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Day 8 Assignments
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Amy’s Amazing Final Line!
What I learned doing this assignment is the final line and image are very important to the whole screenplay.
Select the best final line/image and write the final scene: Directly answer the main questions the entire movie is about.
INT. – NEWSROOM – DAY
Andrea sits at her desk. The newsroom is a beehive of activity. The President is coming to town.
Tom frantically runs out of his office and up to Andrea’s desk.
TOM
ANDREA! Julia just fainted. She’s on her way to the hospital. Can you go cover the rally? The network is picking up our broadcast. I need someone who knows what they’re doing.
Andrea considers this for a moment, then stands up and grabs her purse.
ANDREA
Do you know who could handle this just as well as me?
Tom scrunches up his forehead in confusion.
TOM
Who?
ANDREA
Joannie.
Tom is taken aback.
TOM
Seriously?
ANDREA
Yes. Totally.
Andrea walks out of the newsroom as Tom watches her, his jaw on the floor.
EXT. – BASEBALL FIELD – LATER
Andrea, Josh and Chloe sit in the stands. Benjamin is on the pitcher’s mound.
He throws a fastball to the hitter.
UMPIRE
ST-RIKE THREE!
Andrea, Josh, Chloe and everyone around them go crazy. That’s the last out. The game is won.
CHLOE
Go, Benjamin!
Andrea looks at Josh. He catches her looking at him. Their eyes lock.
JOSH
This is what it’s all about.
(a beat)
Are you wishing you were doing the live?
Andrea thinks for a moment.
ANDREA
No. I’m right where I want to be.
They kiss.
FADE OUT.
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Budinscak Amazing Final Line
Day 8
What I learned doing this assignment:
o The absolute importance of the final line/image in your story.
o How the word and/or image lets the audience know what the whole story is about.
Scene:
SUPER: “1988”
EXT. PARKING LOT – DAY
Packed with people, a Lincoln Continental pulls up to and parks in front of Carmine’s. Out of the restaurant rushes Betty and Cat, Cat carries a camera.
Angeline and Jerry pour out of the car and greet their sisters, their short time away appears much longer. Cat gets her camera ready for a shot.
CAT
Where’s your car?
Flanked by his nephews, Jack looks skyward with a huge smile, two boys look up adoringly at him.
CAT
Perfect. Say cheese.
CLICK – the picture is taken, the memory preserved.
CAT
This is going up on the wall, for sure.
JACK
Its earned its place.
INT. CARMINE’S – DAY
Cat’s ready to post the picture on the wall.
CAT
Where’s your Caddy?
JACK
It’s a long story.
CAT
I’m ready.
Jack touches the picture.
SUPER: “Present Time”
INT. CARMINE’S – DAY
Everyone in the restaurant is in the exact same place, only they’re older. Jack removes his finger from the photo.
JACK
And that’s why I drove the Lincoln.
CAT
Get out!
PUCK (OS)
Uncle Jack, they’re waiting for you!
EXT. PARKING LOT – DAY
A banner flies over a stage is set up in the parking lot. The banner reads: “Happy Family RE-union 30+ years”.
Music, food and drink are plentiful. Music is from Jules and his band, the act from Las Vegas. LC and his men enjoy food and libations. Every aunt, uncle, cousin, customer – everyone – is at the party and having fun.
Jack whistles and holds up a CIRCUS CIRCUS shot glass filled with tequila. Everyone at the party raises their glass.
JACK
A toast to the best family and friends anyone could ask for – happy reunion!
EVERYONE
Salud!
Everyone downs their shot. HONK – a truck horn gets everyone’s attention. Angel drives a flatbed tow truck with Jack’s completely restored Cadillac.
The party goes crazy! Jack points to Puck and Sal.
PUCK & SAL
Love you, Uncle Jack.
JACK
I love you guys.
FADE OUT:
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This scene answers the central dramatic question, a puzzle that never was solved till now related to deep character, and confessions for the first time.
EXT. INWOOD COVE – NIGHT
Jake, Litonya, and the kids put Betty on her boat as her lights are going out.LITONYA
One last question: you said you stalked me for years when I was climbing pitches and swimming naked in waterfalls. Why didn’t you kill me?BETTY
You don’t fuck with Nature’s people. Your corpse would have been haunted.JAKE
But the other women were just pieces of meat?BETTY
I was a man then.JAKE
So Litonya is the only woman who scared you? Guess what, bro? Me too. What do you want honey?LITONYA
I’m not a honey, but I have always loved you Jake in a primal, visceral, illogical way.JAKE
I am no genius like you and Ibrahim, but I know how to make love.They kiss and Betty is lowered into her rowboat by the kids.
Betty gently rocks herself to death.
FLASHBACK to a shot of Bobby rocking in the womb.
EXT. PALISADES PLAYGROUND – DAY
The boat lands, leaving Jake and Litonya on the Palisades while the kids go back to Manhattan.Jake and Litonya get on the seesaw just for fun.
JAKE
I am shaking as the earth is quaking and we are aching, but our kids are baking and making love.
Suddenly an earthquake unleashes a shower of igneous rocks killing both of them.
EXT. ALL SOULS CHURCH – DAY
Kisele is giving a lecture at All Souls Church like Ibrahim did.
KISELE
Yes, our Bright Space Brain Buffet is for all souls…Delphine leads a communal dance with the privileged and homeless.
Conclusion Fate marries Will at least for now.
EXT. HUDSON RIVER – DAY
We transform to survive. We transform as we die. -
Rob Bertrand’s Amazing Final Line
What I learned: I learned the importance of ending your screenplay on striking parting words and visuals.
A. Directly answer the main question the entire
movie is about.Danny has escaped to continue his stalking of a new family. We revisit the words that he told Jessica. “Childhood his over the moment you realize that monster’s are real.”
B. Finally we hear the one thing that the character
wouldn’t say in the movie.The final scene is with Danny and lawyer. They go over the list of charges and the jail time that Danny faces. The laywer tells Danny, “You’re going to need therapy.” This is Danny’s trigger because he was abused by a therapist.
C. Solve the puzzle.
Danny is being interviewed by police detectives, who reveal the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father and later his therapist. Monsters aren’t born. They’re made.
2. Select the best final line/image and write the final scene.
SCENE
INT. KITCHEN – JOHNSON HOUSE – DAY
A WOMAN, late 30s, with expertly styled hair and freshly manicured nails, carries an armload of groceries into the kitchen. She rolls her eyes at a cereal bowl left on the kitchen table. She followed by her BRATTY KID, 10, who carries the smallest bag.
DANNY (V.O.)
I’ll tell you a secret.WOMAN
What did I tell you about leaving your dishes out?The kid is instantly offended.
BRATTY KID
I didn’t!INT. BATHROOM – JOHNSON HOUSE – DAY
Music plays from a bluetooth speaker on the counter as the shower fills the room with steam.
DANNY (V.O.)
No one is ever who they truly seem to be.The CLUELESS TEEN girl, 18, lets water run down her face, oblivious to the shadow lurking outside her shower curtain.
She shuts the water off, rips the curtain open to reveal a heart drawn in steam on the mirror.
DANNY (V.O.)
In my experience, the nicest looking people are the biggest monsters.She thinks nothing of it.
INT. BEDROOM – JOHNSON HOUSE – DAY
The Clueless Teen sits at a vanity mirror, brushing her hair. In the reflection, the closet door slides open, just a crack.
DANNY (V.O.)
Childhoods over the moment you realize that monsters are real. They just look like you and me.INT. CLOSET – BEDROOM – JOHNSON HOUSE – DAY
POV: We watch the Clueless Teen from the darkness. The sound of heavy breathing.
DANNY (O.S.)
(whispers)
I love you.SMASH CUT TO BLACK
THE END
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Janeen’s Amazing Final Line!
What I learned doing this assignment is that I needed to choose which is the ultimate question of my story — my protagonists goal of being more than a trophy wife to her husband or the dramatic question, do mind control methods work? There are a lot of things I will need to change in earlier scenes to make this work. I’ll revise the outline to reflect them so when I write the script, I’ll remember to put them in. My final scene is a denouement. The scene just previous settles the “will they, or won’t they, win in court” big battle.
LINES/IMAGES
Directly answer the main question the entire movie is about.
Do Mind Control methods work?
Answer: Yes.
How expressed: Amber, now working as Morgan’s designer, says “Let’s help <this woman> the way you helped me. “
B. Finally, we hear the one thing that the character wouldn’t say in the movie.
Is Morgan more than a trophy wife and beloved possession of her husband Gavin’s? Is she more than just a trophy wife?
Answer: Yes
How expressed: Gavin, glad that Morgan was exonerated, says, “Please don’t ever let your friends hate me enough to make you kill me.”
C. Solve the puzzle:
Do mind control methods work? Did Amber know she was being helped?
Answer: Yes
How expressed: Amber, now working as Morgan’s designer, says “Let’s help <this woman> the way you helped me. “
I choose A & C above as both say mind control works and worked in this case.
I almost chose B which answers Morgan’s quest to be more than a trophy wife to her husband. I may use that earlier.
SCENE
INT. DESIGN STUDIO – DAY
MORGAN is modeling a partially finished gala gown. The designer (AMBER) is hidden behind the skirt.
MORGAN
This is going to be perfect for the awards show.
The designer continues to pin/adjust things on the back of the gown, out of sight as Morgan preens.
MORGAN
You’re so much easier to work with than my last designer. I feel like we’re collaborating on this one.
AMBER
(still out of sight)
I think we work well together. You share your great ideas with me, I make you look stunning, and you give me credit.
Amber stands, steps back, looks at the dress in the mirror.
Morgan smiles, her eyes meeting Amber’s in the mirror.
MORGAN
We make a good team.
AMBER
We do.
Amber adjusts one more thing on Morgan’s dress.
AMBER
Okay, you can change.
Morgan moves toward the dressing room.
AMBER
Morgan.
Morgan turns, looking like a model posing for a cover shot.
AMBER
A woman I met at the shelter contacted me. She has a broken ankle, a six year old daughter. Can you help her?
Morgan smiles, considers, nods, ducks into the changing room.
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Elizabeth’s Amazing Final Lines
What I learned…to use Hal’s lessons to keep re-imagining. All sorts of ideas for twists and additional depth will pop up.
INT. ED’S APARTMENT – MORNING
Ed in bed. Same coffin-pose as opening scene. Eyes gently open—oh to be alive! As Pat’s signature pound on his door—
Ed frowns. Something isn’t right.
PAT
(Hollers O.S.)
Ed. Get up!
Ed looks around. His room: like it was in the first scene!
Ed leaps up. Scans, increasingly desperate. No garish clock. No statue of Venus. Ed—
Races to his kitchen: no flowers, favors. No cake!
Ed’s face—crushed. It was all just a dream!
PAT
(O.S. As Ed’s eyes close)
Didn’t they teach you in Shrink School how to live a good life?
A long moment. Hard—as in difficult—but also solidifying. Ed presses palms into his eyes. Until—
The slow, ironic smile of a man who’s fully faced himself.
ED
(Loud so she can hear)
No, Pat they didn’t. But all of us were already born knowing.
Ed yanks a jogging suit from his entry closet. Ignores it’s hanger and also a coat which falls to the ground.
ED
But somehow I forgot.
INT. GARDENS BY THE WATER – SERIES OF SHOTS
-Ed smiles, jokes with Don as he passes him in the hall.
-Smiles, laughs with other residents as he grabs a bagel from the buffet.
—Smiles. Stops—some interest in one of the Eligible Women as he heads out to—
-Stops and smell the garden flowers. Plucks one. Pokes it in his jacket zip before he—
-Jogs. A little jig, matches the 70’s music from his Walkman.
-Catches up to, jogs with Lauren a bit before he—
-Stops to buy—and eat donut. As he
-Uses his cell phone to call one of his bandmates
EXT. SEATTLE – DONUT SHOP – DAY
ED
Let’s do a show!
(Grins as he listens)
No. Time to play, man!
Ed downloads the Uber app on his phone. Orders a ride.
INT. UBER CAR – CONTINUOUS
Goes to—
EXT/INT – FLORIST SHOP – CONTINUOUS
Ed buys two enormous potted flower arrangements. Exits.
Opens the Uber app, as—
Pat pulls up on her motorcycle. Ed with flowers, gets on.
EXT. CEMETERY – JIMI’S GRAVE – DAY
Ed and Pat leave flowers on Jimi’s grave. Then Susan’s. Potted, to last weeks between visits.
EXT. MUSIC PRACTICE ROOMS – CONTINUOUS
Ed gets off Pat’s bike. Enters his room.
Moments later, The Band exits with instruments and chairs.
Crosses the street to a park where they –
Begin to play. A crowd gathering—
EXT. BUS STOP – CONTINUOUS
Ed boards a bus—full of school kids, playing in all the ways kids do, in their seats.
Freezes in the aisle as he recognizes: the hair, face. Even the coat of the young woman (circa 1945) on his alter. Grace from his dream!
Beside her is—Jewels. Ed and Jewels’ eyes lock. From the Collective Unconscious, something transcendental.
…And massive sexual attraction.
THE END
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Armand Amazing Final Line!
What I learned…
The last line/image…is what the whole movie is about.
If your last line/image isn’t what the whole movie is about, you wasted a precious opportunity and need to rewrite the last line and maybe the entire script!
A. Directly answer the main question the entire movie is about.
B. Finally we hear the one thing that the character wouldn’t say in the movie.
C. Solve the puzzle.
ASSIGNMENT
———————
Try out each of these possible final lines/images on your script.
1. Brainstorm ways to do each of the following with your story.And if you have to change your entire third act to do each of them,do it. Why? Because it might just give you the amazing ending you hope for.
A. Directly answer the main question the entire movie is about.
Tyler, as a ghost, defeats the killer and moves on to the after-life with Maddie’s soul.
B. Finally we hear the one thing that the character wouldn’t say in the movie.
Tyler, discovering defeating the killer didn’t let to him moving on. Tells the still-living Maddie to “live.” Which is what he didn’t do for most of his life and after-life, always being afraid of something.
C. Solve the puzzle.
Tyler’s half-brother is the killer. Tyler defeats him as a killer, and as a ghost.
2. Select the best final line/image and write the final scene.
INT. MANOR – MIDNIGHT
The killer’s body is on the floor, finally dead and sent to Hell. Tyler’s body starts glowing.
LEX
What’s happening?
TYLER
I think I’m moving on.
LEX
I don’t want you to leave. I don’t want to be alone.
TYLER
(Re: Lex’s sister Dallas)
You won’t be.
Dallas and Lex exchange looks.
MADDIE (OS)
You won’t be alone either.
Tyler discovers Maddie is a soul guiding him to the after-life. He holds her in his arms and they kiss.Together, they move on to the after, after-life. Both finally resting in peace.
EXT. MANOR – DAY
Lex and Dallas come out of the front door as the police cars drive through the gates.
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Emmanuel’s Amazing Final Line
If possible, the final lines or scenes should be memorable. However, the final line and scene, in my view, require extra thought and attention to make it memorable. It’s not easy but to put forth an emotion that the audience feels when they leave the theater or finish the movies in their home is ideal.
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DAY 8 BOB SMITHS AMAZING FINAL LINE
What I learned doing this assignment is…?
There are different types of endings and it is important to pick one that fits the story you tell with surprising but inevitable wallop. However, the last line/image is the film.
ASSIGNMENT
1. Brainstorm was to do each of the following with your story. And if you have to change your entire third act to do each of them. Why? Because it might just give you the amaing ending you hope for.
A. Directly answer the main question the entire movie is about:
Will acclaimed German actor Emil Jannings be able to revive his acting career in post-war Germany or will he have to be denazified which will end his dream of doing so?
B. Finally, we hear the one thing that the character wouoldn’t say in the movie.
Yes, I did campaign for the Nazi Party in 1938, because I feared reprisals if I had refused. It was another way of protecting myself and my loved ones from Nazi persecution by hiding in the open – the same reason I appeared in Nazi propaganda films. And. Yes, I did accept the honorary title Artist of the Sate for the same reason. And yes. It was my fear of the oppressor that motivated e to collaborate with him.
C. Solve the puzzle.
Does not apply except as in B (above).
2. Select the best final line/image and write the final scene.
INT. MAJOR KERSHAW’S OFFICE –DAY
Emil Jannings has completed his explanation of his story and adds.
JANNINGS
So. Yes. I did appear in Nazi propaganda films
because I feared reprisals against myself and
my loved ones if I had refused. I was not the only
actor who did that. But nobody was ever harmed
by my choice.
KERSHAW
You followed the guidance that the Rabbi gave
to Gerron. Harm-free collaboration.
JANNINGS
Precisely. So, if you want me to undergo denazification
I ask you this: Kurt Gerron made a propaganda film
for Hitler to save his life. But. It didn’t save him or his
family. If Kurt had survived Auschwitz, would you subject
him, a Jew, to denazification?
KERSHAW
Gerron was at Thereisenstadt under the guns of the guard
Towers. You were not.
JANNNGS
But I was afraid that I too and my family may also end
up under the guard towers of some concentration camp if I
refused to act in these projects of Goebbels.
KERSHAW
Fear.
JANNINGS
Fear.
KERSHAW
But there is something else in your dossier that
puzzles me. You campaigned for the
Nazi Party in the Reichstag elections of 1938.
I can understand acting in the oppressor’s films, but
campaigning that the oppressor’s party can have
more power…? And in the same year as Kristalnacht?
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. THE MEETING ROOM OF THE COMMISSION – DAY
This is the hearing for the Commission to determine if Jannings needs denazification.
In the center of a lonh table in the front of the room is six commission members are seated. The Presiding Officer of the Commission is GENERAL HOWE. The only other speaking part among the Commission members is COLONEL BRYANT, who is seated to the far left of Howe at the end of the table.
Jannings and Kershaw are seated at a smaller table in the center of the room.
A court stenographer is seated and recording the proceedings at a separate desk.
Also present is Jannings’ wife, Gussie Holl.
There are a few other observers.
This is a seemless transition from the conversation between Jannings and Kershaw to Jannings addressing the Commission.
JANNINGS
Yes, I did campaign for the Nazi Party in 1938, because
I feared reprisals if I had refused. It was another way of
protecting myself and my loved ones from Nazi
persecution by hiding in the open – the same reason I
appeared in Nazi propaganda films. And. Yes, I did
accept the honorary title Artist of the Sate for the same
reason. It was my fear of the oppressor that motivated
me to collaborate with him.
KERSHAW
Which one of us can be so sure we would not have
done likewise?
COLONEL BRYANT
Objection. Hypothetical.
GENERAL HOWE
Colonel Bryant, this is not a trial but a hearing. Major
Kershaw. do you or your client have anything further
To add?
JANNINGS
Except to say, General Howe, that I should be
profoundly grateful if the Commission would
please exempt me from denazification. It is my
dream to revive my acting career and restore it to
the stature it had at the time when I was awarded
the Oscar and when I appeared in “The Blue Angel”
which was my last picture before Germany went
insane.
KERSHAW
I have nothing to add except to ask, your honors,
to listen with humanity to the spiritual crisis my
client underwent, living in the extraordinary fearful
climate created by the most cruel tyranny
in history.
GENERAL HOWE
Thank you, Major Kershaw and Mr. Jannings. The
Commission has studied the dossier and we understand
your defense. However, it gives me no pleasure to say
that this Commission, to a man, does not see a cause to
exempt Mr. Jannings from denazification. His spiritual
crisis not withstanding, Mr. Jannings publicly appeared
as a high profile supporter of the Third Reich, who was
awarded the title of Artist of the State. It is the position
of this Commission that Mr. Jannings be assigned to
denazification and no longer make public appearances
either on the stage or screen. This hearing is now
concluded
General Howe raps his gavel and lays it on the table.
The Commission members rise, Jannings and Kershaw, Gussie, and all present rise.
The Commission members walk almost ceremoniously, single file out of the room through a side door, exit.
Gussie crosses to Jannings. They hug and lovingly kiss.
Jannings sits removes his Oscar statuette from his brief case. He sits and clutches his Oscar in a manner similar to the ruined professor he portrayed in “The Blue Angel,” who dies clutching his teacher’s desk. He is ruined.
GUSSIE
Dear, you have made a legacy for yourself as a great
actor. You have your Oscar.
KERSHAW:
(warmly supportive)
And you will always have your superb acting as the professor in “The Blue Angel.”
The camera dollies out.
FADE OUT.
BLANK SCREEN.
SFX MUSIC; Dietrich singing “Falling in Love Again.”
Title:
Emil Jannings never acted again. He became a devout Roman Catholic. In 1950, he died of liver cancer at age 65. He was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Title:
Marlene Dietrich and Josef von Sternberg went to Hollywood and made many acclaimed motion pictures until they dissolved their partnership in 1935.
Dietrich condemned Hitler and Nazism. She became an American citizen and entertained the troops even as they marched in victory against the German Army.
THE END
END CREDITS.
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