Lesson 1

[Joan Butler]

MISSING Thriller Conventions. (You can watch it on YouTube)

What I learned: After watching such a good thriller, I felt as if it is impossible to turn my Supernatural Drama into a thriller.

Hero: June Allen is a teen with computer skills. She searches for her mother, Grace Allen, who supposedly went on vacation with her boyfriend in Columbia. The FBI tell June not to search, but she her knowledge of social media, dating sites, camera footage, Google Earth, etc. to track her mother.

Villain: For much of the story, it appears to be the boyfriend. Then it looks like Grace planned her own kidnapping. Near the end, we realize that June’s kind “dead” father and the boyfriend organized Grace’s kidnapping. It turns out that the father will stop at nothing, including murder, to have June.

High stakes: The mystery is: Where is Grace and who has taken her? June’s need to get her mother back increases with each passing day.

Life and death situations: June will lose her mother if she doesn’t find her mother alive. Following the inciting incident, Grace is in danger during the entire movie

This movie keeps the audience on the edge of their seats with all of these emotions:
Suspense
Intrigue
Mystery
Tension
Anticipation
Uncertainty
Surprise

It’s a thrilling journey because it twists and turns. The audience thinks each character is this, but turns out to be that. The only character that doesn’t twist is the protagonist. Her journey is one of a teen who ignores her mother at the beginning to one who appreciates her mother at the end.

The big mystery is: Where is Grace?

The big intrigue is: Someone planned and carried out her kidnapping.

The big suspense is: Will June find Grace before she is killed?

This is a great thriller because there is very little dialogue. The story takes place on June’s computer, where she quickly searches website after website. If I looked away, I missed what was happening.

• This reply was modified 11 months ago by  Joan Butler.
• This reply was modified 11 months ago by  Joan Butler.

[Chris Wood]

Joan — never say IMPOSSIBLE! I’m still deciding on one of two treatments to take through the class, and thought at first that neither one would work, but then I thought… stop trying to make the model fit the treatment, make the treatment fit the model! Once I did, it started opening up LOTS of new intrigue layers and ideas I have not seen yet, and now I can’t decide which treatment to do because I want to do them BOTH! I even thought of doing them both in tandem HA HA HA. Anyway, encourage you to follow sensei Hal here: let go and use your drama as source material rather than an outline you love already that you want to thrillerize. I know you can do it!

[Andre]

Screenwriter U
Day 1
Subject Line: “Enemy of the State” Thriller Conventions.
A lawyer becomes targeted by a corrupt politician and his N.S.A. goons, when he accidentally receives key evidence to a politically motivated crime.

Conventions of the story:
• Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Lawyer Robert Dean (Will Smith)
• Dangerous Villain: N.S.A, corrupt politician Jon Voight.
• High Stakes: Lawyer is targeted after he accidentally receives key evidence to a politically motivated crime. Key evidence is a videotape of a murder.
• Life and Death situations:
o Rachel Banks (Lisa Bonet) previous girlfriend had affair with Dean, this is used to upset Deans credibility by NSA.
o Rachel is killed/murdered by NSA to sow seeds of doubt towards Dean to end credibility and prevent him going to “police”.
• This movie is thrilling because it previews and forecasts the end of democracy with surveillance act,
Mystery, Intrigue, Suspense
• Big Mystery:
o Who: NSA
o Why: They believe Dean is in possession of a videotape with evidence of the murder by REYNOLDS (Jon Voight character) of CONGRESSMAN ALBERT, who could control the votes of those voting for or against Telecommunications Security and Privacy Act; an act that would allow the government to survey all Americans warrant-less and regardless of criminality.
o Italian mafia.
• Big Intrigue:
o Telecommunications Security and Privacy Act; an act that would allow the government to survey all Americans warrant-less and regardless of criminality abridging civil rights of.
o Video Tape of murder from wildlife, placed inside of Dean’s bag by man Daniel Zabath being chased by NSA goons.
o False sense of credibility, which Reynolds (Jon Voight character) attacks to get what he wants. He believes Dean has the tape, which Dean is not aware of, but bad guy believes Dean will present the tape and wants to intercede prior by destroying Deans reputation by all means. Also known as character assassination. Short of kidnapping his wife and children, they put wire-taps on his phone, get involved in every aspect where Dean is vulnerable.
• Big Suspense:
o Being hunted and tracked by corrupt NSA goons.
o Being threatened by Italian mafia.
o Marriage ending with CARLA DEAN (Regina King).
o Shootout at end over the tape.

Anything else I would like to say about what made this movie a great thriller?

What I learned doing this assignment is…
• Big Mystery
• Big Intrigue
• Big Surprise
For amazing Thriller, focus more on Mystery, Intrigue and Surprise more than other details of screenplay.
Where in this world of Thriller does M.I.S. naturally show up?

End “Enemy of the State” Thriller Conventions.

[Chris Wood]

Villain — All you had to say was Jon Voight ha ha. I gotta check this one out!

[Nadira Pankey]

Title: The Devil to Pay

What I learned doing this assignment is the M.I.S. elements of Thriller and how important it is to use throughout the story. Even the Hero and the Villain should be mysterious.

When her husband disappears, a struggling Appalachian farmer must repay his debt to a powerful local family before they hurt her son.

Hero: Lemon, a poor petite mother and wife who has lots of heart, fight, and resilience.

Villain – Tommy – A ruthless woman leader of a powerful family who looks like an innocent house wife.

High Stakes – Lemon’s son is held hostage until Tommy is repaid.

Life or death situations – Tommy will have Lemon and her son murdered if Lemon doesn’t find Tarlee and repay the debt.

Big Mystery – Where is Tarlee? Is he dead? What does he owe Tommy? Will Lemon be able to repay Tommy and save her son’s life?

Big Intrigue – Where did Tarlee go? Why didn’t he come back for his family? Is he dead? What does he owe Tommy?

Big Suspense? Tommy will kill Lemon’s son and bury her alive right next to him if Lemon doesn’t find Tarlee and pay his debt.
This was an excellent Thriller. I love that the Hero and the Villian are women. Two very smart women who are leaders. I also loved that they are stronger than they appear. The movie kept me guessing throughout. Loaded with mystery.

• This reply was modified 11 months ago by  Nadira Pankey.

[Chris Wood]

So cool — Even the Villain should be mysterious — this is what I pulled out of my watch, too, that the Villain needs high stakes and MIS levels. Great stuff!

[David Harper]

Bullet Train thriller conventions
What I learned doing this exercise: How important backstory and twists and turns are.

Meets the requirements, and is available on Netflix.

Unwitting but resourceful hero – Brad Pitt’s character, Ladybug, is only on this job because the original guy called in sick. Ladybug is a criminal, mostly a smash-and-grab guy, but knows how to handle himself in hand-to-hand combat. He’s been spending a lot of time in therapy, though, and tries to convince people who want to kill him that they can settle things in a non-violent way.

Dangerous villain: The villain is mostly just a rumor for most of the film, but we learn to fear him through the stories we hear about him. He shows up in person in act III and we get the full picture of just how powerful he is.

High stakes: The stakes are his life. That’s about as high as it gets.

Life and death situations: People are constantly trying to kill him, he gets bitten by a dangerously venomous snake, the bullet train crashes.

The movie is thrilling because: It just never lets up. Also, as it develops, we see how all of these people have crossed paths before, and maybe fate has put them all together on this train.

The big mystery: Will Ladybug be able to steal the briefcase?
Big intrigue: Ladybug’s preference for non-violence
Big suspense: Who is the guy behind all this?

[Chris Wood]

CAPRICORN ONE Thriller Conventions [hulu]

Watch the movie and as you do, note the conventions of THIS story.

Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Run of the mill investigative TV reporter Robert Caulfield stumbles upon a government conspiracy to fake a NASA landing on Mars when his friend, a low level NASA telemetry nerd, suddenly disappears.

Dangerous Villain: Threatened by Congressional de-funding that will end both his career and his dreams of sending a man to Mars, NASA chief James Kelloway commands an elaborate hoax machine AND a clandestine corps of federal agents that will stop at nothing to conceal the failures of his program and the cover-up intended to keep it all secret.

High stakes: The esteem and prestige of NASA, the careers and livelihoods (and literal lives) of celebrated astronauts and their families, Caulfields career and life and the believability and trust people have in him as a journalist. The possibility of being disappeared by the government.

Life and death situations: Exploding spacecraft, runaway cars with brakes cut and gas pedal glued down to full acceleration, twitchy feds with trigger fingers and loaded firearms, unmarked CIA black helicopters with machine guns, extremely large and aggressive rattlesnakes, death of thirst and exhaustion while be pursued by said helicopters across the desert. Oh, did I mention OJ Simpson is IN THE space capsule with the astronauts? lol

This movie is thrilling because? It uses a well established conspiracy belief [faked lunar landings] as a pastiche to explore the relentless and faceless power of clandestine arms of government who myopically pursue an agenda with no regard to outcome or human life. It also plunges the hero[s] into a non-stop spiral of how-can-it-get-any-worse

3. What is the BIG Mystery, Intrigue, and Suspense of this story?

Big Mystery: What REALLY happened to the astronauts aboard the doomed Capricorn 1 Flight?

Big Intrigue: While the world watches, the Mars landings have been faked and broadcast via soundstage to cover up the failures of the program and the arrogance of its increasingly maniacal chief director.

Big Suspense: From T-minus one and counting, the astronauts and investigative reporter Robert Caulfield must navigate a gauntlet of armed, deadly, and myopically unyielding federal agents to escape captivity and reveal the conspiracy.

4. Anything else you’d like to say about what made this movie a great thriller?
It was interesting in that it had two heroes. Per the model, investigative reporter Robert Caulfield is definitely the hero that is solving the mystery, but he does it tandem with astronaut Charles Brubaker, who is in on the conspiracy, but must navigate and escape the Big Intrigue and connect with Caulfield in order to close the loop. Even at the end, they are running together in slo-mo as they make the big reveal and credits role.

5. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?”
This movie really hammered home the non-stop spiral of how-can-it-get-any-worse plot lines the hero[s] are forced through. It also showed me that the villain, as well as the hero, needs to be defined by the villains own high stakes, mystery, and intrigue.

• This reply was modified 11 months ago by  Chris Wood.

[Joan Philo]

I learned that the film is much more interesting when every character has mystery and suspense.

The Sixth Sense

Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Cole
Dangerous Villain: The Ghosts
High stakes: traumatized boy who gets worse and worse
Life and death situations: Living people who are in trauma and deaths of people who die horribly.

Big Mystery: What is wrong with Cole, and why does he see these horrible dead ghosts?
Big Intrigue: Why is there a painful rift between Malcolm and Anna?
Big Suspense: Cole can help these ghosts who need to say or do something before they leave

There is a super awesome twist in the end: Malcolm has been a ghost the entire film, and we never knew this until the character found out.