Day 9 Assignments

[Megan Schemenauer]

Megan’s Big Picture Open Loops – Part 1

What I learned doing this assignment is…that questions are powerful. You want to keep the audience wondering all the way to the finale . . . and possibly beyond.

TITLE: Riverdale

GOALS:

Will Betty ever get together with Archie?

Does Archie have what it takes to become a musician?

Will Betty ever get her sister Polly back?

Will Cheryl find Jason’s killer?

Can Betty prove Polly‘s innocence?

CONSEQUENCES:

Will Betty and Jughead get caught in their often illegal investigations?

Will Veronica be able to start living beyond the shadow of her dad’s shady business dealings that landed him in prison?

What will happen to Polly and Jason Blossom’s baby?

Will Jughead have to continue living on his own because of his father’s past mistakes?

SOLVING PROBLEMS:

Who killed Jason Blossom?

What role does Polly have in Jason’s murder?

Why is everyone so afraid of the Blossoms?

How will the Blossoms treat Polly? Is she safe with them?

RELATIONSHIPS:

Will Jughead and Betty’s relationship last?

Will Archie be interested now that she’s with Jughead?

What will happen between Fred Andrews and Hermione Lodge?

What is Hermione Lodge’s history with Jughead’s dad?

Will Polly’s father and mother get divorced?

Will Kevin find out he’s being used?

DANGER / SURVIVAL / RISKS:

Will Fred Andrews’s business survive?

Will his workers be attacked again?

How are the Serpents involved in Jason‘s death?

Will Jason’s murderer kill again?

Was Jason involved in drug dealing?

Can Jughead’s dad sober up and get his family back?

[Megan Schemenauer]

Megan’s Big Picture Open Loops – Part 2

What I learned doing this assignment is… that I still feel like I’m circling the same basic dozen or so plot points. I’m not sure yet how to get these ideas to spawn new ones; usually this type of creation happens when I’m actually writing. Trying to generate plot ideas in the brainstorming step of the process is proving challenging. I just tried to keep asking questions that I’VE been wondering about my main characters.

TITLE: Dear Future Self

GOALS:

Will Lexie’s life improve now that she’s connected with Alexis?

Will Lexie’s parents ever value her as much as her siblings?

Will Lexie stop acting as an enabler to her father?

Will Alexis’s life improve now that she’s connected with Lexie?

Will Betsy be able to handle the varsity basketball team as a freshman?

Will Cerise ever stand up to her dad?

CONSEQUENCES:

Will someone find out about Lexie and Alexis’s communication through parallel timelines?

Will Alexis ruin Lexie’s life by pursuing a better life for herself?

What is Lexie willing to give up for Alexis? What is she willing to give up in order to be “special”?

Will Lexie trust Alexis’s advice implicitly, even when it sounds completely wrong?

SOLVING PROBLEMS:

Will Lexie ever become more adventurous?

Will Alexis learn how to reconnect with and trust people?

How is their communication possible?

Is the government involved?

Will Betsy get kicked off the basketball team?

RELATIONSHIPS:

Will Lexie and Betsy’s friendship survive high school?

Will Alexis ever open up to the idea of a relationship again?

Will Betsy and Cerise ever become friends?

Will Sterling dethrone Alexis as the best agent?

Will Alexis and Brett ever get together?

Will Alexis ever move forward in her relationship with Hunter?

DANGER / SURVIVAL / RISKS:

Is someone monitoring their communication, keeping them from using key info to their advantage?

[Tom Minier]

Tom’s Big Picture Open Loops

What I discovered is that the loops act like setup/payoff chains allowing you to keep pushing a question further and building its intensity. I’m trying not to get ahead of myself, but this lesson is also an eye-opener that I have my first season starting and ending point, but I have no idea how I am going to connect those dots. I’m also questioning if this story is still a comedy.

ASSIGNMENT 1:

Think about your Example Show. Make a list of the Big Picture open loops that were established early in the season.

Big Picture Open Loops:

How did Eleanor get to the Good Place?

Will Eleanor get caught?

What implication will there be for Chidi’s help?

Is the Good Place really good?

Will Jason blow Eleanor’s cover?

Can Eleanor actually become a good person?

Are Eleanor and Chidi actually soul mates?

2. Watch the next episode and see how those open loops are being used to create the need to see future episodes.

Eleanor exposes herself as a fraud, and now the question becomes what to do with her?

With Eleanor’s admission, Michael starts to search for a reason why Eleanor was misplaced?

Although Eleanor has opened up, Jason’s true identity is still unknown to Tahani and Michael, leading the audience to wonder how long that can last and what the repercussions will be?

Eleanor and Chidi’s relationship strengthens and weakens creating curiosity to whether or not there is actually chemistry there

Eleanor seems to be making gains and learning something from her ethics classes, but will it be enough?

ASSIGNMENT 2:

Use this list to brainstorm big picture open loops for your first season that you will use to keep the audience captivated.

2. Tell us your top 5-8 Big Picture Open Loops that could be in your pilot.

Will the group realize they’ve actually been abducted by aliens?

Will the group recognize one another, and if so, what will happen?

Will Claire and Eddie succeed in their experiment of trying to get the group to see their connection to one another?

Will the protest result in the same bloody outcome after the intervention?

Why do the aliens care so much about what happens to the humans?

Who is the janitor, and why is he always present?

[Dave Arena]

Binge-Worthy TV – Lesson 9

What we learned during this assignment is asking questions that can be open loops seemed much easier for us than coming up with mysteries and figuring out which parts not to reveal.

Example Show: The Righteous Gemstones

ASSIGNMENT 1: Example Show

1. Think about your Example Show. Make a list of the Big Picture open loops that were established early in the season.

-Jesse’s blackmail and party video

-Baby Billy Freeman coming back

-Aimee-Leigh’s death

-What happened to Gideon?

2. Watch the next episode and see how those open loops are being used to create the need to see future episodes.

I’ve noticed that in this show at least, they give you the more back story and/or perspectives from other characters to keep the loops open. For example, with Baby Billy, you get into more of his back story and then get Aimee-Leigh’s perspective. With the blackmail, you get Chad and his wife’s story/perspective.

ASSIGNMENT 2: Your Show

Our Show: Couple Goals

1. Use this list to brainstorm big picture open loops for your first season that you will use to keep the audience captivated.

GOALS:

New goals?

-Liz wants to be out about her swinging lifestyle

Goals related to the big picture?

-Liz wants to be the “go-to expert” on sex, swinging, and relationships

Competition / conflict around goals?

-Society doesn’t have the same beliefs as Liz. Even other people in the lifestyle don’t have the same beliefs as Liz.

CONSEQUENCES:

Good plans gone wrong?

-Liz wants to tell her best friend Michelle that swinging is not going to save her marriage but can’t without outing herself and her husband.

-Liz being judged and shamed by others.

-Liz losing her husband.

-Liz damaging her relationships with her daughter, friends and family.

-Being out about their lifestyle can affect her business and Eric’s career.

SOLVING PROBLEMS:

What is the major problem for this character?

-Liz is a badass in the swinger lifestyle and wants to live authentically and be out about it, but isn’t sure if she can handle the judgment from society and the stress it may put on her and her family’s lives.

What are they trying to solve?

-She’s trying to help others in their relationships (swinger and vanilla) and also to validate her own choices and lifestyle.

Major change imposed on character?

-She’s secretly been a swinger for over 14 years and now she’s out.

-Her actions also out her husband Eric who doesn’t want to be public about their lifestyle.

RELATIONSHIPS:

Relationships in peril?

-Liz’s strict Catholic Mother will not accept their swinging lifestyle

-Liz’s sister Teresa and her husband Roger who is running for Mayor want to keep up their perfect appearances, so Liz and Eric being out will reflect bad on them.

New relationships forming?

-As people want/need Liz’s help, new relationships will be formed.

Conflict inside relationships?

-Liz runs toward confrontation and her husband Eric avoids it at all costs.
-Liz wants to be out about their swinging lifestyle and Eric is cozy in the swinger closet.
-How will Liz and Eric’s lifestyle affect their daughter Mary who is just starting high school?

Relationships changing?

-Her swinging lifestyle is the only thing Liz has ever kept secret from her best friend Michelle and now she knows.

-Liz’s Dad, who is secretly a cross-dresser becomes even closer to Liz as she’s doing what he never could, be authentic.

DANGER / SURVIVAL / RISKS:

Can they survive X?

-Will Liz and Eric’s marriage survive being out about their swinging lifestyle?

Putting themselves in danger / making dangerous decisions?

-External situations fueled by sex can cause various dangerous situations.

Internal dangers (drug addiction, need for medicine, inner demons)?

-This is Liz’s dilemma/central conflict. She is proud of her swinging lifestyle and has strong convictions about it being the most natural way for humans to have a relationship, but she’s also worried her insecurities around being judged and shamed will be too much to bear.

2. Tell us your top 5-8 Big Picture Open Loops that could be in your pilot.

1. Will Liz out herself and Eric publicly?

2. Will Liz and Eric’s marriage survive?

3. Will Liz make a career out of this?

4. Will Eric’s career suffer?

5. How will Liz and Michelle’s relationship evolve?

6. How will family life be now with their daughter Mary?

7. What will happen with Liz’s parents?

8. Will Roger win the Mayoral election?

9. Will Liz get validation and heal her childhood wounds?

[Sharilyn Kyle]

Sharilyn’s Big Picture Open Loops

What I learned from doing this assignment is…the different ways to reveal character relationships and dynamics can be categorized. Brainstorming is everything.

ASSIGNMENT #1 List of Big Picture Loops for “Big Little Lies”

GOAL(s): 1)Will Madeline be able to overcome her jealousy of Bonnie and disgust for her ex-hubby Nate and move forward in her current marriage to nice-guy Ed?

2) Will Celeste leave Perry?

3) Will Jane avenge the date rape that caused Ziggy?

CONSEQUENCES:

Will Madeline’s one-night stand with theatre director Joe cause nice-guy Ed to leave her?

SOLVING PROBLEM(S):

1. Who killed Madeline? (which turned out to be a BIG reveal/reversal as she wasn’t the one killed!)

2. Will Renata discover who is bullying little Amabella?

RELATIONSHIPS:

1. Renata and Jane reconcile.

2. Ed and Nate fight.

3. Barista Thomas invites Jane out.

DANGER/SURVIVAL:

1. As Perry stomps Celeste, Renata, Celeste and Madeline try to fend him off BUT Bonnie deals the fatal blow. Will the Monterey 5 keep the secret?

[Sharilyn Kyle]

Sharilyn’s Big Picture Open Loops

What I learned from doing this assignment is…brainstorming is everything.

ASSIGNMENT #2 5-8 Big pix open loops that could show up up in my “8Bytes” pilot

GOALS: New Goals-Erin uses weight loss as a reason to get out of her house BUT…

Conflict-getting out of her house conflicts with her fear of being seen in public

CONSEQUENCES: Problem b/c of her past-Overeating traps her literally and physically

SOLVING PROBLEMS: Trying to solve-the reason why Erin was adopted

New Problem-Erin’s birth parents aren’t fat

RELATIONSHIPS: Changing-Should Erin and Patty make another baby?

DANGER / SURVIVAL: Patty and Erin lose the baby due to Erin’s weight

[Evelyn Petros]

Evelyn’s BWTV/M1/L9/A1&2

Warning: Starting tomorrow, my hands will be full with “grandma duty” for two 3 and 6 year olds. I will return and pick up with M1/L10 on August 18th. Thanks for understanding!

What I learned from doing this lesson: Open loops are critically important in creating the intrigue that keeps series viewers binge watching. At the same time that I’m absorbing Hal’s lessons and doing the assignments to learn how to create a a bingeworthy series, I’m also working on my novel to plug holes. I had my opening and closing scenes down and some of the middle scenes, but a lot remained empty or only partially thought out. I realized that this is an opportunity to incorporate more intrigue and open loops into my novel during these lessons. The more open loops the better, and brainstorming, filling in the blanks, adding more intrigue, more open loops, more character development are helping me resolve some of the areas in the unfinished novel where I got stuck. I added a new inciting incident scene to the beginning by converting an overly long, quirky naarative into “showing” rather than “telling” through character actions and dialogues. The lessons are enabling me to see where I need to add more scenes with intrigue in the book so I can make it a page turner and the series bingeworthy. I’ve also been able to eliminate some “on the nose” dialogue from watching examples of series that fit Hal’s module of a bingeworthy show. I can’t wait to finish Module 1 and get to the module where we will be creating a series outline, but I need to be patient and go a step at a time so I don’t get ahead of myselfand make mistakes which I will need to spend time undoing later.

A1 – Open Loops in “Big Little Lies”

There are a myriad of questions and open loops in this series. Most if not all are answered bit by bit in years one and two of this series:

1)Who is the dead person?

2) Was the death a murder, like the detectives believe, or was it an accident? If it was murder, who killed Perry?

3) Who is harming little Amabella? Why won’t she tell?

4) Who is Jane’s rapist? Will she take revenge on him?

5) Will Jane start dating again or is she off men for good?

6) Will Ziggy tell Jane who the abuser of Amabella is?

7) Will Celeste admit she is a victim of marital violence? Will she leave Perry? Will he take revenge on her if she does leave?

8) Will Celeste tell Jane that her son Max is harming Amabella?

9) Will Celeste resume her career as a lawyer? Will Bonnie’s guilt cause her to commit suicide?

10) Will Bonnie confess that she pushed Perry to the police?

11) Will the Monterey Five confess their part in the coverup?

12) Will Perry’s mother prove that Celeste is an unfit mother, and get custody of their two children after her son’s death?

13)Will Madeline continue her affair with Joseph?

14) Will Madeline tell her husband Ed about the affair? How will Ed react?

15) Will Madeline’s marriage survive her affair?

16) Will Abigail go through with her crazy scheme of auctioning off her virginity for charity?

17) Will Abigail return to live with Madeline and Ed or stay with Nathan and Bonnie?

18) Will Gordon’s and Ed’s antipathy towards each other result in violence

19) Will Bonnie kill her ill mother in the hospital room?

20) Will Renata take revenge on her husband Gordon for his company crime that squandered all their finances?

21) Will Renata’s and Gordon’s marriage survive?

A2 – Open Loops in “Opera Aloha” by E.A. Petros

Mira Santiago

Big Loop Goals: (Love and Opera)

1) Will Mira triumph as Violetta in Opera Aloha’s production of “La Traviata,” or will she bomb again as she did in Omaha three years earlier?

2) Will Mira keep her promise to herself to stay away from romantic relationships, or will she succumb to temptation in the heated tropical atmosphere of Honolulu, Hawaii?

3) How will Mira deal with her agent’s bullying, her director’s obscene staging, and her conductor’s harassing behavior?

Consequences:

1) Will Mira get fired from her gig at Opera Aloha for defying the stage director?

2) How will Mira fend off the conductor’s advances and put him in his place? Will she be the one to inform him that his wife is cheating on him, and thus be the cause of his heart attack when he catches Angelina and her lover in flagrante delicto?

3) Will Mira’s dysfunctional romance radar change for the better by the end of the series?

Solving Problems:

1) What subterfuge will Mira engage to retain her modesty and “good girl” Catholic values?

2) Will Mira press charges against the saboteur who injected a date rape drug into the gift of chocolates and left it on her makeup table in her dressing room?

3) Will Mira discover the identity of the sender of tropical flowers, chocolates and poetry that follow her from Hawaii to NY, to Florida and to Vienna, Austria? How will she find this out?

4) Will Mira find herself a new agent?

5) Will Mira’s extreme fear of flying manifest itself on her flight to Vienna, Austria?

Relationships:

1) How will Mira’s relationship to Stanley Farber change when he becomes Stefanie Farber?

2) Will Mira’s relationship with Wyn end when she leaves Hawaii, or will it continue long-distance?

3) How will Mira react to the invitation to a wedding celebration she receives which was sent to her deliberately late so she can’t attend?

4) How will Mira react when she learns the identity of the anonymous sender of tropical flowers, chocolates and poetry that have followed her from Honolulu to New York, to Florida and finally, to Vienna Austria?

5) Will Mira give Jake a chance to get to know her and vice versa?

Danger/Survival/Risks

1) Mira was hired last-minute as a substitute with little opportunity for rehearsals before the opening night’s show. The last time she performed this opera three years ago, she was ill, and choked on the high C’s and final high E-flat on opening night. Under doctor’s orders, she had to cancel her other performances there. Will she bomb again when she sings the same role in Honolulu?

2) Mira is vulnerable to another heartbreak when she gets involved with Wyn.

3) Will Mira experience a major meltdown on her flight to Vienna when she realizes she forgot to pack the ebony and silver cross that she always brings with her and wears around her neck when traveling by air to prevent the planes she’s in from crashing?

• This reply was modified 2 years, 9 months ago by  Evelyn Petros. Reason: Corrected formatting irregularities