Lesson 1

[Xochi Blymyer]

Xochi Blymyer – Finds the Essence
What I learned is that there is as way to show essence in a scene through action of the characters and not just dialogue
Script I choose: ERIN BROCKOVICH
Scene 1 Location: Ed’s Office
Logline: Erin tries to convince her boss not to fire her.
Essence: Erin has lost her job but keeps her dignity
Scene 2 Location: Erin’s House – Main Room
Logline: Erin is frustrated with George always helping
Essence: Erin is hitting bottom, doesn’t need or want help
Scene 3 Location: Erin’s Kitchen
Logline: Erin takes out frustration on bugs and doesn’t understand why she got fired
Essence: Erin works hard but she can’t win
Scene 4 Location: Erin’s Bedroom
Logline: George comforts Erin at a low point
Essence: Erin gives in to George for some comfort
Scene 5 Location: Erin’s Bedroom
Logline: George isn’t just in it for the sex
Essence: Erin doesn’t want to believe George is a decent guy

Scene 3 is the most profound. It starts with George fixing the plumbing and water bugs but I think the real essence is Erin has reached her bottom point and shows her frustration about her life with 3 kids, no job or money and George show signs that he his a good guy. I feel like this essence is Setting up for Erin’s life as it has become.

[Rita Roberts]

Rita Finds the Essence
What I learned is: This script is a master class of riveting conversation, character development and emotion mixed with comedy. Every scene has impact.

Script I choose: LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

Scene 1 Location: Large portion of Act 1 and inciting incident.


Logline: The Harvey family sits down for quick “dinner” of bucket chicken with a new addition, Uncle Frank, just released from the hospital after a suicide attempt.


Essence: The entire family is introduced with clear emotional characteristics and goals for each one.

Scene 2 Location: Beginning of Act 2


Logline: The family takes off on their road trip together.


Essence: Set up the eventual demise of Grandpa with a comedic exchange which also emphasizes Olive’s innocence and plants a seed of worry in the reader for this sweet girl among so much emotional turmoil.

Scene 3 Location: Early Act 2


Logline: Family stops for brunch and Olive gets a life lesson.


Essence: It’s not just a dysfunctional family road trip, Olive’s innocence is on the line. but we see the care they have for her despite their woefully misguided behavior much of the time.

Scene 4 Location: Midpoint


Logline: Richard goes all out to help Olive after a seemingly insurmountable obstacle caused by Grandpa’s overdose.


Essence: Richard takes his “winner” strategy to extreme and keep Olive in the winner category after Stan Grossman insists that Richard’s been defeated. Denial of reality but hope for the audience to feel.

Scene 5 Location: End of Act 2


Logline: Dwayne finds out he’s colorblind and therefore won’t be accepted into flight school.


Essence: One more obstacle on the literal journey for Olive to realize her dream is Dwayne’s dream being crushed. His vow of silence broken but Olive’s silent care for him heals his heart enough to accept the news. His care for her is shown and the first glimpse of his care for his family which is on full display at the end when they all dance on stage to support Olive.

[Claudia Wolfkind]

Claudia Wolfkind Finds the Essence

What I learned is that there is always more depth to great writing, it starts with getting to the essence of each scene, character and story.

Script I choose: When Harry Met Sally

Scene 1 Location: University of Chicago – street
Logline: Sally picks up Harry to drive to NYC.
Essence: These two people, who will later fall in love, could not be more different.

Scene 2 Location: 50 Diner, On the Road
Logline: Harry and Sally have their first meal and get to know each other.
Essence: Harry explains how men and women can never actually be friends because the sex gets in the way. Sally doesn’t want to believe him.

Scene 3 Location: NYC Deli – Katz’ deli
Logline: Harry and Sally have lunch, Sally embarrasses Harry.
Essence: Sally is tired of Harry always “using women” and wants to prove that women can fake an orgasm to make men’s ego’s feel better.

Scene 4 Location: Sally’s Apartment
Logline: Sally calls Harry, needing comfort after she learns Joe is getting married
Essence: Sally is FINALLY showing how upset she is that Joe didn’t want to marry her… she’s been holding in her pain for months and finally lets it out. Harry is over trying to make her feel better and they wind up having sex. This leads to him freaking out.

Scene 5 Location: NY Eve Party
Logline: Harry confronts Sally with his true feelings
Essence: Sally is trying to leave the party before midnight because she doesn’t have anyone to kiss. Harry realizes he loves Sally and runs to catch up with her at the party and express his love and wanting to spend his life with her.

My selection for most profound essence: The last scene, it;s the culmination of their relationship building over the last 11 years… friends who didn’t really realize that they were in love, fighting it all the way… until, they let go….

• This reply was modified 5 days ago by  Claudia Wolfkind.

[Jeremy Kirk]

Jeremy Kirk Finds the Essence.

Unforgiven
(What I learned is that great dialogue can at times be the everything of a script. I feel the dialogue is what makes this script shine and the way it is depicted on the page is the true essence of the script.)

Scene 1 Location: Beginning of Act One
Logline: William Munny practices his shooting and finds he can’t hit shit with a pistol and switches to a shotgun.
Essence: His young son and daughter watch Will intently almost embarrassed by the fact that he can’t hit the broad side of a barn. His daughter Penny asks the important question, “Did paw really kill folk?” The utter lack of gun skill will help us into thinking Munny is nothing more than a broken-down pig farmer.

Scene 2 Location: Beginning of Act One
Logline: William Munny tries to get on his horse and fails in front of his kids.
Essence: He tells his youngsters that in the day, he would have whipped the animal and abused it, but their mother taught him the error of his ways. This is important as he will begin to cuss and yell at the animal later as his “true” nature floats to the surface.

Scene 3 Location: Beginning of act three
Logline: William Munny receives the news of his friend Ned’s murder.
Essence: Will Munny slowly begins to become the man he said he would never become again. As he drinks and asks questions, the killer becomes more and more apparent.

Scene 4 Location: End of Act Three
Logline: William Munny enters the bar where his dead friend’s body is on full display and confronts Little Bill.
Essence: The stories we heard, the questions the Kid asked about Munny’s character are on full display. Little Bill pulled the tail of the snake, now the snake is here. Munny kills Little Bill and five others in a gunfight.

Scene 5 Location: Final Scene Act Three
Logline: The final scenes show a tombstone where William Munny’s wife is buried. Her mother made a journey to see the final resting place of her only daughter. It states,” And there was nothing on the stone to explain to Mrs. Feathers why her only daughter had married a known thief and murderer, a man of notoriously vicious and intemperate disposition.”
Essence: These things Munny may have been, but he is also a man who would use these skills to make a better future for his kids and avenge his only friend.

My favorite scene is when William Munny is told Ned has been killed. This scene has some great dialogue. But the growing anger in him is great and leads us into the final showdown where we get to see this mystical killer of women and children William Munny.

• This reply was modified 3 days, 23 hours ago by  Jeremy Kirk.
• This reply was modified 3 days, 23 hours ago by  Jeremy Kirk.

[mark.napier2022@gmail.com napier]

Title- (Mark Napier) Finds the Essence
Select five scenes from a produced script and tell what you believe the
essence is.
1. Select a movie/script that had a PROFOUND IMPACT on you. It needs to
be available on the Net. You can go to http://www.script-o-rama.com to
find thousands of scripts. Simply download the script and move to Step 2.
If you can’t find one script, look for another that had a profound
impact on you. ‘Saving Private Ryan’ is the movie script I am using for this exercise.
2. Go through the script and find five scenes that either have a deeper
meaning or caused deep emotion for the viewers.

Script I choose: ‘Saving Private Ryan’
A. Scene 1 Location: World War II, OMAHA BEACH, NORMANDY June 6, 1944
Logline: When facing death in the horrors of war, terrified soldiers can still stand with courage drawing from the strengths of fellow soldiers in a common cause of selfless-service and sacrifice.
Essence: The opening scene shows the fear each man faces when death is possibly imminent and still they have the courage and commitment to pursue the mission regardless of their outcome.

B. Scene 2 Location: WAR DEPARTMENT WASHINGTON, D.C. JUNE 8, 1944
Logline: A nation that does not recognize the sacrifice of a family (to save them from extinction) will too soon be forgotten.
Essence: The intent of the scene, as a debt of gratitude, is to recognize that the loss of three sons out of four was enough sacrifice by one family to pay in support of the nation’s war time efforts.

C. Scene 3 Location: RYAN FARM, IOWA
Logline: When the War Department dispatches members to deliver sad news, they discover a mother always knows.
Essence: The purpose of the scene is to show the emotional heart-breaking news the mother knows is coming from an unexpected visit she sees approaching at distance even though she has not been formally told that three of the four sons died for their country.

D. Scene 4 Location: NORMANDY – BRIDGE – RAMELLE
Logline: Faced with the opportunity to selfishly think of himself and his safe return home, Ryan stands his ground not leaving his commitment to the mission or his comrades behind.
Essence: The scene demonstrates the commitment to fulfill Ryan’s mission and honor the cause (Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage) of his three brothers’ sacrifices and to his fellow soldiers than to cut and run.

E. Scene 5 Location: Normandy Cemetery, France
Logline: Over five decades have passed and a former soldier (Ryan) returns to the grave site of CPT John Miller to testify that Ryan has honored his lifelong commitment to Miller.
Essence: This scene has Ryan visiting CPT Miller’s grave site in France to report that he has honored a commitment he made to Miller ‘to live his life the best he could’ just before Miller dies on the battlefield along with others who sacrificed to save Ryan.

3. Read each scene and determine what you believe the essence of that
scene is.
4. Of the five scenes, tell us the location, a logline for each, and the
essence. You don’t need to give anything else, except for Step 5
Example:
Scene 1 Location: End of Act One
Logline: Juno and Leah scour the Penny Saver for a potential adoption.
Essence: Juno will only accept the best for her baby — even if it comes
from the Penny Saver.
5. Please select the scene that you feel had the most profound essence and
post the scene along with its essence. Then in three sentences or so, tell
us why you believe this is the essence of this scene.
Scene 4 Location: NORMANDY – BRIDGE – RAMELLE
Logline: Faced with the opportunity to selfishly think of himself and his safe return home, Ryan stands his ground not leaving his commitment to the mission or his comrades behind.
Essence: The scene demonstrates the commitment to fulfill Ryan’s mission and honor the cause (Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage) of his three brothers’ sacrifices and to his fellow soldiers than to cut and run.

Scenes being referenced: Pages 90-100 and references approximately six scenes. I believe the essence of the scene as noted reflects how Ryan after hearing how his three other brothers laid down their lives that he would be dishonoring his commitment to them, the mission and the cause. Ryan does not want to dishonor his brothers’ sacrifices, nor turn and run for safety in rear echelon for an expedited return home. He does not want favoritism for what has transpired.

6. Then ANSWER THE QUESTION “What I’ve learned is….?” (Put this at
the top of the page, two lines below the title.)
I basically learned to ensure that each scene has a purpose that reinforces the plot and is relevant. Using the scene logline helps to focus on the purpose of the scene, the character, dialogue and concept among others.

• This reply was modified 3 days, 18 hours ago by  mark.napier2022@gmail.com napier.

[Artemis Craig]

(Artemis Craig) Finds the Essence

“What I’ve learned is the use of subtext was incredible because of the many layers of the dialogue. Most of the scenes were compelling because the characters rarely said what they really meant.”

Script I choose: Chinatown
Scene 1 Location: First Act (20 minutes in)
Logline: Jake Gittes steps into a web of deception after he is hired by Evelyn Mulwray who suspects her husband of cheating.
Essence: The scene sets up the corruption that will unravel throughout the rest of the movie.
Scene 2 Location: First Act
Logline: Jake Gittes investigates Los Angeles water supply and discovers an underlying conspiracy.
Essence: Jake realizes that Hollis Mulway’s death was not because he was cheating but was somehow connected to unaccounted for water diversion in the city’s water system.
Scene 3 Location: Second Act (Midpoint)
Logline: Jake Gittes meets Noah Cross finding the man a threat that might be more powerful than anyone he’s ever been up against.
Essence: Jake thought he was uncovering a conspiracy, but he finds out just how ruthless Noah Cross can be.
Scene 4 Location: Second Act (Near the end)
Logline: Jake finds Ida Session’s body, realizing he is being set up.
Essence: Jake thought he had the answers and knew who the players were, only to learn how deep the corruption runs in the conspiracy.
Scene 5 Location: Third Act
Logline: Jake Gittes confronts Evelyn Mulwray and discovers a secret that changes everything.
Essence: Evelyn confesses that her sister is also her daughter which reveals her trauma and the truth about the monster who is her father, Noah Cross.
The profound essence, I think is that Jake is searching for and finds the truth but is powerless to do anything about it.

[Chris Dorsey]

Chris Finds the Essence

What I learned is that there is more depth to great writing and it all
starts with getting to the essence of what you want to write.

Script I choose: BREAKING BAD Pilot

Scene 1 Location: The Desert (Teaser)
Logline: Walter's life has gone terribly off the rails and he is leaving a last will and testament.
Essence: He's not going to be taken alive.

Scene 2 Location: Kitchen
Logline: Walter eats breakfast with his family. His life is pretty routing.
Essence: Walter is stuck in a life he might not be happy with..

Scene 3 Location: Restaurant
Logline: Walter, his family, and his in-laws eat dinner and discuss Walter's second job and Hank appears on TV.
Essence: Walter, Jr. and Hank get along better than Walter does with his son. The drug bust piques Walter's interest.

Scene 4 Location: Target House
Logline: Walter goes for a ride along and sees his former student is making crystal-meth.
Essence: Walter doesn't tell Hank what he knows about the former student.

Scene 5 Location: Jessie's Home
Logline: Walter tells Jessie how his crystal-meth should be made.
Essence: Walter is a perfectionist and is very good at chemistry.

• This reply was modified 2 days ago by  Chris Dorsey.