Day 6 Assignments

[Alex Chew]

What I learned doing this assignment is that even though I already had an idea of when and how each character death occurs, thinking more about why helped me improve and deepen those decisions.

Also now the outline’s over 20 pages, and I’m excited to get writing!

[Douglas Ryan]

Douglas Ryan’s Character Death Track

What I learned from this assignment is from my initial outline draft I had a lot of this figured out except names and how they die, its a really good tool to have to keep the script organized.

Character Death 1: Betty
Why: Because she didn’t take care of her eyes and she is in the way of Xeno getting Daniella’s “perfect eyes.”

How: During her eye exam he straps her to the chair, dilating her eyes and forcing her to look at intense light before he surgically removes the eyes. She dies of shock from the pain.

Character Death 2: Homeless Man
Why: Xeno needs another victim for practice and the vagrant is someone who won’t be missed, unlike Betty.

How: He is forced back into the chair after trying to escape, Xeno uses a modified violet ray to electrocute him, his eyes explode from the heat.

Character Death 3: Sheriff Mason
Why: She goes to arrest Xeno when her son Levi tells her about the murder of the homeless man. Collateral damage.

How: Xeno crushes her head with an antique eye testing machine and can’t save the eyes.

Character Death 4: Levi
Why: He is a witness and he needs his eyes for one last practice run.
How: Xeno crushes his windpipe with his foot, and watches Levi choke on his own blood.

Character Death 5: Sam
Why: He is in the way and a loose end.

How: He slits his throat with a scalpel and leaves him to bleed out.

Character Death 6: Stuart
Why: He tries to protect his mom and Daniella.

How: Xeno pushes Stuart down the stairs causing him to break his neck.

Character Death 7: Detective Marcus
Why: He attempts to save everyone.

How: He is shot in the chest by Mary, Xeno’s wife.

Character Death 8: Daniella
Why: One of Mary’s eyes didn’t take so they need Daniella’s

How: Off screen in surgery.

[Carmen Mosley]

Carmen’s Character Death Track

ASSIGNMENT 6

What I learned from this assignment was how much of the Hows and Whys were already built into my outline! But it was fun to make the order important so the max amount of angst, dread, and hysteria is delivered. This aspect of my concept/outline/story is very important to underline the Don’s rage and his ability to inflict terror and pain.

Character Death 1: Dante Salvatore is killed (Fredo’s Son)

Why: He is the next who would take over the Family

How: His Soul is sucked out and it’s the first portions of “skin” the Don puts on his face

Character Death 2: Cecilia Salvatore is killed (the Don’s wife)

Why: Revenge – she cheated on the Don with the nephew, Fredo

How: The Don, stalks her on the Las Vegas Strip tearing and slashing at her before cornering her and sucking her soul dry and breaking all of her bones. Takes some of her skin for himself

Character Death 3: Antonia Salvatore (Fredo’s young twin boy)

Why: Revenge – makes Fredo watch again and to show the ferocity of the Don’s anger

How: Off-Screen, screams and begging to be spared – soul-sucking and bones crunching

Character Death 4: Luca Costa – Fredo’s cousin on his mother’s side – his partner in crime

Why: He helped Fredo cover up the affair with Cecilia, although not in the bloodline – he is collateral damage and punctuates the Don’s rage directed at Fredo’s actions

Character Death 5: Sasha Salvatore – (Fredo’s wife)

Why: To ensure there will be no more Salvatore’s from Fredo’s bloodline

How: Fredo is held against the wall and eyes forcibly opened to watch the Don skin her alive and each her flesh then cut a section and stick it on his neck.

Character Death 6: Caterina Salvatore – (Fredo’s young twin daughter)

Why: Revenge – to further torture Fredo – makes him watch

How: Although off-screen the soul-sucking and bone-crunching are heard. He spares her taking any skin

Character Death 7: Fredo Salvatore

Why: Revenge – the final blow to the bloodline

How: Fredo is in such a state of dread and hysteria that he begs. The Don makes Fredo eat one of the pieces of flesh from his mangled/disgusting face. Then he skins him alive and eats his entrails.

[Ricki Holmes]

What I learned doing this assignment: Going through this process fuels ideas and elevates the outline.

Character death 1. Peter G is guillotined.

Why: He’s the leader and skeptical of the reality. How: Charges blindly into action.

Character death 2. Cameron. Is slashed to death inside a curtain.

Why: It increases the horror. How: His attempt to escape leads to his downfall.

Character death 3. Heather. She’s bludgeoned by a medieval spiked ball.

Why: She’s in denial. How: Attempts something that fails.

Character death 4. Jose. Squashed inside moving walls.

Why: They made a bad decision. How: Backs into it.

Character death 5. Payton. – Impaled while using the toilet.

Why: A character flaw: How: Backs into it.

Character death 6. Amanda

Why: The monster made the decision. How: Sacrificed.

Character Death #7 Demetrius Has his throat ripped open.

Why: During the final fight, he loses. How: In battle

[wayne schrengohst]

Wayne’s Character Death Track

I learned how to build on story by focusing on the deaths.

Character Death #1. : Peters

Why: Establish Monster

How: The agent makes a dash for his car. As he closes the door a mysterious cloud with a hint of a face slips in. As if the car were a blender, blood and chunks of the agent splash onto all windows. An army of soldiers rush the car, open the doors. Almost no remains are there.

Character Death #2. Agent Donna

Why: Establish Monster’s presence at the TRAP. Also, Donna challenged Stella the leader’s authority. Creates a tone shift for ACT break into ACT 2. Hint that Stella is connected to Monster.

How: Donna prays and tries to bless their trap. Stella warns. Monster warns, then gently steals her soul and vaporizes her. It’s all caught on Abby’s instruments, which annoys Stella.

Character Death #3. Agent Bradley.

Why: Jack, enraged, let’s his monster out on Bradley.

How: With a burst of question, about love and morality, each answer is wrong. What do you expect from a CIA agent? And with each wrong answer a different part of him ages 150 years. “You like your nose? How about now. Boom.

Character Death #4. Jack.

Why: Stella’s Monster went out of control. Mad that Jack’s Monster killed Bradley.

How: The Monster yanked off a series of human necessities. You didn’t feel? Took hands. Could see? eyes. Didn’t want? Take heart. Eats each one. Burns the remainder slowly. Odd that it is conscious with serious parts missing.

Micheal suspects Stella as having info not shared.

Character Death #5: Stella/and Stella’s Monster

Why: It’s obvious that to live Abby and Micheal need to kill Stella. She is injured and weak and they feel sorry and hesitate till Stella flashes a very wicked smile.

How: Abby sensors can absorb and redirect whatever god awful energy Stella projects. So basically with Abby’s help Stella kills herself.

Character non-Death 6: Michael

Why: Michael is a good energy guy. But Abby wanted to check, do an experiment on Michael. The worst that could happen is his death.

How: Abby turns the beam on to Michael. He just glows, smiles, and says something funny odd and charming. Abby thinks she will have great use for this tester in the future.

[Paige Macdonald]

Paige’s Character Death Track

What I learned from this assignment is to keep an open mind. I played with the death order, new versions of the story, though I ended up reverting to my initial, and I refined a few of the characters and their deaths. To me, this is still a fluid list.

Character Death 1: Mark Porter, 36-year-old pharmaceutical rep whom Dr. Sela Ford already knows.

Why: His death starts the horror with his arrival at the Atlanta ER. (What we see is an angry, fearful man; what we don’t see is that his moral compass is challenged so he fell prey to the “seductress.”)

How: His body is withering away like a living mummified corpse. He also bites our protagonist, Dr. Sela Ford, which is significant as her hand becomes infected, and the “virus” affects her perception of things around her.

Characters 2 & 3: Morgue bodies, unnamed males, stored in the overflowing refrigerator units outside the hospital.

Why: To quickly establish a pattern how these deaths have gone undetected under the guise of Covid, as well as a pattern of where Mark and these two originated from – a Podunk hospital from the south that couldn’t handle what they thought were more Covid cases. Causes Dr. Sela Ford to reach out to her estranged husband, Joshua Ford, who works for the CDC.

How: Cause attributed to Covid, but it doesn’t make sense, and someone is pushing through the paperwork.

Character Death 4: Stanley, who looks 88, a furniture mover

Why: Clues our leads that they are in the right place and on track. Leads them to the plantation where he was delivering the furniture.

How: Dies in fiery explosion within his truck so there is no proper body left to inspect. Drives right into sidewalk and our lead’s car destroying it and their supplies.

Character Death 5: Booker, the black contractor who was working on the plantation but left because it felt eerie, wrong; he leads Sela and Joshua back in and to a key library / book.

Why: Betrayal for giving away the monsters’ secrets.

How: We see all three monsters, aka “Old Ones”, working together to suck out his life force and destroy him entirely. Sela witnesses this horror.

Character Death 6: Deputy Logan, 28, is unknowingly recruiting victims for the monsters

Why: The monsters’ revenge for his betrayal after the Deputy realizes what’s really going on. To show the monsters’ power to put thoughts within their victim’s heads – the power of suggestion.

How: It’ll be a graphic suicide, as suggested by the “matron.”

Character Death 7: Joshua Ford, Sela’s estranged husband

Why: Redemption for putting the blame of their daughter’s death at his wife’s feet earlier. In a way, he’s been a “monster” to her by not forgiving her or realizing the situation was not in her control.

How: He charges into the monster to save his wife, Sela, and is absorbed / fused by the “caretaker.” In the act, it enables him to also destroy the monster—maybe a grenade to take them both out? So, he’s a sacrifice for what appears to be the better good. (He was already infected and dying anyway.)

[John Garofolo]

John Garofolo’s character deaths

What I learned from this assignment is the importance (for me, with my particular story) is to find unique aspects of strangulations, smothering and other quiet deaths (for most of the murders).

Prologue Character Death 1: Killer’s girlfriend

Why: Because she was cheating on her boyfriend and is caught in the act (and, unbeknownst to her, her boyfriend is a murderous psychopath.

How: choking (maybe stabbing or hit with a hammer or other tool)

Prologue Character Death 2: Killer’s girlfriend’s lover

Why: Because he was cheating with the girlfriend of a murderous psychopath who had the misfortune of getting caught in the act by said murderous psychopath

How: Strangulation (maybe stabbing or hit with a hammer or other tool)

Main story characters

Possible Character Death 1: Bride-to-be’s old boyfriend

Why: Because he had the bad manners to show up at the friend and family wedding shower dinner and try to talk the bride-to-be to get away from her creepy boyfriend (who, unbeknownst to him is a murderer).

Character Death 2: Stepmother

Why: Because she thought it might be a good idea to seduce her step-daughter’s husband to be (and she had no idea he was a murderer)

How: Choked to death in a very long draw out process and maybe having a knife stuck somewhere it help speed up the death)—it takes places either during, after or connected to their having sex.

Character Death 3: Bridesmaid #1 (the Innocent?)

Why: Because she wanted to use the master bedroom bathroom for more privacy and walked into the aftermath of the first murder.

How: The killer hides in the closet when he hears the door open and kills her after she emerges from the toilet room, grabbing her from behind and strangling her.

Character Death 4: Bridesmaid #2

Why: Because she offers to go upstairs and see what happened to the groom to be, the step mother and bridesmaid number two.

How: I’m thinking she see’s a body in the bathtub and is pounced on by the killer, who strangles her or breaks her neck.

Character Death 5: Bridesmaid #3

Why: Because she decides to make a run for the neighbor’s house to call for help, but is caught by the killer.

How: First he strangles her. She fights and manages to escape, she runs back to the house through the side gate, trips and hurts herself, is almost caught by the killer and gets to a long, narrow, dark part of the yard, up against a hill (there are coyotes nearby that are barking and howling very loudly), The killer catches up with her and she manages to kick him and get away, tries to climb the fence, but is caught and dragged through the dark yard to sliding back door (the killer knocks on the slider as he holds the girl by the throat and the rest of the wedding party watch in horror as their friend is killed (strangled and maybe killed with a pair garden shears).

From here, the rest of the bridal party try and escape from the front door, which is somehow locked from the outside. The killer manages to get back in the house and the four remaining women try and hide from the killer in the now-darkened house (lights out).

Character Death 6: Bridesmaid #4

Why: Because the killer found her hiding spot

How: the killer grabs the terrified girl and strangles her. Bridesmaid #5 tries to fight him off, but he’s able to get a good punch in that drops her to the ground. He turns his attention to Bridesmaid #4 and continues strangling her to death.

Character Death 7: Bridesmaid #5

Why: Because the killer found her hiding spot

How: See above. After he kills Bridesmaid #4 he comes back to Bridesmaid #5, who is trying to catch her breath and escape. But he grabs her and throws het to the ground a couple of times (which the other two women hiding in a different room can hear, and can conclude they’re next.). I’m thinking maybe he can kick and stomp Bridesmaid #5 to death.

Character Death 8: Maid of Honor (or possibly, Bride-to-Be)

Why: Because the Maid of Honor and Bride-to-be conclude that the only way they’re surviving is if they kill the killer.

How: In the fight for survival, the Bride-to-be is injured, the Maid of Honor is mortally wounded (but alive for a final minute with her friend) and the killer is dead (But, he’s really not and comes back for the final round with the Bride-to-be).

[Mac McCord]

The character deaths in my film are,at this point, short as there are only two deaths,(not counting the animals. I may develop a prologue with a death to open the movie and give a glimpse of the monster; but in the plot as it is now there are two deaths, though the wife of the hunting lodge guide gets wounded by a hunter.

The first character death is Guy, one of the two hunters being taken out by the guide, Fred.Guy works with Horace, the other hunter and Guy’s boss. Guy is an ok guy who has inadvertently discovered a secret about Horace doing some illegal things within the company. Guy only agrees to go on the hunting trip so he can talk to Horace and try and fix the situation. Guy trips and breaks his ankle. Fred tells Horace to watch Guy and he runs back toward the road to get a cell signal.

Horace bullies Guy and calls him a slurs etc and says he doesn’t have the stones to shoot anything.

Guy shoots and wounds a hawk and feels bad about it even though he is in pain.As Guy gets delirious from pain he tells Horace he knows about the embezzlement. Horace, enraged, beats Guy with the stick of his gun and leaves to go find a buck. Guy is left barely conscious with blood running down his face. He imagines a giant hawk flying down, talons out stretched, to kill him fir wounding its mate. Then Guy realized that the sharp things coming at him are the times of a deer’s antlers. The stag, which we do not see clearly, hires him in the throat and he dies. him and he dies .

Horace is the second death, which doesn’t happed until the third act. Horace keeps on trying to find a stag with a huge rack, not realizing that the stag is following him. Horace is drinking and shooting at everything that movs, killing crows, a rabbit and finally wounding a doe . I

A giant stag with huge beaching antlers charges him and chases him deeper into the tangled forest. As he runs he feels like the branches are trying to grab him, and one dies. He realizes that the branch is a flexible time of the stags antlers, and he is choking. He uses his gun by as a club and breaks free only to trip and fall down a ditch, breaking his leg. His gun slides down and rests at the trunk of a tree. He lies dazed and in pain and sees the giant stag walking toward him . The stag raises his head an gives a chilling call that reverberates through the woods. Horace is crying and bags for his life. The die he wounded limps up to stand by the stag. As Horace watches both the stag and the doe turn into Fred and his wife Diana, who has blood on her leg. Fred walks over, picks up Horace’s gun and shoots him.

Fred looks at Diana, hugs her, and they agree to move further away from people. They walk into the woods.

[Giles]

Charles Ferrell’s Character Death Track

What I learned doing this assignment is I may need more cannon fodder.

ACT 1

Atmosphere of Evil established: Security camera footage of killings in the street, bodies being tossed over the side of cargo ship, literal blood in the water and on the side if the ship

Horror Situation: Helping a good person and being attacked Cry for help freeing a badly injured crew member

Reaction – Try to solve it: Group of friends boards the anchored cargo ship to help

Horror Situation: Tricked They spot the injured and run the length of the ship only to find a body that has been dead for days.

Connect with the characters: momentary inner tension/dissention erupts within the group, are we fools? Are we heroes too late? Or is something greater afoot?

Denial of Horror: The groups decide loosely this is a misunderstanding and youthful panic on the part of the crew member who can now not be found. Choose to return to their fishing trip and lives.

Safety taken away: They walk back to where they last spotted the crew member, only to hear their boat pulling away.

Horror Situation: Trapped They run back towards the hatch which leads to the stairwells to the waterline porthole. Only to be shot at from on high near the bridge

Reaction – Hide They run inside another hatch. Bullets follow only to ricochet inside the hatch forcing them to go lower into the cargo hold of the ship away from the hatch, away from familiar territory.

Horror Situation: Escape route taken away. The hatch is suddenly shut and locked from the outside, they try the hatch with no avail. They must find another way out.

Reaction – Escape: They must find another way out, deeper into the belly of the beast.

Monster: The nature of the beast: This is no accident and the desire to trap them is becoming apparent, with no known motive or map for survival.

Horror Situation: Lost Wondering in poorly lit conditions of spilled cargo, finding more blood and evidence of the fate of the crew.

Reaction: Fight They split up to seek anything in the cargo that could be used as a weapon or way out.

ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN

Isolated / Trapped / Abducted: Armed with what amounts to damaged cargo (weapons, tools, furniture) they search separately for a way out between the cargo containers blocking visibility to each other.

CHARACTER DEATH 1: Jimmy

Horror Situation: Being lured into danger. Jimmy armed with a pipe wrench, climbs to a higher level sees a figure dart by a door and pursues

Reaction: Fight. He alone pursues, is ambushed from behind is killed and in his final moments catches a glimpse of a female silhouette watching from a distance.

WHY: Jimmy the assumed leader of group, tough and/or brave is removed from the equation. He leaves the others alone and dies, creating the necessity for the others discover a new leader and arc.

HOW: He chases his first impulse to act, causing him to get blindsided and stabbed in the back by another. His body is tossed down upon them, dividing them literally and emotionally.

MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought

Horror Situation: Fall through the floor\ horror from above. Hearing the echoed screams, they begin to call out locating each other (jimmy is missing). Creaking catwalk steps above in the darkness, jimmy’s body falls from the darkness above in their midst.

Reaction: Hide They scatter like roaches, hiding separately between cargo containers.

Horror Situation: Mentally Tortured Crouching the darkness separately, they can partially see Jimmy’s body as Chris starts to break down.

Reaction: Try to solve it. Chris mentally breaks down and is frozen, Eric tries to calm him and refocus his energy on survival and that Chris is too cautious to get caught in a trap.

Horror Situation: Environment changing around you The ship begins to move, while listing to one side as an anchor point pulls against it. Cargo Containers begin to slide

Reaction: Escape. Forcing the group to run, avoid being crushed, pick any direction just one together

ACT 3 – FULL OUT HORROR

Horror Situation: A Character refuses to take action Eric enters hallway off of cargo bay, is confronted with armed teen who is slightly hesitant to kill. He hears more frantic footsteps and yelling coming.

Reaction: Try to solve it Eric tries to reason with the youth, while waiting for Chris frozen in the shadows to act.

Horror Situation: Friends in Danger Chris gathers himself and leaps taking down the attacker

Reaction: Escape The youth beg for his life and promises to help if they will save his sister

Horror Situation: Impending doom Bullets fly down the metal hallways, the group must decide and move.

Reaction: Hide The group is now + 2 as they pick up the hiding child aurie and her brother. No chance of out running, they duck inside a boiler room.

Horror Situation: Injured, wounded, or debilitated Several youths spilt off to explore the boiler room.

Reaction: Fight. Eric now protecting Aurie, along with the youth and Chris fight using any means they find. The youth is injured, one pursuer is killed the other badly injured calls the troops.

Horror Situation: Dilemma..who to save Eric with the guidance of the youth begins a long ladder climb up to a deck hatch, injured youth and chris (afraid of heights) behind him, with aurie climbing reluctantly between him and the ladder.

Reaction: Escape In the climb the are confronted with urgency, Chris’ fear of heights, an injured youth and the further physical challenges of a physically smaller and immature child in a mature situation.

The thrilling escape from death: The group makes it topside to the deck, locking the hatch behind them, only to discover the real danger, the real killer in waiting.

Horror Situation: Monster approaching Weary of the ineffective young killers the monster directly pursues

CHARACTER DEATH 2: CHRIS

Reaction: Fight & Escape Chris seeing escape for all not possible, arcs from coward to hero and faces the monster alone, Chris dies. While Eric escapes with Aurie and her injured brother.

WHY: Character arc, Chris is afraid of everything and in the end faces his demons and the monster for the good of all.

HOW: In direct battle with the monster, in this the monsters true appearance is revealed. Chris appears to be winning then is attacked from behind by a second attacker bringing him to his knees before the monster & his demons before his throat is slit.

Resolution: The injured youth joins the fight with Chris against the monster, Chris is visibly killed and all in battle seem lost and survivors are safe.

[Jason Lassen]

Jason Lassen’s Character Death Track

What I learned doing this assignment is… How quickly my overall script changed by putting the deaths in order and answering why and how.

Character Death 1: Worker #1
Why: No reason. The audience wonders why Toby killed them.
How: killed by Toby by being laminated from head to toe.

Character Death 2: Drummer
Why: No reason. The audience now is confused why there are two killers for no apparent reason.
How: Impaled by dozens of drumsticks by the Singer/Guitarist

Character Death 3: Keytarists
Why: No reason
How: Toby starts off hitting him with the weed whacker and finishing him off with a bush trimmer.

Character Death 4: Worker #2
Why: No reason. Another senseless killing.
How: The Singer/Guitarist drives their guitar into the back of the worker and they reach around and plays a few chords and takes a selfie.

Character Death 5: Erick
Why: He does whatever it takes to move up in business including ruining people’s lives. Divorces woman because they get too fat for him.
How: Nathan pushes a mirror on him while he’s posing and gets his arms cut off.

Character Death 6: Nathan
Why: He cheated on Heather with Honey and he’s a killer.
How: She hits him with weights during sex on the weight bench. She gets up and drops the barbell on his neck decapitating him.

Character Death 7: Gayle
Why: Toby realized Gayle was stealing money from the school and ran it into the ground
How: They embrace and Toby strangles her yelling, “You stole money from my school. I have so much love to give! Take my love!”

Character Death 8 & 9: Honey & Andrew
Why: Andrew tells Honey he knows about the affair with Nathan.
How: She stabs him with a piece of broken glass. He removes it and slits her throat.

Character Death 10: Singer/Guitarist
Why: He raped groupies of the band.
How: After he stabbed Toby with a mic stand, she takes his scarf and puts it in the tire of the mini motorcycle.

Character Death 11: The Bass Player
Why: He’s the last jump scare.
How: Toby, who we thought was dead, is not and she kills him. How is still TBD.

Character Death 12: Toby
Why: She’s a horrible person.
How: Killed by Heather. TBD

Character Death 13: Heather
Why: The audience thinks she’s going to survive when she makes it outside.
How: A harpoon goes through her chest, opens up, and pulled her back into the storage facility.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by  Jason Lassen.

[Toby Watts]

Toby Watts’ Character Death Track

What I learned doing this assignment is that coming up with interesting deaths and being clear about who lives and who dies really helps to clarify the story and generate intriguing plot points that advance the story.

Character Death 1: Teenage Son

Why — because he’s the bravest and most beloved. It raises the stakes of the horror the family will be facing.

How: He attempts to save his sister by running back into the house to get her inhaler, but he gets captured by the vigilantes and beaten badly and dragged away, with his family watching on CCTV from the bunker. Later in the film, he’s dragged out on camera again, giving the family hope, but then he is tortured and dragged away again. Finally the boy’s father shoots what he thinks is an intruder in the vent but the boy’s body crashes down and the father realises he’s killed him after all.

Character Death 2: Maid

Why: She panics and thinks she has no choice but to try and escape. She serves as a lab rat to test whether the vigilantes have gone.

How: She’s easily fooled by the blue flashing lights and thinks the police have arrived, so she breaks out of the bunker and runs for help — but it’s just the vigilantes setting a trap. The so-called policeman hugs her then pulls out a sword and slashes her right across the back.

Character Death 3, 4, 5: Vigilantes

Why: The disfigured stranger in the bunker with them makes a pact to help them by taking out all the vigilantes.

How: Brute strength, odd tactics and fighting power. They all wait in the corridor with weapons for the stranger to approach, but he collapses and confuses them. They approach his body on the floor. He waits until they get close and then uses them to charge himself, so he has to kill them all at close range otherwise he starts to pass out. It’s a really strange and interesting fight!

[Quincy Cooke]

Quinn’s Character Death Track

What I learned doing this assignment is I plan way too much in advance.

ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR – 23 pages

Atmosphere of Evil established – Meteorite hits and affects the livestock.

Horror Situation: Meteorite lands in a pasture and vaporizes a couple of cattle. Then, spores release.

Connect with the characters – Colleen visits the site with the sheriff; Becket treats Mandi, etc…we see them in their normal world

Horror Situation: Colleen notices the cows are acting strange.

Reaction: Try to Solve It – she quarantines the herd and takes samples.

The characters are warned not to do it. – Colleen talks to people at the grange about the livestock quarantine

Denial of Horror – no one takes the quarantine seriously; the mayor gives an interview with a nearby news station

Horror Situation: ranchers discover the infection has spread. A cow explodes near a cowdog and covers the dog in spores.

Safety taken away – pets become infected; quarantine was broken

Horror Situation: the dog goes and infects other dogs. They begin traveling in packs.

Reaction: Denial – most don’t take the animals acting differently seriously.

Monster: The nature of the beast. – First human infected

Horror Situation: the pack of dogs attack the first rancher’s house.

Reaction: the rancher first tries to flee, then fight….

Horror Situation: …but is subdued. They hold him down while one explodes, covering him in spores

ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN – 50 pages

Isolated / Trapped / Abducted – Cell tower has interference; a barrier has been erected; no one can escape or call out

Horror Situation: Trapped in the community – no escape, no communications – The sheriff discovers that communications have been interrupted.

Reaction: Try to solve it – he goes to check the phone lines and cell towers.

Horror Situation: Sheriff discovers the barrier around the community

Reaction: Tries to determine what the nature of the barrier is.

One of us killed – Rancher succumbs to the spores

Horror Situation: The rancher goes to the hospital – infects people there

Reaction: Escape it – people flee, though already infected

Horror Situation: people are being infected as the people in the hospital go out among the masses

Reaction: Hide from it – people lock themselves in their homes.

Horror Situation: the spores get into the homes.

Reaction: Escape it – people try to leave town only to find the barrier.

MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!

Horror situation: the discovery of biomechanical machinery made from the livestock and pets

Reaction: Try to solve it – they try to determine what the machinery is for

Full pursuit by the killer – Colleen and Becket discover the spores and their source.

Horror: the hive is discovered – it’s truly alien and spores are everywhere

Reaction: Escape – they try to find a way through the barrier

Terrorized – more people are becoming infected and Reverend Paul and his fanatics are starting to take others to be infected, amping up the process; Becket is taken by Reverend Paul’s followers

Horror: The non-infected are working for the infected

Reaction: Fight it – The small troupe try to fight their way out

Horror: There are too many converts

Reaction: Escape – The rest of the troupe flee to the jail.

ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR – 17 pages

Fight to the death – The troupe decide (against Colleen’s warnings and Carter’s pleadings) to try to destroy the hive and the infected with it. The Mayor and the sheriff are killed here.

Horror: There are new beings in the hive that are protecting it.

Reaction: Fight – try to kill them all and take out the hive

Horror: A chrysalis is damaged and the half-liquified remains of someone comes out.

Reaction: flee

Hysteria – Becket appears and tells them some people are being converted into a new life form, an alien race. This is how they proliferate throughout the cosmos. The hive has selected Mandi as its queen.

Horror: Alien invasion is well under way

Reaction: escape and find help from the outside

Horror: The warriors pursue them

Reaction: Fight, then escape

The thrilling escape from death – Colleen, Mandi, and Carter escape the hive and discover a way through the barrier.

Death returns to take one or more. – Reverend Paul and his followers appear. They grab Mandi. Colleen holds the zealots off to allow time for Carter to escape. She uses the last bullet to commit suicide.

Horror: The converts attack the remaining troupe.

Reaction: Fight. Rev Paul is killed.

Horror: The warriors appear and wipe out the converts and take Mandi. They attack Colleen

Reaction: Colleen fights while Carter flees.

Horror: Colleen is infected.

Reaction: She shoots herself.

Resolution – Carter punches through the barrier only to thousands of more barriers as far as the eye can see. Mandi awakes as the new queen.

Horror: The world has already fallen.

Reaction: denial, despair.

[Jennifer Snodgrass]

Jennifer’s Death Track

I learned that there are different reasons that characters die – sometimes it is just to elevate the horror. I really only want to kill the one evil character – but I may have to re-think that?

<div>Character Death 1: Unseen “She/Her”
</div><div>

Why: To establish the horror

How: Gunshot, then Her body is
mutilated and disposed of by the creatures of the desert

</div><div>

Character (Apparent?) Death 2:
Frank (Kendria’s little brother, Leya’s uncle)

Why: He was careless and to
heighten the horror

How: Is frightened by the desert
predators and falls down mine shaft

Character (Apparent?) Death 3:
Kendria (Mom)

Why: To maximize the horror –
loss of the little girl (Leya’s) mother is worst tragedy

How: Blindly fleeing, leaving
daughter and little brother behind, she gets stuck in a shack and falls
into next of scorpions

Character Death 4: Richard (Kendria’s
husband, Leya’s step-dad)

Why: His evil is reason for the
horror. He not only is a dishonest businessman who enriches himself by
exploiting others, he also arranged for Kendria’s husband to die so he
could marry her.

How: All of the wrath of the
desert creatures that Leya’s inner monster controls is unleashed on
Richard – finally he is torn to bits by coyotes as Leya watches

</div>

[A. Ward]

Anthony Ward’s Character Death Track

What I learned from this lesson is to plot out my characters deaths in order for a more horrifying movie.

Character Death 1:Lisa

Why? It was accidental.

How? Tim was trying to shoot the monster, not knowing the bullet would go right through the monster he shot Lisa who was standing behind the monster.

Character Death 2: Tim

Why? Dumb decision.

How? Tim screams after the bullet goes through the monster and the ask from the monster gets into Tim’s mouth and chokes him.

Death 3: John

Why? Escape attempt fails.

How? John figures he can escape into the rain thinking the monster can’t get wet but this proves to be untrue.

Death 4: Katie

Why? She made a bad decision

How? She attempts to reverse the spell but it goes wrong and she awakes the animals that were buried on the property.

Death 5: Joey

Why? Arrogance.

Joey decides to stand up against the monster and he is killed the most violently.

Death 6: Matt

Why? Sacrifice

How? Matt sacrifices himself so that Jessica can escape.

[Lawrence Fraly]

Larry Fraller’s Character Death Track

What I learned doing this lesson is to be better organized, so I can make the outline more rational and begin to see the story as a unit, rather than scenes.

Survivor

Chambers

Deserves to live because he never took part in Lorette’s violation of own conscience, even though she played him so he would

Order they die:

young servant girl

why consequence of Lorette eating meat

how drowned in river

female gipsy reveler

why consequence of Lorette’s lust

how boiled in bathtub

Megaretta

why So Sephatta can replace her

how bee sting and allergy to Chamber’s hair gel

Lorette

why ultimately because she willfully violated her conscience by eating meat and acquiring a taste for it

how: drowned and consumed by various animals, and then destroyed by piranahs

[George Shepard]

George’s Character Death Track

What I learned from doing this assignment is since I am new to horror films, I always assumed that only the protagonist was safe from death and that everyone else supplied terror by dying. I see now that there is more to it in good horror films.

Character Death 1:Why: to create atmosphere of horror<div>

How: ripped apart off screen by unknown monster with sound fx and severed arm

Character Death 2:Why: paramedic 1 dies to show that the creature gets around

How: also ripped apart; blood & gore slimes partner who hides in truck cab: to no avail

Character Death 3 & 4: Why: Two abductees found autopsied in Landing Craft to show alien’s scientific intelligence beyond space travel ability

How: dissected on table

Character Death 5:Why: to show that no one is safe; this person was the Leader and sacrifices self

How: ripped apart and eaten: we see the monster fully

Character Death 6:Why: Climber 2 fights back and sacrifices self; creature is learning!

How: decapitated

Character Death 7: Why: fighting back

How: Analyst burns creature—and herself– with gasoline

Character Death 8:Why: he is the selfish, cowardly one

How: ripped apart by creature and crushed by truck (or transmitter)

</div>

[Jeff Hall]

Jeff Hall’s Character

What I learned doing this assignment is… It is very important to reveal what your monster is capable of doing.

Character Death 1: Paranormal Investigator 1

Why: To show the audience what the woman is capable of

How: Slices his throat with claws

Character Death 2: Paranormal Investigator 2

Why: To show how the woman kills

How: She literally digs a hole in their torso within seconds

• This reply was modified 3 years, 6 months ago by  Jeff Hall.

[Christopher Harboldt]

Chris’s Character Death Track

What I learned from this assignment is that figuring out the “why” helps give the script more depth.

Character Death 1: The baby has died. It’s unknown how. Innocent. It starts the horror.

Why? It raises the question, is the mother losing her mind or did the son kill her?

Character Death 2: The cousin, a beautiful, spoiled rotten, wannabe internet star is bludgeoned to death live online. She’s blind sided.

Why? She finally gets the views that she’s always strived for, but loses her life to get them.

Character Death 3: The Uncle, a narcissistic bodybuilder is also blindsided. He is killed with one of his dumbbells.

Why? Increases the horror.

Character Death 4: Dad’s head is crushed by the Android. He’s betrayed

Why? Moral reason. He was naive and didn’t give his son much attention.

Character Death 5: Grandpa’s seemingly beaten to death and one of his eyes are plucked out.

Why? Grandpa sees the grandson in a sex act with the female Android. The Monster made the decision.

[Karyn Laitis]

Subject line: Karyn L.– Character Death Track Lesson 6 – ASSIGNMENT 6
“What I learned doing this assignment is…?” I needed to add a few more characters to move the horror.
Characters:
1. Dr. Jean Lester-Team Leader
2. Carly Lester-Jean’s twin sister, mysteriously died in cave
3. Brett Halston-Team member-difficult
4. Dr. Margaret (Maggie) Barnard-Team member, Indigenous research
5. Cameron (Cam) Sobu-Team member technical wizard
6. Todd-Spelunker, Vicki’s boyfriend
7. Vicki-Spelunker, Todd’s girlfriend
8. Bobby-Spelunker, Vicki’s brother

Ways the Monster (Alien) kills:
1. Shapeshifter-Pack of wolves
2. Shapeshifter-an alien warrior larvae enters the ear
3. Death laser
4. Explosive darts
5. Melting into the cave walls
6. Flying guillotine orbs
7. Seize mind control
8. Alien torture-incapacitates, then sucks brain out
Survivors: Who Why
1. Maggie She is the voice of reason, the source of strength, an oracle
2. Cam(eron) He has a vision and hopes for a better future
First to die:
Carly She is the linchpin, the reason for the expedition-sweet, innocent
How: Off camera, we hear tortuous screams then “fade to black”
Apparent death
Middle Deaths
1. Bobby He is at the wrong place and time-How: Death laser
2. Todd Escalates the horror – noble, protecting Vicki-How: Explosive darts
3. Vicki Having lost Bobby and Todd, she gives up-How: Mind control
4. Brett Undermines, stealing alien technology-How: Alien larvae torture
Final Death
Dr. Jean She is driven to find her sister, she finally does in the clutches of the alien. She saves Carly and dies by Alien Guillotine Orb.

[Bobby Sacher]

Bobby’s Character Death Track:

What I learned doing this assignment is… I need to have a clear sense of what purpose each death serves, in order to prevent them being pointless deaths. Also, will need to understand these charaacters fully, to see how they ended as they did.

LESSON 6: CHARACTER DEATH TRACK

TITLE/CONCEPT: SHADOWS/Hannah is murdered by a deranged killer the night of her senior prom, and wakes to find herself in a shadowy version of her small hometown, populated by the dozen or so inhabitants that died on the same day – including her killer, who is out to finish the job and destroy her soul forever, before she can be spun out into a new life.
CHAR 1 DEATH: EMILY (high school prom reject – in real world)
Why: Starts the Horror
How: Escape attempt leads them into it – James strangles her with guitar string, bites off her tongue
CHAR 2 DEATH: DARLENE (waitress)
Why: in Denial
How: GIVES UP – James, in Diner, whispers to Darlene, who falls to her knees and weeps – his breath invades her throat, her tongue protrudes – James GRABS IT AND PULLS
CHAR 3 DEATH: MARIGOLD (perfect housewife)
Why: Character Flaw/Denial – can’t acknowledge her loss (children died? Did SHE kill herself?)
How: BACKS INTO IT – lured into house by piano music
INSIDE: Marigold at upright piano, face in shadows, candles melting into black wax
She turns – it is JAMES’S FACE (or Marigold’s, and tongues slither from her mouth) – the walls lean in…
Horror Situation (see another killed/environment changes): The HOUSE leans in – JAMES IS the house
Reaction Escape): Hannah flees for her life!
CHAR 4 DEATH: BILLY
Why: Monster made decision – Billy was a threat; James smelled weakness and pounced
How: BLINDSIDED (we don’t see this? Hear his screech?)
CHAR 5 DEATH: TIBBS
Why: Bad decision
How: Charge blindly into action
Tibbs hurls himself into darkness surrounding town, hearing girlfriend’s cry for help