Day 6 Assignments

[Terrell Harris]

Terrell’s Transformational Structure

What I learned doing this assignment is how to make unlikable characters likable, how to fill plot holes with gradients, how to save a floundering second act.

A corporate rich kid must find a new way of operating, for himself and the mega corporation he will inherit to save the people he’s grown attached that his corporation is preparing to eradicate.
Change agent is Cyndi Transformational character are John and Joyce

Act I – Status Quo and Call to Adventure
The setting is a cyberpunk city with two distinct societies.
John and his elite entourage visit the underground to watch a death-match. John is infatuated with the winner (Cyndi) and requests a meeting. He is blown off so he ventures deeper into the underworld so find her, when he and his bodyguard are followed by unknown assailants. After she saves him from a kidnapping he is invited to join them for an after party.
Despite his elite status he enjoys themselves with these people from the lower class and ends up getting drunk and staying overnight.
John’s company has plans to eliminate the underworld population through a seemingly natural disaster to reclaim the land. After his experience, John begins to have second thoughts and tried to alter the plans.
Change Agent: Cyndi
Transformational Character: John
Old Ways: elitist, self importance, privileged
The Vision: John asks someone to take a photo of him partying with The Champ and her friends – this photo eventually hits social media and mainstream media
Challenge: there is a massive social-economics gap between the upper and lower societies
Weakness: prejudice, caste system, economic slavery

ACT 2
Locked Into Conflict

John makes a plea to board and his step mom to not destroy the slum area.
Old Ways: crush those beneath you, take what you want
Challenge: convince the other elites it’s a mistake to destroy lower city, citizens are worth saving.
Weakness: lack of compassion, under estimate disdain for the poor, not understanding hidden motivation, weak argument

Hero Tries to Solve Problem – But Fails.

John brings Cyndi to the Upper City to serve as his new bodyguard. Joyce follows them on their “date” getting more and more jealous as she observes them and causes a commotion.

Cyndi feel its unnecessary to guard him in the Upper City, she do when he visit the lower city, but she doesn’t want to guard him in the upper city.

He tries to appeal to board members separately to win them over.

Change Agent: Cyndi is largely unimpressed with the Upper City
Transformational characters: John and Joyce
Emotional Gradient: John and Joyce both want the love wants the love Cyndi seems to get naturally
Old Ways: fear, john wants an image change without really changing
New Ways: love
Emotional gradient:
John comments that the people love Cyndi in the Lower City and upper City the people don’t love me the fear me,
Challenge: convince Cyndi to work in the Upper City. convince member of the boards not to destroy The Lower City
Weaknesses: Jealously, womanizer, worried about image, feared not loved

Hero Forms a New Plan

Joyce complains to John’s step mom about Cyndi they comfort him.

John decides to go head to head with his step mom, who wields the most influence. He loses.

John argues with fiance Joyce

step mother switches plan behind John’s back

old ways: what’s love got to with it, just do what your told to do, it’s for the company
Challenge: telling the truth, going with status quo,
Weakness: telling what people want to hear, against statute quo,lying
new ways: win the approval of the people, inclusive

MIDPOINT:
Cyndi infiltrates elite function
Joyce confronts Cyndi
Cyndi confronts John
step mom announces plan to destroy lower city
John takes lead to counter plan to destroy lower city

old ways: elites plotting behind closed doors
new ways: John tells troops stand down
challenge: telling Cyndi the truth

weakness: it’s too late, step mom changed plan

Mini–‐Movie 5 – Hero Retreats & The Antagonism Prevails

The dam is destroyed
Cyndi leaves to rescue her children
John chases after her
The lower City is flooded

Old ways: the plan to oust the citizens it in effect
New ways: John sides against the corporation

Challenge: rescue citizens, save drowning child, win Cyndi back

MM6 – Hero’s Bigger, Better Plan!

Cyndi and John race to save who they can.
Joyce chases after John? Save til next MM
Troops are preventing the evacuation
John rescues a drowning kidnapped
John gets troops to stand down

Old Ways: Troops are prevent rescue
New ways: John sides with the people fighting the troops
Challenge: get troops to stand down, Cyndi is still mad at him

Act 3

MM7 – Crisis & Climax

troop stand down
citizens are rescued
with evidenced the corporation is brought before a tribunal
John promises new direction and delivers on promises
Joyce confronts John
Joyce confronts Cyndi

old ways: John and Joyce are poised to marry
New ways: marriage is called off last minute
Transformational Change: Joyce

challenge: cyndi is still mad at John
MM8 – The hero triumphs. Metamorphosis complete. New World. Epilogue.
Cyndi and john are a couple.
Emotional gradient: Cyndi loves John

• This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by  Terrell Harris.

[andrea cabanas]

Andrea Cabanas, Transformational Structure.

What I learned from this assignment. I need to be honest here, I had a completely different structure, and now, I’m struggling to work with the Mini-Movie Method, unfortunately.

This course is helping me immensely to make my characters/story greater, but I can see it will take a longer time for me to do this. As it’s written, “Don’t stress out on any of this”, I decided to take it easy on myself for now, returning to this assignment later.

So far, I have:

A talented but insecure woman faces her prejudices and controlling mother to achieve the freedom she needs to be her true self.

Emotional Gradient: Forced Change, Zoe

Mini Movie Structure 1

Zoe’s dream/nightmare. She struggles with her prejudiced feeling that she’s bisexual. Her mother’s suspicions are confirmed when she received photos from a private detective she hired. Still, Zoe denies it. Someone takes pictures of her when she’s on the streets.

Change Agent: Georgia

Transformational character: Zoe

Old ways: prejudiced, submissive, liar.

Challenge: to accept she can love both men and women

Weakness: submissive to her mother, doesn’t want to let her down.

Mini Movie 2 – Locked into Conflict

A new client gets in touch about a renovation in their house. Zoe tries to break up with Paula, but she can’t. Zoe lies to her mother; she’s rude when a woman flirts with her. She vents her agony in kickboxing classes.

The federal police come to Zoe and question her about Paula, who has connections with a trafficker in the Sinaloa cartel. Katrina kicks her out of the house and lives temporarily with Georgia; Zoe tries to focus on her career. She doesn’t believe in Paula anymore. James appears suddenly, and Zoe tries to forget Paula.

Old ways: still underuse her sexuality.

Challenge: to live independently, to be financially independent.

Weakness: still falls on her mother’s ‘emotional traps’; doesn’t know how to say no.

Mini Movie 3 – Hero tries to solve problem – but fails

Katrina has an emotional breakdown and manipulates Zoe to move back in with her, setting up rules for a better coexistence. Zoe helps Georgia to organise her first art exhibition.

Mini Movie 4 – Hero Forms a new plan

Zoe’s new business starts to take off. Another potential client, the promises of a career boost. Zoe meets with him and starts the project.

Mini Movie 5 – Hero retreats & the antagonism prevails

Paula finds out the client is her enemy. Georgia warns her to be cautious. Katrina helps the feds catch Paula.

Mini Movie 6 – Hero’s bigger, better plan

Mini Movie 7 – Crisis & Climax

Zoe finds herself at a dead end when she and her mother suffer a kidnapping. After the chaotic event, Paula is deported to Mexico upon recovering from a gunshot wound. Zoe and Katrina reconcile, even though Katrina doesn’t accept her daughter’s sexual choice. Katrina loves her and won’t repeat the same mistake made with her uncle, who committed suicide.

Mini Movie 8 – New Status Quo

Zoe moves to her new flat. At Georgia’s exhibition, Zoe meets someone else. Although she still has strong feelings for Paula, she is confident and free to fall in love with any other woman.

[Diane Lorene Phelps]

SWUPSP – Assignment #6

Diane Phelps’ Transformational Structure

What I learned doing this assignment. Allow the process to unfold and follow the steps the story will shape up. Skipping ahead to get caught up. So I’m posting what I have so far and I’ll come around to add the layers.

Tell us your Transformational Logline.

Logline: A dance prodigy returns home after a devastating injury that sidelines her dreams, while running her dads coffee shop she has to fight the for the soul of the town and save the towns dance hall from demolition and she falls in love with the antique dealer as she plans the Christmas dance event.

The main character is Samantha (Sami) the prima donna ballerina that has broken ankle.

The change agent is the historical society (TBD)

The transformable characters are the bank and property developers.

The oppression in my story is the need to put on a Christmas show and save the towns’ dancehall from destruction.

Betraying Character: The real estate sales people, in it for the money.

MM #1 – Pages 1 – 15 – Our hero’s status quo, his ordinary world, ends with an inciting incident or “call to adventure,” introducing the story’s main tension.

Boston ballet Prima Donna ballerina, Samantha (Sami) Stone suffers a devastating injury and is forever sidelined and forced to leave Boston and move to her family’s Florida vacation rental.

Turning Point: Call to Adventure.

MM #2 – Pages 15 – 30 – Our hero’s denial of the call, and his gradually being “locked into” the conflict brought on by this call.

Sami denies that this is permeant move for her. She is just waiting to heal.

Turning Point: Locked in.

MM #3 – Pages 30 – 45 – Our hero’s first attempts to solve his problem, the first things that anyone with this problem would try, appealing to outside authority to help him. Ends when all these avenues are shut to our hero.

Sami tries to get a dancing job but has not recovered to her former performance level.

Turning Point: Standard ways fail.

MM #4 – Pages 45 — 60 – Our hero spawns a bigger plan. He prepares for it, gathers what materials and allies he may need, then puts the plan into action — only to have it go horribly wrong, usually due to certain vital information the hero lacked about the forces of antagonism allied against him.

She decided to make the holiday party a dance party and that way she can show off her talent.

Turning Point: Plan backfires.

MM #5 – Pages 60 — 75 – Having created his plan to solve his problem WITHOUT changing, our hero is confronted by his need to change, eyes now open to his own weaknesses, driven by the antagonist to change or die. He retreats to lick his wounds.

The dance hall is being sold and now closed and won’t be open for the holidays.

Turning Point: The decision to change.

MM #6

– Pages 75 – 90 – Our hero spawns a new plan, but now he’s ready to change. He puts this plan into action…and is very nearly destroyed by it. And then…a revelation.

The dance hall is historic they have to save it.

Turning Point: The ultimate failure.

MM #7 – Pages 90 – 105 – The revelation allows our hero to see victory, and he rejoins the battle with a new fervor, finally turning the tables on his antagonist and arriving at apparent victory. And then the tables turn one more time!

Campaigns to save the dance hall and recruit people for holiday event.

Turning Point: Apparent victory.

MM #8 – Pages 105 – 120 – The hero puts down the antagonist’s last attempt to defeat him, wraps up his story and any sub-plots, and moves into the new world he and his story have created.

The newly formed Historic Society comes through with a historical designation for the building and now it will be saved forever. The dance party is a big success.

Turning Point: New status quo.

1. What is the Emotional Gradient you’ll use?

Forced Change

A. Emotion: B. Action: C. Challenge / Weakness:

Emo: Denial –

Action: Sami breaks her ankle.

C: forced to stop doing what she loves.

W: has no backup plan. All her eggs in the I’m a famous dancer basket.

Emo: Anger

Action: Sami returns home defeated

C: Anger that she has to come home.

W: only good at being a diva, a prima donna.

Emo: Bargaining

Action: Sami forced to plan the holiday dance.

C: Painful memories and depression relapse.

W: Never going to be happy again.

Emo: Depression

Action: Sami dances alone.

C: Painful memories and depression relapse

W: tbd

Emo: Acceptance

Action: Sami falls in love and the holiday dance is a success.

C: Find peace with new life

W: let her dream die to grow another one.