Lesson 1

[Bob Rowen]

Bob Rowen’s Conventions!

What I learned doing this assignment is a methodical way to identify the Conventions of my script.

Concept: A once naïve young patriotic Marine becomes embroiled in a civilian nuclear web of corruption.

Conventions

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Hero: Marine Force
Recon Pathfinder trained in ABC (Atomic, Biological, and Chemical) Warfare.
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Mission: To
expose the corruption of a dangerous and failed technology.

Demand for
Action: Corporate America and the government want him neutralized– dead if
necessary!

Antagonist:
Nuclear Plant Engineer motivated and capable of doing whatever it takes to
promote and protect the technology.

Escalating
Action: Corporate headquarters conspires with the government in search of
ways to neutralize the resistance.

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[Ira Drower]

Ira Drower’s Conventions:

Concept: Frank, an apathetic, genetically modified convict can receive a pardon if he captures an unauthorized dangerous Alien predator terrorizing a local town.

Action – Lesson 1 – Creating your Action Concept

I learned from this lesson how to start with the conventions to deliver on the action genre.

Ira Drower’s Action Conventions:

Hero: Frank, an apathetic, genetically modified convict.

Demand for Action: An unauthorized deadly Alien Predator is killing locals.

Mission: Capture the Alien predator without alerting authorities to receive a full pardon.

Antagonist: Powerful Alien Predator with advanced weaponry.

Escalating Action: As the Alien Predator continues to kill, Frank becomes a target as well.

[Beth Zurkowski]

Beth Zurkowski’s Conventions.

What I learned doing this assignment is how to brain storm better and how not to edit too early because it will stop creativity.

Concept: Velda Fabian, a black belt, saves an abused woman’s life; now the abuser wants them both dead.

Conventions

Hero: Velda Fabian black belt
Demand for Action: Patty was beaten in an honor killing.

Mission: Save Patty and her kids

Antagonist: Abuser Patty’s boyfriend.
Escalating Action: whole family is getting involved

[Barry Clark]

Barry E. Clark’s Conventions

What I learned doing this assignment is the value of spitballing ideas first.

Concept: A Lyft driver looking to up his game takes a private fare to deliver an Italian mobster’s wife to the airport… on the other side of the country.

Conventions

<div>Hero:50yo amputee, Silver Star recipient Veteran, once up and coming Nascar driver, fighting PTSD from the death of wife and daughter in a car accident, trying to find redemption.</div><div>

Demand For Action: “Someone” is trying to take down the boss, and his wife is a logical target.

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Mission: Make it to Miami while “someone” is trying to abduct the boss’ wife.

Antagonist: The sociopath wife of the boss, who is trying to overthrow him and take control. But is stuck in a Lyft going across country.

Escalating Action: The farther they get, the more desperate she is to get away. But he doesn’t realize till its too late.

[Kathi Wahed]

What I learned….move fast and don’t overthink things.

Kathi’s Conventions

Concept: Biologist about to file a patent for new strain of rice that will save America, has his prototype stolen by a Chinese spy. The biologist must hunt down the spy through Asia, all the way to the Chinese premier’s compound. If he doesn’t steal the prototype back China will use it to save its population from starvation. And America will starve.

Conventions:

Hero: Brilliant but conflicted about his work at a large chemical company. Grew up in China with his missionary mother and father. Returned to US to study. His recent discovery will revolutionize and save Americans from starvation (in the future when our food supply is depleted) and his patent will allow him to get out of the rat race and do what he likes most — extreme mountain sports. <div>

Demand For Action: Hero will have to get to China, overcoming murder attempt on the plane. Once in China he’ll be tracked by European intelligence trying to stop him (since they’ve negotiated a deal with China) and hounded by CIA who want to get to the prototype first. Inside the premier’s compound he’ll have to fight off highly skilled Chinese army commandos.

Mission: To retrieve the prototype, get home and take it to President’s staff for safekeeping. Claim his patent and save.

Antagonist: Chinese spy is the best assassin the country has.

Escalating Action: On his flight to China, kill a Chinese military officer who attacks him in the WC, steal a private plane when they land after the officer’s body is found, get shot at by Chinese pilots, crash and barely make it to town where he grew up, finds friend from his youth and asks for her help, her life is endangered, climbs rugged mountain range and skis through a blizzard to get to the premier’s heavily guarded compound. Disguise himself and crawl through the sewer system. Finds prototype in laser-guarded room, uses climbing skills to navigate, steals prototype back. Defeat competing countries’ spy network who want the prototype for themselves, betrayal of American politicians, etc.

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[THOMAS OBRIEN]

What i learned is my Antagonist has got to come out of the Shadows and I don’t know a thing about this Character. Concept: A misfit Deputy is called to action when 3 Climateer’s go missing while trespassing out at the Secret Air Force Base. Mission: Pick up the Badge and Gun again to find the missing Scientists. Escalating Action: Base Security abruptly impedes the investigation and escorts our Hero rudely off the Base.

[Frances Williams]

Frances Williams Conventions:

Highly Skilled Hero: A female Assassin hired by the CIA to take down Russian Mob.

Mission: To rescue kidnapped daughter of British Prime Minister.

Demand for Action: If she doesn’t act soon, the daughter will be sold into Sex Trafficking.

Antagonist:. Russian Drug Gang

Escalating Action: She chases a car if Heavily Armed men down the street until they plow into on coming traffic and there is an explosion.

High Concept.To save the daughter before she is sold into the world if sex trafficking.

[Chris Spizuoco]

Chris’s Conventions!

What I learned doing this assignment is: it can be a challenge to come up with new/novel ideas for this genre.

Concept: Retired Army Ranger in a race against time to save his billionaire father must skirt the law and psychopath who’s trying to kill them both.

Conventions

Hero: a retired Army Ranger returns home scarred both physically and mentally.

Demand For Action: whomever has attempted to kill his billionaire father is now after him.

Mission: save his dying father while keeping a long arm from the law and suspected killers.

Antagonist: there’s a short list of dark and evil psychopaths he has to uncover and expose.

Escalating Action: the closer he gets to saving his father, the closer he gets to losing his life

[Donna Stockwell]

Donna Stockwell’s Conventions!

What I learned doing this assignment is, I filled in all the blanks, thought about it over night, and introduced more depth into the conflict right away. I can hardly wait to see how the action unravels because I have a few directions but not convinced they are the right ones yet.

Who is hero? What makes him highly skilled? – Scientist, Dr F. Ido who captures the essence of dog’s breath and tests it on his dead partner (having heart attack or something)
What is the demand for action? What is it about this journey that makes this action? – essence brings back the dead and changes their personality to evil
What’s the mission that the hero is on? neutralize essence of dog’s breath
Who is the antagonist? the one who is completely bent on destroying this hero? the awakened dead partner – (with cat demeanor since previously partial to cats, owned cats and multiple scratches) – Dr. Leo Steenwyck (Daniel van Steenwyck painted the “Liberation of St Peter”. Dr. Steenwyck is the mastermind of the essence that Dr. Ido took credit for…. now who is the evil one?
How will the action escalate?. Dr. Steenwyck is awakened from the dead, then uses the essence to awaken others to help him take over the world and combat Dr. Ido, and steal Dr. Ido’s procedure to make the essence.

[Robert McCord]

Bob McCord’s conventions

What I learned doing this assignment: Transforming a character from everyday
everyman into resourceful hero without cliche is gonna be tough.

Concept: A contracts expert has to save the company and his own life when unknown business rivals want him dead.

Highly skilled hero: Business consultant who knows how to win huge military contracts.

Mission: Company hires him to beat competition for weapons programs that will save company and community–and bring him big bucks.

Demand for action: Routine assignment becomes difficult choice: Company can’t win without him and if he stays for the money he could wind up dead.

Antagonist: Relentless VP with ties to the Pentagon and mysterious connections to ‘the money men’ and something else.

Escalating action: He’s shot at, fired, declared a security risk, and more as he keeps finding a way to prevail.

[Gary Holland]

Gary Holland’s conventions

I learned the conventions is a good way to get started.

Hero – Air Force test pilot.

Demand for action – If the hero doesn’t confront the antagonist, his pregnant girlfriend will be forced into galactic prostitution.

Mission – Protect an alien artifact.

Antagonist – A good galactic cop turns bad by forces beyond his control.

Escalating action – On his way to save his girlfriend, the hero finds out he has to save Earth in the process… can he do one, or the other… or both.

[Christopher Confer]

What I learned doing this assignment is:

Concept: Grieving the loss of his wife to a distracted driver, a judge joins a star chamber of fellow judges and prosecutors to exact real justice and stop a subversive foreign gang that is harming his city.

Conventions

• Hero: Judge Ken kicks ass and takes names with his fellow Judge Ken

• Demand For Action: Do or die as the gang of foreign government subversives brings the fight to him and his friend and colleague Judge Jason

• Mission: Stop gang leader named Kirill and his LilPutins

• Antagonist: Kirill, the SVR (KGB) controller and his sidekick Burlyman

• Escalating Action: At first he doles out harsh sentences and rotary cell phone and takes away defendants’ cell phones to distracted driving offenders, but then Judge Ken’s colleague, Judge Jason, asks him to join his star chamber that is fighting foreign subversive gangs that are deliberately causing mayhem on our streets.

[Christopher Confer]

Correction to the first bullet point should say kick ass and take names with his fellow Judge Jason.

[Chris Hollo]

Chris Hollo’s conventions:

What I learned from this assignment is how to elevate the concept.

Hero: Former female US Army Ranger who struggles with readjusting to civilian life.

Demand for action: If she doesn’t keep a cartel accountant alive, he will be tortured to death.

Mission: Keep a cartel accountant from being slowly killed.

Antagonist: Cartel boss who is planning on skinning accountant alive for skimming money.

Escalating Action: Running only works for so long and she has to go on the offensive.

[Jeannine Hegelbach]

Jeannine Hegelbach’s Conventions

What I learned doing this assignment is, that for the development of an action movie I can work in a methodical way by brainstorming different initial elements like unusual weapons, a hero with a unique skill set, mission, unique setting, unbeatable antagonist to find the rest of the story.

Conventions

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Hero: a sleeper agent, imprisoned for the murder of his
twin brother in a high-security gang prison in El Salvador
</div><div>

Demand For Action: break out of prison and find his brother
or what happened to him

Mission: to find out what happened to his twin brother

Antagonist: the head of the sleeper agent program working
with brain implants

Escalating Action: they send his own twin brother, who is
controlled by a brain implant out to kill him

Concept: To find out what happened to his twin brother for whose murder he is incarcerated
in a gang prison in South America, a sleeper agent must break out and fight the
CIA.

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[Garry Johnson]

Garry “Scoot” Johnson’s Conventions

What I learned: Structure. Or at least the beginning of it. Which is the very thing I need. I have all these ideas in my head; I need a system, strategy, method, whatever you want to call it, to get it out of me, onto paper, and, ultimately, into the world.

Concept: In an attempt to secure the release of their leader, a militia group attempts to kidnap the college student son of the President of the United States, resulting in him going on the run with one of his protectors – a young female agent.

Conventions

Hero: Female rookie Secret Service Action

Demand For Action: Attempted kidnapping of the President’s son.

Mission: Protect the President’s son and make it safely back to the White House.

Antagonist: Militia seeking to use the President’s son as leverage to secure the release of their leader.

Escalating Action: Militia members and crooked government agents in collusion with the militia members, including members of the very security detail she was working, work together to stop her, capture the son and, failing all else, put the blame for everything on her.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by  Garry Johnson.