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Day 5 Assignments
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10 Replies
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Mary Emmick’s Villain Has a Great Plan!
What I learned is that when writing a thriller first start with the villain’s plan (intrigue) because it is often what the story is built around. The villain’s plan is in effect from the very beginning without the Hero or audience knowing. Hold back on sharing it until it has the most emotional impact on the Hero and the audience.
1. What is the end goal?
A kleptocracy.
The villains consist of a ruthless cabal of billionaire individuals: Igor Stepanov, president of Tajerkistan is threatened by critic and social disrupter Antony Petrov from neighboring country Morlova which Stepanov is invading. Aaron Stench owns an oil company and has recently acquired a social media company. His goal is to control the media. Gordon Grimes is owner of FACT NEWS, an international news conglomerate that deals in propaganda which promotes the ultra-wealthy class and whose goal is to control all television worldwide. Morlovan woman, Olga Novikov, is the new manager of Morlova Immigrant Assistance and is working for Igor Stepanov. Her assistant, Victor Ivanova, is a Latvian undercover agent and works as the assistant manager for Olga Novikov.
2. How can the Villain accomplish that in a devious way?
The villains want to assassinate Natasha Petrov, former manager of Morlova Immigrant Assistance (MIA). Natasha is the sister of Antony Petrov languishing in a Tajerkistan prison. They want to also do away with Katie Green, our unwitting Seattle housewife and social justice activist who volunteers at MIA with Natasha to help immigrants and refugees from war torn Morlova. Katie also volunteers with the Democratic Underground Organization (DUO). Natasha wants to save her brother and her friend Katie wants to do all she can to help save Antony. Natasha and Katie join forces to get to the bottom of who is trying to kill them and why they want to ruin democracy by taking over the media. The villains also want to destroy UnisoftNW, the hi tec software company that Jack Green, Katie’s husband works for. Jack is a software engineer and works in security for this company and works to prevent unsavory computer attacks on the system. He helps Katie and Natasha start a new social media site to compete against Aaron Stench’s company. Igor Stepanov hires operatives in Seattle that will Fire Natasha Petrov from her manager position at MIA and hire Olga Novikov, who targets Natasha and Katie.
3. How can they cover it up?
By hiring Olga Novikov who can do away with Katie and Natasha, they can quickly send her packing when the job is done and hire another manager. No one will know why she was there and where she went after the two women are killed.
4. Sequence it to make it as intriguing as possible.
A series of failed assassination attempts alert Katie and Natasha that their lives are in danger. Assassination attempts by Olga and her assistant Victor:
· Olga takes the place of another hairstylist at a hair salon and attempts to stab Katie
· Katie and Natasha are eating at an outdoor café and someone attempts to shoot Natasha.
· Katie is going through the carwash. We see a man attach something to the bottom of her car. She drives out. We see a black box in the carwash. Suddenly the carwash explodes and Katie and see this from here rearview mirror as her wet car pulls out as she heads home.
· At a Morlovan charity lunch, Katie sees someone tampering with Natasha’s blue beer glass. Katie sees what is happening. She has Natasha distract Olga and switches the glass with Olga’s glass which is a few places down on the table. A place card identifies Olga.
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Pat Galbraith’s Villain’s great plan!
What I learned from this assignment? Great way to lay out the villain’s plan by reading it in reverse.
When a villain finds that he can’t sell his valuable property because of ATV riders are destroying the property. He makes his plan.
To create your Villain’s plan, answer these four questions:
1. What is the end goal?
Make a lot of money on the sale
Sell the property
Get rid of the ATV riders
2. How can the Villain accomplish that in a devious way?
Make a plan with neighbors who don’t want strangers on their property either.
Ready with a high-power rifle
Cut trees to hide ATVS
Handcuffs to get them under control if needed.
Talk to his sons about help.
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3. How can he cover it up.
He was out of town when it happened.
His wife heard a big truck on the property that night.
The sons went with their father
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1. The end goal of the villain, Jack, in Angel of Fire is to use the Book of Azariah and the 11 souls he’s harvested to transform into the angel of fire in a ritualistic ceremony he and his family have been planning for generations. Jack trades his life for ultimate control. His family can finally stand up to the company.
2. The villain, Jack and the Judge, accomplish their plan in a devious way by the Judge working with the company and controlling Black Maple’s (the town) legal and political players. Because of the Judge’s control of the town, and his family’s sterling reputation, Jack is able to harvest as many souls as he needs for the ceremony, while people continue to think that he’s a great man.
3. Jack and the Judge can cover it up by not telling anyone of their true plan except the two of them. The Judge is able to cover for Jack any time Jack is in the slightest bit of danger of being caught. Jack uses charm to groom the people of the town into loving him while he is using them for his plan.
4. The Sequence the plan for The Transformation
Opening scene – Jack takes Keith and Gabe to kill three boys in the woods in a ritualistic way. From that point forward we know they’re capable of anything. Jack is manipulating and blackmailing the boys.
A group of men in suits, in a strip club, doing coke, drinking heavily and being a little belligerent with the women working there. One of the men (the Judge) silently watches the other men as they are pulled into different areas of the club with the women. A woman asks the Judge if he’d like to go with her and it’s a reaction shot of him looking devious. The next shot is of the Judge walking out of the club in slow motion, lighting and smoking a cigarette. He walks through the frame, his plan of manipulating and blackmailing the men complete.
Jack as the Preacher giving a sermon where he recites from the Book of Azariah to his congregation. Towards the end, for dramatic effect he performs a fire trick that amazes everyone.
At a young age, Gabe and Keith have developmental issues and absentee fathers. Turning to the town church for help, their mothers put them in “The Program” under the leadership of Jack, Black Maple’s preacher.
Jack uses his family’s wealth and his “generous nature” to gain entrance into any home or business he wants, by giving gifts and coming to check on the gifts. This makes him feel omnipresent to the boys in The Program and gives Jack leverage and leeway with the parents for spending time with their kids.
Jack holds a secret rituals with the boys in The Program. In it, Jack gives the boys mushroom tea, causing them to hallucinate. Jack guides them on an otherworldly experience. Laura’s eyes flicker black and she levitates and the boys feel like they’re falling rapidly. Jack brings them all back and encourages the ritual to continue.
The rituals start innocently enough with sex, drugs and group incantations but segway into brutal sacrifices that are unexpected and disarming. These rituals serve two purposes – 1. They further The Judge’s plan of harvesting souls for The Transformation. 2. The rituals tighten the grip Jack has on everyone in The Order.
Scene where the The Judge is doing a deal with The Company for large amount of drugs/guns/money and it’s revealed that he’s being treated like a pawn in The Company’s game. The Judge is not happy with the situation, but he uses The Company’s protection and influence to further his own quest for power.
The Judge learned of The Order when he was working for The Company. When he was raising Jack, the Judge secretly assaulted Jack to maintain his power over him. As a boy, Jack swore he would gain the power needed to enact revenge on his father, but until then he needs the Judge’s protection.
Jack uses his status as the town’s preacher to get the inside dirt on all of the families. He uses that information to drive a wedge between fathers and sons and between families.
The Ritual is a man sent into the fire. He joins in a single prayer with those around him, as well the sacrifices they’ve offered. In the prayer they exhort all creation to praise the devil. If the ritual is performed correctly, the devil will transform the man into the Angel of Fire, to do the devil’s work on earth.
Jack takes the boys out into the woods where he teaches them guns, bombs, explosives, poisons and fire. After the training he has them dig graves out in the woods. He forces Gabe and Keith into the graves and tell them if they ever reveal The Order or the plan for the transformation, he’ll do one of three things. 1. Burn them alive. 2. Bury them alive. 3. Do the same to their families and use the Judge’s connections to frame the boys for the murders. (foreshadowing)
At a ritual, Jack tells the group his father has made a pact with the devil. In exchange for unlimited power, The Judge has sacrificed his son to enact the ritual of Azariah and become the Angel of Fire. Jack’s eyes flicker black at the end of the speech.
After the ritual, one of the boys, Mark Klober, tells his parents about the murders at the ritual and together they go to a neighboring town to get a case filed against Jack. The trial moves forward, but the Judge is able to use his influence to blackmail people get his son’s case file. Jack shows the file off to the boys in the Program as proof of his power. The boy’s fathers force their sons to testify for Jack and the jury finds him innocent. Afterwards the boys are convinced of Jack’s power. Jack instructs the boys to stalk and kill the Klobers by stunning them, putting them in the trunk of their car and burning them alive.
When Keith tells his mother and sister what’s been going on, Heather doesn’t believe him and his mom doesn’t know what to do. She confides in the reverend she trusts and he advises her to pray about. The mother has nowhere to turn.
Jack takes Keith and Gabe from the harvest. Jack drives Keith in a truck out of town at night and says to close his eyes. When he opens them it’s Keith’s house. Jack orders Keith to kill his family. He can’t and Gabe shoots Heather and the mother. Keith’s dad walks in on his family murdered and lunges for Keith. Keith shoots and kills him. His entire family is dead in under a half a minute.
That night they do the ritual, when Jack ascends, no one knows what’s going on or if it worked. That night Keith takes the fall for the murders of his family. Jack’s body is not found.
After Jack is missing and Keith is in prison, Gabe starts to hear voices and see things. It’s Jack. Gabe tries to finger the Judge but the Judge uses his power to have him committed to the asylum where his daughter is. (Glore Psychiatric.) Gabe still hears Jack’s voice and visions in prison. He breaks free.
The end is Gabe killing himself by falling backwards off the top of the asylum. It cuts to Heather smiling, Gabe and Keith when they were happy together at younger harvest, The Judge doing business in a back room, a darker ritual with Laura levitating. Then dark figures in dark robes, backlit by candles enters the screen. One of them steps into the light and you see a sliver of his face. It’s the burnt face of Jack and he has a smirk on his face.
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Busy’s Villain Has A Great Plan!
What I learned is your villain should have their endgame planned out before you start writing the script, map out the sequences and cover-ups to make it as intriguing as possible, and make sure the villain is putting your hero in danger.
1. What is the end goal?
To get Ron’s $100M inheritance.
2 (& 4). How can Lorelei accomplish this in a devious way? Sequence it to make it as intriguing as possible.
1 . Start an affair with Ron
2. Reveal the affair to Ron’s wife, Steffi.
3. Tell Steffi he is leaving her and she will never access to Ron’s wealth
4. Manipulate and recruit Steffi to help murder Ron and in return, take a 10% cut of
inheritance for doing the actual murdering him.
5. Manipulate the police investigation.
6. Manipulate Maisie to muddy the waters with her own investigation to prove
Lorelei’s innocence.
7. Get Steffi to make Lorelei Steffi’s beneficiary (in a trust) to make Steffi keep the
bargain.
8. Kill Steffi and make it look like suicide because she killed her husband
9. kill Maisie in an investigative accident
10. inherit millions.
3. How can they cover it up?
1. Manipulate Maisie to muddy the waters with her own investigation to prove Lorelei’s “innocence.”
2. “Help” Maisie investigate so she finds only what Lorelei wants her to find.
3. Get Steffi to make Lorelei Steffi’s beneficiary (in a trust) to make Steffi keep the bargain.
3. Make Steffi’s death look like a suicide.
4. Kill Maisie when she turns out to be a good investigator and won’t stop investigating after Steffi’s death.
4. Sequence it to make it as intriguing as possible
See Q2’s answers because it is in a sequence I think/hope is intriguing.
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Bree’s Villain Has a Nefarious Plan…
What I learned while crafting that nefarious plan was that…this exercise was really helpful! I had a vague sense that Lorna wants/needs to stop Skye, but I didn’t have much in the way of her actual plan, and how to sequence the different parts of it in a way that escalates the urgency and ramps up tension (before this I didn’t really even know the parts at all). This gives me great material for actual scenes.
1. What is the end goal?
Lorna Pudney’s end goal is simple: to get away with murder. She wants to not be caught and to leave Italy forever, saving herself and her daughter—but she knows she can’t leave too soon after the death of her Airbnb host, or it will look suspicious. So she is biding her time, using her wits to deflect and deceive.
2. How can the Villain accomplish that in a devious way?
At every turn, Lorna will need to outwit the hero—Skye—and divert the investigation when it gets too close to the truth. By the end, when Skye is closing in on her, she will need to stop him at whatever cost. First, she imprisons him, aware that he will eventually die, but at least she won’t have to actively kill him. But when it becomes clear that his Flik fans are hip to what is happening, and have been able to trace him to the underground catacombs where she has drugged and hidden him—ah, the power of social media—she realizes she is going to have to kill him before he reveals her. She doesn’t want to do this, mind you. She’s a sweet British mum on holiday! But as it becomes clear that he is going to expose her and what truly happened that fateful night, Lorna has no other choice.
3. How can they cover it up?
I don’t have all of this figured out yet, but some ideas I have about how Lorna will attempt the cover-up and her escape:
✴Devise and share an alternate scene of what happened that night (she heard a noise, saw a suspicious person, etc.)
✴ She will try to stop Skye: leave him a note telling him to stop searching, do something else to scare him, etc.
✴ Maybe she will try to impugn Skye’s name? Or throw shade on his credibility by hurting him on social media? Maybe she accuses him of something, or flags him/tries to get his account taken down.
✴ Once Skye starts uncovering the truth about Lorna’s history—which will of course point to why she’s in Montefiori in the first place, and her real (hidden) relationship with the landlady—her plan will become far more urgent, and she’ll have to take more drastic measures.
✴ She will try to turn the police on Skye eventually. She knows he’s there to “put Montefiori on the map,” so she will try to frame him—say that he murdered their sweet little landlady in an attempt to get more likes and launch himself to social media stardom.
✴ She will try to scare/intimidate Skye—to “mother” him, in a way, by telling him she’s worried for his safety and well-being.
✴ She will imprison him in the catacombs.
✴ She will attempt to silence him for good—by killing him.
4. Sequence it to make it as intriguing as possible:
Okay so let’s try this, in escalating order of severity. Because I think Lorna is a very logical, reasonable person (she’s British!), so she will start small, but then escalate quickly when her tactics don’t work.
✴ Conversations with the police (the alibi)
✴ Conversations with Skye (the alibi with some additional misleading details)
✴ Social media attack/attempt to get him kicked off
✴ A veiled warning to Skye to stop (a message? written in BLOOD mwahaha)
✴ A less veiled warning (something I haven’t thought of yet—a dead animal?)
✴ Try to turn the police on Skye (this one will be harder because it will give up the game—so I think I might have to have the tip be “anonymous,” so Skye doesn’t know who is trying to frame him)
✴Trying to “mother” Skye and tell him she’s concerned (this might need to happen earlier on)
✴ Imprisoning Skye
✴ She will try to kill him
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Subject Line: Lesley’s Villain Has a Great Plan!
“What I learned is…?”
– The power of reverse engineering!
– How building and layering MIS in every scene dramatically improves my characters and plot. ( I build plot using the beat board in Final Draft and this class is having major impact on my scenes and sequencing.)
– How it’s equally important to analyze your script by scene and by sequence.
To create your Villain’s plan, answer these four questions:
1. What is the end goal?
– To get his hands on the Phillips’ wealth
2. How can the Villain accomplish that in a devious way?
– By studying,
charming, mirroring, and seducing his victims.3. How can they cover it up?
– By appearing to be in vulnerable, open, and loving.
4. Sequence it to make it as intriguing as possible.
a) He selects his prey.
b) He studies his prey.
c) He sets his prey up by mirroring their values, needs, etc.
d) He captures his prey in his web.
e) He starts fucking with his prey.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by Lesley Harter.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by Lesley Harter.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by
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Budinscak’s Villain Has A Great Plan – Day 5
What I learned Doing This Assignment:
o This method provides a nice outline to ‘tell’ your hero’s story.
o Nice to freelance and concoct the bad guy’s world and how your hero will adjust to or conquer it.
o I have a good idea of the beginning and the end of the story, and the points to hit in between…. I hope.
1. What is the end goal?
The villain’s end goal is to complete the dismantling of the project and make it disappear, like it never existed.
2. How can the Villain accomplish that in a devious way?
The villain will utilize his private security team and technology (cameras, drones and mechanical ‘animals’) to covertly ship out the remaining pieces of equipment and to permanently dispose of what’s left – including any witnesses, like the campers
3. How can they cover it up?
The villain and his team will bury whatever – and whoever – is left into an abandoned mine shaft and detonate a small explosive device to permanently seal the mine and any evidence of the project’s existence.
4. Sequence it to make it as intriguing as possible.
o Review and ensure the project is operating in anonymity*
o Dispose of any employees with questionable loyalties
o The Villain will manage transporting out the last remaining ‘wanted’ equipment.
o The Villain will handle the demolition of old, not wanted equipment.
o He will get rid of all witnesses**
o Captured campers/cave explorers
o Forest Ranger ‘partner’.
o He will rid the area of any trace of existence.
o Detonate a small explosive device to permanently seal their operation area and make it seem as though it never existed.
o He and his remaining forces
* – It’s at this point the villain is aware of Vicki’s presence on the outside of the mountain.
** – Right about here is where he’s made aware of a pesky intruder – Vicki is inside the villain’s protected area of operation.
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Ann-Marie Brennan Day 5 – The Villain’s Plan
What i have learned from doing this exercise-
The end goal of the Villain is what will drive the story. The villain’s plot is in place before the story begins. We are as surprised as the hero to be caught up in the villain’s plot. For my story, I want the villain to be the (anti) hero and get away with her tightly wound plot, but the villain will pay the consequences in a different way… by being bound to someone else who will keep her secret. It’s corruption in the legal system, at the highest levels. I do not know if this will work or if Dan and the detectives have to work it out how he was framed. I know I need to flesh it out more, but I am posting so I don’t fall behind in the exercise. Alison as the villain will not be revealed until the second murder. Up until then, she is seen as a cheated-on wife who will professionally help protect her husband as she knows the Law inside out.
1. What is the end goal
The end goal for Alison (the Villain) is to keep her husband with her for the rest of his life, whatever that means. He is having an affair and she knows he is shortly going to ask for a divorce, so she will do whatever it takes to make sure he cannot leave her.
2. How can the Villain accomplish this in a devious way.
She is going to frame him for 3 murders, the 3rd murder will be the mistress. She is going to set Dan up so that even he begins to doubt himself.
Dan Dunbar does not know his wife is aware he is having an affair with a dancer. Alison knows everything about Dan. Alison has thought this out. Firstly, Alison will stab to death a random dancer at the club, the same night Dan goes to the club. She knows he will become a suspect. Then, she will stab a second girl and leave Dan’s DNA at the scene, something that Dan just cannot explain away but his affair will explain the DNA. Dan will know he is not the murderer but no one else will believe him. Alison will stand by him. The Press will begin buzzing around at this stage, if not sooner. She will use this too.
Alison’s coup d’etat will be the third murder- Dan’s woman Sadie. This is Alison’s main object, the other two murders are merely decoys, but they will tighten the bind. Alison will call to Sadie’s apartment for a face talk. Sadie will be shocked but will let her in. Alison will stab her, text Dan from Sadie’s phone that she is going to leave him, some nicely inventive text. This will get him running to her. And Alison will make sure the police are right behind him. When the police find Dan crying over Sadie’s bloodied body, they will arrest him for her murder. He will profess his innocence but who will believe him. He will call Alison, the only person who truly believes he could never do such a thing. And she will swear in public that she will spend the remainder of her life, as long as it takes, trying to clear his name. They will be bound together in the eyes of the Law, a new marriage, a bind that never breaks.
3. How will she cover it up
When the first girl is found dead, detectives will call to Alison’s house, wanting to speak to Dan. They will see Dan confess to Alison that he is having an affair, because he was at the Club the night the girl was killed, but he will swear didn’t kill her. The detectives will see Alison’s shocked reaction. She is an Attorney General. She is beyond reproach. She will professionally advise Dan, although she is hurt. She will stand by her man. She will work on the detectives to make sure they believe her, of course they’ll believe her, her reputation is without question.
She is immediately the wronged party. They will see how she handles news of Dan’s seedy affair, yet how she professionally stands by her husband.
For the second murder, she will place DNA of Dan at the scene, something oblique that will in no way lead back to her. A business card from the club that she found in Dan’s pocket. How careless of him, this told her everything, but it will also have his DNA on it. This will give the detectives evidence that directly links Dan to the place of the murder, it will make him the main suspect but not enough to arrest him. She knows the law.
Alison knows the detectives will call Sadie in, advise her against seeing Dan. This will also work to her advantage.
For the third murder, Sadie’s murder, she will first call to Sadie’s apartment herself, obviously in disguise, then lead Dan to Sadie’s apartment by sending him a text from Sadie’s phone, something that will make him angry, race to her. The police will follow him and they will get there just in time to see Dan stopped over dead Sadie. They will arrest him immediately and he will be charged. He will be given one call. Alison.
Only Alison will believe he is innocent. She will defend him to the bitter end.
4. Sequence it to make it as intriguing as possible –
1. We meet Dan in a Mens Club where he meets dancer Sadie. They are having an affair. Dan punches a man who is ignorant to Sadie and is thrown out by a bouncer.
2. A young dancer leaves the club. and walks down the empty streets, alone. Someone bumps into her and when she turns, a knife is plunged into her stomach.
3. Dan arrives back at his large house and outside a bedroom, hangs a ‘ do not disturb’ sign. He sleeps in a spare room. His wife Alison knocks on his door the next morning, asking what time he got in at. On the news, report of a murder of a young woman. Dan freezes, recognising the woman from the club. It is not Sadie. He secretly phones Sadie, who tells him the police want to question her. He tells her to say nothing about him, until he can think.
4. Detectives call to his house and Alison answers. She is a big name in legal circles. Dan has to confess to Alison he’s having an affair, but he didn’t kill anyone. She takes control of the interview as a barrister, tells Dan exactly how to behave.
5. Dan meets Sadie, who is upset about lying to the police. Dan says he’ll make it all right, he’ll make everything all right.
6. Dan goes to the detective and tells him he’s having an affair, he’s in love with Sadie and wanted to tell Alison first before telling them. The detectives find him unlikeable.
7. Alison has a candlelit romantic dinner laid out and asks Dan to carve. He tells her he wants a divorce, that’s what they both want, he knows he doesn’t make her happy. Alison is seductive, she wants him to look at her like he used to. She practically rapes him to try and keep him. He is a weak man, she is powerful. He leaves, telling her he’s sorry. Alison gets the knife Dan used for carving and rinses the blood off the blade, then wraps it in plastic. She retrieves a card from Dan’s coat pocket and puts it in plastic. She dresses and leaves.
8. A young girl walks along the canal. Alison approaches again from behind. She plunges a knife into the girl. As she leaves, she takes the card out of the plastic and drops it in the distance.
9. The detectives find the card and send it for examination. Dan is called in for questioning, as is Sadie. They are questioned separately. Sadie is warned to stay away from Dan, but she knows he’s not a killer. They are let go, for now. But a tail is put on Dan.
10. Dan is losing it at work. Media reports the husband of the top Attorney was held for questioning. He is told to take time off.
11. Alison calls to Sadie, unannounced. Sadie invites her in. Alison talks with her, keeping her gloves on. Sadie is in awe of Alison, so elegant and successful. Alison stabs Sadie with the knife from dinner. She gets Sadie’s phone and texts Dan that it is all too much for her, she doesn’t believe in him anymore. It’s over. Alison slips out, unseen.
12. Dan is followed by the detectives. When he gets Sadie’s text, he frantically calls her. There’s no answer. He gets into his car and speeds off towards her apartment. The detectives follow him. A chase.
13. Dan reaches the apt and lets himself in with a code. He rushes up in the lift. The detectives are behind but they are locked out. They start buzzing doors to try and get in. Dan reaches the apartment, the door is open. Inside, he finds Sadie on the ground, dead with a blade in her. He kneels. The police find him there and he is arrested for her murder.
He phones his wife, Alison. He needs her now like never before.
14. The news is all over the place, dignified Alison along with her daughter Nelly (whom she promised her time would come in the spotlight) vows to stand by husband, a good father. She knows he would never kill, it’s not in his nature. The killer is still out there and Alison will spend as long as it takes to find him.
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THRILLER ASSIGNMENT DAY 5
Alfred’s Villain Has a Great Plan
What I learned doing this assignment is:
1. Each phase of this pre story stumped me and I had to really dig deep to come up with something that would work. I tried uranium, thorium, titanium, but the only thing that seemed plausible was gold. The Sierra Nevada foothills, after all, was the source of the gold that fed the California Gold Rush. And the high price of gold, today, makes the plan feasible, but I still had to do some research and run some calculations. I grew up, partly, in the Yosemite National Park/the Mother Lode, so I know the area and have a certain understanding of how to move heavy loads with pack animals. Just persist and something will become apparent.
2. The Villain’s Plan is a virtual roadmap on how to set it up, once one has an idea. It turns a confusing puzzle into a no-brainer.
THE VILLAIN’S PLAN
1. What is the end goal?
The Villain, following an earthquake in a wilderness area, discovers near-pure gold exposed in the fault fissure. His plan is to make three trips in, with three mules, each trip, and pack out about $30 million in ore. He is not really a Villain, at first, but greed turns him into one.
2. How can the Villain accomplish that in a devious way?
The site is on public land, so he has to secure the area. First, he fences off a large area as an endangered species habitat. Second, he fences off a smaller area, inside, as a geologically dangerous site.
3. How can they cover it up?
1. By making trespass a crime.
2. By eliminating anyone who still persists on entering the secured area. It’s wilderness. There is any number of things to blame if someone comes up missing.
3. Encourage the lodge owner’s (outside the wilderness area) penchant for spreading fantastic mythology stories. Most will not believe that anyone actually came up missing, and families of the missing will not be eager to admit to anyone entering a restricted, regulated area.
4. Sequence it to make it as intriguing as possible.
PRE-STORY
1. End Goal of the Villain: To gain possession of the gold he has discovered and become filthy rich – at government expense.
2. Intrigue: The secret must be maintained at all cost!
a. The area must be secured
b. Anyone entering that area must be dealt with
c. Automation
d. Four hikers disappear
d. Rumors fly
e. The lodge owner milks’ the rumors with tales of mythology.
3. Covers Secrets: Isolates the gold vein discovery:
a. There is an earthquake in the Sierra Nevada. No big surprise, but…
b. Acting District Head of Land Management flies in to examine the area.
c. He discovers suspected gold in a small fault fissure.
d. He orders the area closed – fences it off – Two barbed wire fences: 1 large Habitat-labeled fence, 1 smaller Danger-labeled fence inside
e. The gold sample proves to be the real deal – high grade.
Gold is between $1800 and $2000/oz. 3 pack mules, lightly packed at 60 lb. per mule (30 lb per hitch side – to not over-tax the mules at high altitude X distance) [mules can carry up to 150 lb] can move 900 lbs per trip. 900 lbs of gold would yield 2,700 lbs on 3 trips. Pure gold of that weight would yield $59, 400, 000.00. Assuming 50% pure, 3 trips would net somewhere around $30 million.
f. But, fences don’t stop curious mountaineers, and the Villain will stop at nothing to keep this fissure secure. So he plants explosive devices around the fissure, too – electronic, motion sensors – with telemetry.
g. The fissure is obscured to make it unnoticeable.
h. Now, how do you get the gold out without arousing notice or suspicion.
i. Intrigue – the mountain has two sides. Pack in with dummy packs, pack out with real packs in the opposite direction, return and pack out again with the dummy packs.
j. The Villain almost completes his plan, but… enter the Hero.
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Karen’s villain: the Monsignor of a local church, has a plan:
End goal: To sell to a developer what should be a protected watershed area [in order to build and sell McMansions, each for a small fortune– which creates a bigger fortune for the developer.]
How can villain accomplish it in a devious way? the Monsignor must find and destroy all copies of the hundred year old reverter clause which protects the property while also convincing the small property association not to fight progress and to allow the scheme to go through.
How can the villain cover it up? the Monsignor starts a fire in a storage facility that houses the property association’s papers and makes it look accidental. He also covers up the manipulation of the property association leaders through good deeds, general niceness, and by making folks feel guilty.
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