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Day 6 Assignments
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Chris Grant’s Character Death Track
What I learned doing this assignment is…? The nuances of “why people die” in horror stories can be tied nicely to the overall themes in a way that doesn’t seem preachy because you are so caught up in the terror. I still have more to discover here.
1. Give us the order your characters die in.
• Character List
o Cristian Cordova – Sole Survivor
o Senor Cordova – Cristian’s father and first one killed.
♣ why – He will not give up his boat motor to the drug smugglers.
♣ how – He’s pushed into the sea and consumed by the squid.
o Fisherman 1 – In the boat with Senor Cordova. Washes up as a corpse on shore.
♣ Why – also sacrificed to the squid
♣ How – Unseen but generally consumed by the sea.
o Sea Animals –
♣ Why Caught in the nets
♣ How – Can’t free themselves and end up drowning.
o Fisherman 2 – Forced into the water by the drug smugglers and told to swim for the island.
♣ Why – Given a choice to swim for their lives or be shot.
♣ How – Can’t escape the squid once they enter the water.
o Fisherman 3 – Shot and consumed by the squid
♣ Why – Won’t give up his motor
♣ How – Shot and falls into the water. At least he’s dead before the squid get to him.
o Drug Smuggler 1 – Rebels against shooting people and ends up in the water as a victim.
♣ Why – Freaks out and tries to stop the drug smugglers from killing people.
♣ How – Gets shot and wounded and ends up in the water as well.
o Drug Smuggler 2 – Boat catches fire and jumps into the water only to be consumed while burned.
♣ Why – Chaos caused by the first drug smuggler sets the boats on fire and burns the other drug smuggler alive.
♣ How – he ends up in the nets.
o Kidnapped Victim – Smuggled aboard drug dealers boat. Tries to frantically escape and doesn’t make it.
♣ Why – tries to escape and jumps right into the fire
♣ How – Squid attack and drag him into the depths.
o Head Drug Smuggler – Goes down with the ship after he runs out of bullets and gets violently torn apart.
♣ Why – Won’t give up on the drugs in the crate and runs out of bullets as his boat is sinking.
♣ How – Completely dismembered by the squid.
2. Build the answers into your outline.
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
• Atmosphere of Evil established – A fisherman steps off his boat into a dark perilous ocean. Before he does, he speaks a curse. The ocean starts to boil. He jumps into the ocean. Almost immediately he’s dragged under by some malevolent force. Other fisherman swim for their lives. They too are consumed by something under the water.
o Forces of nature – The ocean seems, at every turn, to be punishing the fisherman for some kind of transgression. More importantly, it’s stopping them from finding out what happened to the missing men.
♣ Fight – Cristian’s father curses the drug smugglers as he is forced into the ocean.
♣ Death – Senor Cordova – Cristian’s father and first one killed.
♣ why – He will not give up his boat motor to the drug smugglers.
♣ how – He’s pushed into the sea and consumed by the squid.
♣ Surprised / blindsided
• Connect with the characters – Cristian Cordova is an outcast from his fishing village. He lives in Quito, pretending to go to school, but spending his time doing drugs. He suffers from visions. Horrible images that he’s suffered from since childhood. His mother calls him to return to their village. His father and some of the other fisherman have disappeared. They believe his return to be a bad omen.
o The fisherman are trapped and set adrift at sea with no motors.
♣ Mentally tortured – Cristian has been bullied and mistreated by the other fishermen in the village since he was a child. His complete mentality is based on his hatred for them. Thrown into the monster – Senor Cordova is told to jump into the water.
♣ The fisherman are told to swim but the drug smuggler fires into the water to rile up the squid.
o
• The characters are warned not to do it. – The fisherman in the village want to go back to sea and earn their living. But Cristian warns them about sea monsters that await. The sea is angry for some reason and they must find out why first.
o Threatened – The fisherman think Cristian is a bad omen and they threaten to beat him up outside the bar where they all drink. He provokes them and gets beat up by multiple people at once.
o Possessed – The dead body on the beach sits up from rigor mortis and sighs.
o Something inside our body – Crabs and worms eating the dead corpses.
o The only one who sees the monster – Cristian’s visions foretell of the monster to come. The corpse speaks to him when no one else does.
o Try to solve it – The fisherman try to make sense of what has happened but come to the wrong conclusions.
♣ Death – Fisherman 1 – In the boat with Senor Cordova. Washes up as a corpse on shore.
♣ Why – also sacrificed to the squid
♣ How – Unseen but generally consumed by the sea.
• Denial of Horror – The fisherman disregard Cristian. They want to head backout with the first tide.
o Forces of nature – The ocean seems, at every turn, to be punishing the fisherman for some kind of transgression. More importantly, it’s stopping them from finding out what happened to the missing men.
♣ Try to solve it – The fisherman try to make sense of what has happened but come to the wrong conclusions.
• Safety taken away – The next morning, a mutilated body appears in the sand. Cristian believes the ocean sent it with a message. “The Devil has Risen” – No one believes him but the next day, the tides return and the fishermen head back to the sea.
o Menacing Stranger – Drug smugglers that the Harbor Master introduces Cristian to are dubious at best. They aren’t from their village and are not friendly.
• Monster: The nature of the beast. – A whale is attacked in the ocean in the nights. Some unseen force drags it under. It struggles, trying to get free. It lets off a monstrous scream that can be heard for miles. The fisherman can hear it as they leave port.
o Being lured into danger – The Harbor Master lures Cristian into traveling on his drug boat. He doesn’t know that the smugglers were responsible for his father.
o Doing something forbidden – Cristian decides to get on the boat with the drug smugglers when his father’s boat is burned.
♣ Denial – Cristian takes up this journey despite the warnings of danger.
ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
• Isolated / Trapped / Abducted – Cristian, intent on finding out what happened to his father, agrees to crew on a drug running fast boat. The smugglers promise to take him to the Isla Del Muertos where his father was last seen. Along the way they become entangled in a vast array of fishing nets in the ocean. Ghost nets are everywhere in the ocean, trapping and killing all life. They’ve entered a giant marine graveyard.
o Unknown motive – Drug smugglers who take Cristian out in the boat the first night seem to be good guys. They don’t believe he’s bad luck. But they aren’t really on his side. The only one who sees the monster – He sees the flying squid on the water when no one else does.
♣ Denial – Cristian goes along with them because they offer him drugs.
o Walking into a trap – Arriving at the Isla Del Muertos, the smugglers meet up with another boat. These smugglers have guns. Cristian realizes that he’s been deceived. Cristian is trapped by the drug smugglers
o Lured into the horror – Cristian has to swim into the nets to try and free the boats. It’s like swimming through a graveyard of rotting animals of all kinds.
♣ Escape – Cristian understands that the ghost nets are going to cause problems for the boats if they can’t see them coming.
♣ Death – Sea Animals –
♣ Why Caught in the nets
♣ How – Can’t free themselves and end up drowning.
♣ Back into it – Swimming underwater and getting caught in the ghost nets with no way to get out.
♣
• One of us killed – Cristian realizes the drug smugglers are preying on the fisherman. They want their boat motors and they are willing to kill them for them. They offer them an option, swim for shore or be shot and killed. The leader of the smugglers fires his machine gun to rile the sea monsters up to a feeding frenzy. Then he forces one of the fisherman into the sea. One of the fisherman jumps in the water and is immediately dragged down.
o Kidnapped – Cristian is kidnapped by the drug smugglers. He finds out that almost everyone has been kidnapped and forced to work on their behalf.
♣ Escape – Cristian realizes that he’s made a mistake and must solve this problem.
o Dilemma: Who to save: Them or me? Or Person A versus Person B? Either be the person stealing the motor or be the person swimming for your life. Fisherman forced to prey on one another.
o Working with someone, then they become the evil one – The dealers give the two men in the boats the guns. They don’t really want to shoot anyone but they must do so in order to survive themselves.
o Tricked – Cristian has been tricked by the drug smugglers into stealing for them. The fisherman hate that he is the one who is trying to ruin them and try to fight him then and there. A struggle ensues and one of them is shot. The other is forced to jump into the water and swim for it.
♣ Try to solve it – Cristian realizes this is how his father must have been killed.
o Out of the frying pan and into the fire – Being offered the chance to swim to shore or shot.
o See another killed – Cristian is forced to watch as the fisherman from his village are forced into the water and eaten.
o Physically tortured – Watching someone get eaten, that first moment when you jump in the water and you can’t see what’s going on beneath the surface.
♣ Fight – Much like Cristian’s father, Cristian wants to fight back against what’s happening but cannot.
o Friends in danger – Cristian sees the people he has grown up with killed by the smugglers. He vows revenge for their actions.
o The group has been infiltrated – Cristian goes along with the drug smugglers in order to get his revenge.
♣ Death – Fisherman 2 – Forced into the water by the drug smugglers and told to swim for the island.
♣ Why – Given a choice to swim for their lives or be shot.
♣ How – Can’t escape the squid once they enter the water.
♣ Fisherman 3 – Shot and consumed by the squid
♣ Why – Won’t give up his motor
♣ How – Shot and falls into the water. At least he’s dead before the squid get to him.
o
MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
• Full pursuit by the killer – Cristian is told to get in the water and free the motor of the boat that’s become entangled in the nets. He sees the nets, full of dead animals, have attracted hordes of Humboldt Squid to feed. 4 to 5 feet in length they are lightning fast pack hunters with an insatiable appetite. They’ll even cannibalize their own. The locals call them “The Red Devil” Cristian realizes the drug smugglers forced his father and the other fisherman into the same fate. He vows to get revenge by rigging the boat to catch fire.
o Shackled – Someone is shackled to the boat as it sinks. Cristian has to free himself and the others as they are dragged down by squid.
♣ Escape – The prisoners must try to unshackle themselves from the sinking boat before they enter the water.
o Attacked or chased – forced to swim in a closed area with a horde of ravenous squid.
♣ Fight – Once in the water, fighting against the squid that immediately try to swarm you.
o Monster approaching – Being chased underwater, swimming for your life against creatures that attack from every direction.
o Monster trying to get to you – Squid pulls you down and tries to smother you, others attack your limbs and pull in different directions.
♣ Escape – Being dragged down until you drown.
o Trapped – The boats become entangled in the nets.
♣ Escape – Revving the boat engines to free them and making matters worse.
o Terrorized – Night falls. The smugglers try to start their boats but immediately cause a fire. Several of them are forced to jump into the water while the flames consume them, set upon by the angry squid. In the dark of night, they are all sinking fast.
♣ Escape attempt takes them into it – People shackled together in the water try to escape but get tangled up in the nets.
o
o Out of the frying pan and into the fire – Catching fire on a burning boat or jumping into the ocean and being eaten.
♣ Escape – The dilemma gets worse, as burning is no alternative to being eaten.
o Forced into a dangerous environment – Boats drifting amid a large mass of nets that catch the motors and cause them to overheat.
o Impending doom – Sinking boats, omens of approaching death, creatures swimming up from the dark to feed.
♣ Death – Drug Smuggler 1 – Rebels against shooting people and ends up in the water as a victim.
♣ Why – Freaks out and tries to stop the drug smugglers from killing people.
♣ How – Gets shot and wounded and ends up in the water as well.
♣ Give up – The main drug smuggler, who knows what kind of monster he’s become, goes down into the water knowing what’s about to happen.
♣
♣ Death – Drug Smuggler 2 – Boat catches fire and jumps into the water only to be consumed while burned.
♣ Why – Chaos caused by the first drug smuggler sets the boats on fire and burns the other drug smuggler alive.
♣ How – he ends up in the nets. Charge blindly into action – The drug smuggler who can’t take it anymore causes chaos when he refuses to kill others.
♣
♣ Death Kidnapped Victim – Smuggled aboard drug dealers boat. Tries to frantically escape and doesn’t make it.
♣ Why – tries to escape and jumps right into the fire
♣ How – Squid attack and drag him into the depths.
♣ Attempt something that fails
♣ The kidnapped person tries to swim for his life not knowing what’s in the water.
♣
o
ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
• Fight to the death – One by one the people on the boats must try to swim to the nearby island. None are able to escape the nets before the squid attack them.
o Another character loses it (hysterical) – One of the other smugglers, a fisherman from a local village, can’t take it anymore. He attempts to sabotage the smugglers but ends up in the water as well.
o Environment changing around you – Cristian discovers the ghost nets are full of dead bodies of fisherman who got caught and drowned.
♣ Try to Solve it – Cristian realizes the only way out of the nets is to cut them loose so they can drift. He’ll have to jump in and cut them lose.
• Hysteria – They drug dealer is willing to sacrifice his own men to protect the drugs. But he inadvertently causes the boats to separate and drift apart from the container of drugs they are transporting.
o A character refuses to take action – Fisherman refuses to shoot another man and is shot himself.
o Internal conflict in the group – Fisherman who can’t take it anymore who end up in the water. Drug smugglers fight each other to survive.
♣ Escape – Trapped in your own trap. The drug smugglers now have to battle each other to survive.
♣ Death Head Drug Smuggler – Goes down with the ship after he runs out of bullets and gets violently torn apart.
♣ Why – Won’t give up on the drugs in the crate and runs out of bullets as his boat is sinking.
♣ How – Completely dismembered by the squid.
♣ Betrayed – The main drug smuggler sacrifices his own men to survive.
• The thrilling escape from death – Cristian is forced into the water with the squid. He manages to distract them long enough to get to the floating crate full of cocaine that is drifting on the tide. One end of it bobs above the waves.
o Slimed – Tentacles across your face, slimy fish guts, rotting animals in drift nets, an exploding whale full of sea worms, A rotting corpse on the beach being eaten by crabs.
o No escape or their escape route has been cut off –
o Trapped within the nets, the only way to get free is to swim down and release the nets under water.
o Injured, wounded, or debilitated – Cristian is cut and bleeding, but still must enter the water to cut the nets. As his bleeding worsens, he must swim as fast as he can through a startled bunch of squid.
♣ Fight – Trying to fight off squid one by one as they attack.
• Death returns to take one or more. The drug smuggler runs out of bullets as his boat sinks into the horde of squid. He is torn to pieces.
o Cannot see (fog, being underwater), speak or yell, hear (too loud or too quiet) The squid appear from the dark all around. They attack anything in the area. A shark swims up to Cristian and the squid devour it, giving him the chance to get away.
o Face to face with the monster – Cristian dives into the water to free the nets. He has a flashlight that he turns on and off in the water. The squid get curious and start to approach. They feel him with their tentacles as he dives down to the bottom.
♣ Hide – Diving down to the bottom to get away from the bloody mayhem.
♣ Fight – Cristian fights a squid underwater and successfully frees himself.
• Resolution – Cristian manages to climb aboard a container full of cocaine. With the squid lapping at his feet, he watches the sun rise, cast adrift in a sea full of red. In the calm he drifts away from the nets and out to sea. The squid disappear to the deeper water and leave him cast adrift.
• Lost – Cristian is set adrift at sea floating on a trunk full of cocaine.
♣ Escape – Cristian makes it to the trunk of cocaine but he’s set adrift on the ocean.
♣ Cristian Cordova – Sole Survivor
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Andy Silverman “Turducken!” Character Death Track
I learned that each killing should be different and each one have a reason that would engage the audience and elevate the horror.
Son –
WHY- Son is the leader and seems to be making all the calls.
HOW – Dies going into storm cellar thinking it’s the way out of the barn
His head is ripped off and eyes pecked out.
Jonah
WHY – To show what Turducken man is capable of and how he would kill his own son.
HOW – He tries to reason with his father and throw Inspectors to be killed. Turducken man claws and pecks him to death.
Eli
WHY – Eli mistreats the animals on the farm. He tries to kill monster with a tractor.
HOW – Monster throws him off and runs him over.
Kate –
WHY – Kate feeds farm animals cheap feed. She begs not to be killed.
HOW – Monster force feeds her til she chokes and dies.
Raj –
WHY – Seemingly dead from an earlier attack, Raj Sacrifices himself saving Ellie and Sally from the Turducken.
HOW – He’s put on a meathook and methodically pecked to death in a torturous way by the monster.
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Bob’s Character Death Track.
What I learned doing this assignment is to provide a basis for each death.
Title: FRAT NIGHT
ACT 1 – SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil established: Monster seduces fraternity brother for a rendezvous and bludgeons him to death.
Horror Situation: Fraternity brother is lured into a dangerous situation by monster using the guise of a seductress.
Reaction – Denial: Fraternity brother agrees to rendezvous with “monster” in the roof house at the fraternity.
Horror Situation: When the fraternity brother enters the roof house, he is attacked by the monster, bludgeoned, and thrown off the roof.
Character Death 1: Random brother who answers the phone.
Why: Makes the bad decision to meet the monster for sex.
How: Surprised, bludgeoned to death with fraternity paddle, thrown off roof.
Connect with the characters: Brothers shown interacting and planning their big party of the year.
The characters are warned not to do it: Fraternity receives a call saying they should cancel all their parties or there could be consequences. Faculty advisor tells Nad, the social chairman, he should cancel the planned party given the mysterious death of the brother and subsequent phone call.
Denial of Horror: At weekly meeting, brothers vote to proceed with the party considering the death unrelated and the call a prank. Nad is told to make it the biggest party ever.
Safety taken away: While hanging party posters at a neighboring girls’ school, Nad is separated from the other brothers.
Horror Situation: Nad is isolated and lost in an unfamiliar dormitory. The lights go out.
Reaction – Panic: Paranoid and lost, Nad runs down a maze of corridors in the dark.
Monster – The nature of the beast: Nad is pursued by the monster and manages to survive.
Horror Situation: Nad is confused and frightened as he turns the corner.
Reaction – Denial: And runs into the other brothers who ridicule him.
ACT 2 – THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted: Monster confronts Nad in chemistry lab for not cancelling party.
Horror Situation: Nad is alone in the chemistry lab after class. The monster attacks him from out of nowhere.
Reaction – Escape: Nad manages to evade the monster, running into the faculty advisor in the hallway.
One of us is killed: Faculty advisor is killed.
Horror Situation: Faculty advisor is alone in his office when the monster shows up.
Reaction – Fight: The monster kills the faculty advisor and leaves a party flyer on his body.
Character Death 2: Faculty advisor.
Why: He represents the school’s indifference as to how the fraternities behave and treat women.
How: Surprised by seductress. Bludgeoned to death with fraternity paddle. (Paddle is hanging on wall – a gift from the fraternity). The monster (as the grim reaper) shows up after seductress leaves.
MIDPOINT – The monster is worse than we thought: Party night – the Monster seduces one of the brothers. While waiting for the seductress in a darkened room, he is met by the monster.
Terrorized: The monster bludgeons the brother to death.
Horror Situation: A girl at the party seduces a brother to meeting her in a basement room once used for coal storage.
Reaction – Denial: The drunken brother perceives no danger.
Horror Situation: The brother is met by the monster. The monster bludgeons him to death.
Character Death 3: Uncle Barf.
Why: Character flaw causing him to make a wrong decision.
How: Lured away from the party and bludgeoned to death.
ACT 3 – FULL OUT HORROR
Full pursuit by the killer: One by one, brothers are disappearing from the party.
Horror Situation: Brothers start to disappear from the party.
Reaction – Denial: Others at party assume the brothers that have left made a connection with a girl and have left for sex.
Character Death 4: Caesar, fraternity president.
Why: Assumed to set the moral agenda for the fraternity.
How: Sacrificed.
Horror Situation: Blago (the rapist brother) and Hawes (the moral brother) disappear.
Reaction – Try to solve it: Nad goes to basement coal room to look for missing brothers.
Fight to the death: Nad must pick who dies.
Horror Situation: Blago and Hawes are tied up in basement coal room. Monster informs Nad he can save one of them.
Reaction – Fight: Nad manages to free Blago and Hawes.
The thrilling escape from death: Nad hides in a coffin (present as part of a fraternity ritual) to escape death.
Horror Situation: After freeing Blago and Hawes, Nad returns to confront the monster.
Reaction – Hide: The monster gains the upper hand. Nad is hit by the monster and falls into a coffin. Nad hides in the coffin.
Apparent Death 1: Nad, after being hit, falls in coffin and hides with skeleton.
Why: Increase horror.
How: Attempted something that fails (confronting the monster).
Hysteria: Power goes out in the basement party room. Panic ensues.
Horror Situation: Music stops, and lights go out in the party room.
Reaction – Escape: Everyone in party room runs for exits in the dark. A few are picked off by the monster.
Character Death 5: Mort is killed.
Why: Innocent killed to increase horror.
How: Surprised and bludgeoned.
Character Death 6: Froggie is killed.
Why: Monster is lashing out.
How: Escape attempt leads into monster, and he is bludgeoned.
Death returns to take one or more: Nad uses a fencing sword to ward off monster and accidentally kills another partygoer.
Horror Situation: Monster continues to cause hysteria.
Reaction – Fight: Nad grabs a fencing sword and attacks monster. In the process, he accidentally kills Sue Weal, Froggie’s steady date, and causes a bloody injury on the monster’s arm. The monster flees.
Character Death 7: Sue Weal.
Why: Nad made a bad decision to wield a sword.
How: Nad charged blindly into action.
Resolution: When brothers enter the basement coal room to confront the monster, they find only the seductress whose sister was raped. The costume the monster wore is on the floor and she is bleeding from the fencing sword wound. After noting the motivation for her attacks, the seductress attacks Blago and is bludgeoned by the group of brothers. As the lights come on in the party room, a girl is asking where her sister is.
Character Death 8: Blago.
Why: Blago’s bad moral decision released the monster.
How: Uses skeleton to skewer Blago.
Character Death 9: The monster.
Why: Set the world right again.
How: Bludgeoned by the remaining brothers.
Horror Situation: Monster’s sister comes looking for her.
Reaction – Sequel: A new need for vengeance.
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3. In this lesson, I learned that it is important to the know why, how, and when about each character death. Specifically, I learned quite a bit more about the “why.”
1. Give us the order your characters die in.
With each character tell us the why and how.
Worker:
Why: He figured out his work partner was possessed
How: Bludgeoned to death with a hammer by work partner
Mother:
Why: She needs to “die” for the monster to take hold
How: She faints in the presence of the monster and hits
her head on a rockGrandmother:
Why: She figures out that mother is possessed when
looking at her reflection in the mirror
How: Asphyxiation by way of her face being covered with
a pillow by motherSon:
Why: The audience needs to see that there is no escape
How: He is shot by armed patrol officers
Younger Daughter:
Why: She won’t stop crying because she knows her mother
isn’t her mother anymore
How: Poisoning by motherHusband:
Why: He figures out that mother (his wife) killed
grandma and starts to figure out that she is possessed
How: Drowning by mother
Caretaker:
Why: She figures out that the possession has jumped to
the older daughter
How: Stabbing by older daughterEtc.
2. Build the answers into your outline.
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil established: We see a radio crackle to life as a song begins to play
over the muffle sounds of screams growing louder. Suddenly, we hear a
large thud and a hand fall into view – twitching as though the owner has
just suffered massive head trauma.o Horror Situation: The worker’s partner turns on him and attacks him with a hammer
o Response – Fight: Worker tries to fight back. Dies
Worker:
Why: He figured out his work partner was possessed
How: Bludgeoned to death with a hammer by work
partnerConnect with the characters: The family sits down for a midday lunch while listening
to the radioo Horror Situation: The radio keeps playing strange sounds and music that wasn’t selected
o Response – Denial: The family decides the radio is just old and throws it out
The characters are warned not to do it: A neighbor comes to the door as people are evacuating,
suggesting the family not stay here over the lockdown. And that at the
very least they move over to their house where it is brighter and the air
is less “chilly”
Denial of Horror: Unable
to reliably move grandma and all the medical supplies she needs to have
with her, the family decides to stay. They cast off concerns that the house
itself has any problems, summing it up to the shadow cast by a large tree
in the yard. Plus, they don’t believe the lockdown will last very long or
be enforced.
Safety taken away: There
does end up being a lockdown enforcement patrol that prevents people from
leaving their houses.o Horror Situation: The family realizes that they are really locked down
o Response – Denial: The family believes there will always be an exception – it will be fine
Monster – The nature of the beast: One day when looking out at the tree in the front yard,
it becomes apparent that the shadow cast by the tree is far longer than
the sunlight would create. Upon finding the end of the shadow, they find a
small concrete marker in the yard with a dead rabbit laying just before it.
Mother Faints, hitting her head on the rock.o Horror Situation: The shadow of the tree seems to extend past a reasonable length and leads to a small marker
o Response – Try to solve it: The oldest daughter tries to understand what is causing the discrepancy
o Horror Situation: Dead animals start showing up in the yard
o Response – Denial: The family believes it must have been a fox
Mother:
Why: She needs to “die” for the monster to take hold
How: She faints in the presence of the monster and
hits her head on a rockACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted: The lockdown goes on for weeks, with ration patrols
being the only way to receive more food or outside contact.
One of us killed: Grandma
dies, though the circumstances are suspiciouso Horror Situation: Grandma dies a strange and painful sudden death
o Response – Denial: The family can’t possibly believe it is anything other than just her old age
Grandmother:
Why: She figures out that mother is possessed when
looking at her reflection in the mirror
How: Asphyxiation by way of her face being covered
with a pillow by motherMIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
Terrorized: The youngest daughter is poisoned over dinner.
The son tries to go to get help and is shot by an officer accidently. The oldest
daughter tries to create order while the father beings a crusade to figure
out who could have done this. He begins speculating that they are being “eliminated”
causing further disarrayo Horror Situation: Family witnesses the poisoning of the younger daughter
o Response – Try to solve it: The son goes to find help to fix the situation
o Horror Situation: Family witnesses their son getting shot by an officer when looking for help
o Response – Escape: Family retreats into the house to avoid the horrible scene
Younger
Daughter:
Why: She won’t stop crying because she knows her
mother isn’t her mother anymore
How: Poisoning by mother
Son:
Why: The audience needs to see that there is no
escape
How: He is shot by armed patrol officersACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death: The father comes to realize it is
his wife who is killing off family members, but too late as she drowns him
in one of his drunken stupors.o Horror Situation: Father realizes wife is possessed
o Response – Fight: Father confronts his possessed wife
o Horror Situation: Father is trapped in a bathroom after confronting wife
o Response – Escape: Father tries to break the door down
o Horror Situation: The husband becomes trapped under water
o Response – Fight: He tries to fight, but drowns
Husband:
Why: He figures out that mother (his wife) killed
grandma and starts to figure out that she is possessed
How: Drowning by motherHysteria: Constant moments of being trapped in small
spaces. Some moments of realize that they can’t bring themselves to hurt
mother.o Horror Situation: Oldest and caretaker trapped inside the house with mother
o Response – Escape: Oldest and caretaker try to escape into a “saferoom”
The thrilling escape from death: The Caretaker and Older
Daughter try to find a place to hunker down in the house where they will
be safe from the mother. Mother falls through loose flooring in the
basement and dies (for real). Older Daughter is heavily wounded in the
process.o Horror Situation: Older and caretaker trapped inside the house with mother
o Response – Escape: Older and caretaker try to escape into a “saferoom”
Death returns to take one or more: The caretaker is killed
when the spirit jumps to the older daughter.Caretaker:
Why: She figures out that the possession has jumped
to the older daughter
How: Stabbing by older daughterResolution: The oldest daughter finishes retelling her
story to local authorities with some inconsistencies towards the end. -
What I learned was to organize the deaths, the reasons for it, and the means of death, into a cohesive outline of deaths.
Character Deaths:
Character 1: Charlotte’s Mother:
Why: To establish immediate horror and provide motivation of empathy to Charlotte, the villain.
How: Shot by her husband, and Charlotte’s father.
Occurs in Prologue/Act 1.
Character 2: Charlotte’s Father:
Why: To escalate immediate horror and provide motivation of vengeance to Charlotte.
How: Self-inflicted gunshot, burned in house fire he sets.
Occurs in Prologue/Act 1.
Character 3: Charlotte:
Why: To transform her from a mortal teenage girl to paranormal ghost set on vengeance and acceptance.
How: Impaled by a fence post when she jumps from an attic window to escape the house fire after the murder/suicide of her parents.
Occurs in Prologue/Act 1.
Character 4: Kodi:
Why: To eliminate the little brother whom Charlotte views as standing in the way of receiving Alyssa’s full attention and friendship. With Kodi’s death, Charlotte can become the shoulder Alyssa needs to cry on.
How: Charlotte causes Kodi to ride his bike in front of a speeding car, where he is hit and grotesquely killed in front of Alyssa.
Occurs in Act 2.
Character 5: Laura:
Why: Kodi’s death has brought Alyssa and her mother, Laura, together. Alyssa has turned to her mother for support, rather than Charlotte. Charlotte needs to eliminate Alyssa’s only remaining family, hoping to now leave her no viable option for support than Charlotte.
How: Crushed to death by falling debris during a paranormal attack by Charlotte.
Occurs in Act 3.
Character 6: Alyssa’s Best Friend:
Why: Alyssa, her best friend, and her friend’s boyfriend take the fight to house haunted by the ghost of Charlotte. It is no longer simply Charlotte’s attempt to dominate Alyssa. Rather, Charlotte is now under direct attack on her own turf, and now must kill to survive. Alyssa’s best friend is the weakest of the three, and the first to fall in the battle.
How: She is set on fire, then falls into a tub full of water. An unseen force holds her under the water, and she drowns.
Occurs in Act 3.
Character 7: Alyssa’s Best Friend’s Boyfriend:
Why: Fight to the death against the ghost of Charlotte. It’s either him or her, and she defeats him.
How: He makes a tactical error, and falls over the attic balcony. He falls two stories, to the first floor. The fall collapses the floor, and he continues falling, into the basement, where he is killed by the impact.
Occurs in Act 3.
Character 8: Charlotte’s Ghost / Villain:
Why: Alyssa, the main protagonist and lone survivor, defeats the paranormal entity that is Charlotte’s ghost, ostensibly sending her to the outer realm. This leaves us with the supposed destruction of the antagonist, and the victory of Alyssa, the lone survivor.
How: In the final, climactic battle, Charlotte is impaled and trapped by a shard of wood sticking out from the stairs. Alyssa then sets the house on fire, and the screams she hears from outside the house suggest Charlotte’s ghost is being excruciatingly burned in the fire.
Occurs in Act 3 / Resolution.
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Assignment 6
Paul’s Death Track
3. What I learned from this assignment was similar to Assignment 5 in that it required that I think up new elements of the story, before writing a word of the script. This will make the actual script easier to write. It helps generate ideas and story twists.
1. Order characters die in.
Character death 1: Large group of nameless men in trench.
Why? They are the innocent victims of the anti-male extermination program launched by the new government on the island.
How? Machine-gunned to death by women in bright-green uniforms.
Flashback to:
Character death 2: Newly elected Vice-President.
Why? He is the first high-profile man to be executed and on live TV to demonstrate that Ms Sam Evely, the new president, is serious about implementing her anti-man policy.
How? He is shot by a female Secret Service agent as he is about to go to the podium, but is beaten to it by his female replacement.
Character death 3: More un-named men of all ages.
Why? Amazons are going door-to-door with testosterone-sniffing dogs and dragging men out of their homes for execution.
How? They are hung on trees and lamp-posts as examples of what will be done to any man, whatever their age.
Character death 4: Jill’s son and father.
Why? They were hiding in the basement of Jill’s house, but her son ran out of house and his grandfather ran out to save him.
How? They are both hung from the tree in the family’s front garden.
Character death 5: Male tourists from the mainland.
Why? There has been a news black-out, so people on the mainland do not know what has been happening. Three men and two women arrive on a yacht. The men are executed when they go on land to explore. The two women survive, return to the mainland and raise the alarm.
How? Stabbed and their bodies thrown into the water next to their yacht by laughing Amazons.
Character (apparent) death 6: Jill
Why? She has been protecting Jack.
How? Unkown. She is taken away and we know she will be executed. (She manages to survive and returns in the final scenes.)
Character deaths 7: Amazons.
Why? Men arrive from the mainland and begin a guerilla war to overthrow the anti-male regime.
How? Shot, stabbed, whatever it takes.
Character death 8: President Evely.
Why? She has been secretly harboring three men for her own sexual enjoyment. When this becomes known, a group of women, led by Jill, wreak ultimate revenge.
How? Jill pushes her out of the window of her bedroom to a crowd of angry women and men below who beat her to death.
END
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Judith’s Character Death Track – L6- homework
What I learned doing this assignment is I am getting more comfortable using the Horror movie script development technique.
Character 1 – Fisherman
Why: to scare the audience that all is not well
How: Via attach by wild boar
Character 2 – Caretaker
Why: to freak out our main character, Jane
How: her throat is slashed
Character 3 – the shrink
Why: the fiancé is crazy and ut for revenge and wants no witnesses
How: it’s a twist when we learn she is working with Jake to terrify Jane and kills her. Surprise.
He kills her via twisting her throat and breaking her neck.
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Dan’s Character Death Track
What I learned doing this assignment… is how to make my kills land harder.
Character 1: young boy/opening kill
Why: Kicks off the horror
How: He’s trapped in the nightmare realm. He screams, and his face starts to move oddly… but the scene ends before we can understand how he died.
Character 2: Nora Grady
Why: This story is literally about denial, how failing to face reality leads to our destruction. So Nora dies because she’s in denial, which also violates the moral rule of this film, and is a huge character flaw.
How: Trapped in her own hellish nightmare, where her baby is still alive, Nora refuses to snap out of it and return back to reality with her daughter and husband. The demon then unmasks itself: it’s the baby she’s holding. It opens its mouth wide and reveals a kaleidoscopic light; suddenly, Nora screams, as her face, then body, becomes kaleidoscopic. She becomes pixelated and disappears in front of Kendall and Jack.
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Kim Jaspers’s Character Death Track
I learned from this assignment that the kitchen can be a deadly place.
1. Give us the order your characters die in. With each character, tell us the why and how.
Character Death 1: Charlotte – Why: While running to gather ingredients, Charlotte slips on a banana peel Layne tosses in her path. How: She falls headfirst into the fryer. Gross.
Character Death 2: Steve – Why: He asphyxiates. How: Layne turns the gas on his stove with the flame off. CO2 poisoning.
Character Death 3: Dev – Why: He catches Layne sabotaging Steve and calls Layne out. The insubordination causes Layne to force Dev, a huge chili aficionado, to eat ghost peppers until he has a cardiac arrest. Layne spins a wheel of “unfortunate ingredients.”
Character Death 4: Alejandra – Why: She tries to escape.
How: Layne has the remaining judges and contestants have a knife-throwing challenge to kill her. It’s how she got the injury in a previous competition.Character Death 5: Sophie – Why: After the discovery that Layne is behind what brought them to the competition, Sophie goes after Layne with the brûlée torch.
How: Layne shoves Sophie into the huge dough mixer and turns it on.Character Death 6: Jimmy – Why: Jimmy makes a call to try to save Sophie. How: Layne wheels Jimmy into the walk-in freezer, and we forget about it.
Character Death 7: Finn – Why: Finn, a boxer, takes on the crew and Layne with his bare hands.
How: Layne decapitates Finn on The Cutting Board.Character Death 8: Daisy’s husband Freddy – Why: He is summoned to the competition by Layne so Daisy can confront him. She officially pays off the debt. Then she says she wants the cartel to take him. She’s done with him.
Character Death 9: Layne: Daisy turns into a stone-cold killer. She takes care of Layne herself with the brûlée torch — sets him on fire.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by Kim Jaspers.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by Kim Jaspers.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by
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Tully’s (And Her Writing Partner’s!) Character Death Track
What I learned doing this assignment is that it is very very fun to plan character deaths LOL, especially when the ensemble is based on people you know! Hahahahaha
First, a massive injury: to Brandon, a well-meaning, straightforward, clumsy individual who gets into a freak accident… or did something CAUSE it? He’s the mystery injury. He goes to the hospital badly hurt. WHY? To introduce the idea that people might be in danger here.
Then, Robert, a shy guy who maybe has a crush on Erin, that’s being discussed. Don’t know how he dies yet, depends on the crush thing basically. WHY? To establish that yes, people are in danger here.
Next, Tully, a logical person who logically casts suspicion on Sherrie. She goes missing first, and is found later, in some kind of grotesque state. WHY? To raise the question of: what kind of relationship is happening here between Sherrie and the ghost?
Now, Maddox, who is a showman to a fault. He’s found laying on top of a particularly high pile of garbage, his front side looking normal and his back side absolutely dripping with innards. WHY? To back up the new information that ghost guy may have been a psychopath, with a sense of humor, in life.
Now back to Brandon! As far as he knew, he just tripped or whatever, he has zero expectations that it was supernatural even though by now rumors are flying about a ghost. He walks right in and gets taken out almost immediately, not sure how, but he just does nothing to protect himself from a ghost. WHY? Honestly not sure, it’s a gut thing. We’ll keep asking ourselves that. 😊
Last, Sorven, who’s been the sort of deadpan comic relief, cracking low energy jokes about the haunting stuff and charmingly hiding her social anxiety. She sees one too many things and declares she’s out, you fools would so die in a horror movie she says, and walks away and turns a corner and SQUELCH… stabbed in the gut by Glenn, our bad guy. Was smart about the ghost but totally unaware of the serial killer who caused it. Her body is hidden in the garbage, will be found by the cops at the end of all this. WHY? To shift focus from the ghost to the guy. It’s time for act three!
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ACT 1 – SET UP FOR HORROR
Atmosphere of Evil established – court room reviewing a police body cam… showing a police chase on foot ending one officer accidently shooting another officer and then catching up to the suspect and using violent force to subdue the person, causing extreme harm.
Horror Situation: cop shoots other cop on accident. The officer slowly loses his energy. falling to the ground.
Reaction: (fights) The officer chases down suspect, fires at the suspect and hits him on the leg, and runs back to the officer screaming, “Officer down and I’m shot!”
Horror Situation: Starting to realize he shot his own partner.
Reaction : (fights )the officer calls for back up, and an ambulance… more shots are fired and the officer has no clue what is happening. More officers arrive and open vest of the office that has been shot
Horror Situation: …they notice a bullet got through the vest, bleeding from bellow his armpit,
Reaction: they have to stop the bleeding. the officer runs after the suspect and catches up to the suspect and starts beating him to death.
Horror situation: the officer is beating suspect to death.
reaction: another officer has to step in to stop him.
Character Death 1 : Wrong place at the wrong time. The main officer has mistakenly shot at his partner.
Connect with the characters – The 4 main characters meet the victim of this crime for dinner and celebrate his innocence and wining his lawsuit. here at the party, we get to learn a little about everyone’s personality through their actions and how they speak.
The characters are warned not to do it – The brother of one of the main characters is given a tip about where dirty cops work, and they are told by the guy who just won the court to lay low for a bit… because he knows cops can hold grudges.
Denial of horror – the leader of the group reassured them that as long as they have their cameras rolling and know their rights, that they have nothing to worry about.
Safety taken away – When they are surrounded by the police cars in a secluded area away from the city.
Horror situation: the lights shining in their faces, blinding them… and the dark figures surrounding them… officers screaming at them.
Reaction: they pull out their cell phones and cameras and start streaming live to capture any wrongdoing.
Horror situation: the officers begin to ask questions, see their ID, and threaten to arrest them for denying the request.
Reaction: They talk back to the officers… telling them they know the law, their is no sign at the park that says that there is a curfew.
Horror situation: the officers threaten them and continue to ask them to step out of the car.
Reaction: They refuse to get out of the car and stand their ground.
Monster: The nature of the beast – after the police have their fun and play their mind games with the main group in their car…the main monster, the ex-cop bent on revenge comes out… ready to play with no rules or laws stopping him…
Horror situation: the group knows something is up… when the officers stand back and the figure with pig mask shows up…
reaction: they start their car and try to drive away… but its too late… their car is hooked up to a tow truck.
ACT 2
Isolated/ trapped/ abducted – the ex-cop has his tow truck and drags the characters out into the field where there is no Wi-Fi and internet, but the ex cop has his own camera, and K-9 dog.
horror situation: they can’t escape and are now being dragged.
reaction: they keep live streaming, and they give out their location.
horror situation: the place they are dragged to, has no internet, no Wi-Fi, no cell service and all of their live feed gets cut.
reaction: the driver tells them to stay calm and pulls out a gun.
One of us Killed: one of the officers gets shot by accident and bleeds to death.
horror situation: the driver goes by himself to unhook the car… the K9 gets loose and starts tearing the driver apart.
reaction: the driver shoots back into the darkness … misses the dog
horror situation: the driver almost gets eaten alive by a dog, and he is out of bullets.
reaction: the group gets out of the car to help fight off the K9, the driver limps back into the car and locks everything once they are all inside the car.
horror situation: one of the officers guarding the perimeter falls over the hood of the car bleeding to death…shot by the driver.
Character Death 2: (The complainer) He left his perimeter guarding point, The officer headed towards where the gun fire was coming from and walked into a bullet.
reaction: they stay in the car, they discuss running.
MIDPOINT – The monster is worse than we thought – He starts using mid-evil weapons to break and destroy their car. the weapons get more intense as the night progresses.
horror situation: the glass starts getting smashed by old looking weapons.
reaction: they duck down into the car, shielding themselves form the glass.
ACT 3 – FULL OUT HORROR
Fight to the death – a character gets pulled out and is forced to fight the ex-cop, another makes a run for it… a third goes out looking for the first character, and only one stays in the car. A few officers who have secured the perimeter fire back at the one trying to escape…
horror situation: the younger brother gets pulled out of the car…
reaction: they try to pull him back in the car…but the younger brother gets dragged out and pulled into the darkness…
horror situation: with the younger brother gone, they don’t know whether to run for it, stay put, or try to save him.
reaction: they argue about what to do…the sister runs after her brother….the driver makes a run for it… the leader stays in the car…
horror situation: the younger brother get tied by the neck and get pulled up off his feet.
reaction: the older sister finds him and cuts the rope down. and they make a run for it.
hysteria- the ex-cop uses a megaphone to let them know they are all going to die tonight. one by one… sending everyone in a panic, and sets his K9 loose again.
horror situation: the driver is being shot at from the officers that are securing the perimeter.
reaction : he has to run tree to tree… dogging bullets until the K9 attacks the driver again.
Horror situation: the younger brother gets an asthma attack…close to suffocating, needs his spray.
reaction: the older sister runs back to the car for the spray.
horror situation: the ex-office attacks them both with a chain saw…
reaction: they run for it with the spray.
horror situation: they can’t get to the younger brother.
Death returns to take one or more: one of the officers switches sides and begins to help them escape. ends up getting wounded badly and makes it out of the dead zone, no radio, no Wi-Fi, no internet, and manages to call for back up. Here the brother has an Asthma attack and dies from that.
horror situation: the officers have lost control, things are getting out of hand, the night was just meant to scare them out of town.
reaction: one of the officers turns and decides to help the driver escape the dog by shooting it dead, and they make a run for it out of internet dead zone, able to call for back up.
horror situation: the younger brother chokes to death.
Character Death 3 : he was the cause for getting them to the set-up point. He dies from an asthma attack that was induced form being hung for a minute.
reaction: the leader tries to get to the younger brother but cant get passed the ex cop.
resolution: back up arrives and police swarm the area and there is a shootout between good cops and bad cops. the ex-cop manages to escape the shootout, but the main guy has one last fight in order to save his girlfriend, but ends up getting seriously hurt in doing so…
horror situation: the leader has a face off with the ex cop
reaction: leader fights back in order to save themselves.
horror situation: deadly shootout between cops, bullets dispersing everywhere.
reaction: hiding in the forest from the bullets.
horror situation: one last final fight, knife fight.
reaction: fight to the death, the leader gets cut up, but manages to stab the ex-cop in the back… rendering him useless with his life hanging by a string.
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