Lesson 1

[Aina Jarvine]

Aina’s Transformational Journey

What I learned doing this assignment is how much easier the Old Ways/New Ways make development of the character/story – it makes everything so much clearer in my mind by starting from Old Ways/New Ways.

My hero: Urr – a city family-elf – a modern version of old house-elf, tied to a family rather than a house.

Internal Journey: from snobby and anxious to merry and easy-going

External Journey: from a loner city elf to the, albeit reluctantly, adventurous one who unites all the farm elves at his new home

Old Ways:
* Ignorant of other mystical beings
* Snobbish – false belief in his own greatness
* Loner – prefers his own company
* Scared to look out
* Rigidly set in his ways

New Ways:
* Dares to look out and have friends, and enemies
* Still prefers his own company but is happy to have others to turn to around him
* Aware of old myths and his part in the elf-lore
* Knows change cannot be avoided
* Braver than before
* Accepts his nature as a mischievous elf

• This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by  Aina Jarvine.

[Benita Cullingford]

Benita Cullingford

First assignment… Transition

Main character, Bolshie young TRACY

INTERNAL JOURNEY: From feeling there is more to life than mind-numbing meaningless jobs, putting up with authoritarian incompetence, living with a nagging mother, and generally being unhappy, Tracy’s EXTERNAL JOURNEY leads to a happier self-awareness, creative fulfilment and manager/ part-ownership of a successful locksmith shop.

OLD WAYS:

Expects life to owe her.

Disrespectful of authority she doesn’t agree with.

Unprepared to accept second best

Restless and unfulfilled

NEW WAYS:

Accepts life will only improve if she puts in the work.

Learns to care about others and accept their friendship

Life is more than material.

Good people can do ‘not so good’ things.

Becomes efficient at a worthwhile craft and learns more than she expects!

[David Bruno]

Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.

I learnt how to create a character arc both internal and external.

ASSIGNMENT

You send a Hero on a journey that the audience gets to live.

2. Who is your Hero and what is their Character Arc that represents a transformation?

Internal Journey: The character’s IJ is going from curiosity to enlightenment, he discovers the deep meaning of what he is obsessed with.

External Journey: The protagonist goes from just another campus professor teaching from textbooks to an explorer who travels many places to get to the truth of his pursuit.

3. What are the Old Ways and New Ways?

OLD WAYS:

A college professor teaching the science of evolutionary biology from the university approved textbooks and curriculum, grading papers, chumming it up with the fellow faculty and trying to not screw up his bid for tenure.

NEW WAYS:

The hero is challenged by the flawed institution he labors under and seeks new methods of gaining the truth. He becomes bold and asks questions about established beliefs. He investigates highly credible reports and rejects compliance with authoritarian scientific ‘dogmas’. Goes to the source of information that is presented to him.

4. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.

I learnt how to create a character arc both internal and external.

[Douglas Booth]

Doug Booth

What I learned doing this assignment: It helped bring into focus the transformational journey I already knew my hero would undertake – but now I see it much more clearly, and this understanding will provide me with a much clearer map to the route the hero will take to his goal and the kinds of conflicts he will face and the decisions he will need to make to get to his actual goal – as well as giving me, the writer, good guidance in making appropriate and fun story-telling decisions along the way.

1^st assignment

What is transformational arc of main character?

Internal?

External?

Nick goes from being a bit desperate to make a big money success in NYC real estate. I think he wants to help his buddies at the DHPF foster care place back home – the younger ones especially – the place is going bankrupt or something – and he’s gotta make it big to save the place that raised him. At first, he thinks that means he’s gotta be a “shark” and take what he can get – but – because he is doing this for altruistic means, he starts to realize it doesn’t feel that good – though it’s sometimes exciting – but he goes to realizing that to do good – he has to use good methods and means – and, to help people in the end, he has to help people along the way. So he aligns his means and his ends and realizes he can do well by being a good person and doing good things. And that way, there’s nothing to rise out of his past dealings to bite him in the moment of his ultimate success – because he hasn’t created any negative “scorpions” or “spiders” along the way that may undermine his ultimate victory.

External – he starts by ripping off the guy at the airport (oh well, that time it worked!) – but then trying to sell people on things that they don’t need or want, or lies about the condition of the apartments, or tries to help them borrow from their old grandmother or whatever – and then – as he comes to care about the people he’s working with as buyers and also Jerome as a mentor and Shania and Carl and also the folks at the HDFC – he realizes he doesn’t want to rip any of them off, he wants to help them, and by helping them, he can also succeed and make the money he needs. So he becomes an ethical and ministerial real estate agent – working for the good of the neighborhood – and willing to take on the super-bad guys. AND he will even have a moment where he could “go over to the dark side” and make a shitload of money – but by betraying the neighborhood and all those who live in it – the HDFC folks, the historic mansion and legacy of Caspar, Alice’s memory – maybe even Carl, cause he would sort of get cheated out of it, too – and the parishioners of the church – through the minister’s scam – and, in fact, he helps the minister to save his soul by helping him to reverse the crooked deal he made, and, even if it does get him killed, the minister dies happy that he fulfilled his own ministry to his people.

Old Ways – “street smart”, pick-pocketing skills, lying to gain an advantage, manipulating people – etc, to achieve a goal. So even though the goal might be “good”, the means to attain it are not good for the people he uses to help him attain it,

New Ways – finding goals and attainments of value – that he can help people attain (like buying or selling a cool house) in a way that everyone profits from. And learning that it’s okay to make a profit, because you are adding value to the equation, one way or another. That is not a rip-off – that is bringing value to the table and creating something (a deal/ a transaction) that did not exist before, but now it does, because of you – and of course, then your creation is something you are legitimately allowed to profit from, and it makes everyone happy, and everyone concerned – they all profit from it, too. Win-win-win!

What I learned doing this assignment: It helped bring into focus the transformational journey I already knew my hero would undertake – but now I see it much more clearly, and this understanding will provide me with a much clearer map to the route the hero will take to his goal and the kinds of conflicts he will face and the decisions he will need to make to get to his actual goal – as well as giving me, the writer, good guidance in making appropriate and fun story-telling decisions along the way.

[Wayne Reid]

What I learned from this assignment is that empowerment is that feeling that begins at the base of one’s spine and spreads through one’s body. I have only sketched the basis for that journey. That will come later within this course.

Wayne

[Marilynne Hebert]

Marilynne’s Transformational Journey

What I learned doing this assignment is… I realized my hero must learn how to empower herself to live her best, and most fulfilled life.

STORY – In a future Virtual Human Project, subjects physically become their avatars and Dr. Isy discovers she can temporarily repair injuries in their virtual state. By the end of the movie, she is driven to find a way to make repairs permanent, while fighting every obstacle in her path including those who don’t want her to succeed.

My hero is an exceptional researcher who doesn’t see her own potential for success and how powerful her research can be.

Internal Journey: From feeling unsure of her abilities and afraid of success to demanding her rightful place as an exceptional researcher<s></s>

External Journey: From a quiet introvert who lets others take credit for her success to a strong, capable leader<s></s>

Isy OLD Ways:

1. Doesn’t question authority figures

2. Dedicated and driven to be the best researcher in her field

3. Unable to see how a past wound prevents her from succeeding

Isy NEW Ways:

1. Self-confident and not afraid to voice her opinion

2. Takes credit for her amazing work; she is recognized for her accomplishments

3. Released from her wound

[michelle patnett]

Monica’s transformational journey

What I learned doing this assignment is the power of self-confidence and the important of relying on yourself.

In early 90s Southern California, a young widow battles misogyny and racial barriers to reclaim her house and identity from a squatter.

Internal Journey: Monica’s quest is to reconnect with her family and learn how to navigate her new reality with maturity and wise decisions.

External Journey: As Monica battles indifferent officials and an uncaring world, she realizes her only hope to reclaiming her house and identity is through her own power and self-conviction.

Old Ways: Drinking, swearing, hostility, anger, belligerence.

New Ways: Sobriety, thoughtfulness, reflection, forbearance, thinking through a decision before acting on it.

[Michelle]

Michelle’s Transformational Journey

I am learning the importance of structure.

Hero: Beverly

Internal Journey: From fearful and helpless to brave and confident

External Journey: From pampered snowflake to bad ass sole survivor

Old Ways:

· Dependent
· Indecisive
· Insecure
· Follower
· Easily influenced
· Timid
· Naïve
· Inept

New Ways:

· Leader
· Decisive
· Instinctive
· Brave
· Confident
· Innovative
· Driven
· Fearless

[Shahrukh Shackle]

An entitled and self-indulgent crown prince is deeply resentful that his father has disappeared before explaining why he has a low opinion of him.

But during his terrifying quest, he learns, painfully, to discover his failings and that things and people are not always what he expected and gains the admiration of his father and be crowned the king of the Sacred City.

Old ways

Arrogant

accomplished in warfare but unwilling to take the throne because he’s secretly scared.

<font face=”inherit”>his desire to confront his father fuels is partly a way to avoid the impending attack from an enemy king </font>

he expects things to come easily to him

over-confident of his physical skills

lacks judgement

knows it all

New ways

He learns things are not always as they seem

acquires patience

learns to assess situations and people and becomes less impatient

confronts his own weakness but gains confidence to make hard choices

Understands his father’s concerns despite the fact that he doesn’t recognise him

<font face=”inherit”>returns to his kingdom to fight off a </font>rival<font face=”inherit”> ruler</font>

engages in a bloody battle with demonic forces to save his kingdom and gains his father’s recognition and admiration.

[Shahrukh Shackle]

PS:

The assignment helped me to condense my characters’ journey and also to build up my character.

[Chris Spizuoco]

Who is your Hero and what is their Character Arc that represents a transformation?

There are 2 Protagonists: the narrator and his father; the arc of the narrator follows the discovery of his father’s grandiose delusions which stem from a “secret” disorder.

Father’s Internal Journey: from
physical to ethereal

External Journey: A young man from NYC to central Maine

Old Ways: physical, domineering, rebellious

New: sharing, creative, at peace

What I learned doing this assignment is:

1. Creating complex characters is hard work.

2. “brevity is the soul of wit” (from Hamlet).

• This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by  Chris Spizuoco.

[Tully Archer]

Tully’s Transformational Journey

What I learned doing this assignment is that I have learned a lot since I first came up with this idea. I can totally see why it stayed on a shelf for so long – it wasn’t a movie yet.

I did listen to the audio. Your brain basically doesn’t know the difference between something vividly imagined and something that objectively happened, in case anyone’s wondering why visualizations actually work when done right. (And why WORRY works, in the opposite direction – the stress chemicals that your body produces because you vividly worried are just as real as if that thing did happen.)

Who is my Hero and what is their Character Arc that represents a Transformation?

Elsie Ostrove, she’s around 60, and her entire adult life she’s been under the abusive thumb of her husband. She had a son, Ian, who is now going by Eric. He’s a serial killer.

Her character arc is going from a powerless, forgotten, head-in-the-sand old woman full of regrets to a messily powerful, hunted, scared and broken woman who at least feels that the biggest regret of her life has been resolved. That she has done her job as a mother the best that could be done now, after everything that already happened, the things that cannot be changed.

Internal Journey: She wasn’t living, and now, she’s done living. She used to keep all her wants and hopes a secret, but now, she doesn’t care what happens next, she has relieved herself of that burden.

External Journey: She’d been isolated so long she could have popped out of existence and all that would have been said was a complaint by her husband that dinner is missing. Now, she’s headline news.

Old Ways: Burying head in sand. Accepting all abuse. Thinking that the people she views as close view her as close. Hoping that better days are right around the corner.

New Ways: Focusing completely on the truthful resolution of the problem. Messily rejecting abuse. Brutal knowledge that her sisters and “friends” never actually cared about her (and certainly her husband never did.) Closing the door to “better” days entirely, and being at peace with that.

[Kristina Day]

Kristina Day’s Transformational Journey

What I learned:

Asking myself today’s assignment questions has instantly brought the character into focus. And also, not to be afraid of setting my character up as a bit of a loser to start with or as someone who doesn’t have much going for him. That’s ok because then he has somewhere to go!

My hero: Michael, early 30s. Dies in an untimely accident.

Internal Journey: from feeling lost, being arrogant and self-absorbed to knowing his purpose, being selfless and truly connecting with his love interest

External Journey: from non-believing small time lawyer to guardian angel who woos his love interest from the afterlife

Old Ways

Ignorant of angels, spiritual realms or spiritual support

scoffing at / ridiculing spiritual beliefs as woowoo, hippie-ish, crazy, stupid

Non-believer

Arrogant, always needs to be right, self involved

Small time lawyer (? not sure about this yet)

Lacking purpose and meaning in life

Feeling lost

NEW WAYS

After his death he (reluctantly) becomes a guardian angel himself

To his surprise, he can see spiritual realms, other angels, and all sorts of spiritual beings

He learns to navigate how guardian angels work, e.g. how to get through to people and guide them

He successfully woos his love interest from the afterlife

His (after)life has purpose and meaning

He becomes selfless

[Pam Ewing]

Hero – Natalie

Externally she has just lost her mother who she was caregiver to. She blames the estrangement from her husband on the time she devoted to her mother but her friends have hinted that she was just using her mother’s illness as an excuse because she didn’t want to invest more in the marriage. She thinks she’s even started to experience early menopause symptoms.

Internally she’s wiped of positive emotions, hopes, and goals and has no interest in returning to the normal world that she used to enjoy.

At the reading of her mother’s will she is presented with a dying request, a quest to claim a birthright that she never knew existed. She thinks that this is a matter of traveling to a remote section of Europe, doing some research, filing some forms. What she will learn is that the birthright endows supernatural powers that she must fight to gain.

=

Old ways – Wimp, withdrawn, defeated, used up, can’t even argue

New ways – action for answers, answers toward justice for her and then for the ability to save others (not just hospice care)

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What I learned. I am totally feeling unempowered of late. I have a superpower concept that I enjoy so I’m hanging an empowerment plot on it (for now).