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Day 8 Assignments
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Homework 8
David Quinn’s Mysteries
What I learned doing this assignment is simple / powerful. Till now, my project had only one and a half mysteries, and they were unraveled at a pace that could be corrected!
ASSIGNMENT 1:
Jessica Jones Mysteries
From the pilot we’re fully immersed in the shocking event Kilgrave mystery: Jessica is obviously “walking wounded,” but who or what traumatized her, and how?
Plus, we are introduced to a suite of “over time” powers mysteries dealing with the buried secrets of the origins of Jessica, KIlgrave…. And others?
ASSIGNMENT 2:
Blythe
Shocking Event, Mystery 1: Blythe hunts the sisterhood. Monsters who can pass as human women. They hunt her, too. She’s obsessed with memories of her lover Ian Wright, whom the creatures killed.
Secret: Ian is alive.
Investigation: separately, audience, creatures and Blythe piece together:
WHO: Ian Wright, not dead but hiding
WHAT: after he had sex with Elizabeth (infection) but before her transformation, revealing that Blythe was not his only lover (victim)
WHEN: 100 years ago
WHERE: His Beacon Hill Townhouse, now a colonial museum
WHY: Ian considers the sisterhood a failure and he is still working on perfecting humanity (we don’t quite know how, yet.)
HOW: Fire witnessed by Blythe, set by other sisters
Withheld till late season one:
Escaped via network of Revolutionary war tunnels under the neighborhood, continued work in Paris, the sisters who burned his home were manipulated to do it by Ian himself
Alice James, whom Blythe mentored in hunting creatures (and her former lover, mystery 3) has known all along that Ian is still working
Cover up, Mystery 2: Who made the creatures? There are many many theories.
Secret: Blythe’s powers – as well as those of her monstrous sister creatures – have a horrific origin…, a sexually transmitted virus from pioneering virologist Ian Wright.
Investigation:
WHO: Blythe is lured / surrounded by new, more deadly creatures, who are conspiring with her former lover, Alice James, to put her on trial and terminate her
WHAT: Ian’s close to testing a second phase of the experiment that will be global. The virus is now air-borne.
WHY: Ian considers the sisterhood a failure and he is still working on perfecting humanity
Withheld:
Now that she knows he is alive, will Blythe kill Ian herself? (Assuming she can defeat and escape the Trial.)
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What I learned doing this assignment is that without mysteries the viewer won’t be hooked to stay through the season or seasons.
ASSIGNMENT 1:
American Horror Story (Season 10):
Big Picture Mysteries:
Can Harry become a vampire and ever return to his family as they were?
Smaller Mysteries:
– Who is making the magic pills and why do they make the writers vampires?
– Will Harry go along with sacrificing his baby to Belle Noir?
– Are the police complicit with the murders by the local vampires?
– Will Harry’s wife come around and be one of them?
– Will Harry’s Daughter, Alma, eventually kill her own mother because she believes she’s untalented and isn’t worthy?
ASSIGNMENT 2:
My Project (Stream):
Main Mystery:
What is the Stream and how is it related to the no-birth crisis?
Over Time Mysteries:
(Main)
How will Michael stop the Stream and the taking of souls from Earth?
(Smaller)
-Will Cronus be able to lift the seals?
-What is behind the seals?
A. Shocking Event: Michael MUST die before he can enter the Stream.
B. Secret: The Professor has little faith that Michael can return once he shuts off the Stream.
C. Investigation:
WHO: The Stream was created by Cronus.
WHAT: It steals souls from Earth and is responsible for the no-birth crisis.
WHEN: Created 5 years ago.
WHY: The Stream provides souls for Cronus to us for “Skins” who are needed by the 100s of thousands to be able to lift the gigantic seals.
Cover up: The government is trying to keep the people from knowing the truth; that humans can no longer reproduce and mankind will cease to exist within 100 years.
Secret: Human souls are being stolen by non-terrestrials.
Reveal 1:
Diane and Michael are taken into the astral plane and shown the Stream where human souls are visibly being kidnapped from Earth.
Reveal 2:
The souls of man are put into synthetic human skins to serve as laborers for Cronus.
Ultimate Reveal:
(End of season 1) Michael is the only one on the planet that can touch the seals with immediately disintegrating. He is chosen.
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Madeleine Vessel’s Show Mysteries
What I learned doing this assignment is that one of the ways to invite viewer obsession is to engage them in two kinds of mysteries, one that is a shocking event that must be investigated and one that is an over time mystery that won’t be solved until the end of the season.
ASSIGNMENT 1
Mysteries from SUPER ATURAL:
Shocking Event Mystery
Shocking Event: Gas worker falls down into a hole, where he is attacked and killed by beetles that disintegrate his brain, causing him to be erroneously diagnosed as having died of mad cow disease. A home developer’s salesperson dies of spider bites in the shower when spiders come out of the shower nozzle<div>
Secret: The siblings pose as the dead man’s nephews. Then they pose as homebuyers. The homebuilder’s son is into insects.
Investigation: Sam and Dean read about it in the newspaper and start an investigation.
Reveals:
Who – Nature in the form of Insects carrying out a curse.
What – killed by beetles crawling all over him. He was found mysteriously bleeding from his eyes, ears, nose, etc.
Why – Revenge by a Native American who was killed with his community by cavalry.
Where – Sink hole
How – Beetles devoured his brains.
Part Withheld: Who and Why: We don’t know who killed the gas worker or why he was killed.
Over Time Mystery
Sam’s and Dean’s Father goes missing while on a hunting trip, leaving his journal behind.
Shocking Event: Sam’s mother and girlfriend died suddenly and violently by some kind of demon.</div><div>
Cover up: While they are looking for their father, they solve demon crimes and punish the culprits.
Secret: Sam and Dean are demon hunters, trained by their father, whose ultimate goal is to find out who killed his wife and the siblings’ mother.
Reveals: Their father left a journal behind. It contains everything he knows about hunting and killing demons.
Who:
What: Killed wife and girlfriend
Why:
Where: They were both killed in their own homes in front of their loved one.How: Violent attack.
Part Withheld: Who and why
ASSIGNMENT 2
Two mysteries for my show, One shows up strong in the Pilot. The other is revealed over time.
Shocking Event Mystery
Shocking Event: Falisa is murdered and Zhora is critically injured.</div>
Secret: Paintings stolen from Falisa during the attack were already stolen property.
Investigation: Sophie and Bill discover that, except one, Falisa’s paintings were stolen during the attack.
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Who: Vitaly
What: Paintings.
Where: Falisa’s house.
Why: The paintings were originally stolen from Vitaly by the Communists during the Bolshevik Revolution.
How: Falisa and Zhora were mowed down with a gun.
Part Withheld: Who and Why
Over Time Mystery
Cover up: Sophie and Zhora are living in the U. S. witness protection program.</div>
Secret: They are Russian defectors in hiding with new names and occupations..
Reveals:
Who: FSB
What: FSB knows everything about Zhora’s past. They also know his personality very well.
Why: He knew too much when he defected and did a lot of damage to Russia.
Where: FSB is searching everywhere.
When: for the last 20 yearsHow: FSB knows what Zhora looks like. Zhora and Sophie are vulnerable to assassination by the FSB.
Part Withheld: Who? How? When?
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George Petersen SHOW MYSTERIES
What I learned from this assignment is that what you leave out is as important as what you put in.
The Americans
The Big Mystery centers around two Russian spies posing as an American Family trying to get American secrets.
A smaller secret concerns Phillip’s secret son.
Another is Elizabeth being raped while in training for the KGB.
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The Red Ballot
Shocking Event Mystery
Shocking Event: A young Baltimore gang member confesses the existence of an assassination plot
Secret: Ferrandini the Barber is at the center of an assassination plot
Investigation: Kate and Pinkerton lead an investigation in Baltimore
Who: Ferrandini and the Knights of the Golden Circle
What: A drawing to select the lucky assassin
When: In three days
Where: At Ferrandini’s home
Why: To support the Confederacy
How: Members of the Knights get secret invitations
Part Withheld: Ferrandini holds a drawing for the lucky assassin. Who will draw the one red ballot? But Ferrandini secretly puts in eight red ballots.
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Over Time Mystery
Cover up: Ferrandini, the Knights and the Baltimore gangs all strive to keep the assassination plot secret
Secret: Who has drawn the red ballot?
Reveals: Eight KGC members have drawn red ballots
Who: Ferrandini the Barber
What: A secret plot to assassinate President Lincoln
When: In three weeks
Where: At the Baltimore train station North
Why: To support slavery
How: An attack on the President’s carriage as he is being transported between the northern and southern train stations
Part Withheld: the date on which the President will actually pass through Baltimore
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Eric Humble’s Show Mysteries
What I learned doing this assignment is: This assignment gave me some huge breakthroughs and a wealth of ideas to play out throughout the first season and probably multiple seasons of the show. It really clarified for me how to create a mystery, something I’ve struggled with in the past, which was a huge breakthrough and made the process of breaking down the Big Intrigue and deciding which parts will be given to the audience upfront and which will be withheld, much easier. I already had in mind most of the mysteries I ended up using – especially the Shocking Event Mystery for both ideas… but in brainstorming ideas for all of the characters, I was able to come up some great ideas for smaller intrigues and mysteries to play out for each of them – and, most significantly, I was able to solve a problem I’ve about the main mystery for the second concept, concerning who exactly set up the mob boss to run for president and why. I came up with a great layer that wasn’t even on my radar concerning a character that at the start of this I didn’t think would even be that significant a role. That whole second concept is really coming together in a way I hadn’t envisioned before this process. I can’t wait to build on each of these ideas!
ASSIGNMENT ONE: Mr. Robot
SHOCKING EVENT MYSTERY: Who is “fsociety” and why are they targeting E Corp?
Shocking event: Major hack at E Corp with a message for Elliot inside the code.
Secret: Mr. Robot left it there as a way to recruit Elliot to his crew.
Investigation: Elliot meets Mr. Robot’s crew, cyberstalks and cyber investigates their headquarters, and questions Mr. Robot directly about his motives. But who is Mr. Robot and what is his real interest in Elliot?
OVER TIME MYSTERY:
-What is Mr. Robot’s real interest in Elliot?
-Who is Tyrell Wellick really and how far will his ambitions take him?
-Why is Elliot in court-appointed therapy?
ASSIGNMENT TWO:
Concept One:
Main characters
What events from the main character’s past could be hidden?
-Dres is hundreds of years old.
-Catherine is even older and is supposed to be immortal… doesn’t understand how she’s sick with cancer.
-Marks hunted and killed Drea’s mother as his initiation mission into the cabal.
-The head of the cabal was Catherine’s lover seventy years ago—until he betrayed and tried to kill her.
-Jude falsified the data of the breakthrough that launched his career… and which he’s being honored for.
-Marks is a member of a secret society dedicated to hunting and killing a race of immortals whose DNA holds the cure for cancer.
What could the main character’s current situation be covering up?
-Jude knows that Catherine has inoperable terminal cancer but isn’t telling her in the hopes that he can cure it before it’s too late.
-Dres is conning Catherine to steal from her foundation.
-Marks is outwardly the CEO of a major Big Pharma company—but secretly a member of the cabal.
-Catherine kills an assassin—and has to cover it up to shield herself and Dres.
-Catherine knows that the assassin was targeting her. Dres (and we) think he was targeting Dres.
2. Shocking event
What shocking events could disrupt their reality?
-Jude is looking for Dres to investigate the miraculous properties of a blood sample… when an assassin tries to kill her.
-Dres is trying to con Cather, about to get access to her financial system… when an assassin bursts in and attacks. In the struggle, Catherine and Dres kill the assassin.
What shocking experience or event could be under the surface?
-The IRS is investigating cancer researchers who have received off-the-books kickbacks from Big Pharma companies… and Jude is one of those people.
-A Board Meeting at the Pharma Company turns into a cabal meeting after the “regular” board members leave… and they plot to kill a member of the hunted familial lines who has finally blipped onto their radar.
3. Cover up
Pretend the current story or parts of it are the cover up for something major. What could the current events be covering up?
-Dres appears to be conning Catherine for money… but is actually seeking help because she suspects Catherine is one of her kind.
-There’s another cabal—one dedicated to protecting the immortals in the hopes of using their DNA for scientific achievement… and Catherine’s foundation is the front for it.
-The cabal claims to be hunting these people to suppress a cure for cancer in order to keep Big Medicine and Big Pharma in the red…. But they’re actually doing it to locate a secret lab their order used to engineer the immortals centuries ago, whose location was lost in an uprising.
Pretend each main character has a mystery in their past. What could it be?
-Jude’s father murdered his mother, claiming it was to prevent her from suffering from cancer… but Jude has always wondered whether his mother actually did have cancer.
-Catherine used to be Jack the Ripper 200 years ago.
-Dres’s mother was murdered in front of her by an assassin just like the one hunting her now… has been trying to solve it to get revenge ever since.
-Someone is trying to set up Marks for a consequential professional fail… and when he keeps thwarting it, they eventually start trying to kill him in an “accident.”
1. Create your Shocking Event Mystery and tell us the WWWWW and H, along with the part withheld.
A. Shocking Event: Jude tracks down Dres to investigate anomalies in a blood sample she gave… when someone tries to kill her.
B. Secret: There’s a powerful, secret cabal which has existed for a hundred years dedicated to hunting down people whose DNA contains the key for curing cancer… because cancer is big business for the health insurance and Big Pharma industries.
C. Investigation:
What: Targeting Dres
When: Assassin comes after her when Jude confronts her in the middle of a scam she’s trying to run
Where: NYC, present day… but the cabal works across the globe, and has for a century
How: Highly-trained assassins, who can be anywhere at any time.
Part Withheld:
Who: Secret cabal which Marks is a member of
Why: Because Dres is two hundred years old and is one of the genetic lines that can cure cancer… and, unbeknownst to the cabal, many other ailments as well.
2. Create the Over Time Mystery and tell us the WWWWW and H, along with the part withheld.
A. Cover up: Catherine, Jude’s wife, is dying of inoperable cancer… and Jude is keeping that from her.
B. Secret: Catherine is the only other known person with the genetic lines being tracked by the cabal’s Europe sector… but her identity is still unknown to them. She is two hundred years old, and used to be the lover of the head of the cabal seventy years ago… when he tried to kill her.
C. Reveals:
What: European assassin comes after her… but she and Dres kill him in the struggle. Dres assumes he was another assassin targeting her.
When: Just as Dres and her partner are working a con on her.
Where: At her foundation office.
How: The assassin tries to kill her in the ladies’ room. Dres and Catherine overpower and kill him with his own weapon.
Part Withheld:
Who: Catherine is the only other known person being tracked by the cabal’s Europe sector.
Why: She is two hundred years old, and used to be the lover of the head of the cabal seventy years ago… when he tried to kill her.
Concept Two:
Main characters
What events from the main character’s past could be hidden?
-Darren killed an innocent person in a shootout that made him a hero and advanced his career… but he never got caught.
-Scoleri knifed Eco’s brother to death but has never told Eco, as he’s his most trusted bodyguard.
-Eco starter his career as a divorce attorney, whom Rebecca went to early in their marriage. Eco encouraged her to stay with the marriage but get an abortion.
-Bender impregnated a hooker after getting drunk in Vegas.
-Rebecca had an abortion that even Darren doesn’t know about.
What could the main character’s current situation be covering up?
-Darren is concealing who he is when he goes for the job with the campaign.
-Scoleri is covering up that he’s a gangster.
-Eco is covering up that he located a mole and let him live.
-Bender is covering up a massive gambling debt he’s accrued.
-Rebecca is covering up who her affair is with. (Eco)
2. Shocking event
What shocking events could disrupt their reality?
-Darren’s operation to imminently arrest Scoleri is called off with the announcement that Scoleri is running for President.
-Scoleri is suddenly thrust into the international spotlight and forced to run for president—and win—in order to avoid arrest… all because a mysterious website has registered him, filed the paperwork, and raised millions for his campaign.
-Eco is forced to become the de facto mob ruler when Scoleri takes on the campaign.
-Bender loses the family savings and money he borrowed from a vicious loan shark at the casino.
-Rebecca enters into an affair with Eco when Darren pulls his gun and it goes off in the midst of a drunken rant.
What shocking experience or event could be under the surface?
-Darren has gotten this close to Scoleri’s operation by following the book every step – except for one key thing: his way into the operation was by he and Bender breaking into a mob-controlled check-cashing business, stealing the money to make it look like petty robbery was the motive… but while they were there, they hacked the computer system and downloaded the financial records of the entire operation.
-Scoleri was about to kill a rival mob boss right there in the room when the press storm happened and the arrest was halted… so he’s been forced to abduct him–and still has him captive in the house, which is now under 24-hour press coverage.
-Eco was handling a negotiation with some rival gangsters – but it was actually a hit with snipers aiming everywhere.
-Bender is handling one of the tactical units about to swoop in and nail Scoleri – but holds his men back, claiming there’s interference by civilians… but in actuality, a Secret Service team is keeping his men from acting by holding them at gunpoint. Scoleri is now protected.
-Rebecca is about to be executed by her handler for failing to get her husband under her control enough that she can access classified FBI data on Russia (her original mission)… when she convinces him that she can get something better: the presidency, and eventually the entire US government.
3. Cover up
Pretend the current story or parts of it are the cover up for something major. What could the current events be covering up?
-Darren knows his wife is a Russian agent… and has been recruited by the CIA to thwart her endgame.
-Scoleri has become addicted to pain meds… and has resorted to stealing from his own drug dealers to obtain the drugs and keep it quiet from the rest of the business and his family.
-Eco appears to be actually in love with Rebecca… but is actually after the data her husband stole which is the only way his business deal overseas will work.
-Bender appears to be overly ambitious and seeking to get the scoop on the new commanding agent – but he’s actually being blackmailed by Eco over his gambling debts to reacquire the data he and Darren stole from the mob-fronted business… because it contains more than financial records. It contains data he needs to get leverage over a Middle Eastern druglord he’s going to need to do business with in order to expand the empire.
-Rebecca is a Russian agent and she is behind the website that kicked off the campaign – her mission is to gain control of the US Government as a puppet regime of Russia… step one: install someone they can control as President. And Russia knows how to control gangsters, who are people cutthroat enough to get to the presidency but dependent on power and money, which the Russians can supply enough to keep them acquiescent.
Pretend each main character has a mystery in their past. What could it be?
-Darren met Rebecca when he saved her from a mugging… but when he investigated the mugger on his own, the guy didn’t seem to be a mugger at all… he was a professional. Darren has never been able to find him and has always suspected there was more to the encounter than met the eye. In fact, it was a set up to get Russian agent Rebecca to be romanced by Darren, who always plays the hero when given the chance.
-Scoleri’s empire is being targeted by a rival gangster… but which one? There are three families big enough to compete with him.
-Eco’s father was murdered for being a stool pigeon in the previous generation of the Scoleri mob… who was the lieutenant who killed him? Scoleri himself, one of his first assignments for the family business.
-Bender seems to be stalked by an angry young boy. Who is he? Unbeknownst to Bender, he got a hooker pregnant while drunk and despondent over a big loss in Vegas (or celebration over a big win) years ago… this is his son.
-Rebecca’s failure to secure FBI data stems from her genuinely falling in love with Darren… but she also is being investigated by someone who may be FBI or CIA who is getting close to unmasking her. But she doesn’t know who it is – just that it has to be someone close to her, part of her inner circle. Who? (Bender’s wife)
1. Create your Shocking Event Mystery and tell us the WWWWW and H, along with the part withheld.
A. Shocking Event: Just as Scoleri is about to pull off a major hit himself… with Darren and a tactical team waiting to arrest him just outside… a website announces to the world that Scoleri is running for President… with the paperwork filed and more campaign money than all his primary rivals combined waiting in an account. A new law halts any criminal investigation for a person running for public office until the campaign process (or tenure in office) is complete, forcing Darren to suspend his investigation and forcing Scoleri into the international spotlight as a contender.
B. Secret: This operation has been launched by Russia to put someone in the White House who can be controlled enough to do the Kremlin’s bidding.
C. Investigation: Both Scoleri and Darren embark on investigations to figure out who did this and why.
What: All the paperwork is properly filed, dark money in excess of $100 million is sitting in a bank vault – and a press conference has been announced immediately to introduce Scoleri and his platform to the world
When: This was timed to go live just before an arrest was made to keep Scoleri under the protection of the new law.
Where: At the dockyards where Scoleri was just about to kill a rival gangster whom he suspected has been targeting Scoleri’s businesses.
How: The website is created and blasts out to press agencies what’s going on – gets everything filed just under the deadline.
Part Withheld:
Who: Rebecca is a Russian agent. This is her operation, and she’s the one who runs the website and filed the paperwork.
Why: A gangster is cutthroat enough to make it to the office when his survival is at stake, and Russia has experience when it comes to controlling gangsters.
2. Create the Over Time Mystery and tell us the WWWWW and H, along with the part withheld.
A. Cover up: Darren’s investigation to nab Scoleri was the most comprehensive Organized Crime case in the history of the FBI. He did everything strictly by the book and has him cold.
B. Secret: Darren did one thing that breached the rules: to get his initial “in” into the organization, he and Bender staged an armed robbery at a mob-fronted check cashing facility, stole the money to make it look like robbery was the real motive… but their actual target was to hack the computers and steal financial records that mapped out the entire Scoleri organization. What he doesn’t know is that the data (which he keeps on a drive in his home safe) also has key info Scoleri wants to use to blackmail a Middle Eastern drug lord in order to expand the empire overseas.
C. Reveals:
Who: Darren and Bender
When: Two years ago, before they officially started the investigation
Where: A check-cashing facility in a poor section of town
Why: Obtained key financial data that set them on the trail of breaking the crime empire
Part Withheld:
What: Staged an armed robbery of Scoleri’s check-cashing facility
How: They charged in with guns… and Darren shot and killed one of the workers there, a teen who excelled in school and didn’t even realize he was working for the mob.
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Module 1, Lesson 8 – Cathryn Atkinson Show Mysteries
What I learned doing this assignment is to think on several levels when it comes to bringing mystery/unanswered questions into my work.
ASSIGNMENT 1: Mr Robot
BIG PICTURE MYSTERIES
-Why does Elliott “peek over walls” (“I look”) and then stay as far away from people as possible?
-Why is AllSafe crashed? Elliot trying to figure out why the crash is a distraction – to set up a meeting with Whiterose, who tells him about the honeypot infected server created by Gideon. And won’t say why they are working on the hack. To give him a second chance.
-What is the power Tyrell’s wife has over him – is it a big thing to this story? Because she seems like the power. She induces labor??
-Why does Elliott forget who people are? Elliott realized he forgets who people are. Darlene – who is she to him? His sister.
-He has no identity. Who is he? He had erased himself. Mr Robot is Elliott’s father? Or himself? 5Ws and How??
SMALLER MYSTERIES
-Why is Darlene hooking up with a banker, who she despises? To spy on him.
-Why did he hurt Christa (his psychologist)?
-Why does Darlene think she and Elliott need to connect outside the society, White Rose society?
-Why did Tyrell kill wife of new Technology Officer? Wife doesn’t know.
-Why is Tyrell being denied access to the fsociety info, by them? Part of something bigger. He know Mr Robot How/Why?
-How will Elliott get Gideon’s phone? Darlene hack.
ASSIGNMENT 2: Run Angelita
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 5W and H, along with the part withheld.
Angelita learns that her older brother Luis, who helped raise her, wasn’t the head of finances for a grocery store chain, but the second highest “accounts manager” for a large cartel, and they are after him because he stole $500m from them.
A. Shocking Event: She learns about his job when Luis forces her into a panic room at the home she lives in with their grandmother, as the cartel tries to pound down the door.
B. Secret: What has Luis done?
C. Investigation: Angelita must search for the truth as she flees to save her life – Luis gives her an address in Los Angeles (or NYC, Seattle or Chicago), but she doesn’t know who for.
5W and How:
Who – Who is after Angelita and her family? Why? Luis’s boss Moneda, who sends two hitmen after then, including Dario.
What – What was taken? Access codes. What can they do to escape? Join the migrant train north.
When – The pilot goes from one day in San Salvador to weeks later in the US.
Where – San Salvador and the Alves home, to Texas and the detention centre, to the road, to Veronica’s home in El Paso.
Why – Angelita later learns that Luis had been skimming the money for Moneda, under orders, but that instead of the $500,000 at a time he had been taking, Luis messed up and it ended up being $500m in one go. And Moneda covered his ass by blaming Luis.
How – Angelita has a digital key imprinted inside a medallion Luis gives her as he is hiding her in the panic room.
Part Withheld: That the address is for Angelita’s mother in the US.<div>2. Create the Over Time Mystery and tell us the 5W and H, along with the part withheld.
Dario has followed Angelita to the US, with orders from Moneda to kill her. But Angelita discovers Dario is her eldest brother, one of her only relatives left, who was thrown out of the family for his addiction that caused a terrible accident that killed Angelita’s father.
A. Cover up: Angelita’s Nana never told her this story.
B. Secret: Family secrets
C. Reveals: Dario doesn’t want to kill Angelita and retrieve the codes, he wants to leave the cartel, ask Angelita to join him as an assassin (he comes to this later, after she kills someone), and take the money along with her, and hide from the cartel.
5W and How:
Who – Dario is tricking Moneda into leaving his other assassin back at home as he hunts for Angelita.
What – Dario wants to connect with Angelita
When – A month after the attack on Angelita’s home in San Salvador (Season is over about a month)
Where – Southwestern US.
Why – Dario sees Angelita as hope for the future. Someone who belongs to him, who he can care for. He’s lonely and loveless.
How – To convince Angelita when he is able to tell her about their connection, even force her to go with him in the end.
Part Withheld:
Who: His and Angelita’s Nana was not killed when the cartel shot her and took Luis (who is dead). She is a captive. Dario does not find this out until the end of Season One.
Who: Dario does not know Angelita’s mother is alive in LA — but is she Angelita’s mother?
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Leybe Díaz – Show Mysteries:
What I learned doing this assignment is how to start designing mystery, intrigue right from the beginning. This model has helped me tremendously with generating ideas and exploring my story from different angles while maintaining things open.
ASSIGNMENT 1:
Mysteries in Scandal:
Did Amanda Tanner sleep with the President, is she carrying the president’s baby?
Who are Amanda’s accomplices?
Who killed Amanda?
Why did Olivia leave the White House?How did Olivia and the President fall in love?
Who is blackmailing the President?
Who is Huck?
Who is Quinn Perkins? Why did Olivia hire Quinn?
Each episode opens up more and more questions.
ASSIGNMENT 2:
THE HOME AIDE
Mystery 1:
A. Shocking Event: The billionaire and patriarch of the Scherstein dinasty, Ismael Scherstein is found dead in his home.
B. Secret: His son Isaac Scherstein murdered him.
C. Investigation: FBI is conducting an investigation.
WHO killed: Isaac Scherstein
WHAT happened? A heated argument between father and son took place after Isaac found out he wasn’t going to become the successor of his father.
WHEN: Over the last month
WHERE: Ismael Scherstein was found dead at his home.
Part Withheld:
WHO did it?
WHY did he do it?
HOW did he do it?
Mystery 2:
Over Time Mysteries:
1- Who killed Ismael Scherstein?
2- what other crimes Flora knows about and writes about and who are the criminals involved?
3- Isaac’s plan to get rid of Flora and why?
A. Cover up:
Isaac Scherstein is presented as the role model family man, loving son and caring brother. He hires a home health aide to look after his ill sister.
Flora Scherstein is presented as fragile patient with a rare brain illness who is rapidly loosing her memory.
Emma Bala: Is presented as an ordinary woman of Hispanic descendants doing a common job among Hispanic women: Home attendant.
B. Secret:
Why did Isaac hired Emma as Flora’s home attendant, despite her complete lack of qualifications and experience for that job?
Isaac Scherstein became the manager of Flora’s health care under the supervision of her personal/ family attorney.
Isaac hired Emma, an unqualified home aide as a set up to have her fail at Flora’s care, so he could send Flora to a nursing home where he has made secret special arrangements, for Flora to “naturally” die.
It’s been legally stipulated that Flora could only be placed outside her residency for treatment if she no longer presents any progress at home.
Flora’s illness.
Emma’s psychological trauma.
C. Reveals:
Flora’s notes reveal clues about the crimes committed by the Schersteins family, including the murder of Ismael.
The names of people involved in such crimes.
Flora’s Illness (How did the illness started, what triggered it? Life before the illness.
Emma’s super juman gift and psychological trauma (PTSD)
What happened to her?
WHAT other crimes did the siblings committed? Money laundry, financial crimes, extortion, murders, etc.
WHO: Schersteins family
and some other importan high society people. Isaac and Flora.
WHEN: Last decade.
WHERE: In their home country and overseas.
WHY: Political power and financial gains.
Part Withheld:
HOW:
Encoded secrets in Flora’s notes:
What is the criminal enterprise that is going on in town?
Who are those involved?
What ongoing crimes are they committing? What’s the next criminal move they’ll make?
What will Emma do with all this information as she discovers and decodes Flora’s notes?
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This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by Leybe Diaz.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by
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Paula’s Show Mysteries
What I learned from this assignment is that there are two kinds of mysteries and both need to be present to make the show obsessive to view. And there are large mysteries, a shocking Event that takes place early in the show, and smaller mysteries that play out throughout the series.
Assignment 1: The biggest mystery in “Gossip Girl” is where did Serena go when she left NYC and her friends and classmates, and will she stay or leave again. Another big Mystery is whether she and Blair will end up as friends or enemies. Another big mystery is whether Serena and Dan will stay together, where that relationship goes.
Smaller Mysteries: Will Rafael and Lilly get together again? Will his family stay together or will Allison return to Hudson and her boyfriend? Will Serena have sex with Nate again? How will Chuck get revenge on Blair for dumping him? Will Dan become part of the elite, Serena’s world? Will Jenny remain enslaved to Blair? Will brother Joes survive all the emotional upheavals in his family?
Assignment 2:
A. Shocking Event – Tess turns out to be an FBI agents investigating and planning to raid the drug ring, pretending to be a tutor to reach the ring leader.
B. Secret – Tess is in a loveless marriage and is falling in love with Tony.
C. Investigation- Why is she doing this? Randy senses what is goin on and questions her and her abnormal behavior in the marriage; the audience investigates how strong is her ove and loyalty for Tony and will it sabotage the upcoming raid and her career?
Who – Tess, Tony, Randy
What – Tess’ double life, really triple life
Where – homes of the students, lair of the drug ring, Tess’ home, and FBI headquarters.
Why – Tess needs the raise to get a promotion at FBI
When – Over a period of 2-3 months
1. Main character – Event from the past.
At one point, Randy hit Tess and she had planned to leave since then. She hasn’t told anyone about this, waiting till she gets the promotion sho she can pay for the divorce and even contemplates killing him as she gets closer to Tony.
2. shocking Events
The shocking event is that Tess starts to fall for Tony, which disrupts her plans to stay totally focused on the investigation and raid.
3. Coverup- Maybe that Tess has conspired with and bribed another FBI agent to target Randy during the rid to get rid of him and make it look like ‘friendly fire’, a mistake.
Shocking experience from the past –
Tess – When Tess met Randy, she was dating a younger man.
Tony – Found a gun in his father’s room when he was 4 years old.
John – Goes to gay bars at night and keeps it a secret.
Bianca – Has always been a thief, from the age of 10 when she began shoplifting with her mother.
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Rafal’s Show Mysteries
What I learned doing this assignment is that exploring the mysteries of the characters might be at the same time exploring theirs deeper motivations and gives the project an extra dimension.
Bog Little Lies
mystery type 1
A. Shocking Event: Murder on the school fundraising event. <div>
B. Secret: Who died? Who killed ? Why ?
<div>
C. Investigation: An investigation is conducted by police officers, residents of Monterey and the audience
mystery type 2
What is the connection of Madeline and her friends to the murder? Could the little secrets of their families problems, their past or competition between them lead the the murder. How come?
What is the connection between the abuse of a 6-year-old girl by her peer at school and the murder committed by one of their parents?</div><div>ASSIGNMENT 2:
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: Chris’s attempt to commit suicide. <div>
B. Secret: Arcadia senses that she is responsible for Chris’s suicidal attempts.
C. Investigation: Arcadia must find out the truth and solve the problem.
WWWWW and How: Why Chris did it? Is somebody guilty of his breakdown/breakdowns? Who? Is it Arcadia, his parents, schoolmates? How he did it and why in such a strange way? When Chris’s problem started and where?
Part Withheld: Arcadia’s past sins are the source of her daughter’s family and her grandson problems.2. Create the Over Time Mystery and tell us the WWWWW and H, along with the part withheld.
A. Cover up: Arcadia pretends to be loyal a patient of her daughter yet, as she recognises many of her own mistakes in her daughter’s practice, she develops the whole set of alternatives methods of treatment and practice them on herself and few other desperate patients who are on the edge of life. She hides the fact that this is all an attempt to repay her sins. </div><div>
B. Secret: Arcadia wants to gain forgiveness of her dead husband, and now she does everything in the opposite way than she used to do as the active doctor because she believe she is guilty of many deaths. She must save Chris at least to die in peace herself.
C. Reveals: The bad deeds that happened in Arcadia’s life still influence her family.
WWWWW and How: What did she do wrongly?
Part Withheld: She was cheating on her husband and playing with his believes. He died of distress caused by Arcadia’s cheating on him. He was similar to Matthew. It was a trauma for Eve, who transferred it on Chris.</div></div></div>
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Eloise Healey’s Show Mysteries
What I learned from this exercise is to frame existing ideas/concepts for a show in terms of mysteries and reveals.
NO MAN’S LAND – Eloise Healey
Shocking Event Mystery:
A. Shocking Event: An escaped male prisoner stumbles into the camp, putting their secret settlement in jeopardy.
B. Secret: How did he get here and is he a threat?
C. Investigation: Audience wonders whether James will ruin Emma’s dream of a peaceful, female only settlement:
When – When did James escape? Recently.
Where – From Sydney – he’s come a shockingly long way without capture.
Who – Who is pursuing him? Soldiers. Who is James really?
Why – Why does he want to stay with the women?
What – What does he want? Help to survive and evade capture.
How – How did James get this far from Sydney and survive?
Parts Withheld:
Who is James really? – Not a hard-done-by convict but a spy for the government to end illegal camps in exchange for his freedom.How – He didn’t travel alone from Sydney but was put ashore by soldiers to find illegal camps.
What – James ultimately wants his freedom, at the women’s expense.
Over Time Mystery:
MYSTERY – Why won’t Emma give up on the idea of a female-only settlement?
A. Cover up: Emma insists men are nothing but trouble and they need to rely only on each other and embrace this new life.
B. Secret: Her traumatic past that makes the others question why Emma would shun male help if it makes their survival easier?
C. Reveals:
Abuse by male guards in prison.
Emma’s backstory of why she was transported (raped then abandoned then had baby taken away).
Emma stole from her rapist as revenge, then has repeated that pattern on her release by stealing from her new employer.WWWWW and How:
WHO – Emma isn’t as “pure” as she presents
WHAT – She’s hidden how she got everyone here
WHEN – Right before they leftWHERE – Back in Van Diemen’s Land
WHY – She’s been so badly damaged by men she’d rather die than be around them anymore.
HOW – Thieving from employer who wants to track her down.Part/s Withheld:
Emma committed a crime to enable all the women to be here, which has in turn made them all accessories and even more liable to be re-imprisoned than they first thought. She can’t give up on this secret settlement because she is wanted for theft (not just illegal occupation). She’s been so badly damaged by men she’d rather die than be around them anymore.
Emma will only admit all this when the other women are ready to leave the camp and strike out for “civilisation” without her.
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