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Day 8 Assignments
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Suzanne’s Show Mysteries Part 1
What I learned doing this assignment is … mysteries are my love language! This is naturally how my brain works. But the Watchmen was crazzzzzzy! Allows me to think even bigger ; )
The Watchmen:
The Shocking Event was the 1985 Squid on NYC that killed 3 million, and reset the power balance. Everyone remembers where they were, it was the foundational event (deliberately rigged) of the current world, including regular squidfalls.
The Secret is: Why did the aliens do that, and what will they do next?
Investigation: one of the most traumatized victims uncovers the truth (Or rather, has it handed to him in exchange for betraying an ally.)
WHAT: Alien Squid
WHEN: from 1985 to present (2019)
WHERE: NYC, though random squidfalls everywhere
WHY: to terrify Russia and USA into peace
WHO: not aliens, but a defrocked superhero
HOW: advanced science
Ultimate Reveal: there are no aliens, only superpowered humans
Ultimate Reveal 2: Dr Manhattan, the most powerful person in the universe, let it happen
Mystery 2: Dr. Manhattan
Cover up: He’s on Mars …
Secret: he’s pretending to be human, he doesn’t even know it himself
Reveals: when the racists kill all the cops on “White Night” one killer finds himself teleported (only Dr. M can do that). Their leader, Senator Joe, doesn’t want to be president anymore, he wants to have Dr. M’s powers.
Dr. M’s former lover, now a vigilante hunter, has left him messages for decades and never heard back. Trillionaire True has built a “millennium clock” to save the world but she won’t say how. But it translates to: allow the racists to find Dr M (who turns out is main char Angela’s handsome, quiet, bookworm husband who uses his power, and betrayed himself when she was in danger) and try to kill him, but then True wants to take his power and “do good” with it instead. She is defeated and at the end, Angela discovers she may/may not have received Dr. M’s powers before he died.
WHO: Dr Manhattan
What: the one who can fix/wreck everything/holds all the power
Why: everyone wants to take his powers
WHERE: it all comes back to Tulsa: where Dr. M is, where the clock has been built, where Angela lives, where her grandfather fled from in 1921 and inspired the entire masked vigilante element in society
WHEN: current day, though people think Dr M is on Mars, ignoring them (they have phone booths around the world to call him and leave messages)
WHY: everyone is looking for order: whether that is justice (for many of the chars) or power (all the racists) or hierarchy (the super smart/super human)
HOW: Dr M started as a refugee from the Nazis, just a human, who stepped into a specific kind of reactor and BAM became blue, naked and insanely powerful … and then allowed himself to be used as a weapon (Viet nam) before leaving the planet (and then returning in secret).
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Megan’s Show Mysteries – Part 1
What I learned doing this assignment is…that while it’s important to hook your audience right away, it’s even more important to keep them hooked through reveals and mystery.
TITLE: Riverdale
Shocking Event Mystery:
A. Shocking Event: Jason Blossom’s disappearance
B. Secret: Jason was actually running away from his controlling family and Riverdale
C. Investigation: Cheryl, the Blossoms, Betty and Jughead, and the police are all trying to figure out what happened to Jason Blossom
WWWWW and How:
Who: Jason Blossom
What: Disappeared
Where: from Riverdale
When: mid-July
How: His sister helped him row across a river
Part Withheld:
Why: Why did he disappear?
Over Time Mystery: Jason Blossom’s murder
A. Cover up: Polly sent to an insane asylum to cover up the pregnancy; the police chief’s suspect map gets stolen
B. Secret: Jason had gotten Polly pregnant and they were planning on running away to raise the baby
C. Reveals: Jason’s letterman jacket in Jughead’s dad’s trailer
WWWWW and How:
What: Jason’s murder
Where: his body washed up along the river
When: mid-July
How: Gunshot to the head
Part Withheld:
Who: Who killed Jason?
Why: Why was he murdered?
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Megan’s Show Mysteries – Part 2
What I learned doing this assignment is… that lightbulb moments are the best! I realized that before this assignment, I had only considered the opening shocking event, not the overtime mystery. The storyline seems to have a lot more direction now after forcing myself to think through the ramifications of the opening mystery and discovery. Layering the reveals will probably be one of the more challenging aspects to writing a binge worthy TV show, but I’m excited to get started!
TITLE: Dear Future Self
Shocking Event Mystery:
A. Shocking Event: Lexie discovers an English assignment in which she emails her future self actually makes contact with her future self
B. Secret: Lexie decides to keep this discovery a secret so no one thinks she’s crazy
C. Investigation: Lexie and Alexis investigate and experiment with the veracity and the extent of their unexpected connection
Veracity: Lexie asks her questions no one else would know.
Veracity: Lexie buys something significant but won’t tell Alexis what it is; it shows up in Alexis’s room
Extent: Alexis tells Lexie to start putting half her weekly allowance into a savings account
Extent: Lexie asks Alexis questions about each of her friends and family to find out what happens to them
Extent: Alexis slips and mentions her father’s death but refuses to tell Lexie when or how; Lexie becomes obsessed with finding out
WWWWW and How:
Who: Lexie and Alexis
What: Communicate through email between 15-year-old and 33-year-old self
Where: small midwestern town
When: September 2022 / September 2040
Part Withheld:
Why: Why do they continue to communicate?
How: How is this communication possible?
Over Time Mystery: How is this communication possible and why do they continue to make contact?
A. Cover up: Alexis is an undercover operative, not an administrative assistant
B. Secret: Neither Lexie nor Alexis tell anyone about the connection for fear they will lose it (or come across crazy); Alexis had been contemplating suicide the night she got Lexie’s first email; maybe Lexie had been contemplating running away
C. Reveals: When Alexis’s true profession is revealed, will Lexie still trust her? What if Alexis finds out the government has her personal computer bugged and is aware of her contact with the past? What if Lexie gets roped into becoming an undercover operative in the past (stopping cold cases)? How much would Lexie have to change to grow into this new role but at the same time turning into the person she’s afraid she’ll become?
WWWWW and How:
Who: Lexie and Alexis
What: communicating across timelines
Where: small midwestern town and Chicago
When: September 2022 / September 2040
Part Withheld:
Why: Why has the government allowed this contact with the past?
How: How is it possible? How will the government use it to their advantage?
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Suzanne’s Show Mysteries Part 2
What I learned doing this assignment is: it pairs well with the “but what’s underneath THAT?” question and loop.
Shocking Event: Two years in the future, the Gulf of Mexico is shut down by “terrorists.”. They lay claim to the Gulf so they can demonstrate how humanity can save itself, and invite five more people to join them on an island. They demonstrate terrifying power.
B. Secret: NOLA is full of people trying to get to the island, even though it is instantly treason/life in prison if caught. My five characters form a conspiracy to get there, each with their own agenda.
C. Investigation: First it’s Political: what country is doing this to USA? Then becomes what group/terrorist org is doing this to corporations and oil? Then, what eco group is doing this to commerce and shipping? Then, what THING has the power to do this? Then, what alien force has invaded the world? Then, what amphibian alien is setting up humans vs. them? Then the reveal …
Part Withheld: (Season 1 finale)
The Over Time Mystery: the real agenda of the island and their blow by blow execution as the conflict with the world ebbs, flows and changes and the relationships on the island do too.
A. Cover up: a group within government/company has known about this element all along, and in fact used them, then (thought) they’d “exterminated” them long before.
B. Secret: Nature has gained a voice and is leading the way to drastic immediate change.
C. Reveals: It’s not the five we thought …
Part Withheld: The story moves from dystopian-ish start to solarpunk finish.
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Tom’s Show Mysteries
What I learned in the is exercise is the two-part mystery process. I feel like my choices may change, but seeing this framework helps me to set the story in motion and keep it in motion. This lesson also helped me see what the opening sequence of the show could be.
ASSIGNMENT 1:
The Good Place
MYSTERY 1: ELEANOR
Shocking Event: Despite an infallible system that places people in their appropriate location, Eleanor, a not so good person, arrives in the Good Place
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Secret: Who is Eleanor really, and why did she get misplaced?
Investigation: The audience is set up to learn who Eleanor really is and where she actually belongs
WHAT: Eleanor incessantly schemes for a way to stay in the Good Place
WHEN: After her death
WHERE: The Good Place
What we don’t know that causes the mystery:
WHY: Did the mistake occur?
WHERE: Does she actually belong?
WHEN: Will the truth be uncovered about who she really is?
HOW: Will she continue to maintain her secret and stay in the Good Place?
WHAT: Will be the repercussions for her dishonesty and what will become of those who try to help her?
MYSTERY 2: THE GOOD PLACE
Cover Up: As Eleanor continues to live in the Good Place, anomalies occur that threaten the existence of the other residents. </div><div>
Secret: The rules that govern the Good Place, and whether it is really good.
Reveals: Beginning with Eleanor confiding in Chidi, we start to learn about who Eleanor really was in her past life through her explanations and flashbacks. We then learn that Jason doesn’t belong in the Good Place either. There are also questions regarding Tahani’s character and past.
WHO: The neighborhood was build by Michael, who lives in the neighborhood although the architect isn’t suppose to interact with the residents
WHAT: Is causing the Good Place to break and rebuild itself.
WHEN: This neighborhood was finished by Michael recently although he was building it for a very long time
Missing:
WHY: Do so few people get to come to the Good Place?
WHAT: Is the Bad Place?
HOW: Does the Good Place interact with the Bad Place?
WHERE: Do people go when they get kicked out of the Good Place?
ASSIGNMENT 2:
Shocking Event Mystery
A. Shocking Event: We start at the end. A big political protest on the verge of eruption. It is like a powder keg awaiting a spark. Cultural divide. Racism. Politics in the name God. Guns. And then it happens, it goes from two sides standing off to people running for their lives. Active shooter.
B. Secret: The event hasn’t happen yet. It represents what is coming.
C. Investigation: The “group” is on trial for their role in society and an event that has happened yet. The audience is set up to learn how these people become participants in a deadly confrontation.
WWWWW and How:
Who: The group spans the political spectrum, from right to left, radical to oblivious, and have varying degrees of involvement but are all implicated </div><div>When: An event that will happen six months from now
Where: An organized protest happening in a major city
Part Withheld:
What: Were the events the sparked the protest and the violence? </div><div>How: Do all these people come together?
Why: Does the event get out of control?
Over Time Mystery
A. Cover up: The group has actually been abducted. They are not meeting in a church basement, but rather their reality and sense of time are being manipulated. What they believe are weekly meetings are actually an ongoing experience with “memories” of their week implanted based on the typical routines of the characters.
B. Secret: The aliens (Claire, Eddie and the Janitor) are experimenting on the group to determine if they can help humanity see that they are all reflections of one another
C. Reveals: Florida Man is the first one to question this reality as he recaps events of the previous week realizing that something is off. He ultimately discovers that this isn’t his first abduction.
D. WWWWW and How:
Who: The abduction is the result of a carefully orchestrated cast of characters who will be implicated in a tragic and violent political protest organized by Claire, Eddie and overseen by the Janitor </div><div>What: The abduction is designed to test whether human’s can find their common ground and ultimately avoid a deadly confrontation
Where: The abduction is happening on an alien vessel, but through mind manipulation it looks like a church basement
E. Part Withheld:
When: They were abducted to stop an event that hasn’t happened yet </div>Why: Because mankind is on a trajectory that will lead to its demise, this is experiment is being conducted to see if there is any hope for the species and the planet
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How: Ultimately, the group will be released and although their memories will be wiped, the hope is that something fundamental will change inside them. On the day of the event, the group will see one another, truly see one another, and avoid the violent confrontation.
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Binge-Worthy TV – Lesson 8
What we learned during this assignment is that this was the toughest lesson for us so far. I know it shouldn’t matter if it’s a comedy or not, but it just seemed more difficult. We still aren’t sure if we really have this down, but for the sake of not getting stuck, we filled in the blanks and moved on.
Example Show: The Righteous Gemstones
ASSIGNMENT 1: Example Show
Watch the next episode of your Example Show and focus on the mysteries that have been created in that show. Also, notice the difference between the big picture mysteries that are a big part of the plot across the entire season versus the smaller mysteries.
Tell us about the mysteries from this show.
Shocking Event Mystery
A. Shocking Event: Jesse blackmailed about the party video
B. Secret: Who is blackmailing him?
C. Investigation: Jesse, Judy and Kelvin investigate it
WHAT: Blackmailers ask for 1 million in cash
WHEN: Blackmail is current, the video is from several months ago
WHERE: a church conference in Atlanta
Missing before final episodes:
WHY: Jesse didn’t support Gideon’s dream of being a stunt man in Hollywood
WHO: Jesse’s oldest son Gideon
HOW: Gideon devised a plan with his stunt mentor Scotty
Ultimate Reveal: The audience sees what went down that night at the conference with Gideon and Jesse that forced Gideon to leave and also how he filmed them.
Over Time Mystery
How did the Gemstones build their empire?
A. Cover up: The series starts current day with the Gemstones being at the top of the evangelist/mega-church food chain, but we don’t know how they got this status.
B. Secret: How did the Gemstones build their empire and what happened to Aimee-Leigh?
C. Reveals: Through a series of flashbacks, back story on each character and how they got to the current day is revealed.
WHO: The matriarch of the family, Aimee-Leigh was the real magic behind the church and family
WHAT: Aimee-Leigh was a childhood country music star along with her brother Baby Billy Freeman
WHEN: From childhood but more so, once Aimee-Leigh married Eli
WHY: She put her career on hiatus to raise the family and help Eli with his evangelical endeavors.
WHERE: South Carolina
Missing:
HOW: How the Gemstones built their empire.
ASSIGNMENT 2: Your Show<div>
Our Show: Couple Goals
Create two mysteries for your show — one that shows up strong in the Pilot and the other that is revealed over time.
1. Create your Shocking Event Mystery and tell us the WWWWW and H, along with the part withheld.
A. Shocking Event: Liz outs herself as a swinger to her best friend Michelle.
B. Secret: Liz and Eric have secretly been swingers for 14 years and Michelle doesn’t know.
C. Investigation: Liz tries to keep it secret by investigating if Michelle is going to frequent the local swinger club they go to.
WHO: Liz, Eric, and Michelle
WHAT: Michelle is considering swinging
WHEN: Over a few days
WHERE: Small town Ohio
HOW: Liz outs herself to Michelle after warning her through a TikTok post that swinging won’t save her marriage
Part Withheld:
WHY: Liz knows from experience that this won’t help Michelle’s marriage and also based on a secret her parents have in their marriage.
2. Create the Over Time Mystery and tell us the WWWWW and H, along with the part withheld.
A. Cover up: Liz’s parents stay together in a miserable and sexless marriage because of her Mother’s religious beliefs and to keep up appearances in the community.
B. Secret: Liz’s Dad is secretly a cross-dresser and bi-sexual.
C. Reveals: Flashbacks to how Liz was shamed and abused by her Mother and how she found out about her Dad, and supports him. Also, current day dynamics of the relationship she has with both her parents.
WHO: Liz and her parents
WHAT: it’s the reason she’s non-monogamous
WHEN: flashbacks of when Liz was a child on through current day
WHERE: Small town Ohio
Part Withheld:
HOW: how did Liz find out about her Dad.
WHY: Liz’s belief systems around sex and relationships were formed from her parent’s marriage, strict religious dogma, and shaming/abuse from her Mother growing up and it’s why she feels swinging is the most natural way for humans to have a relationship.
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Sharilyn’s Show Mysteries
What I learned doing this assignment is…I have no mystery in my show 🙁
“Big Little Lies”
BIG PICTURE Mystery: Who killed Madeline?
BUILT OVERTIME MYSTERY:
1. Jane’s obsessive revenge search of her date-rape-baby-daddy
2. Will Celeste leave Perry as their sex grow more violent?
3. Who is bullying Amabella?
4. Will nice-guy Ed come on to his 17yr. old step-daughter? Bonnie or any other available woman willing to satisfy his sexual frustration?
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Sharilyn’s Show Mysteries
What I learned doing this assignment is…I have no mystery in my show 🙁
8Bytes
SHOCKING EVENT OVERTIME MYSTERY
**Erin falls and cannot get up. She calls her aide and Parents, **Why & how did Patty & Erin have a kid?
They conveniently pop-in? She’s bleeding. Is it her period
or something else? COVER UP: Erin is pregnant again
SECRET: She’s been taking baby steps SECRET: Dr. lies to Erin telling her she can’t have anymore children.
INVESTIGATION: Who planted a camera REVEALS: 1. Patty’s junk still works
in Erin’s efficiency apt.? 2. Erin has a crush
3. A Chubby Chaser likes Erin
4. Erin has sex again
WHO: Erin, Ms. Chen, Stu&Lu, Mi-Ya WHO: Erin, Patty, Johnny, Mi-Ya, Gina
WHAT: Ms. Chen plants a camera WHAT: Erin’s sex-capade
WHEN: Night before WHEN: Night
WHERE: Erin’s room in door way (wide view) WHERE: Erin’s room
WHY: To monitor Erin’s eating, activities WHY: Wild porn night gets everyone hot
HOW: Just sticks camera up there HOW: Erin and Johnny awkward but effective sex
Part withheld: Mi-Ya is in on it Part withheld: Patty & Gina become lovers; Mi-Ya crushes on Johnny; Johnny is Walley’s nephew
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Bingeworthy TV Series – M1/L8/A1&2
What I learned from doing this lesson: To create a bingeworthy series, a writer needs to construct a number of mysteries to keep viewers hooked and guessing, with a Big Picture Mystery in the beginning whose questions are fully answered at the end, and smaller mysteries that are revealed and solved a little at a time during the episodes to keep the series intriguing and to avoid losing viewers. The original novel “Opera Aloha” which I am using as source material for this series has quite a complicated plot and many mysteries, so I am filling in the blanks bit by bit, following Hal’s suggestions which are very helpful.
A1 – “Big Little Lies”
Mystery Type 1– Shocking Event = Big Picture Mystery: Someone commits a murder at the school fundraiser. Secret 1: Who is the victim? Secret 2: Who is the perpetrator? Investigation: Police detectives interview witnesses, the school’s principal, and some of the attendees to find out. The answer to Secret 1: revealed at the end of season 1. The Cover Up: The five friends who are witnesses to the murder concoct a lie to cover up the truth to protect their friend. The answer to Secret 2: revealed later in the second year’s series. A third year’s series, if there is one, will probably deal with what results after Bonnie confesses to the police and her friends confess to their lie to protect her.The open open loops would make a 3rd year of the series possible.
Mystery Type 2 – The “Over Time Mystery”: Small mystery #1 – Starting with the first day of school, Amabella is being harmed. Secret 1: Who hurt her? Secret 2: Why won’t Amabella tell the teacher and her parents who did it? Secret 3: Is there a connection between this Small Mystery and the Big Picture Mystery? Reveal: The answers to these questions are doled out by the writer over time.
Small Mystery #2: Jane is hiding something from her past. Secret 1: Who raped her? Secret 2: Is she going to kill the rapist with the gun she keeps in her bedroom?
Small mystery #3: Will Madeline lose her marriage after telling Ed about her cheating on him with Joseph?
(My confession: I watched the entire second season of this series and found it both shocking and unbelievable that the Tori character (wife of Joseph) blatantly propositions Ed for sex. IMHO the writer & director should have developed her character a bit more to foreshadow this event & make it more believable. Did they do that, but cut it from the series because of time restraints? It seemed to come out of the blue. That was the only misstep I detected.)
A2 – “Opera Aloha,” a rom com satire on life, love and opera” written by E.A. Petros
Big Picture Mystery: Will Mira Santiago succeed in a role that nearly wrecked her career three years earlier? How will she dodge with the mines tossed at her by the stage director & the conductor? Will Mira jump into a relationship with Wyn? Will the relationship end when she leaves Honolulu?
A. Shocking Event: Someone injects a date rape drug into chocolate truffles in a small cellophane bag labeled “With best wishes from the Opera Guild of Opera Aloha,” and places them on Mira’s makeup table in her dressing room backstage before the dress rehearsal of “La Traviata” to sabotage her. Mira eats one and passes out. The understudy must take her place. (Irony, since Mira is usually the one hired to substitute for ailing sopranos.)
B. Secret: The saboteur was going to leave the “gift” of chocolates in Mira’s dressing room on opening night but chickened out and left it on the day of the dress rehearsal instead, so Mira has to go onstage on opening night with little to no staging rehearsals.
C. Investigation: Melanie Hollik’s young son, Scottie, tells Mira he knows who left the chocolates in her dressing room, and Mira confronts the perpetrator who tearfully confesses.
D. Who, when, where, what, why & How: My plotting is very complicated and I’m still working out the answers to these questions.
E. Part Withheld: Mira empathizes with the motivation of the perp, tells them that if they had come to her and explained their circumstances, she would have feigned illness and allowed them to substitute for her in oneperformance. Mira forgives the perp without pressing charges and covers up the crime.
“Over Time Mystery”: 1) Who is “La Nariz” (“The Nose”), the nosy neighbor who lives on the same floor as Mira Santiago in NYC, who pounds on Mira’s door whenever she sings Puccini arias? Is it the same person who leaves an obscene note under Mira’s door?
2) Who is the mysterious sender of tropical flowers, romantic poetry, and chocolates that Mira receives after her performances in Honolulu, and which follow her from Hawaii to NYC, to Florida and finally to Vienna, Austria?
Small over time mysteries:
1) How does the elderly Italian conductor find out about the infidelity of his young wife, causing him to have a heart attack when he confronts her?
2) Will Daphne Dee Bliss get caught by the FBI for selling fake art and antiques to wealthy, unsuspecting bachelors? How will Mira find out about Wyn’s marriage to Daphne Dee?
3) What is Mira’s “Plant Cemetery?” Answer: it involves a ritual that Mira (who has mild OCD) enacts to document her love relationships. At the beginning of a relationship, she buys a plant, puts a label on it with the name of the beau and the date of their first date, and places it in her bedroom. When the relationship ends, she puts the date of the breakup on the label, takes the plant into the living room and deposits it behind the piano. She has quite a collection.
4) Will Stanley Farber be able to give his acting career a boost and perform the great classic female roles he loves after he transitions as Stefanie Farber? Will he and Mira meet up again after his transition, and how will Mira react? To be revealed in the 2nd year’s series.
5) What will happen to the estate of Mira’s Aunt Miranda after she dies? Will Mira and Phil inherit equally, or …? This will be revealed in the 2nd year’s series. (I know, I’m putting the cart before the horse here, but as I said above, my plotting is very complicated.)
Cover Up: ?????? I haven’t figured this out yet, but a cover up might not be needed. We’ll see.
Secret: Mrs. Greenbaum, Mira’s next door neighbor, does a “house swap” to escape NYC’s frigid winter, and answers Jake Sutherland’s ad for an apartment in NYC (so he can be near Mira).
Reveals: Mrs. Greenbaum has serious mental issues revealed toward the end of season 1.
WWWWW & How: Jake wants Mira to get to know him without scaring her away. His first step is to shape up, cut his hair, lose weight, see a speech pathologist to improve his voice, do research on the history of opera, change his clothing style, etc. He also turns into a big time opera fan. Mira doesn’t recognize him as the “hippy” she met backstage after Kris introduced them at her opening night performance, though she feels his voice sounds rather familiar.
Part Withheld: Mrs. Greenbaum is not the sweet little old neighbor she appears to be.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by Evelyn Petros. Reason: I had to clean up some formatting and also added a sentence
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