. Ivan learns his brother Dmitriy betrayed him, they fight, Dmitriy wins. Tom confronts him, the man who set him up and is having an affair with his wife, kills Dmitriy. Tom learns his wife was working with Dmitriy the whole time, set Tom up.

Resolution: Russian’s are dead, kids are safe, wife is now in the box screaming, Tom is a billionaire.

[Susan Chan]

Sassy’s 4 Act Transformational Structure

Vision: I am a HAPPY, respected, masterful, and in-demand writer, who is also an A-list hit maker!

What I learned from doing this assignment is to keep on moving forward and fill in the blanks/edit during this ongoing process.

2. Give us the following:

Concept: A low-key Seamstress must rescue her newlywed MMA fighter husband when he gets kidnapped on their destination wedding day/honeymoon by terrorists, revealing her secret CIA skills previously unbeknownst to him.

When her MMA fighter husband gets kidnapped on their destination honeymoon, a low-key Seamstress must rescue him, revealing her secret CIA skills previously unbeknownst to him.

Main Conflict: Wife has to rescue hubby from the kidnappers. If destination wedding, she has to hide who she is from friends and family.

Old Ways: PTSD from old partner’s tragic death, afraid to show herself and display skills. Couple took each other for granted with old-fashioned traditional roles. Pretends to be perfect housewife.

New Ways: They open a training center for MMA. He makes dinner and learns how to sew. She trains other women how to be kick-ass, too

3. Fill in each of these with the answers you have right now.

Act 1:

Opening: Wife supports and cheer on Husband during a Gory fight. She plays housewife and seamstress.

Inciting Incident: Wife is caught on camera with a funky birthmark or scar that only the kidnappers recognize, when she cheers husband or tabloid follows them.
Turning Point: Husband is missing from the wedding or honeymoon night, and there’s a clue left for her.

Act 2: She goes to the local cops, so they could find hm, which doesn’t work. Or gets some of his friends to find him for her. Her PTSD keeps her from taking action?

New plan: See above.
Plan in action: Has PTSD getting in the way. She has overcome it and become her former kick-ass self. Calls in Favors.
Midpoint Turning Point: Discovers that they didn’t care for her husband, they just want her and torture her for reveals. Or rather, Hubby learns this first.

Act 3:

Rethink everything: He always thought of himself as a feminist but he feels emasculated,
New plan: They fight back to back
Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: Both of them are captured, Annulment /or if before wedding, calling off the wedding. Or the kidnappers got what they wanted, and they are going to Fuck up the US embassy,

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Resolution: They save the United States and the world, save lives.
The best honeymoon night ever.

[Nat Melvin]

Natalie’s Four Act Transformational Structure

My vision is to create and produce award winning stories that make an unforgettable emotional impact on a worldwide audience.

What I learned from this assignment is that it’s easier to structure the events from protagonist’s POV.

Title: BLOODHUNTER

Concept: An emotionally vulnerable survivor of a mysterious cult must relive her traumatic experience as she follows clues drawn under a hypnosis to save her ostensibly missing child from a sacrifice.

Main Conflict: Emily’s grandmother announces her terminal illness which stirs up a feud between the potential heirs to the estate.

Old Ways: Emily Kingsley, Protagonist

Apathetic — gave up on her life, lives in her family estate in self-inflicted confinement

Paranoid — convinced of being persecuted by a mysterious cult

Fixated — obsessed with the idea that her stillborn daughter is alive and in danger

Contemptuous — easily manipulated by her family and confused by her own overthinking

Self-deprived — lacks self-worthiness and trust, lost ability to love

Living in her past – traumatized by her childhood experience with the cult

New Ways:

Proactive — overcomes her fear of the cult, takes bold actions to achieve her goals

Confident — acquires self-appreciation and self-love

Trusting — trusts her heart, opens to a relationship, accepts Hagan’s love

Lives in the present moment – Lets go off of her past, accepts changes, takes faith in her future with Hagan

External Journey: From a low self-esteemed underdog to a bold, rightful heir of the estate

Internal Journey: From a lonesome, withdrawn recluse to a confident lover

Act 1: 25 to 30 pages – Set up and See Old Ways

Opening:

— A bizarre sacrificial ritual overlapped by Emily’s V.O., as she draws sketches of what we see unfolding on screen and tells her story – under a hypnosis.

— When awaken from her trance, Emily becomes disturbed by a drawing of herself giving birth to her stillborn babygirl whom she believes maybe still alive.

— Hagan, the only son of a recently deceased, wealthy aristocrat and his black maid, meets Emily’s snobbish grandmother, Lady Winslet, his father’s terminally ill sister. She requests that Hagan leaves town right after his father’s funeral, stressing out that Hagan will never become a heir of a noble family’s fortune without a proof of his aristocratic roots. Hagan swears to fight for his birth rights and leaves, enraged.

Inciting Incident: Hagan’s father’s bizarre death puts the family onto a feud for the inheritance

Turning Point: Emily sees Hagan for the first time in a decade and breaks away from her self-inflicted confinement into the outside world to find out about their daughter, whom she believes is alive.

Act 2: 20 to 30 pages — Challenge the Old Ways

Reaction: Emily finds Hagan in a family chapel decorated for his father’s funeral. She eavesdrops his conversation with detective Mike who points out at a potential family feud for the inheritance. Hagan secretly obtains a sample of his deceased father’s DNA and leaves.

New plan: To follow Hagan

Plan in action: Emily follows Hagan, but runs into her autistic cousin, Walter, a chapel keeper, who blocks her way out. Hagan drives away.

Emily jumps into detective MIke’s car. They follow Hagan to his nightclub, but can’t get in.

Mike finds a way to get into an abandoned tunnel adjacent to Hagan’s club.

Having a withdrawal from her meds, Emily gets lost in the tunnel. Cherimoya, Hagan’s club manager, takes Emily to a secret shamanistic ritual in Hagan’s club where she gives her Ayahuasca.

Turning Point 2: MIDPOINT: While purging, Emily has disturbing visions from her past and future, where Hagan conducts sacrificial ritual in the chapel. She passes out.

Act 3: 20 to 30 pages — With Midpoint change, Profound moments that give us new ways.

Rethink everything: Emily suspects Hagan of being the leader of the cult.

Emily wakes up in a warehouse full of props and manikins in costumes with their faces made of the latex masks.

New plan: While still influenced by Ayahuasca, Emily dances with a masked manikin of a Phantom, whom she believes is Hagan, trying to find out where her daughter is. He stages a sex scene, where he threatens Emily to never see her daughter if she refuses to oblige. She does.

Turning Point: All is lost/ Huge failure / Major shift: Hagan walks in.

Act 4: 25 pages — Test the change in this character! Prove New Ways!

Emily attacks the Phantom and pulls his mask off, revealing Walter, who claims of being Emily’s protector, insisting that she must stay away from the chapel and that he alone will save her child from a sacrifice. He ties her up to the bed and rushes away.

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict:

Emily manages to escape from the warehouse and sneak into the chapel, where she blends in with the Phantoms surrounding a pedestal with their next victim under a cape. (Hagan’s father – what’s left of him). Emily tries to save the victim and reveals herself. Lady Winslet orders Emily to choose her new victim between Hagan and a person on a pedestal, ostensibly her daughter. Emily hesitates. Impatient, Lady Winslet calls Emily a certain word which gives Emily a sudden revelation, and she shoots Lady Winslet, who manages to shoot at Hagan. Panic ensues, and the old chapel collapses dragging everyone beneath the floor into a dilapidated crypt, where Emily finds Hunter. The old ceiling gives in, filling the crypt with a debris.

Resolution

Emily visits Hagan at the hospital, where Lady Winslet’s lawyer gives Hagan a letter from his father stating that he was adopted, where Emily is names a heir to the estate. A nurse brings Hunter who runs to hug Hagan as he confesses his love to Emily, Emily has a vision from her childhood where instead of losing Hagan, they reunite with a kiss.

[savanna]

Savanna’s 4 act transformational structure

what I learned is to just keep going.

act one

opening

lawyer, in middle of relationship crisis in NJ, decides to move to hoemtown in south for a year to take care of parents and continue her work there establishing red cross shelters. Potential of relationship with old flame.

inciting incident

parents become ill and estate will need to be settled

turning point

lawyer finds out brothers have used politics to make parents paranoid about her and that old flame is a white supremacist, along with family members and people from town she grew up with

act two

new plan

lawyer trying to understand shifts in family and hometown and old flame

plan in action

helping people with minor legal problems, going to church and civic gatherings, trying to educate about climate change

midpoint/tp

understanding backstabbing in family, realizing people deny science and have no incentive to change

act three

rethink everything

realizes she must protect herself and break off ties

new plan

decides to hire local lawyer to represent estate interests; begins popular public lectures

tp

local lawyer, influenced by majority politics drops her

act four

climax

climate change storm pops up and decimates town

resolution

nothing left from estate to divide; she ends up helping relatives and old friends in red cross shelter.

[Susan Arnout Smith]

Susan Arnout Smith’s Great Amazing Vision: I co-create with God projects that are produced, win awards, heal hearts and that bring me financial abundance and time to explore the world with my family and friends.

What I learned doing this assignment: I finally tuned back into the class and am committed to catching up. The main thing is to post stuff, and buckle up when my perfectionism tries to derail my progress.

ESME COOPER AND THE PROPHESY OF DOOM

CONCEPT: A young girl is spirited off planet after an ancient prophesy reveals she will cause the destruction of her world, not knowing that her being off-planet is what creates her world’s end.

Main Conflict. The queen of a neighboring land wants to swallow up a nearby island country and goes to war with its young princess to win.

Old Ways. Esme Cooper is:

Reckless

Naïve

Careless

Disregards cost to others

New Ways. Esme Cooper is:

Far-sighted

Sacrifices for others

Fearless

Understands Ancient Knowledge

· Internal Journey: From impulsive and needy to strong and fearless

· External Journey: From naïve child, unsure of her abilities, to respected warrior able to defeat Evil

Act 1:

Opening

Esme, 11, ruins a celebration party for a girl she loathes by attacking her.

· Esme’s mother, Ilya, warns Esme of the danger she’d put the family in by her actions.

· Inciting Incident

Esme secretly follows her mother into the sky.

All hell breaks loose.

· Turning Point:

The wounded woman (Esme’s mother is healing) morphs into an assassin and delivers an ancient prophesy involving Esme.

Act II: All Plans Lead to Hell

· Reaction. The assassin morphs into a creature who tries to kill Ilya, Esme and the other women.

· The assassin is killed…but first warns them she’s been sent by the queen (evil) and more will be coming.

· Esme is contained for her own ‘protection.’ She tries to get free. A time of great chaos and grief. Multiple ‘blessings’ as bodies are burned and the ashes thrown into the sea. Esme is not allowed to attend any of the services. It feels to her like punishment, but she does feel that it’s her fault.

· Plan 1 First, she tries to explain. Doesn’t work. Esme, her little sister, Brinn, and their mother, Ilya, are essentially under house arrest while the Binders figure out what to do and what this means. The Binders for the first time are split in two: one camp believes Ilya’s line (the only Binder line ever having the power to vault skyward and reunite soul fragments), must be protected at all costs, including in how they think. The other faction (jealous and for eons waiting to wrest power from her line, now see their chance to step in.

· Plan 2 Then, she denies she did anything. But the proof is right there.

· Plan 3, Finally, she accepts that she herself is responsible for this terrible loss. (This only happens when her mother takes her out to the site where the bodies are being prepared…the field is huge…Esme ‘gets’ what she did. She wishes her mother could console her, forgive her, but Ilya is too caught up in the grave danger Esme’s actions have placed the family in. Ilya does, but surrounded by guards ‘for her protection’. And because of her, her little sister Brinn is now also under ‘house arrest’. )

· Plan 4 This leads Esme to needing proof that the prophesy is true. Esme challenges whether the prophesy is even true. This upsets Ilya—to challenge the ‘ways’ is what led to this mess…and now Esme is suggesting that the prophesy itself is a lie. Esme won’t let it go. To her, it makes perfect sense. The evil assassin came in as a lie…it would be easy to lie about the prophesy itself. Her Nurse knows of someone high up who knowns truth in ancient messages. She helps set up a meeting between the child and the ancient one.

· Plan 5 Esme slips out. Her friend, Bodhi, is her guard on this perilous journey. She meets with the ancient crone. There’s heavy magic. It’s scary. Yes, indeed, the destruction of Cantoria is written in Esme’s future. There is magic Esme can try, but it will be costly and may even kill her.

· They’re interrupted and Esme is almost killed.

· Cantoria arms itself, ready to do war against the Queen, certain it is she who is trying to wipe out Esme’s line.

· But it turns out to be somebody they know and love from Cantoria…who was trying to kill Esme to allay the curse and save the island kingdom. (Note: this person has been bewitched by the Queen we find out later)

· The person is not the queen…they think it is…but no….it’s somebody from Cantoria who has turned against the family.

· Esme and her sister are no longer safe in the compound.

Act III: Hiding Out – Evil Surrounds them

· They are sent swiftly under darkness to stay with their father

· We meet the Outliers, the strangers from other solar systems who have found their way to Cantoria. They are in a ghetto. Esme and Brinn’s dad is here. He was an inventor on Earth and a former soldier.

· He trains Esme in the basics she’ll need to survive.

· The compound is swarmed by bad guys.

· The family escapes the world

· Esme’s mother puts a spell of forgetfulness on her.

· She’s warned that if she remembers who she is, she’ll be killed

· They crash onto Earth

Act IV: Escape and Resurrection

· Esme starts to remember vague stuff

· She’s pursued by the Queen’s evil guy

· The stuff starts to coalesce

· Esme is tricked into thinking he’s a helper

· Esme is befriended by a beautiful, smart young lawyer

· Esme starts to really remember

· She gets away from the evil guy

· But the lawyer ‘friend’ is actually the Queen in disguise

· Cantoria and all its people are being destroyed because Esme left it unattended

· She has to get back to save it

· First she has to escape Earth

· The Queen and her bad guys pursue her

· They fight it out

· Esme wins

· Cantoria starts to come back to life

[Christopher Dalbey]

Christopher Dalbey’s 4-Act transformational structure

MY VISION: to have success from this program and be one of the go-to writers in the industry for writing assignments and scripts that are both memorable and ground breaking.

What I learned doing this assignment is that it doesn’t have to be perfect right now, or maybe never. It does have to be done, so here goes.

THE TRANSCRIBER

Concept: In the future, a top psychologist is assigned a transcriber with empath and supernatural abilities who puts herself in the shoes of the world’s deadliest criminals, covertly becoming their judge and jury.

MAIN CONFLICT: A transcriber with empath abilities time travels in an attempt to find her husband’s killer and daughter’s assailant while working alongside the world’s most esteemed psychologist whose unorthodox methods conflict with her mission.

Old Ways

Refuses to let anyone in

Close-minded to seek help

Distrusts the law and new world order

Has intimate issues

Questions the future

New Ways

Recognizes her potential with newfound powers

Fights for a cause she never thought possible

Stands up against the new world order

Covertly seeks justice on her terms

Vindicated

Act 1: 25 to 30 pages – Set up and see Old Ways.

Opening – Simultaneously, while speaking at a conference about the new line of elite criminals, Nia’s family is attacked by one of these superhuman criminals of the new world; the criminal kills her husband while her daughter narrowly escapes…

Inciting Incident – Against government rules and regulations Nia puts herself in great danger by seeking out her missing daughter, finding her in a corner of the new world that is extremely prohibited.

Turning Point– Nia is approached by highly decorated officials to propose to her a position that would guarantee her and her daughter safety and protection for the rest of their lives.

Act 2: 20 to 30 pages – Challenge the Old Ways.

New Plan— Nia accepts the job offer and meets Dr. Dahl who welcomes her with open arms and gives her and her daughter their new lay of the land and job detail.

Plan in Action— Dr. Dahl and Nia evaluate their first criminal in therapy but are off to a rocky start when the criminal outsmarts both of them and almost tricks them into escaping.

Mid-Point – Nia has a mental breakdown and has second thoughts and decides the new gig is not for her.

Act 3: 20 to 30 pages – with midpoint change, profound moments that give us new ways.

Rethink everything— The government denies Nia’s attempt to take her and her daughter away from their new highly secure compound and now must figure a way to make this work.

New Plan— Dr. Dahl and Nia have a successful session with another criminal relationship is somewhat repaired.

Turning Point/Huge failure/Major shift –Nia’s daughter has a seizure and is hospitalized. This leads to Nia experiencing another massive anxiety attack that transports her into another dimension (time travel) where she is immersed into a crime scene with one of the criminals she is about to evaluate.

Act 4: 25 pages – test the change in this character! Prove new ways!

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict – Nia is disruptive with the next session with Dr. Dahl, thinking she knows more than Dr. Dahl because of her vision/episode.

Resolution— Some of Nia’s liberties and privileges are taken away because of her actions, including moving her daughter to an undisclosed facility until things change.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by  Christopher Dalbey.

[Jacqueline Murphy]

Jacqueline Murphy 4 Act Transformational Structure WIM Mod 2 Lesson 5 July 19, 2022

VISION: To empower myself to go for my dreams to be a great writer, actress and filmmaker who is “Admired”, recognized and sought after by the industry and has many successful TV & Film projects produced that make money, a difference and inspire others to go for their dreams.

What I learned from doing this assignment is that once I started plugging in the “old” info of what I knew I just set a timer in my head and went for it. I can always come back and redo but it’s a relief to get the “scary” part of doing a story structure down. I allowed myself to go for it and not be perfect and see what comes up for me. It felt very creative because I wasn’t “editing” myself. Thanks for this!

1.Create a first draft of your 4 Act Transformational Structure. Start this assignment by empowering yourself using our State-To-Activity empowerment process. State: I feel completely confident…Activity: …creating the structure of my story.

2. Give us the following:

Concept: A failed Actress meets a handsome devil who magically “time travels” her to 1940’s Hollywood as a movie star but she stumbles on her families genetic trait that allows her to create magic, time travel and changes in any era!

Main Conflict: Sends time into confusion in a different era and loses her ability to go back “home” to Modern world her family, friends and the life she knows. She’s in LIMBO

Old Ways: Stuck, standing in once place, repeating the same actions over again hoping for success and stardom.

New Ways:

Olivia finds out she has a genetic magical power and doesn’t need the Sorcerer

2-Video’s and News from in the past reveal future and can be re-written

3-The paintings the render can take on a life of there own changing history

4-The historical dates can be juggled by tarot and numerology

5-Modern day news is suggestion what people do and undermining culture

3. Fill in each of these with the answers you have right now.

Act 1:

Opening- Olivia struggling to make it and failing time after time. Inciting Incident-Olivia’s mother passes away and gives her the gift of a kaleidoscope cryptically saying that with her passing “It is TIME and a power will be released”. Her mom hints about who Olivia’s real father was and what her true purpose is. Turning Point: Olivia meets a handsome Sorcerer who seduces who by telling her HE can make her dream of being a movie star come true IF she’ll go back to 1940’s Hollywood. Olivia agrees and makes a Faustian Deal with him: “Never to return to Modern Day Hollywood.

Act 2:

New plan: Olivia Arrives in OH Dimension, yes she’s a star but she’s catapulted into danger with Mafia Club Boss and Studio head as well as fans wanting a piece of her. Plan in action: Olivia’s a ‘Fish Out of Water” and tries to “Act” her way through all the confusion of the “time Travel” changes and this different world. Midpoint Turning Point: Olivia meets a homeless woman who poetically recites to her what she can be and guides her to a cemetery. A Stonehenge rock opens and she’s surrounded by a coven of witches chanting to tell her she has the POWER!

Act 3:

Rethink everything: Tired of being “manipulated” by the Sorcerer she was falling for and the studio head, Olivia tries to figure out how to win at this game and realizes she has MAGIC. New plan: To consort with the Covent of Witches to get success in the OH World. Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: This backfires on Olivia when Starlet gets her part, The Mafia Club manager leverages her and the Sorcerer tells her you can’t go back.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Olivia explodes and fearlessly lets go where her powers are released grabbing the “Kaliedoscope” back from the Sorcerer and the prism changes the OH world to the Modern Dimension and she time travels herself back there.Resolution Back home Olivia misses the Action of the OH Dimension and is curious to see if she can find who her father really is and decides to take one last stab at going back. This time she goes back to find herself back at the cemetery face to face with a gravestone bearing her real dad’s name BUT her DAD is standing in front of her very much alive and realizes the life/death portal has been opened!

4. Once you have created the 4-Act Structure for your Protagonist, go back over it to see if there is any big picture points you need to add.

[David gollob]

Gollob’s 4-Act transformational structure

My vision: to learn to write, pitch and sell marketable scripts

“What I learned doing this assignment is that by doing this I’m halfway towards completing an outline”

title: Pablo and Me: or Money has no Friends – inspired by/based on a true story

Concept: a gay young woman journeys from rags to riches and rags again, helped by the beneficience of a drug king, yet undermined by her Mom’s gambling addiction…

Act 1:

Opening: little Emilia, 8 years old, is befriended by Pablo Escobar, at the local soccer pitch. They kick the ball around, he gives her 2000$ in banknotes; she shows money to her mom who gives her a beating for “lying” about its provenance; steals the money and loses it at the casino.

She carries on with Pablo, meeting him once a week at the soccer pitch, he gives her money every time, but now she is forewarned and hides it from her Mom <div>

Inciting Incident: 9 years later, Escobar no longer in the picture – he is “imprisoned”at “the Cathedral” – her mom finds her stash of hundreds of millions of pesos and steals it from her, stealing her dream of building her Mom a house with all this cash. Mom promptly loses the money binging day and night at the Casino…

Turning Point: they lose everything when the mountain stream beside the house floods it during the rainy season; demanding more cash, her mom beats her up again, she leaves home for life on the streets, but comes home crying after she is solicited by a “chulo” – pimp, who threatens her with violence… her mom coldly accepts her back,admonishing her to go out there and make “plata” – money, I don’t care how you do it… She looks in vain for Escobar, her secret benefactor…

Act 2:

New plan: Instead, she finds and flirts with one of his key lieutenants, Santi. </div>

Plan in action. She goes to work for Santi, juggling his attraction to her, her hope of making enough $$ to buy her mom a house, finally, her hopes of getting closer again to Pablo, and her unrequited crush on the lovely Camila, the only other young woman in Santi’s gang. Within weeks, she makes enough to buy a little car and a down payment on an apartment in a condo tower for her and her mom; they move in…

Midpoint Turning Point: Santi, provoked by her flirtatious behaviour, attempts to rape her violently; after a struggle, she shoots him in the head.

<div>

Act 3:

Rethink everything: on orders from Pablo the gang “disappears” the body;</div><div>

New plan: camila asserts her control over the gang, with pablo’s blessing; she reassures Emilia who is scared of p’s anger after Santi’s cousin demands revenge; meanwhile, Franco, a DEA agent infatuated with Camila gets her to agree to give him up…

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: Camila is brutally assaulted after being seen with Franco, and dies in her arms. Last words: “whatever you do, don’t run.” Pablo summons Emilia to “settle scores.”

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: terrified, Emilia chooses not to run, but to face him; thinking on her feet she triggers his memory of the little girl he played soccer with years ago… and: he spares her life!</div>

But her mom has meantime racked up huge gambling debts and is threatened with death if she doesn’t pay within 8 days. Emilia sells her little car and the apartment she had bought with her earnings to save her mother’s life…

Resolution: they are back in poverty, but they are still alive! And so there is hope; Emilia reveals to her mother she is lesbian; her mother accepts her, with love…She forgives her mother’s abusive behaviour and gambling addiction.

[Daniel Turner]

Daniel Turner’s 4 Act transformational Structure

Vision: My vision is to become a consistent, produced and overall well received writer.

What I learned doing this assignment is figuring out where you want to go before you start down the road is very beneficial and make the journey much easier.

TITLE: Kentucky Browns

CONCEPT: The Brown family runs a booming distillery business, then the state law is changed and they have to turn to running moonshine to earn money and keep the business alive.

CONFLICT: The new Governor is a competitor that they ran out of business and now intends on seeking revenge and shutting down their business.

Old ways: Generous, open to outsiders, community first attitude.

New ways: Tight, secretive and closed off, family is what matters attitude.

ACT 1

Opening: Father Brown is buying the remnants of the soon to be Governor’s whiskey business. The future Governor believes that there was some shady back door dealings going on, and makes accusatory comments. Father Brown brushes the comments off and replies that if he had invested more time into the whiskey versus everything else he’s into he might have made something worth buying.

Inciting Incident: The new Governor signs Prohibition into law in the state closing their business.

Turning Point: The Governor sends the state police to confiscate the whiskey and whiskey making equipment from the Browns.

ACT 2

New Plan: Knowing that the law was going to change the Browns hid whiskey and their whiskey making equipment.

Plan in Action: the Governor unknowingly confiscated his old whiskey and equipment from the Browns. So the Browns can still distill whiskey. And they do in secret.

Midpoint Turning Point: Whiskey still keeps appearing in the state and the Governor starts cracking down and suspecting everyone especially the Browns.

ACT 3

Rethink Everything: to lessen the heat they’re under they stop running whiskey in the state and just export it out of state from now on.

Turning Point/Midpoint: the state police find one of their secret distilleries and confiscate it all. The Governor is really close to getting them.

ACT 4

Climax: The Browns find out that the Governor has made a backdoor deal with the Claytons and is letting them do their thing for a piece of the action. The Claytons do not like or approve of the Governor and when asked they gladly help the Browns and throw the Governor undertake bus. The FBI gets involved, the Governor goes to jail and the law is repealed.