Lesson 1

[Janeen Johnson]

The Morning Show 5 Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment is that a lot of tiny one-liners or one-looks were used to hint at things to come, but were not explained in any way. Interesting characters were thrown in for brief roles in the pilot with their motivations at odds with those of other characters. The framework of the world being explored was clearly laid out.

Big Picture Hooks —

The show is like a family and when one parent steps way out of line (dies), what does the rest of the family do?
What if the man in TV’s “morning couple” is replaced by a woman?

2. Amazing and Intriguing Character

1. Alex — Mother, divorced, has had an affair with a coworker, worried about her job, worried about her age affecting her job, been doing the job for 15 years and is very good at it, works really hard — the show is her life, is set adrift when her co-anchor (who she had an affair with and who is now fired because of workplace sexual misconduct) is fired.

2. Bradley — passionate about reporting, conservative, smart (knows when to hold her tongue), has family baggage, has career baggage as she flies off the handle too much, known as 2 Fucks Jackson.

3. Empathy / Distress

Alex:

1. “Lost” her cohost/best friend of 15 years and is enraged and grieving at the same time.

2. Her daughter isn’t as “there for her” as she thought when she showed up at her apartment after the firing. That’s disappointing.

3. Worried about her looks fading or looking tired or older as it could get her fired.

4. Her contract negotiation was held up. Is she getting fired instead of renewed?

5. Will the public respond to her grief or think it fake the way she thinks Bradley’s display of rage was fake?

Bradley:

1. Cares about the story and the people behind it.

2. Has a brother who is an addict who she has tried to help but he seems to screw it up every time.

3. Has a mother who is lonely and counteracts her attempts to help her brother

4. Does not have a stellar reputation at work even though it is her passion

5. Is a fish out of water in NYC

4. Layers / Open Loops

1. How will Bradley and Alex get along as co-anchors?

2. Will Bradley replace Alex (obviously not since Aniston is the star to The Morning Show 🙂 show, but….)

3. What is Alex’s relationship with her daughter and ex-husband. There is clearly more there.

4. What is in it for all of the folks that were brainstorming at Alex’s apartment?

5. Will Chip survive the chopping block as well if he can keep Alex from being fired?

6. How will Bradley cope in NYC? Will she blow up her chances there too?

7. Will Bradley’s brother stay clean?

8. What’s up with Bradley’s mother?

9. What is Mitch planning to do with the gun?

10. What is the weatherman’s reaction going to be when he doesn’t replace Mitch?

11. Will the network morning show survive the scandal?

5. Inviting Obsession

1. There are a lot of questions, subjects for exploration

2. A lot of characters were introduced in snippets that left questions in their wake.

Hannah, Cody, other executives, Chip, other producers, directors, Alex’s ex-husband, Mitch’s wife and kids, Mitch’s agent, Alex’s agent, the roomful of people at Alex’s, Bradley’s mother and brother, Bradley’s ex-boss, assistants and makeup artists.

[Paige Macdonald]

SUCCESSION 5 Star

What I learned doing this assignment is that 1) the Big Picture Hook seems to center around the central protagonist who drives the whole series, no matter how many players there are. 2) Irony and humor are good techniques to offset unlikeable characters and to make them intriguing. 3) The empathy/distress pendulum swings in almost every scene and makes us feel for the plight of these characters, whether we like them or not. 4) A substantive TV pilot sets up a host of open questions that we want answered, and we can only watch the show to get those answers. 5) And those open-ended questions and a striking cliffhanger invites the obsession to keep with the series.

1. Big Picture Hooks

Ask this: What is the big hook of this show?

SUCCESSION: A curmudgeonly 80-year-old media mogul with failing health refuses to relinquish control of his conglomerate.

2. Amazing and Intriguing Character

Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?

Logan Roy: Logan is the powerhouse behind this family and a bastard to boot, but his declining health also shows him as a feeble old man who’s not ready to let go of the reins of his empire…and he may die in the process.

Kendall Roy: Kendall is a pasty white executive, who inherited the reins to his station, but who has high ambitions and thinks too highly of himself. He also still holds tightly onto Daddy’s strings and needs to prove himself to gain his father’s approval. He’s extremely vulnerable and takes a gut punch when the heir role is pulled out from under him.

Greg: A down-and-out low life, who can’t even hold onto a job dressed as a costumed character. He’s sent to his great uncle Logan to make good, and he’s such a fish out of water in this environment.

Roman Roy: Roman is Logan’s youngest son, far from the corporate type with his truth-telling mannerisms, irreverence, and humor, but he has a charm about him. He’s a fun counterpart to the more serious-minded family members.

Shiv Roy: Shiv is Logan’s only daughter, and she is shown to be astute, politically savvy, and somewhat distant from the family business.

Connor Roy: Logan’s eldest son is “water, he flows”. He’s doesn’t give a damn about the business at all and won’t play his father’s games. He’s somewhat eccentric, quirky, and detached from all that is going on around him with the family dynamics.

3. Empathy / Distress

Ask this: What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters?

Empathy: A feeble old man not knowing where he is in his own home. Peeing where he shouldn’t.

Distress: Thinking “you’re the man”, i.e., Kendall Roy, only to be undercut by the smaller businessman who says, “no, thanks,” followed by a “fuck-you, Daddy’s boy” version of dialogue.

Empathy: Kendall seems to feel it’s going to work out despite the “f-you.” He looks vulnerable here. And one can admire his subsequent go-getter attitude, balanced with the humor around “calling one’s Dad”.

Empathy: The irony around how unexcited Logan is about his birthday and the “announcement”.

Distress/Empathy: Being forced to wear one of those heavy amusement park costumes. Getting sick in one is even worse. (Greg)

Distress: Kendall not knowing that money is not the end-all, be-all, and not knowing how to solve the issue at hand.

Empathy: Roman who enters with irreverence, a motor mouth, and his sage, and who knows he’s not a “corporate cock-suck”. But he’s smart and he knows what’s up. He’s a truth teller.

Empathy/Distress: Logan, still appearing as alone in his wealthy fortress, and fed up with the headline of his son who is to take over.

Empathy: Logan’s daughter, Shiv, who states her father doesn’t give a damn about “things”/possessions, but she helps out her husband to pick out a present, an expensive birthday watch.

Empathy/Distress: Kendall will do whatever it takes to make this deal happen. He does it with humor. And then his father shows up with paperwork. Kendall is worried it affects his position and the Trust, but his father says it doesn’t.

Empathy/Distress: Greg being tackled by the bodyguard for trying to meet up with his great uncle Logan in his unsophisticated way. Greg tries to be kind in a stumbling type of manner.

Empathy: Roman saying that the last time he surprised Logan, Logan took a swing at him.

Empathy: For Greg when Logan calls him “Craig”.

Distress: Feel for the family as Logan subtly undercuts each and every one there at his party. Kendall is still fighting to close this deal, and he finds out his ex-wife has started dating someone.

Empathy/Distress: Greg has to get Logan’s brother, aka, his grandfather, to talk to Logan, when they don’t communicate anymore, in order to achieve his own goals.

Distress: Logan undermined Kendall with the paperwork, and now Logan is insisting the rest of the kids agree to his terms. This is the “present” he really wants. And he announces he’s going to stay at the top: Chairman, CEO, head of the firm. This is the gut punch to Kendall. (Mid-point)

Distress: Kendall confronts his father, but his father admits he thinks Kendall is too soft and that it is a “big dick competition”. His father says he doesn’t know when he’ll be ready to step down…5…10 years. Logan is toying with his son now.

Empathy: For Kendall who looks like he wants to hit his father and/or cry, and the fact that his father continues to torment this sorry soul.

Distress/Empathy: Kendall tears up things in the bathroom, and then tries to clean it up after he sees a remnant of his magazine headline where he was the “heir apparent”. This pitiful sorry soul. The irony.

Empathy: The family laughing together about “playing the game”. They can bond. The mystery/intrigue.

Empathy: Greg smooshed between Logan and Marcy in the town car on the way to the game trying to pitch Logan. Greg is so out of his element, but he’s trying.

Empathy: The intimate talk between Logan and Roman in the helicopter, where Logan wants Roman to return. The quiet moment between Logan and Marcy, where he checks in that she’s okay.

Empathy/Distress: Shiv’s husband finally gives Logan his expensive birthday watch, and Logan dismisses it within seconds.

Distress: Connor razzes Greg. He’s a bully in the guise of joking around.

Empathy/Distress: Roman writes a check for one million dollars for the gardener’s boy if he can hit a homerun. And the kid hits the ball…but is out at home plate. Roman tears up the check.

Empathy/Distress: For the businessman from the beginning who must play nice with Kendall now, because Kendall has forced the deal to happen.

Distress: The lawyer friend of 30 years, Frank, is shown the door by Logan in one fell swoop.

Empathy/Distress: Shiv, Roman and Connor stand against their father’s position as a collective, when Logan collapses in the helicopter.

Empathy/Distress: Kendall wins the deal and attempts to backtrack on his previous shit talk, but the businessman lets him know his father has a brain hemorrhage, and without Daddy, Kendall better watch out.

Empathy: The family are all in the waiting room at the hospital and sincerely seem to be out of sorts. Kendall at the office.

Irony: That expensive birthday watch is on the table in the gardener’s son’s family apartment in the crowded, noisy city.

4. Layers / Open Loops

Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?

• How will Logan’s health and mental acuity affect his ability to run the business?

• Who will succeed Logan Roy?

• Will Kendall’s ambitions succeed? Or will it be his downfall?

• How will Shiv’s political aspirations affect the family and the business?

• Can Roman mature and step up in the family business?

• What role will the black sheep Connor play in the family dynamics?

• How will Logan’s actions and decisions impact the family’s relationships?

• What ethical and moral dilemmas will arise?

• What secrets will be uncovered?

• How will external forces affect the family’s fortune?

• What will be the long-term fate of Waystar Royco?

5. Inviting Obsession

Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?

SUCCESSION: How is Logan going to run the business with his failing health, who will be his successor, and how is this going to play into the family dynamics as a whole?

[Frank Ishizaki]

WEDNESDAY

What I learned doing this assignment is that an amazing character is key to getting us to stay and get hooked enough to want to binge.

The big hook of this show is Wednesday Addams attending Nevermore, the ultimate outcast high school. Note, the hook is powered by IP, the Addams Family

Wednesday is intriguing and interesting because she’s the ultimate goth girl who refuses to conform or go along with what anyone in authority wants for her to the point of violent, devious crimes, aggravated assault, etc.

We feel both empathy and distress for her initially when she goes in on her mother, Morticia, inflicting teenage cruelty and then throughout the process of her starting at the boarding school. When she loses the fencing match against Bianca it shows her vulnerability.

Questions created that can only be answered by watching the entire season are 1) who’s the killer? and 2) is her dad, Gomez, really a murderer?

This pilot creates the need to see every single episode almost entirely because of Wednesday’s character. Not only is her dialogue hilarious, but Ortega is absolutely captivating.

[Kevin Ash]

Scandal 5 star model

What I learned doing this assignment is that as long as you tie the knots, every part of the story doesn’t need to dazzle, but it’s better if it does.

Big Picture Hooks
Ask this: What is the big hook of this show? Will the lead character take down the president? Other hooks: What will she do for the intern? How does the love triangle between the new fiance and his co-worker play out? Will the protagonist thrive or fail?

Amazing and Intriguing Character
Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting? Pope seems like a cold blooded killer, but she’s hiding her humanity. President is a snake who manipulates, will he get his? Fiance is trying to get normalcy, but can he? Co-worker try-hard is in love but can’t show it.

Empathy / Distress
Ask this: What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters? Pope is in love with the President, but he’s a snake. Intern is telling the truth but is destroyed anyway, then taken on by Pope. Protagonist hired to do cool job, then thrown under the bus, then finds truth but opinion isn’t validated, sees good that came of job 2 and faith is restored. Co-worker is in love with guy who proposes to girlfriend, foreshadowing that she’s being constantly tortured.

Layers / Open Loops
Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season? Will the President get his? Will the protag. succeed?

Inviting Obsession
Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?Layered characters, empathy created for several of them put in bad situations. You root for the underdogs who may be able to see justice eventually. Two satisfactory storylines played out to conclusion, meaning more to follow.

[Karen Tolliver]

“WEDNESDAY” 5 STAR MODEL

Karen Tolliver

What I learned doing this assignment is all the components needed to make an intriguing show come together. It’s not just a 3 Act structure that will make a show great it’s so much more than that.

Big Picture Hook:

Wednesday plans to escape Nevermore the school her parents went to and vows to never be like them.

Intriguing Characters:

Wednesday Addams: Her ability to have visions.

Morticia Addams: Her mother and hiding a big secret.

Gomez Addams: Her father who has a police record.

Pugsley Addams: her brother who she protects because he’s week.

Enid: Her roommate who is a Werewolf who can’t wolf out.

Thing: It’s only a Hand and Her helper.

Principal Larisa : watches Wednesday like a hawk.

Xavier: Saves Wednesday life from falling statue.

Rowan: trying to kill Wednesday because of her family past.

Tyler: tries to help Wednesday escape.

Empathy/ Distress:

Wednesday was almost killed twice by Rowan, Xavier saves her the first time and the second time the Monster saves her. We feel empathy for her when she talks about the last time she cried at the age of 6 over her pet Nero a scorpion killed by some kids.

Layers/Open Loops:

Why does Rowan want to kill her and who is the girl in the picture who looks like Wednesday. Why does her father have a police report? What is her mothers secret? Who is the Monster killing everyone in the woods.

Inviting Obsession:

We need to find out who is the Monster in the woods. Who is the girl in the picture who looks like Wednesday. Will Wednesday survive any more death threats? Will Wednesday escape Nevermore school?

[Bruno ROMAGNOLI]

What I learned doing this assignment is that you can surprise the audience in the first episode by making the characters do opposite things, meaning bad and good things all the time, to not project them completely in the first episode. That will make us wonder who they really are, a discovering journey during the whole show.

Succession:

BIG PICTURE HOOKS: The big hook is about a wealthy family living in New York and not knowing what is going to happened with the company and the money. Everyone wants a piece of it.

Amazing and Intriguing characters:

Logan Roy: He is old and undecisive. He doesn’t want anybody to step on him. It almost feels like he hates everyone. His first instruction is about him having bladder problems, peeing all over the carpet, that humanizes the character, making us feel sorry for him. But later on, we discover he is a grumpy bastard who want all for his interest. There are some small scenes where we can see he is traying to be a good person, but we don’t know if those are real. For example, when he tries to listen to Greg or when he gives THE baseball kid his watch. But the intentions behind it are always questionable.

Kendall Roy: We immediately know he is uncapable of closing the business, therefor uncapable of taking his dad’s shoes. He wants his approval and he wants power. All of his surroundings tell him that he is not good enough. The paper he signs, the coworkers telling him to call his dad, his past with drugs, and the betrayal of his dad. Also, when he thinks he got the reins of the company, the new business partner will try to screw him over. He needs power and a new set of balls.

Roman Roy: The energy is completely opposite to his brother. He is more charismatic, energetic and probably the rebel one in the family. He feels easy going, but we don’t really know who he is. He changes his decision throughout the first episode, and we don’t know why, yet. When we think we know a character, he comes up with something we didn’t expect before. Unpredictable behavior for most of them.

Siobhan Roy: She is away from the family business. Married to Tom, a guy that tries too hard to be accepted by Logan. She is smart, warm and decided. She is intriguing because we don’t know much about her, but we know her influence above the other characters.

Greg: We have a great character introduction where he is listening to an explanation in an amusement park and seconds later, we see him in a big character costume playing with kids. We later understand that he is part of the family and he travels to New York to finally meet Logan. He is a loser landing in a rich family, something is telling us he is going to do big things, or maybe not.

Empathy / Distress:

Logan: He starts with a bladder problem, he is old and weak, we already feel bad for him from second one. His family is a nest of rats that all they want is money and power and he knows that. The only gift he wanted was rejected by his children causing him a brain hemorrhage.

Kendall: His business didn’t go as planned and got humiliated in from of his employees. Nobody thinks he is capable of holding the company up. Then, his father changes the plans he has and tricks him into signing the papers of giving power away to his mother-in-Law. His plan of becoming the head of the company falls down when his father reveals he still wants to run the business. The new company partner reveals he is in there in order to destroy it. His ex-wife mocks him about the drugs and the new relationships.

Open loops:

– Will Logan stay in the company?

– Will logan survive his stroke?

– Will logan get along with his children?

– Will Logan finally speak with his brother? What happened between them?

– Will logan get the papers signed?

– Will kendall get the company? Will he mange it well?

– Will the new member destroy the company?

– Who will be in charge of the company?

– Will Greg occupy a new job at the company?

– Who will get all the money and power?

Inviting Obsession:

It has multiple hooks in the first episode. For some reason I ended up hating most of the main characters, but I still want to watch. In my particular case it’s because I want to see what bad things will happen to them in order to change, if they do. Poetic Justice, to see how the stroke will change Logan and the relationship he has with his children. Drama attracts attentions.

[Adite Banerjie]

The Handmaid’s Tale 5 Star Model

What I learned: Empathy for the characters is more important than likeability; every episode needs to have two or more layers that helps the audience to find out more about the world it is set in. This helps to set up challenges for the main characters and further enhance their uniqueness.

Big Picture Hooks:
In a future, dystopian, religion-based world, June aka Offred, is a Handmaid or a baby producing slave for one of the leaders of a commune and his barren wife. The commune’s guards captured her after killing her husband and taking away her child. Now she needs to find her child.

Intriguing Characters:

June/Offred has lost everything and is being forced into procreating a child for her employer. In a world where women like her have no voice she will do anything to get back her child.

Empathy/Distress

She has been captured, her husband has been killed, her child was taken away, she is forced into sex with her employer, she has no rights to speak of. Someone (she doesn’t know who) is spying on her. She is stuck in a hostile world and all her near and dear ones are dead or missing.

Layers/Open Loops

Layers:
Janine, a rebellious girl is punished for disobeying -her eye is plucked out and she is transformed completely into a submissive follower.
Her friend Moira who tells her to follow the rules or else she will be sent to the colonies / Moira herself was sent to the colonies (what did she do?)
The Commander’s Driver – is he Offred’s potential friend? Or a spy?

Ofgden who initially spies on her, later becomes an ally (she tells her there is a spy in the house)

The commune’s rules also provide insights into the unique world the story is set in – creating layers and causing more distress/challenges for the characters.

– what happens to those who don’t obey (set up by showing the wall of people who have been hanged)
– when a woman is raped, it is her fault, unless the rapist has raped a pregnant handmaid of one of the leaders

– the barren wife being forced to be present when her husband has sex with the handmaid.

Open Loops: Will she be able to find her child? How? Who is spying on her? Can she trust anyone? What will happen to her if the Commander finds out?

Inviting Obsession

How will Offred find her daughter? What will happen to her if the Commander finds out? Who is spying on her? Will she meet the same fate as Moira if they find out? What is the Driver’s intention – is he a friend or spy?

[Lawrence Fraly]

DIPLOMAT

What I learned doing this assignment was: there are other elements that contribute to the 5-star model:

1 pacing: I got so used to the rapid pacing that I couldnt’ slow down at the end even if I wanted to: (very short, quick scenes for international plot, longer reflective scenes for their relations) Pilot ends with jump from her photo op to quick shot of him getting kidnapped.

2 from one scene to the next, I felt swept up in the various points of view about the main plot and the various developing relationships (Kathryn has to prevent a war while having to deal with Hal and the messed up marriage to him.)

3 Kathryn’s reaction to each new setting as both a pain in the ass ans also an awesome fantasy

The Diplomat opens with a bang, literally. Explosion on aircraft carrier at sea. We don’t know whose the carrier is, what kind of explosion, where the ship is, or why. (HOOK, BIG QUETION THAT KEEPS COMING UP)

Cut to establishing shot of Wash DC.

Cut to couple in suite (hotel?) Nice to intro two main characters with strong contrast between the two. She’s dressing almost frenetic, while he sits idly on the bed at his laptop. Their marriage is strained. They’re normal roles are flipped.

Catalyst at 2:50 is the couple see burning ship on their laptop.

Throughout we see the relationship strained, especially when he’s free to cut through protocol, and she, as new ambassador must “respect institutional norms.

(BOTH ARE INTERESTING CHARACTERS, LOTS OF LAYERS TO EACH. RIGHT AWAY WE SEE HER DISTRESS AT BEING A FISH OUT OF WATER WHEN HAL SAYS THE CALL’S FOR HER — SHE’S WANTED IN THE WHITE HOUSE.)

Their conflict is in every scene where they’re together. And sometimes when they’re not, as when Kathrine explains to Deputy Chief of Mission that Hal’s behind her getting on the call to the President and Prime Minister, which US Sec of State was left out. (HER DISTRESS WHEN HAL GOES BEHIND HER BACK TO GET THINGS DONE AND IGNORING PROTOCOL, WHICH COMES DOWN ON HER. AND IT’S NOT SMALL EITHER…THEY HAVE TO PREVENT A WAR WHILE DEALING WITH EACH OTHER)

Funny and ironic situations where Hal is expected and gets credit as the US Ambassador while she’s working on INTRIGUE of the perpetrator of carrier explosion.

IRONY when she hears President promised he’d never send Hal anywhere after Hal called the Sec of State a war criminal, which he probably

SO FAR SEVEREAL LAYERS OF PLOT

SURFACE –The explosion on carrier: who, what, why

SURFACE – Katheren a fish out of water

SURFACE – Kathren and Hal don’t get along

2ND LAYER: Who did the explosion ((Several people are mentioned which always has rebuttal to keep us wondering.(HOOK, INTRIGUE)

2N LAYER: Katheren and Hal across from each other on plane, debating the int’l conflict and the protocols of politics (INTERESING, KNOWLEDGEABLE CHARACTS)

3RD LAYER: She’s being tested/groom to be VP and she doesn’t know it but catches a lot of flak because of it (INTRIGUE, DISTRESS, AMAZING CHARACTER, WHICH SEE IN ACTION AND HEAR FROM WITNESSES)

3RD LAYER: Why is she going to be fired? (DISTRESS, INTRIGUE

4th LAYER: K and H both have reputations as Ambassadors that could affect her position in UK

5th LAYER: K and H each have self-esteem issues that the other knows but can’t address directly because for the sake of the plot, they need each other, regardless what a pain in the ass he is.

by this point, I was caught. Minute 6:30

All this happens so quickly given a break following their convoy from overhead

Aside from unanswered questions, and unpredictability, two other elements that draw me into obsession:

1: how quickly she’s swept into inner circle, and how well she handles it, having the moral fortitude to say what she knows that they don’t, regardless of the other person’s political status

2: pacing: rapid scenes for int’l plot giving a sense of impending doom and her Sherlock Holmes ability to see clearly without making assumptions

Then slowing scenes down when K and L are alone, because their relationships

My emotions tend to match the pace, or as Hal says HOPE / FEAR

The rest of the pilot does the same as she goes through transformations. One of my favorite lines when she learns they plan to fire her is that Cinderella can’t be fired,

so she goes through the ritual and protocol.

Almost any scene after could end the pilot at any scene, but the pilot keeps moving forwad with terrific cliffhangers.from one scene to the next. THE BEST CLFFHANGER Sis the final image of Hal being drugs and taken away/ (INTRIGUE, HOOK, DISTRESS LAYERS

DIFFICULT TO GO THROUGH REST OF THE PILOT BECAUSE IT’S SO PACKED WITH SIMILAR ISSUES

[Elizabeth Wang-Lee]

SUCCESSION – 5 STAR BINGEWORTHY MODEL ANALYSIS

THE BIG PICTURE HOOK

1. The title: Succession. (Who will succeed in taking over the Roy media empire?)

2. High Concept: A ruthless, aging and ailing mogul relishes his last days of power by playing off his family, close associates and friends against each other in a cutthroat game of “survival of the fittest” to determine the rightful heir to his media empire.

3. An heir to a dinosaur media conglomerate is ready to step up when his father tells him that he’s not ready to hand over the reins. Instead, he’s coming back and adds his wife and wants his other children back in the business.

INTRIGUING CHARACTER

1. Father- Logan

– has health issues from brain hemorrhage to confusion and loss of words

– is ruthless to his own children as a father, patriarch and to his friends and long-time loyal associates. Treats them all like crap.

-Is a man who built a media conglomerate empire from scratch.

– Is a man who controls his world with an iron fist.

– Business is losing leverage but he still operates like he owns the world

– He wants to hand over his business one of his children. He tested his son Kendall and after all the publicity and announcements and Forbes cover story, he decides to not give it to him because he’s weak.

– He pits all his kids against each other demanding they sign a new agreement letting his wife Marcy have 2 votes instead of one.

-At beginning he seems to look like he’s losing it with him waking up not knowing where he is and ready to hand over the business to son Kendall… by the end of the pilot, he is back in control and takes it all back.

2. Son Kendall- Ready to take over a media empire from his dad but must pump himself up in order to be tough like his dad to make negotiations.

– He wants to show everyone he can do business better than his dad. Therefore, the new deal with IP company is important. Once the deal goes south, he freaks out and threatens everyone their existence.

-He needs to prove to his dad; he can do it.

-By end of pilot, while his deal goes through at a very high price, he has lost the crown and is ready to cry. His Dad calls him out on crying, and he fights hard to not do it.

3. Son Roman- Starts off being the outsider never wanting back into the business because he was poorly treated in his Los Angles stint in his father’s company. By the end of the pilot, he forces his dad to kick out his longest and oldest friend and CFO and gets the CFO job himself.

4. Daughter Shiv (Siobhan) – Starts off being busy with politics and not wanting to be in her father’s business. By end of pilot, she’s thinking of taking an important position in the business because her dad wants her back. Or she always wanted it but was waiting for the right moment. We’ll find out which when we continue watching.

5. Wife Marcy- The quiet demure gracious host and wife. By end of the pilot she is about to get the two votes on the board of directors in the media empire. And she knows it and is ready.

6. Son Conner- Will do anything his sister and brother Roman will do. He’s not interested in the business. This makes Kendall more isolated.

7. Nephew Greg- A loser who cannot even keep his job as a mascot in a theme park. His mother sends him to his uncle’s 80^th birthday party to beg for help at the theme park which he owns. The only problem is, Logan will only help if his brother asks for help on behalf of Greg. This of course is not possible. By end of pilot, Greg is brokering the board of directors vote of his grandfather, Logan’s brother, who does not talk to Logan to get a management training job at the theme park.

8. Son-in law Tom- Shiv’s passive-aggressive boyfriend who shivers and crumbles in Logan’s presence, is desperate to be accepted by him and the family but knows he’s never going to be. He is also the second man at the theme park but not the main manager. He hopes to move up with the help of Shiv. By the end of the pilot, he tries to befriend and mentor Greg to possibly secure his position in the family.

DEEP EMPATHY/DEEP STRESS

1. Kendall is under so much pressure he must drink power drinks and pump himself up to do anything from making deals to confronting his super dominant father. He’s scared stiff of his father, and everyone mocks him about it. He tries to be a good father and has already failed as a husband. He’s recovering from a cocaine overdose where he had to go to rehab 2 years ago. He can’t live it down. He wants so much to please his dad that he even signs a contract that basically destroys him by giving Marcy two votes, without even vetting it. He thinks he has the support of his siblings but when push comes to shove, he gets isolated from them.

2. Logan wanted to give his son the reins but see that his son is weak. He must pit his children against each other just to find out who is stronger and more deserving of his inheritance.

3. Frank who lovingly toasts Logan on his 80^th birthday celebration ends up being kicked out of the business completely, to be replaced by Logan’s son Roman.

4. Greg who couldn’t even hold a job is trying to ask for help from the most powerful man in the country, his own Uncle who is ruthless.

5. Tom, Shiv’s boyfriend is always seen as the unwanted future son-in-law. He tries so hard to please Logan by buying a watch which Logan dumps to a Mexican family to pay them off to shut up. Tom tells Greg to look him up if he needs help. Instead, we see Greg already able to take care of himself, unlike Tom who must have the protection of his girlfriend Shiv.

6. Logan gets a brain hemorrhage at end of pilot. Will he make it or will everything fall apart? Or will Kendall make it?

LAYERS/OPEN LOOPS

1. Will Kendall ever become CEO of his father’s media empire or is he out? Will he be able to face the world at this point. Will he make it in the end?

2. Will Roman and Shiv become the next CEO because they are ruthless like their Dad?

3. Will Greg become Tom’s boss one day at the rate he is going?

4. Logan’s only problem is really his health – will he beat it?

INVITING OBSESSION

1. Logan’s children are all the result of his upbringing and dominance. You want to know how each one of them will survive or be shredded by Logan. And you’re curious how far the children will go to take over the empire. And you’re curious how bad humans can be despite flesh, blood, and loyalty.

WHAT I LEARNED DOING THIS ASSIGNMENT

I learned to have a truly bingeworthy TV series, the high concept hook is not enough to draw you in. You must have characters that suffer tremendously. Empathy through distress is far more important than if the character is likeable.

In fact, all the characters in Succession are unlikeable because they all show their dark side without hindrance. This makes their good side seem superficial. Their dark side makes them have bravado which the audience can vicariously live it out through them.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Elizabeth Wang-Lee.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Elizabeth Wang-Lee.

[ROBERT Ingalls]

Show: Sopranos

WIL: A method that grabs the audience attention and locks them in for the long haul.

5-STAR POINTS

Big Picture Hooks:

– A New Jersey Mob Boss
sees a therapist for depression while trying to hold on to his dynamic
Mob business that his father created.

Amazing and Intriguing
Character:

– Tony is not a typical
hardened mob boss.

– Loves his family, loves
ducks, but sees no problem having someone beat up or killed.

– Concerned about
consequences of his uncle killing a guy in a certain restaurant owned by
a non-mob friend.
Decides its better to
blow up his friend’s business and start over than for a killing to take
place and losing customers.

– He cheats on his wife.
She in turn has a young priest visit the house every day.

– Tony has difficulty
opening up to therapist about depression.

Empathy / Distress:

– Tony sees a therapist
due to passing out for non-physical reasons.

– Battles
anxiety and depression. Takes anti-depressant meds.

– Wants mom
in an assisted living facility – cares about her health.

Layers / Open Loops:

– Tony’s Mom and Uncle
discuss Tony’s future and future of family business.
Uncle implies Tony
needs to be removed (whacked).

– Tony’s mom seems senile
or fragile around Tony. But around his uncle, mom seems a tough ‘ol
broad, the real force in the family.

– Nephew whacks Czech
peer competition.

– Waste Management
business isn’t the same as it once was. What does future have in store?

– Tony’s peers seem to
know a lot about anti-depressant meds, but no one mentioned why or how
they got them. Is everyone under care of a therapist and on meds?

– Why does therapist stay
with Tony when she knows he’s a killer and mob leader?

Inviting Obsession:

– Can Tony survive from
his family, business, peers, foreign competition?

[Gayla Betts]

THE MORNING SHOW – 5 Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment was the slick symmetry that makes for a subliminal connection woven in between the protagonist and her potential antagonist – each had an immediate scorn for the other yet, they had similarities and stark differences that mirrored the other.

Both Alex and Bradley are traditional male names. They both feel they are fighting a stacked system.

Alex’s name starts with the first letter of the alphabet, Bradley’s is the second – indicating who is top dog – at least for now.

Both experience one of the most emotional days of their lives.
Both are driven. Both are fighters when cornered. Both are smart and direct.

Bradley called hosts like Mitch an idiot who pushes soft news. Before meeting Bradley, Alex discusses with her team if Bradley knew she was being filmed and calls people idiots (insinuating the audience) who believed her – scorn from both toward different targets.

1. BIG PICTURE HOOKS – What is the big hook of this show?

Will Alex prevail and keep her job?

2. AMAZING AND INTRIGUING CHARACTERS – What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?

Alex Levy – She comes across as in total control, but is also very vulnerable. She’s savvy but was blindsided to see what the company is doing behind her back. She is driven.

Bradley Jackson – She’s contradictory too; hard-nosed and full of spunk, but has soft spots – was surprisingly gracious at the end of her interview with Alex, which Alex recognized. She is driven.

3. EMPATHY/DISTRESS – What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters?

Alex –

Distress: Her producer Chip might be conspiring against her. Cory can’t be trusted. Having to go on-air with little preparation. Feeling ambushed by Mitch and the network. Learning the network plans to replace her.

Empathy: She seemed to be the last one to learn her partner was being fired. She had no clue she is also going to be fired. She lost her seemingly only real friend, Mitch – they even thought alike. When Chip phoned Mitch to tell him he’d been axed, Mitch said somebody better have died. When Chip was waiting for Alex to tell her, she asked who died? She’s always on guard.

Bradley:

Distress: Her mother and brother’s family issues. Reactionary anger issues. No one where she works seems to like her. Quitting her job. Where will she land?

Empathy: Her getting passed over at work. Overwhelming stress from her family. Not being understood. Wanting to make a difference.

4. LAYERS/OPEN LOOPS: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?

Will Alex be fired?
Will Bradley take her job?

Will Cory “get his”?
Will Chip/Charlie turn out to be a good or bad guy?

Who and why did someone pursue getting Mitch fired?

What will Mitch do?

What is going on with Alex’s marriage? She makes a point of putting on her wedding ring before the show, but seems to have a strained relationship with her daughter Lizzie’s dad.

What are the office politics? Who is really on Alex’s side and who’s against her? Lots of foreshadowing with no clear direction.

5. INVITING OBSESSION: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?

This show got us invested in both Alex and Bradley from the get-go.
They are both similar yet different. One is at the crest of her career and the other is starting out. Alex is world-wise and somewhat jaded/condescending. Bradley is all feelings with no control. They could be friends who learn from each other or fierce competitors/foes. At the end of the episode, we want to know if the next episode will answer: What happens to them at the “special event” on Friday where “everyone” will attend? (Will Mitch crash it?) What will Alex do with the info she has about being replaced? What kind of offer does Cory make Bradley and how does she react? She already said f’you New York when she arrived, but will she stay anyway?

[Kristina Zill]

MR. ROBOT 5-Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment is…how to use the 5-star model to begin to understand what makes a pilot compelling and, well… binge-worthy!

Big Picture Hooks

A lonely idealist hacker joins forces with the mysterious Mr. Robot and his fsociety to take down E Corp, the largest conglomerate in the world, which will delete the record of 70% of credit card, loan or mortgage debt, creating the single biggest incident of wealth redistribution in history.

Amazing and Intriguing Character

Elliot is an outsider with a strong sense of justice, who questions every aspect of the modern world. Introduction: he’s causing a pedophile to be arrested. He uses his superior hacking skills to champion good people and destroy evil ones. But he feels powerless, is damaged, uses drugs, and worries that he’s imagining things. His way of thinking is compelling and unique. He has keen insight into the world around him.

None of the other characters are that interesting so far. Elliot is enough for the pilot.

Empathy/Distress

Elliot elicits empathy because he’s up against the “guys who play god without permission.”

He tries to help the good people.

We feel distress for his despair, his loneliness, his inability to connect, his drug use, and the danger he’s in. Also for his unrequited love for his childhood friend, Angela.

At the end, he’s been brought into the orbit of Tyrell, the Technology VP of Evil Corp, and we worry about that.

Layers/Open Loops

Layers:

• Elliot is in love with Angela. Her influence drives everything.
• He’s unstable – uses drugs and may be hallucinating.
• Wants to protect women who have terrible taste in men.
• Uses his hacking skills to bring evil people to justice.
• Notices details others don’t see (like the fast wi-fi in the coffee shop)
• Uses his wits to get information (pretending to lose something in a cab)
• Rescues an abused dog.

Open Loops

Main question: Will Elliot succeed in taking down Evil Corp? Or will he get caught trying?

Sub questions:

• Will Elliot go to work for Tyrell?
• Will Elliot solve his loneliness?
• Will he get together with Angela? (Will Angela break up with Ollie?)
• Will Krista find love?

Inviting Obsession

The pilot is a smart story with high production values, characters that surprise and unexpected plot twists. And there’s substance to it, which is very unusual. And some of the truths about society are bracing. It was a long pilot, and I felt engaged the whole time.

[Richard Morell]

Riverdale 5 Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment is how packed a pilot should be to engage interest. I also watched the Pilot for Game of Thrones when considering this assignment, and Riverdale had a lot more that engaged my interest. Not that I couldn’t see the 5 elements in GOT, but Riverdale was spicier.

Big Picture Hooks: The pleasant exteriors of the small town hide many machinations and less-than-savory situations. The pilot also showcases an intriguing set of dynamics between Archie, Veronica, and Betty. For those who grew up with Archie comics, it also creates a fun tension with what we knew and what is developing. The world of Riverdale is also inclusive, with Veronica being Hispanic and perhaps bisexual, and Betty’s good friend Kevin being openly gay. Also, we see the parents of the trio in their well-drawn humanity.

Intriguing Characters: Archie is intriguing because of his secret dalliance with Miss Grundy, but also that he and Miss Grundy saw something relating to the disappearance of Jason. Veronica comes in with a past that everyone knows but a determination not to let that get in her way, and she has a winning personality. I loved that she wants to be loyal to anyone who she befriends. I was intrigued by Cheryl Blossom–was she in an incestuous relationship wth twin Jason? Veronica’s family with its baggage is intriguing, as is Archie’s Dad and his history with Hermione Lodge. And of course, I loved Kevin.

Empathy/Distress: Archie is likeable and I feel distress for him with Miss Grundy. Also empathy because he’s a kid who has to fight for everything in his life, and it’s hard for a working-class kid to get into music. Betty elicits empathy and distress with the typical high school dilemmas of being on the outs with the popular kids. Veronica’s situation is a little remote but I do know what it’s like to come down off a pedestal rudely. She elicits unconscious distress because she’s doing so well with Betty and Archie I fear she’ll have a misstep and ruin her new friendships. I also felt a lot of empathy for Archie’s Dad, and Miss Grundy as well. At the end of the pilot I feel distress for all the schoolkids because of Kevin and Moose’s discovery of Jason’s body with a bullethole in his head.

Layers/Open Loops: The obvious open loop of Betty, Veronica and Archie’s relationship. The layers of Betty’s sister’s dishonor and her mother’s hatred of Jason. The parents’ relationships that existed since high school–what sorts of mysteries will unfold? We already see the feelings between Hermione and Archie’s Dad. It’s both an open loop and an intriguing layer about Daddy Lodge and his machinations. The bag of money that Hermone receives. The Blossom family will offer a lot of open loops. Archie’s pressing Miss Grundy to work with him independent study on music–what will unfold there?

Inviting Obsession: The fact that Archie wasn’t ripped before the show began offers some obsession. He’s pretty fine. Fine enough to attract his teacher’s erotic attention, and that invites obsession as well. The mystery surround Cheryl and Jason. The Veronica-Archie-Betty trio. Some great lines: Veronica–“I’m Breakfast at Tiffany’s but this town is In Cold Blood.” and Archie: “Geraldine, we have a secret.” For the LGBTQ+ folks, Kevin’s journey will also elicit curiosity, and also if Veronica might date girls as well as boys.

[Barbe LaPierre]

What I learned doing this assignment is that it is possible to see interesting techniques used even though the characters are unlikeable.

House of Cards

1. Big Picture Hooks
What is the big hook of this show? A behind the scenes look at the machinations of a corrupt politician.

2. Amazing and Intriguing Character
What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting? Frank
Underwood is a devious, revengeful character. Lots of layers. His wife Claire is the same. A “perfect”
couple.
3. Empathy / Distress
What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for these
characters?
Empathy: Frank loses the position of Sec. of State.
Distress: Will something bad happen to Frank? I certainly hope so.
4. Layers
/ Open Loops
What questions are created by this first episode that can only be
answered by watching the entire season? Two-faced Frank has devised
his plan for revenge and retribution.
We have to tune in to see how it plays out, who will fall victim to
his plan.
5. Inviting
Obsession
How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode? Like
any series it will provide only one or two steps in the plan. If you miss an episode, you lose the
thread of the story.

Just for me, I’m going to examine another series that is positive and uplifting. Since the concept that I’m bringing to the course is sci-fi, I believe I will glean more from this series than from HOC.

Star Trek: Discovery (Season 4)

1. Big Picture Hooks
What is the big hook of this show?
What is the next adventure for the crew of the Discovery? Each
season has one story in a season-long arc. In Season 4 they face a threat
of unknown origin that is wreaking havoc in the galaxy.

2. Amazing and Intriguing Character
What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?
These characters are brave, loyal, brilliant, and resourceful. They have a mystery to solve, and they
bring all their skills to that endeavor.
They have flaws too. There are often competing agendas. (I’d much
rather follow them on their journey than explore the mechanics of a
corrupt politician.)

3. Empathy / Distress
What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for these
characters?
Empathy: Cleveland Booker’s family dies when the planet Kwejian is
destroyed.
Distress: Michael Burnham nearly dies trying to save the crew on the space
station.
4. Layers / Open Loops
What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered
by watching the entire season?
What caused the gravitational distortion that caused the space station to
spin out of control and destroyed the nearby planet Kwejian?

5. Inviting Obsession
How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?
There is a mystery to solve. They are engaged in a mission that is larger than each one of them.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Barbe LaPierre.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Barbe LaPierre.

[Margaret]

“24” 5 Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment: I was surprised to find the number of empathy/distress, loops, layers, and questions inviting obsession in just a one-hour program. I need to up my game!

Big Picture Hooks

There is a plot to assassinate Senator David Palmer, the first African American candidate for president. If successful, the murder would “tear the country apart.”

Amazing and Intriguing Characters

· Senator David Palmer – presidential candidate

· Jack Bower – Agent, won’t compromise, even if it costs him

· Kim Bower, Jack’s daughter

· Terry Bower – Jack’s wife

· Nina, Jack’s co-worker, past relationship with Jack, current with Tony.

· Mandy – woman on plane, an assassin?

· Tony – data miner, asks Nina if she is “still sleeping with Jack”

· Maureen Kingsley – reporter

· Senator’s wife

· Alan York – father of Janet, Kim’s friend

· Janet York – Kim’s friend

· Richard Walsh – head of Counter Terrorist Unit

· Victor Robner – spy in Germany

· George Mason – District director, dirty agent

· Victor Robner, spy for the agency (in Germany?)

Empathy / Distress

Jack has:

· A troubled marriage

· A rebellious teen daughter who is missing and using joints

· Pressure from work to solve a situation he feels he doesn’t have the right relationships for the task (“I won’t get anywhere near it”),

· A co-worker with a past relationship, co-workers who don’t think well of him because “he turned in his own people”,

· George, a co-worker who is dirty and calls him a “stupid chump”, who compromised himself by diverting $200,000. Tells Jack, “You have no idea what you are getting yourself into” and, “You’ll live to regret this – I’ll promise you that.”

Layers / Open Loops

· Jack is told, “Don’t trust anyone, not even your own people.”

· Co-worker with past relationship (what was it?) says, “Don’t shut me out.”

· Who is Mandy? Why did she blow up the plane?

· Kim has rocky relationship with mother, states her father died 6 months ago (even though he is alive)

· Senator Palmer is troubled by a reporter, Maureen Kingsley. Tells her, “You air that allegation or anything like it… This conversation is over.” Won’t discuss this with his wife.

· Will Kim’s parents end up taking her to a therapist?

Inviting Obsession

· Will Kim be rescued before she is harmed by Rick?

· Will the Senator be assassinated?

· If elected, will the Senator gut the agency? “He’s no friend of the agency, if he gets elected, this place gets gutted.”

· Will Jack be prosecuted for shooting his co-worker with a tranquilizer gun? “If Tony doesn’t find anything you could end up in jail.”

· What will happen with Janet?

· Will Terri Bower and Alan York develop a relationship?

· Will Jack live to regret his forcing George Mason to divulge his source?

[Bob Creager]

Succession 5 Star Model

What I learned: After watching it the first time, I fell into spectator mode. The second viewing was much better. I picked up setup/payoffs that I missed earlier and was able to understand the backstory of the siblings better.

Big
Picture Hooks
Logan Roy, 80, plans on retiring and passing the media conglomerate on to
his son, Kendall, but changes his mind, throwing Kendal and his siblings
into turmoil.
Amazing
and Intriguing Character
Each character has their own reasons for wanting to retain or increase
their power in the family dynamics. Each character is seriously flawed and
potentially a benefit to the company and to Logan’s dream. The main
characters:

Logan Roy, business genius, hard on friends, foes, and family, refuses to retire.

Kendall Roy, heir apparent. Logan doesn’t trust him, thinks he’s weak with no killer instinct.

Roman Roy, corporate dropout, always with the inappropriate behavior, with a secret goal to be CEO.

Siobhan “Shiv” Roy, not in the family business but Logan dangles the plum of taking over the overseas businesses. She caves.

Conner Roy, rancher, a business outsider.

Tom, Shiv’s husband, a suck-up, not respected by anyone.

Greg, Logan’s grandnephew, young, tries to maneuver a way into leadership without any skills to back up his desire.

Empathy
/ Distress
Logan: We empathize with him because he has the worst set of children to
follow in his footsteps. Each child has their own issues that impact their
ability to lead which causes Logan distress.

Kendall: Hard to empathize with him because he is such a failure but
really, being told he wasn’t going to be promoted right at the last minute
coupled with Lawrence pulling a fast one on him (accepting the deal when
he finds out that Logan is in the hospital) and threatening to take down
each of the board members makes us feel for him.

Roman: It’s good to see someone who appears to not have drank the Kool-Aid
until it comes out that he wants the top job just like the others.

Shiv: She appears different and we root for her and just like Roman, she’s
after the big job.

Conner: As he is not involved in the business, he isn’t taken seriously by
the family. We hope he’s able to keep his independence.

Tom: He’s comes off as a bit of a wimp, and we cringe when Logan ignores
him and his gift.

Greg: The next generation and just like the others, he wants to be thrust
to the levels of upper management without the skills to back them up. We
just know that he’s going to be dumped on and probably by Logan.
Layers
/ Open Loops
Will Logan retire? Who will become CEO? What will Marcy, the stepmother’s,
role be? Who will come out on top of the shuffle for positions? Will Greg
become a successful member of the family?
Inviting
Obsession
We really must find out how the family dynamics plays out. Will Logan
live?

[Peter Saltzman]

Empire 5 Star Model

What I learned:

Wow! This pilot hits the 5-star model out of the ballpark. Literally, everything is designed to keep you wanting to watch more, to have questions answered, to invite obsession. It does an astonishing amount in within the shorter network format (e.g., 48 minutes or so.) But I learned something else about pilots: at first, I thought the show felt a little light, dated, but I quickly realized it had to be fairly general to set up all the storylines and conflicts. This particularly true for shorter network drama. It totally works.

Big Picture Hooks

The boss is dying, the company going public, and one of the sons will replace him. Which? Who will run the empire, and will it survive the family infighting?

Amazing and Intriguing Character

1. Lucious came from nothing built Empire, but is deeply insecure about losing control, not to mention his life.

2. Cookie: imprisoned for 17 years for drug money she made that was startup capital for. Empire. Now she’s out and wants what’s hers.

3. Jamaal, the gay son, is ostracized by his father adored by his mother. She wants to make him a star; he is reluctant until he sees his father backing his brother, Hakeem (who is using Jamaal’s song to make it big.)

4. Hakeem, the son Lucious wants to be a star. But while a great rapper, he’s reliant on Jamal’s talent for songwriting.

5. Andre, the only son who’s not musical but the best businessman. Wants his brothers to be in conflict, so he comes out on top.

Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?

Empathy / Distress

1. Is Lucious dying?

2. Lucious kills Bunkie; willing to do anything to protect his empire.

3. Cookie protects her gay son.

4. Jamal being gay with a homophobic dad

5. Andre being the non-musical outsider in the family

6. Hakeem being manipulated by his dad

Layers / Open Loops

1. Will Lucious die soon? When will he tell the family? What effect will it have

2. Who is the successor?

3. Does the gay son have a chance? Will he overcome his homophobic dad and keep his artistic integrity intact?

4. What did Cookie do?

5. Why is Lucious afraid of Cookie?

6. What does Cookie want? (Get mine…)

7. Just how bad is Lucious gang background that he would kill Vernon to cover it up?

Inviting Obsession

1. Both the individual character arcs and intertwined family warfare are perfectly introduced to invite obsession. Every relationship (Husband-wife, brothers, parents-children) has many open loops and layers, etc., that make you want to know what’s going to happen.

[Joan Macbeth]

LESSON 1 ASSIGNMENT:

What I learned doing this assignment is… a new way of writing subtext. Offred has an inner monologue, in voice-over, telling the audience her story and what she’s thinking – but when she speaks aloud to her captors, her words are usually opposite to what she’s been thinking.

1. Pick a Binge Worthy EXAMPLE SHOW from our list below and watch the first episode, making a light outline of the episode. Just the beats and anything that seems important to you. EXAMPLE SHOW: THE HANDMAID’S TALE

Outlining the first episode:

June and her husband Luke attempt escape with their young daughter, Hannah. They tragically fail, as Luke urges June to run away with Hannah; they are eventually caught in the woods, mother and child separated, and gunshots in the distance indicate the probability that Luke has met his demise. The uniformed militia know as “Guardians” pistol-whip feisty June into unconsciousness.

June’s voice-over tells of her new world. It’s a dystopian country called Gilead, located in what was once the northern U.S., taken over by religious fanatics, ruled by “Commanders.” Commander Fred Waterford is her new master. June’s new name is “Offred.” She is a Handmaid, meant to be impregnated as a surrogate, since the general population has become mostly infertile. Commander Waterford has an understandably bitter wife, Serena.

June/Offred has received training among dozens of other Handmaids, wearing red uniforms shaped like nuns’ habits. They participate in various rituals and activities, under the tutelage of “Aunt” Lydia, pious and cruel, with her cattle prod. June/Offred’s goal is to survive so that she can be reunited with her daughter Hannah, although she doesn’t know where she is or what has become of her. Among the Handmaids is Moira, who was June’s best friend in their previous life.

The ultimate ritual is The Ceremony, when Offred has to have sex with Commander Waterford, as wife Serena sits behind Offred – pretty kinky for the devout, but it’s what they do, trying to make it biblical with a verse about Jacob and Rachel. If Offred falls pregnant, the baby will belong to the Waterfords. Offred is repulsed by it all, but has no choice.

Some secondary characters introduced are Janine, a “crazy” from the Handmaids’ training; Rita who is a domestic worker at the Waterford’s; Nick, their driver who’s maybe a Guardian; Ofglen who is Offred’s escort on market day. Offred is always uncertain who is friend or foe.

2. From that, make a list of the 5 Star Points for that show.

Big Picture Hooks
Ask this: What is the big hook of this show? [Can June survive this new way of life and find her daughter? Can anyone survive in this bizarre, twisted society… will the society itself survive – it is all just so cruel, wrong, totalitarian – yet so plausible at the same time.] <div>

Amazing and Intriguing Character

Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting? [A duality of hope vs fear; “good” and devout when they are actually evil; compliance vs recklessness; each character has at least one “opposite” trait]

Empathy / Distress

Ask this: What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters? [June’s child is taken and June is forced into sexual slavery – what’s going to happen to the child? Will she ever be reunited with her mother? Will she forget her mother? Is June’s husband dead or alive? June was just an ordinary person whose whole life has changed into a nightmare, beyond her control – but she’s willing to fight to find her child.]</div><div>

Layers / Open Loops

Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season? [Where’s Hannah? Will June escape? Will she ever take back control over her own life, her own body? Who are June’s allies, if any? What happened to Moira? What happened to Luke?]</div><div>

Inviting Obsession

Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode? [Empathy for June and curiosity as to whether she will survive to escape, and find Hannah. Also, the powerful society that controls June and the other Handmaids is so bizarre, it’s rather fascinating. Will it survive? Or will the Handmaids’ and others’ resistance cause its demise?]<div>

3. Watch the same first episode A SECOND TIME while looking at your 5 Star Point analysis. This time, your purpose is to see beyond the obvious answers. Assume there is more to learn and discover it!

By the end of my second viewing, I discovered that the episode portrayed June/Offred as such a strong character, determined to do anything to escape and find her daughter, no matter what. Big Picture Hook, combined with Amazing Character who delivers Empathy and Distress, shown via Layers and Open Loops to Invite Obsession to watch this show. All Five Points are delivered in the first episode.

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

</div></div>

[Eric Geier]

The Morning Show 5 Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment is the essential structure required in order to create a show that’ll pull viewers in and keep them perpetually engaged.

1. Big Picture Hook: A popular morning show is completely upended when the co-star is fired for multiple sexual predatory acts in a #metoo environment.

2. Amazing and Intriguing Character:

Mitch: In an instant, his professional life and stellar reputation are destroyed, his wife leaves him. He’s edging toward desperation

Alex: She’s sacrificed her marriage and relationship with her daughter to get to the top. Now everything’s crashing down with Mitch’s firing. How will she deal with this unraveling?

Bradley: A hotheaded reporter passionately after the truth sees her life upended when she quits her job, and learns her addict brother prematurely returns from rehab. A videotaped reaction to an aggressive protester that goes viral creates an opportunity away from home and in a giant way that she could never imagine.

Corey: The new head of UBA’s news division is under pressure to transform the operation amidst sinking ratings, and is ready to completely upend the status quo.

3. Empathy/Distress

Mitch: Has his entire life taken away from him and his desperate desire to reclaim that life.

Alex: Has given up everything for her job, and it looks like it’s about to all go away. How will she move forward?

Bradley: Managing a dysfunctional family and her principled views has taken it’s toll.

Corey: A go it alone bull in a china shop executive hell bent on turning everything on its head.

4) Open Loops

What will Mitch’s Desperation Cause him to do?

Will Alex weather the storm of a new regime that no longer wants her there, and what will she do to cement her place?

Will Alex work to repair the relationships at home?

Will Bradley move to NY and take the job?

What will happen with Hal, Bradley’s addict brother?

Will Corey accomplish his goal of transforming the show?

5) Inviting Obsession

What havoc will Mitch undertake to reclaim his life while the new Head of News seeks to hire Bradley, and how will Alex respond to the new shake-up knowing that she, herself, is now on the chopping block? And how will Bradley’s family cause problems for her, as her life/image are about to enter the spotlight?

[Eclipse Neilson]

Eclipse Neilson

QUEEN’S GAMBIT

What I learned for this opening show is that it is not only about chess, but the spirit of a fierce young child surviving against all odds a tragic childhood. It is about a child’s strong spirit learning many forms of survival techniques. The audience feels the empathy, but Beth the main character has a sad silence about her – feelings are silently expressed by the actress’s glances.So far , I deeply, love this show.

Big Picture Hooks-

From a tragic childhood to a brilliant young women ,raised in an orphanage in the 1950’s to a chess genius , in the times when it was still a man’s game .But sadly she struggles with a drug addiction and slight autism.

BETH is introduced as having odd, somewhat reckless behavior, but quickly shows she can also be in complete control as a skilled chess player. (Intriguing character)

Flashback where she looses her mother in a car accident. (Empathy)

Sent to an orphanage. (Empathy)

Beth looses her birth identity as the director of the orphanage says she will burn the dress with her embroidered name in a heart.(empathy and I truly felt this moment)

Beth learns a bit of her childhood odd/semi autistic behavior exacerbated in the orphanage when under stress.(empathy and Loop)

Introduced to a new friend JOLENE who tells her about the magical vitamins.(drugs)

Jolene asks her a big question -“what was the last thing your mother ever said to you before she died?” Beth remembers but does not share. (Empathy)

It was “I wish I was dead” we see that the car crash was most likely suicide. Jolene responds, “if do remember let me know.” (Loop and empathy)

Beth takes vitamins (drugs) and we see that her mother was a drug addict.(Loop) Did she inherit this? or is subconsciously trying to die too?

Beth had lived in a precarious situation that her father tried to rescue her from. (Empathy)

Beth discovers the janitor playing chess (intrigue Loop)

Learns to stand up to him and recognizes her strength to get what she wants. (Intrigue)

Shows how she can play chess in her mind on the ceiling (possible slight autism again.)(intrigue)

Janitor teachers her chess (intrigue and loop) Their friendship builds empathy or replaces her absent father.

Beth begins to believe her winning chess with the janitor is because of the drug she is given each day. (Loop)

She learns there are chess ‘openings” that set up strategies the first one she learns is the Queens Gambit- this opens a whole new world. (Loop)

Introduces her to the head of the chess club, whom she beats in a game of chess.

He invites her to the high school chess club dominated by boys and men. (Intrigue and loop)

Before the big day to the high school she is taken off the magical vitamins that she believes is why she is so good. She panics. (Loop)

Jolene sneaks her a vitamin before she goes. (Loop)

She beats all of them and we see the story unfolding another theme- women and chess. (Intrigue and loop)

And recognizes hope for her future- but she still believes it is the pills . (Intrigue and loop)

Decides to steal the pills the night everyone is watching a movie. (Intrigue)

Like a desperate child she gulps handfuls of pills.

The director see what she has done just as Beth collapses on the floor. Shattering the bottle of pills on the floor. We don’t know if she will survive. ( Invites Obsession = what will happen to her and her future?)

• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Eclipse Neilson.

[Patrick Malone]

THE DIPLOMATE 5 STAR MODEL

I learned not to view the show just as entertainment but to scrutinize it in great detail looking for the elements that fit the 5 star model. I did discover that all 5 are in this series pilot. It’s given me a better understanding of this model. From this show I also learned something about the workings of international diplomacy and the role of ambassadors.

OUTLINE

– British aircraft carrier is bombed by unknown assailant

– Kate Wyler, a career diplomat is about to be the Ambassador to Afghanistan

– she is called to meet with US President who wants her to go to London as the new Ambassador to England

– she and husband Hal go; he has been an ambassador and will help Kate adjust to the position

– she is to express US grief and concern for the deaths of British sailors, and help learn who did the bombing

– she does not like the British pomp and ceremony

– Stuart Hayford the Deputy Chief who guides Kate

– Billie Appiah, WH Chief of Staff confides to Stuart that Kate is being considered to replace the VP. Kate is unaware of this

– Austin Dennison British Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge meet with Kate, they are worried by the Presidents threat to “light up Iran”.

– Kate realizes Hal manipulated this meeting

– while Kate lays a wreath at a naval ceremony in honor of the dead sailors, Hal meets with Meg Roylin an enemy of the PM

-US mission discovers an Iranian military boat in the vicinity of the carrier around the time of the attack

-Secretary of State Miguel Ganon zooms with Kate, is annoyed she meet with the PM

– Ganon wants to fire Kate

– Kate agrees to a glamorous photo shoot and Vogue interview to bolster her image.

– Stuart discovers the Kate checked that sheets were on the bed in the quest room – he suspects Kate & Hall do not sleep together

– Kate admits to Stuart she is getting divorced

– Stuart confronts Hal, Kate can’t be VP if divorced, Hal says Kate loves him and will change her mind

– at photo shoot Hal is kidnapped.

1. Big Picture Hooks

Who bombed the British ship?

Will Kate adjust to being and have success as the Ambassador to England?

2. Amazing and Intriguing Character

Kate Wyler:

Experienced, intelligent career diplomat.

Non-conformist. Does not like formality. Speaks her mind. Assertive. Hates cameras, microphones, speeches and people.

Hal Wyler

Experienced, intelligent former Ambassador.

Does not follow protocol. Conniving. Causes chaos. Sense of humor.

3. Empathy / Distress

Kate Wyler:

Does not want to be Ambassador to England where she feels she’ll just be an emotional support dog. Would rather go to Afghanistan to do more substantive work.

Stressful situation as she must adjust to this, learn who to deal with and is expected to help discover who bombed the British ship.

She must deal with her husband who manipulates things behind her back. He made one phone call that caused the Secretary of State want to fire Kate.

We are concerned that she will be fired, will succeed in her new position and discover the terrorist bomber.

Hal Wyler:

As a former Ambassador he is at loose ends. He feel compelled to step over the line to help his wife.

He is confronted by Stuart who tells him Kate will be let go if they divorce. He does not want a divorce.

He is drugged and kidnapped.

4. Layers / Open Loops

Who bombed the British ship?

Will Kate succeed as Ambassador?

Will Kate become vice president?

Will Hal mess things up for Kate? Will he get into trouble?

Will the Secretary General fire Kate?

The manager of the Ambassador’s residence discovers Kate & Hal don’t sleep together. Kate plans a divorce. Will they divorce?

Will the US president “light up Iran”?

Who kidnapped Hal and why?

5. Inviting Obsession We are compelled to continue to watch to learn the answers to many questions and the outcomes of unresolved situations.

[Griffith Lambert]

SU AI Module 1 Lesson 1

Riverdale 5-Star Model

October 17, 2023

My show idea: “The Loner”

Logline: A stranger moves into the long-vacant house next door to two bored slackers, who proceed to make his life a living hell.

My Example Show: “Riverdale”

What I learned from this lesson:

I had completely overlooked Riverdale. I thought it would be silly fluff, based, as it is, on Archie comics. And while it seems to be aimed at a youth audience, it has surprising depth and complexity, not to mention great character development. Riverdale has intrigue and elements similar to those I would like to develop in The Loner.

5-Star Points

1. Big Picture Hook

The big hook of Riverdale is: Who killed Jason Blossom?

The town of Riverdale is established as the epitome of Small Town America. Geographically vague, it seems to be not too far from New York City when Veronica and her mother arrive with mysterious back-stories. But, far from being Happy Days, Riverdale appears to have more than its share of dark secrets.

The first episode introduces all-American teen hero Jason Blossom and his twin sister, Cheryl and quickly sets up a number of tantalizing questions:

A. What were the Blossom twins doing out on Sweetwater River that fateful day?

B. What did Jason do to Betty’s sister Polly to make Alice Cooper hate him?

C. What did Archie and Ms Grundy witness the day of Jason’s murder that they kept secret?

D. Who murdered Jason Blossom?

2. Intriguing Characters

A. Archie Andrews: Reluctant Jock, loyal friend to Betty, attracted to new-girl-in-town Veronica, had a summer affair with music teacher Ms Grundy with whom he shares a dark secret about the day of Jason Blossom’s disappearance. Archie may be on the football team and work construction for his father, but he’s a sensitive artist and talented songwriter at heart.

B. Betty Cooper: America’s sweetheart: impossibly pretty Good Girl who has a crush on Archie, her long-time bestie. Betty’s sister Polly was dating Jason Blossom and their breakup was devastating enough to put Polly in the hospital with a nervous breakdown. Betty’s domineering mother blames Jason and even hopes he suffered. When Veronica comes to town and shakes things up, Betty rebels against her mother and starts a friendship that Alice warns will end badly.

C. Veronica Lodge: New Girl and sexpot, arrived in Riverdale with mother Hermione and a checkered past. The notoriety of criminally indicted dad, Hyram Lodge, has mysteriously driven Hermione and Veronica out of NYC to Hermione’s old roots in small-town Riverdale. Veronica and Archie have an immediate attraction, but V plays it cool, choosing instead to foster a friendship with Betty (ulterior motives?) Veronica satisfyingly puts spoiled-brat rich girl Cheryl Blossom in her place and gets Betty placed on Cheryl’s cheerleading squad, to Alice’s chagrin.

D. Cheryl Blossom: Stuck-up rich girl and, by the way, what were she and brother Jason doing out on Sweetwater River that day? Hates/resents Betty and fears Veronica, a self-proclaimed Ice Princess. Cheryl is a bit one-dimensional in Episode One, but I’m sure she’s sitting on a bombshell, as she does come across as tortured. “To Be or Not To Be?” Obsess-worthy stuff, for sure.

E. Jughead Jones: doesn’t show up much in Episode One but certainly will become a main character in subsequent episodes. In the first episode, he is established as a cerebral loner and the narrator of the series backstory. He’s a tease in Episode One that helps to kick off the Bingeworthyness of the series.

F. Kevin Keller (was he an original Archie Comics character?) seemed at first the Token Gay, but they cleverly set up Moose to be attracted to him, resulting in their discovery of Jason Blossom’s body at the river mid-tryst. Between this and the kiss between Betty and Veronica during the cheerleader tryout, it is established that same-sexiness is normal and opens Riverdale to a wider audience of young people.

3. Empathy/Distress

A. Archie – deals with pressure from the football coach to play Varsity Football, from his father to participate in the family construction business, from Betty to become more than best friends, and from Ms Gundry to keep their dark secret. Poor guy! All he wants to do is write sensitive songs and be dreamy. He’s even spurned by The Pussycats! Then, along comes Veronica to complicate it all by being an irresistible Hottie.

B. Betty – Her long-standing crush on Archie won’t go away; Mom is controlling and domineering; sister Polly is hospitalized with a nervous breakdown and nobody seems to know what Jason Blossom did to cause this. Betty is constantly under pressure to be the Good Girl, the smartest one in the room, and the faithful friend. Veronica comes along and upends all this by inexplicably befriending Betty, appearing to root for Betty and Archie as a couple while making out with Archie in the closet at Cheryl’s after-party. Maybe Betty’s mother was right about Veronica?

C. Veronica – former Rich Bitch now taken down a few pegs by demotion from the Big Apple to Riverdale. Veronica handles the transition to small-town Riverdale High with confidence but she is still plagued by the shady reputation of her father, which has arrived in Riverdale ahead of her. She seems to temper her attraction to Archie in favor of fostering a relationship with Betty, but there’s no way she won’t live up to her Femme Fatale persona.

D. Cheryl Blossom – We know she knows something dark, really dark, and is keeping it inside. Her role as Queen Bee at Riverdale High is sure to be challenged by Veronica. Was she similarly threatened by Polly Cooper? Are there the tinglings of incestuous undertones afoot? In Episode One Cheryl is mostly an enigma, but something wicked this way comes, methinks.

E. Jughead – is going to be the Conscience of the series, the Stage Manager in Our Town. We don’t yet know what is going to distress him but I get the feeling that he will be working at getting to the Truth as the series gets its footing, and his distress will be that he is thwarted at every turn in his dogged pursuit, maybe even threatened.

F. Kevin Keller must certainly face some consequences for his lifestyle choices. We already know that he frequents a night spot with a reputation for catering to non-binary pursuits. In Episode One he seems to shrug off the few sidewise glances he gets and even enjoys some support, but I feel like that’s a fragile truce.

Character Tensions in Episode One

Archie/Betty; Archie/Veronica; Archie/Geraldine; Archie/Fred; Archie/Coach; Archie/Josie; Archie/Reggie

Betty/Archie; Betty/Veronica; Betty/Cheryl; Betty/Alice

Veronica/Betty; Veronica/Cheryl

Hermione/Fred Andrews; Hermione/Hyram (implied by bag-o-cash)

Kevin/Betty; Kevin/Moose

4. Layers/Open Loops

A. Who killed Jason Blossom?

B. What were the Blossom twins doing on the river? Why did Cheryl ask Jason, “Are you scared?”

C. What was the relationship between the Blossom twins?

D. What did Archie and Geraldine hear/see at the river?

E. Why didn’t they find Jason when they dragged the river?

F. Why did Hermione have to leave New York?

G. What did Jason do to Polly Cooper to make Alice hate him?

H. What does Cheryl have on her Hench girls besides her money?

I. Why does Josie seem so threatened by Archie?

J. What did Hyram do that was so bad? What’s the bag of cash about?

K. Is Veronica really trying to be Betty’s friend? Does Veronica have an agenda?

L. What will become of the Kevin/Moose connection?

M. Did The Coopers have something to do with Jason’s murder?

N. Is Geraldine ashamed of her affair with Archie or is it about what they witnessed at the river?

O. What will Jughead’s role at the school newspaper have to do with the investigation?

P. What did the autopsy of Jason reveal?

Q. Who will be taken into custody as a suspect in Episode Two?

5. Inviting Obsession

By the end of Episode One we absolutely must know:

A. Is there any hope for Archie and Betty as a couple?

B. Why did Jason and Cheryl Blossom go to the river together that day?

C. Is Veronica truly Betty’s friend or does she have a secret agenda?

D. Why is Geraldine Gundry avoiding Archie?

E. What are the consequences of Betty going against her mother?

F. What happened to Polly Cooper and will she be okay?

G. Can Archie’s relationship with Fred survive school, varsity football, and Archie’s musical aspirations?

H. What will happen with Archie’s music?

I. Will The Pussycats achieve notoriety or obscurity?

J. What was really going on between the Blossom twins?

K. Will Fred and Hermione rekindle their high school relationship?

L. Is the Kevin/Moose connection doomed?

M. Will Jughead expose himself to danger by writing about the investigation?

N. Why is Reggie such a douche? Is he dating Josie?

O. What’s the deal with the satchel of cash from Hyram Lodge?

P. What will the autopsy reveal?

Q. Who will be charged with Jason’s murder?

R. And, finally WHO KILLED JASON BLOSSOM? (and WHY?)

Stay tuned, because you can’t do otherwise!

[Lenore]

BW TV ASSIGNMENT 1

Lenore Bechtel

My Example Show is “Winning Time.” The thing it has in common with the series I want to write is its main character. My main character is a lot like Jerry Buss in that he’s always confident that everything he does is right, and he convinces all naysayers who try to talk him out of his unorthodox methods for helping clients with problems.

Big Picture Hooks

Jerry Buss buys NBA’s losing LA Lakers in 2017, staking his entire fortune plus borrowed money, with the dream of turning them into a winning team.

College star Earvin Johnson wants live up to his nickname “Magic” and get rich as he helps turn the Lakers around, while keeping his parents and girlfriend happy with him.

Claire Rothman wants to work in an office where women aren’t treated like sex objects as they are when Cooke owns the Lakers.

Jeanie Buss, Jerry’s daughter, wants to succeed on her own, not because of her family’s money.

Jerry West, Lakers’ head coach, haunted by having been a star responsible for losing seven titles, objects to Buss bring Magic aboard and might not cooperate in the dream.

Amazing and Intriguing Characters

Most, if not all, of these characters speak asides directly to the audience, and I love that.

Jerry Buss, a cocky, but likable, wheeler and dealer, is like a swan who looks calm and beautiful but paddles up a storm underneath the water.

Jerry West drinks too much because he can’t get over being the star that failed. It’s hard to like him and his constant negativity, but if he’s as good a coach as he was player, Buss needs him to have a winning team.

Magic Johnson is a 19-year-old super athlete still finding himself. He wants to please his mother who wants him to graduate from college. He wants to please his dad, who’s worked hard picking up trash, sometimes double shifts, to give Magic and his brothers a chance at a better future. He wants to keep the girlfriend he’s been having sex with but lets her know he’ll find others when she walks away from him. Magic has learned to make people feel good.

Frank Marian is Buss’s right-hand guy who tries to talk him out of buying the Lakers. His role seems to be to try to keep Buss from bankrupting himself.

Cooke is the Laker’s unlikeable present owner who treats female employees badly. He buys the Chrysler building from Buss. He serves sand dabs at a lunch for Magic and his dad and bristles when Buss orders them the cheeseburgers they want. He makes headlines for getting stuck with a huge divorce settlement, cited for cruel and inhumane treatment.

Claire Rothman is a middle-aged woman who’s put up with outrageous sexual behavior by the men in Cooke’s office but tries to protect other female employees from it.

Don Sterling—the second worst Donald of the 80s— hosts a party where everyone wears white and girls advise Magic to drink champagne before the coke.

Norman Nixon—guard for the Lakers—resents the taller Magic coming aboard as a guard. In a one-on-one on Sterling’s basketball court, he entirely outshines Magic and tells him to go back to college.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar—the Lakers center—is shown acting in a commercial with a young boy, whom he refuses to pose for a picture the kid requests afterwards.

Jo Ann Buss: Jerry’s ex-wife and Jeanie’s mother who is the one with money, lots more of which Jerry needs to borrow for this venture. We learn that Jerry cheated on her, but they’re still friends. She finally agrees to the loan, maybe because of Jeanie now working for her dad.

Empathy/Distress

Jerry Buss: Buss’s constant smile and self-assured air, and his ability to outsmart greedy rich guys, make him so likable we want him to succeed. Even when he was depressed that Magic decided to go back to college, we felt confident Buss would find a way to change his mind.

Magic Johnson: We so badly want him to save the Lakers, become filthy rich, make his parents proud, avoid sex with the dozens who’ll offer it, and settle down with the girl he really loves.

Jerry West: We’re sorry he can’t let the past be the past, but we hope if the Lakers come around maybe he will too. His marriage is in trouble, and he even drinks on the job. When Buss tells him vodka smells less, we’re glad he’s showing sympathy to this pathetic man.

Frank Marian: We admire his loyalty, but wonder why? Maybe someday Buss will take his advice.

Cooke: We’d be happy if this bad man didn’t appear in any more episodes.

Claire Rothman: We admire her for the way she’s handled sexual innuendoes in Cooke’s office, and know she’s made the firm money by renting out the stadium. We hope she’ll be successful at getting more rentals to help the Lakers financially.

Don Sterling: We’d at least like to know how he got filthy rich and what made him the second worst Donald of the 80s.

Norman Nixon—We do want the Lakers to win, and this guy’s good with a basketball, so we hope he’ll get over his resentment of Magic.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar—His success has gone to his head and made him unlikable, but we hope his personality doesn’t hurt him on the court.

JoAnn Buss: We like her for helping Jerry finance this deal and think maybe, maybe, with daughter Jeanie working for him and if the Lakers actually win, maybe she’ll give Jerry a second chance.

Layers/ Open Loops

Will Buss’s leadership and Magic’s skill turn the Lakers into a winning team?

How will Norman and Kareem treat Magic?

Will Magic’s Michigan girl friend be there for her when he gets tired of sluts?

What’s going to happen to Claire Rothman? Might she fall in love with Buss?

Will Magic’s mother give up her resentment once he’s on an NBA team?

Inviting Obsession

The open loops are all reasons to watch the next episode.

[Jennifer Miller]

The Americans 5 Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment is that binge worthy tv shows have these five things in common, these 5 things that I will work to build into my own BWTV show – the big hook, intriguing characters, empathy/distress, open loops, and inviting obsession. I learned what each of those 5 points do and how to identify them. </font>

The Americans:

1) Big Hook: The Americans: Undercover Soviet agents, posing as an ordinary American family, grapple with the challenges of espionage during the Cold War, exploring themes of loyalty, identity, and family bonds.

2) Intriguing Characters: Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, Soviet spies posing as an ordinary American couple, captivate audiences with their intricate double lives. Elizabeth’s unwavering commitment and Philip’s internal conflict create a compelling dynamic as they navigate espionage, family, and moral ambiguity.

3) Empathy/Distress: (Pilot Episode): Philip and Elizabeth, deep undercover Soviet spies in 1980s America, grapple with a perilous mission that jeopardizes their safety and that of their unsuspecting children. Their intricate web of deception forces them into morally challenging situations, creating a palpable sense of empathy and distress among viewers. Witnessing their constant struggle to maintain their cover while protecting their family elicits a profound emotional connection, compelling audiences to anxiously anticipate their next move.

4) Open Loops: Will the delicate balance between duty and emotion shatter their carefully constructed façade of a marriage? Will Their Cover Be Blown? The Tension of Alliance: Philip and Elizabeth’s marriage was initially arranged for their mission, but genuine emotions have begun to surface. How will their evolving relationship affect their loyalty to the Soviet cause?Will Stan Beeman, the astute FBI agent living next door, unravel the true identities of the Jennings family? What about their children, Paige and Henry – will they ever discover the startling truth about their parents’ covert lives? Can the Jennings maintain their dangerous charade and protect their family? Will Phillip defect without telling Elizabeth?

5) Inviting Obsession: How will Philip and Elizabeth navigate their perilous double lives, and all the fake roles they play, seduction and manipulation and relationships, outmaneuver their astute FBI neighbor Stan Beeman, protect their family, uphold their loyalty to the Soviet mission, and confront the constant threat of exposure, all while facing relentless FBI scrutiny and the complexities of the Cold War era? Will their allegiance to the Soviet cause withstand the trials of genuine emotions? How far will Philip and Elizabeth go in their high-stakes missions?

[Denice Lewis]

Hijack, 5-Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment is that there is always more hidden that can be discovered. Every turn of the head, character involvement, and visuals become more important if you pay attention. Sympathy is created from the first moment we meet Sam, the main character. The music and lyrics play an important part in extending the feelings and the plot, too.

Big Picture Hook: An airliner going from Dubai to London is hijacked. One of the passengers offers to help the hijackers saying he only cares about getting home to his family, but he’s an expert at negotiation and a liar.

Intriguing Characters – Some of these may not be main characters, but they were more intriguing to me in the pilot.

Sam Nelson – super aware of everything, smart, caring, expert in negotiation, going home to get his ex-wife back and she’s in another relationship.

There is little known about the hijackers in the pilot except that they have inside information about the Captain and the flight attendant that allows them access to the cockpit. Stuart, their leader has issues with infidelity.

Zahar is an interesting character because her husband and child have apparently been kidnapped. She works at the airport in Dubai and is in on some kind of plot that’s unclear.

Captain Robin won’t open the cockpit until Collette, his flight attendant lover’s life is threatened. He’s willing to beat his 1st Officer. We feel empathy, distress, and loathing.

Empathy/Distress – Sam loves his wife and son, but he’s with another man. His plane is hijacked. His wife won’t answer his texts. His texting to his wife could get him killed. He’s put himself in harm’s way by offering to help the hijackers.

Zahar’s husband and daughter have apparently been kidnapped.

Officer Anna, She’s trying to do her job and gets beaten by the Captain.

We worry about the passengers and their lives, the students, parents, kids.

Layers/Open Loops – How did 5 hijackers get guns onto the plane? Why did they hijack it, their ulterior motive? Will the passengers get hurt or killed? Are there other passengers in on the hijacking plot? Is there a plot to hijack the hijackers? Will Sam succeed or lose his life? Can the cop who knows about this help? Who are the people on the ground helping the hijackers?

Inviting Obsession – For me, this pilot didn’t create the need to see every episode, although it did for my husband. I could actually leave it at this point, but I won’t. It sets up a time limit which creates tension and suspense. It creates sympathetic characters. It creates questions about survival, motive, how widespread the conspiracy is, sacrifice, and the ultimate outcome. Will Sam succeed or die saving the passengers? Will he reunite with hits family?

[Renee Miller]

The Diplomat’s Five Star Model

What I learned doing this lesson is how important it is to understand what goes into a Bingeworthy TV series. I’ve never paid attention to the 5 star points and I found it intriguing.

I chose to use The Diplomat, because I have never seen it and it was a show that was on my to-be-watched list. Here is what I found regarding the 5 star points while watching the pilot.

Big Picture Hooks

1. Who torpedoed the British carrier?

2. Why do they want Kate to be the Vice President?

3. What’s happening to the current Vice President?

4. Why does the U.S. President want Kate to be the ambassador to the British at this moment?

Intriguing Characters

1. Kate – she seems a bit rigid and someone who likes to play by the rules and not create waves. She doesn’t like the spotlight, which makes her an interesting choice for the ambassador to Britain, which is all about the photo ops and making everything look “perfect”. She thinks that all the photo ops and speeches are a waste of time and just wants to get down to the business at hand.

2. Hal – he is the opposite of his wife Kate. He doesn’t like to play by the rules. He does what he wants, to get what he needs. He is much more relaxed than Kate. He knows how to play the game even if he “cheats” to win.

3. Stuart – he is known as the Kingmaker. They tap him to feel out Kate as the possible selection for the next VP. Why is his opinion valued?

Empathy/Distress

Kate – she stands in her husband’s shadow. She is put in the spotlight and ends up having to play his game even though she hates it. She was pulled from an assignment in Kabul, which she is incredibly passionate about. People, including her husband, are conspiring behind her back. She is pulled into situations that force her to break the rules and procedures that have been in place.

Hal – He is looked over for the assignment that was given to his wife. He isn’t used to playing second fiddle to anyone, including his wife. He has trouble stepping back and letting his wife handle things her way, he meddles to get her ahead. Kate wants a divorce. He is drugged at the end of the episode and kidnapped, and no one at the photo shoot is aware of it.

Layers/Open Loops

1. Will she end up becoming the next VP.

2. Will she be fired by the secretary of state before she even has a chance to get started as ambassador.

3. Who blew up the British aircraft carrier?

4. Will she divorce her husband?

5. What happened to Hal? Who would want him?

Inviting Obsession

1. Will Kate learn about the plot to make her VP?

2. Will we learn who attacked the British aircraft carrier?

3. What will happen with Kate and Hal?

[Art Blum]

Art Blum using “24” as my sample pilot. Most suspenseful show ever.

What I learned in doing this assignment? 24 is the granddaddy of the modern serial TV shows. Right off the bat it has the A story, Jack assigned to stop Palmer’s assassination. The B story, Kim running away and being kidnapped with Teri and York looking for her. 3. The CTU story with the mole and Mason giving Jack fake information. Everything meshes and works together. I don’t think my idea for a pilot has all this going for it yet. Maybe I’ll get there.

24

1. Big Picture hooks: Counterterrorist agent Jack Bauer must stop a political crisis, while maintaining a balance with his family life. There’s a threat on the first black candidate for the presidency. His daughter is kidnapped.

2. Intriguing Character: Jack. His daughter Kim, angry at him for leaving her mom and bitter at the new lady in his life runs off. Jack’s beside himself. He’s trying to be a good dad and make things work. He and Teri, his girlfriend are very upset at Kim running off. When, Jack gets an emergency call to come in to CTU (counter terrorist unit), there’s an emergency. He’s their major guy on the task force. Now juggling family problems and terror threat.

3. Empathy/distress: Empathy: Jack’s a guy who won’t compromise. He turned in two agents previously for bribery. Distress: Now he’s got to look for a mole in an agency that hates him for turning in his own. Empathy: He’s worried about the safety of his daughter. Distress: She’s been kidnapped. Empathy: He’s committed to his job and right now it’s protecting presidential candidate Palmer after learning (Distress) there’s a plot to kill him in the next 24 hours.

4. Layers/Open loops: What’s the emergency meeting about at CTU? Walsh, the main guy at CTU holds back information about the threat on Palmer because he’s compromised. Jack has to attack him to get the information. Jack learns there’s a mole at CTU. Who is it? The plane flying in from Germany: The guy on the plane whom we think is the killer is: major twist. It turns out the lady passenger next to him is the real assassin. She kills him to get his photographer credentials so she can get close to Palmer. Then she crashes the plane. What happens next? Kim goes to a party. The guys there kidnap her. What next? Palmer gets a call from a paper. They’re about to expose some confidential information about him. What is it?

5. Inviting obsession: How is Jack going to figure out who the would-be assassin is? Who is the mole? How will Jack discover who he or she is? Why was Kim kidnapped? Does it relate to the assassination attempt? How will the assassin get close to Palmer so she can kill him? How can Jack not only save Palmer but also save Kim?

[Patricia Semler]

What I learned doing this assignment is lots of little things are laced into the story like stepping stones across a pond. Each set up may pay off shortly or before the episode ends or will come back to haunt later on. Characters with their own agendas clash in interesting ways. The best laid plans are interrupted by new information or threats and how will that change the hero’s strategy.

Wednesday 5 star model

1. Big Picture Hooks –

Familiar characters with a focus on Wednesday Addams and her sociopathic disregard for “normal” conventions

A school for outcasts (read supernatural teens) too close to a small town with a Puritanical intolerance for “other”

A monster terrorizing the local woods, connected to the school?

Wednesday is polarizing for her attitude and for a resemblance to a drawing of serious trouble

2. Amazing and Intriguing Characters

Wednesday Addams – Self-confident, calculating, sullen, fatalistic

Enid – Her assigned roommate, peppy, chatty, forlorn werewolf who can’t change

Tyler Galpin – A “normal” disenchanted young man who befriends Wednesday.

Principal Weems – unnaturally calm and pleasant, an old rival of Morticia’s. What is she hiding?

Sheriff Galpin – Dour, angry, proud of his service, carrying a grudge against Gomez

3. Empathy/Distress –

Wednesday feels let down by life itself, refusing to engage on civil levels, feeding her depression into fiction, slowly opening up to Enid. Her early crisis of faith – losing her pet scorpion to vicious boys and vowing never to be hurt again explains a lot of her anger.

Enid – Under all her vapid behavior she’s aching because she can’t be a full member of her pack if she can’t shift forms.

Tyler – He hates his life, but fears to throw in completely with Wednesday.

4. Layers/Open Loops –

What is stalking Wednesday, and why?

What did Gomez do in his youth? Why is the sheriff so intent on holding him to account?

What’s the relationship between Morticia and the head mistress?

Why did the monster kill Rowan before he could kill Wednesday?

Will Wednesday learn to open up and trust people?

Inviting Obsession –

What secret is the school hiding?

Who will help or hinder Wednesday?

Who can help her understand and control her psychic hits?

Never one to back down from a challenge Wednesday decides to stay and get to the bottom of the mysteries because she refuses to acknowledge failure.

[Brian Bull]

Brian Bull – 5 Star Model

“What I learned from doing this assignment is…
By breaking down another show into beats and then applying the 5 Star Points I was able to dissect the show and get to the heart of it. It also gave me a few ideas for my own show. At first I thought there was no similarities between my show and this show but after this lesson it opened my eyes to a few possibilities.

WEDNESDAY – Example Show

BIG PICTURE HOOK
Wednesday is devious beyond belief and her time spent at Nevermore will be dark and sinister.

AMAZING and INTRIGUING CHARACTERS
WEDNESDAY
She’s confident, dark and sinister beyond belief.
Highly intelligent
Capable of anything (fencing, playing cello, knows Italian, how-to-fix anything)
Little emotion unless it has evil connotations.
Has VISIONS whenever she bumps into someone.

ENID
She’s colorful and preppy.
A werewolf w/ just claws; may never actually turn making her a “lone wolf”.
Very knowledgeable about Nevermore.
Sensitive to some degree.

PRINCIPAL WEEMS
Suppose to watch Wednesday but does a terrible job of it. (2x Wed. escaped her)
Morticia’s roommate way-back-when.

TYLER
Works at Weathervane Cafe as a Barista

EMPATHY / DISTRESS
WEDNESDAY – New girl in school. Dislikes everyone, loner and likes it that way. Extremely good at several things. Her scorpion was killed in front of her by some mean boys.

MORTICIA – Wednesday’s mother. Just trying to help her daughter. Wednesday is mean to her, says nasty things. Morticia has a heart, but maybe not (depends if your Wed. or not)

ENID – Has a weirdo (Wednesday) for a roommate, a roommate from hell. Enid may never turn into a werewolf instead she will become a “lone wolf”, so far she only has claws. Wants to be friends with Wed. to some degree.

LAYERS / OPEN LOOPS
Is there anything Wednesday won’t do?
Will Wednesday escape from Nevermore or is she content now and will enjoy it?
Will Enid and Wednesday become good friends?
Will Wednesday and Tyler become boyfriend/girlfriend?
Will Principal Weems be able to control Wednesday and to what extent?
Will Wednesday break Dr. Valerie Kimbott and drive her insane?
What does the Sheriff know about Gomez?
What did Gomez do, who did he “kill”, is he really guilty?
What all did Morticia do at Nevermore?
What killed the hiker in the woods?
What was that creature that saved Wed.?
Will the Sheriff find out what’s doing all the killing?

INVITING OBSESSION

How is this going to turn out for Wednesday is the big question?

[PJ Doremus]

What I learned doing this assignment is that subtle hints of the traits of a character cause intrigue whether or not they are totally perceived by the audience.

1. THE 100 5-Star Model (Was on the list in the previous binge-worthy class and is in my genre)

What remains of the human race after a nuclear holocaust has been trapped in space for 97 years. With the arc they live on dying, 100 under-18-year-old prisoners are sent to Earth as guinea pigs.

On Earth, they discover the air is survivable, but a power struggle ensues between Clark, who wants to do the right thing, and Bellamy, who wants to do whatever the hell he wants and survive without the leaders who are still in space. Knowing they will come down if they know it is inhabitable, he makes every effort to destroy communication with them to make them believe they are all dead.

Clark, a natural leader and clearly the protagonist, goes on a journey to find supplies and feed the people. While out they discover that they are not alone, strange animals and whoever lives here attacked them.

2. From that, make a list of the 5 Star Points for that show.

First Pass

Big Picture Hooks –

Can Clark, Bellamy, and the others survive the radiation-scorched planet and preserve the human race? A love interest with Clarke. Who, and or what, is still alive on Earth and how?

Amazing and Intriguing Character

Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?

Clark is a natural leader who follows the rules. Bellamy is a charismatic leader who people naturally follow and play by his own rules. The group is split but favors Bellamy.

Empathy / Distress

Ask this: What situations cause us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters?

Clark is a fighter, but still a little girl in her mother’s arms. She sacrifices the pleasures in life for her quest to save the 100. We fear she will fall victim to Bellamy and his cohorts. Quick to come up with a plan and help people. She is coming of age at 17 and starving for love.

Layers / Open Loops

Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?

Is there enough food to sustain life? The love interest between Clark and Finn. Does the human race deserve to survive..

The Ark is dying, 3-4 months left. Leaders on the Ark are going to start reducing the population if the ground isn’t survivable. Traitor in our midst, and assassin on the ground.

Will they be able to live in the radiation? Will they survive future attacks? Will the group fight amongst themselves? Bellamy wants them to think everyone is dying, an idea he got from Clark.

Inviting Obsession

Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode? It makes us wonder if humans would actually survive a nuclear apocalypse and make our fantasies and questions not only ourselves but the human race.

3. Watch the same first episode A SECOND TIME while looking at your 5 Star Point analysis. This time, your purpose is to see beyond the obvious answers. Assume there is more to learn and discover it!

Clark: Her father’s watch. She’s just like her father who is dead. They drugged her because she was not going quietly. Naturally gives orders. No spiking vitals, her serious nature prevails.

Bellamy: Cares deeply for his little sister. Has a chip on his shoulder and is wanted for murder. Does not want the others to come down.

Wrong mountain, radiation-soaked forest.

They’re on their own, communications down. If the air is toxic we are all dead anyway.

[Jerry Robbins]

Succession 5-Star Model

I learned from this assignment that you need to watch the episode twice. I could see much more the second time and even enjoyed the show more because I had been introduced to the characters the first time. I also learned that the first episode is kind of a teaser episode in which all the characters are presented with just a hint of what they’re all about underneath. They don’t have to be fully explained. We learn as they interact with the people around them. They have to be intriguing and compelling characters, not necessarily likable, but presented in such a way as you can feel their hurt or distress and want to know more about what will happen to them in the future and the secrets they hold.

1. Big Picture Hooks: – a billionaire media magnate who turns 80 must decide who among his children will succeed him. The answer is none because they aren’t equipped for the job, so he signs himself up for another five years.

2. Amazing and Intriguing Characters –

Logan is a realist who knows he hasn’t done his best with his children, and none of them are equipped to replace him in the boardroom. Most would call him an a-hole, but I don’t think so. He’s entirely justified in his reasoning, and he is compassionate. Witness his interaction with the boy Ramon drafted to take Kendall’s place in the baseball game. When Tom tags him out, all Ramon says is, “Too bad, kid,” Logan gets up and tells the boy, “You tried, son,” and seems to give him something. That tells a lot about who Logan really is.

Connor is the oldest and should be the heir but isn’t. Why? Is the “sour-dough bread starter” really a play on words? He seems to want nothing to do with the business, and we wonder why.

Kendall wants to run the company, but he is too awed by “who he is” to understand that he needs to know “who they are” to run a business. He’s had all the right schooling, but now school’s out. He needs to show his father some results.

Shiv or Sioban, the only girl among the kids and very intelligent, has never been in the running to take over, and despite her obvious talents, she seems to lack real confidence, which basically puts her out of the running.

Roman, as the third son, seems lost. Despite his warped (but funny) sense of humor, one senses the hurt behind it. It’s easy to tell that he actually means the very opposite of what he’s telling everyone.

Greg, while not one of the sons, enters the picture as the grandnephew Logan barely remembers. He wants something, of course, but Logan’s answer is, “Get your grandfather to ask me.” We realize there’s a big secret here that we’re not in on yet.

Tom, Shiv’s boyfriend, joins the family, but Logan turns away from him like he’s contaminated. What’s Tom up to? How will this affect Shiv and the family?

3. Empathy and distress –

This story is filled with constant moments of stress and distress for the characters as they interact. We are led to feel empathy for them in many instances:

We get an immediate sense that secrets of the past affect the future when we see the opening images of the children growing up, and we see a girl peering over some bushes at a couple as if they’re meeting in secret.

Then to an old man who has physical problems, and maybe some mental ones, cared for by his wife. We feel some sympathy.

Then, to Kendall at a board meeting, unable to pull the deal off because of his attitude, his employee offers the final insult, “Do you wanna call your Dad?” After this, he does get a call from Dad, asking if he made the deal. He lies. To top it off, Ramon enters. Kendall asks if he’s “over it?” Roman replies that it was like a “cage” for him, and he’s glad he’s not a part of it. Obviously, the truth is just the opposite, but he’s making a great pretense of not caring. Plus, the way Ramon says it – is he also referring to some past event?

Logan sneaks away from the preparations for his own party and calls on Kendall to get him to sign some “trust papers, just housekeeping.” Kendall signs them blindly, not knowing what they contain. He worries if he should stay at the office rather than attend the birthday party for his father. Logan says, “It’s your call.” Kendall doesn’t realize it’s a test and shows up at the party.

As Logan returns, he’s bombarded by reporters, and then he finds security guards taking down Greg, his brother’s grandson. After rescuing him, Logan can’t quite recall his name – is it Craig? No, it’s Greg. Greg tries an “elevator pitch” for a job and fails. Later, he tries to corner Logan, who turns it around on him by saying, “Get your grandfather to ask me.” We note Greg’s reaction – like that’s not gonna happen in a million years.

At the party, we meet Connor with his gift of sourdough bread starter. There’s a lot off between him and Logan, and Logan doesn’t understand Connor’s message. Logan calls all the kids for a private meeting and presents the trust papers. Connor signs without even looking at them. Shiv and Ramon take a bit more time and sign. Kendall is furious at the trick his dad has played on him. He gets into an argument with Ramon, saying some hateful things about Marcia, Logan’s third wife, just as Marcia walks in to call them to lunch. Marcia is careful to cover up what she is really feeling.

Kendall and Logan have a confrontation, and it’s apparent that Logan actually prefers that Kendall stay at the office rather than attend the party. Logan yells that it is a big-dick confrontation and declares, “It’s my company!” Kendall storms into the bathroom and vents his emotions on the bathroom stuff, though he attempts to clean up the mess.

At the party, a long-time associate gives a short speech that reveals some of Logan’s past. They seem to be the best of buddies, but later, at the baseball game, Logan fires him. “I’ve given you 30 years of my life,” the guy yells, but Logan walks away with a grin on his face. We’re not too sure why, but we feel a lot of empathy at the moment for the guy.

They fly helicopters to the baseball game. Kendall is on the phone, trying to get the deal made, and leaves in one of the helicopters. Ramon drafts a young boy from the crowd watching to take Kendall’s place and promises him a million dollars if he hits a home run. The boy almost makes it, but Tom tags him out. We can see the distress on the boy’s face, although he isn’t crying. While Kendall shoves him back towards his parents, Logan gets out of his chair and goes over to him. “You tried, son,” he gently tells the boy, which is the one likable thing Logan does all day.

Shortly thereafter, Logan fires the man who toasted him at lunch, leaving the man stunned and mumbling how he “gave up 30 years of his life.” We feel for the man and don’t know why (yet) he deserves this. Meanwhile, Kendall strikes a deal, but no friendship, with Lawrence, who informs him that his dad is in the hospital. After Kendall checks it out, Lawrence adds, “Now you don’t have Daddy to protect you.”

At the end of episode 1, Logan has a brain hemorrhage and is in the hospital. No one knows if he will make it, and the news media is flashing the news to the world, leaving us with a lot of distress signals.

Layers/ Open Loops:

There are a ton of layers here. No explanation is given for a lot of what Logan says and does, but we’re sure that they will be explained in later episodes. These include:

– Who was the couple being watched?

– Why are Logan and his brother at odds?

– Why did he fire this guy who had been loyal to him for 30 years?

– What about Logan’s background did the guy at Lunch leave out at his toast?

– What about Logan’s three marriages?

– What is each kid’s backstory?

There are many open loops as well.

– Who will succeed in taking over the company as Logan recovers?

– What plots will they hatch?

– Will this leave the company ripe for takeover from the outside?

– Will Lawrence give Kendall more problems?

– Will the family become closer, or will this situation drive them further apart?

Inviting Obsession:

We will need to watch the next episode each time to find the answers to the layers and open loops. The first episode presented more questions than answers, making us want to tune into the next episode to find the answers. It did this in an entertaining way, with lots of humor.

What I learned doing this assignment:

It’s challenging to create a first episode because of the tendency to want to give information when you should make the audience ask questions. You must do this in an entertaining way, with a hook, intriguing characters, through the use of empathy and distress for the characters, and presenting layers and open loops. The first episode is your “elevator pitch” to the audience. If you don’t leave them wanting to know more, they won’t come back.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Jerry Robbins.

[John Livingstone]

What I learned doing this assignment is that there are elements of the drama that can easily be missed or not fully appreciated in the first viewing:

a) The plaque on the wall indicating that Walter H. White was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1985.

b) The speed with which the story progresses.

c) Walter’s transformation in just the first episode.

d) The dramatic change in his sexual appetite.

e) How well all of the main characters are introduced.

f) The two main secrets established early: Walter’s illness and his meth cooking.

g) The transformation in how Walter deals with his wife: “Climb down from up in my ass.”

1. Big Picture Hooks

A 50-year-old chemistry teacher, facing inoperable cancer, dives into the dangerous world of crystal meth to secure his family’s future.

2. Intriguing Character

The enigmatic Walter, driven by desperation, transforms into a legend as he pioneers the creation of an unparalleled crystal meth empire.

3. Empathy / Distress

A heart-wrenching tale unfolds as Walter, battling incurable cancer, races against time to amass $2 million for his family’s uncertain future.

4. Open Loops

The narrative unfolds with multiple threads: the impending threat from his brother-in-law, the risk of his wife finding out, the constant danger of capture or death, and the pressing need to secure $2 million.

5. Inviting Obsession

Walter grapples with a complex web of challenges—escaping the gang’s menace, orchestrating the clandestine distribution of his potent crystal meth, attaining $2 million, safeguarding his family, and making pivotal decisions with his former student—all while facing the harsh reality of a terminal cancer diagnosis.

[James Ridgley]

Prison Break 5 Star Model:

PRISON BREAK:

Big Picture Hooks
Ask this: What is the big hook of this show? An accomplished law-abiding citizen risks his entire way of life to be sentenced to prison with a crazy plan to free his brother from the electric chair.

Amazing and Intriguing Character: Mike Scofield has the calm, the incredible confidence in himself to pull off an impossible job which can only ruin his life – even if he is successful. He is educated; dresses smart and expensively; doesn’t lose his cool in any situation.

Empathy / Distress: Empathy – he is risking his life by robbing a bank with 2 guns; he throws away his freedom by going to maximum security prison by choice! While in prison he asks impossible favors to a big time crime boss who could have him killed easy-peasy. (V) He also risks his life by offending the Head of the Prison by refusing to help him with something! Both empathy and distress.

Layers / Open Loops:

LAYERS – What is the brotherly relationship which causes Mike to do this? Veronica stalls her wedding date – is it because she stills love Lincoln – who is on death row? Does Mike has what it takes to get the people he has designated to help to really help?

OPEN LOOPS: Will every detail of Mike’s plan work? And by April 11th – the execution date? Who are the Secret Service guys and what do they know? Did they set Lincoln up for murder of the VP’s brother? Lincoln was going to marry Vernica but she is planning a wedding with another guy – Will they actually get married? Will Lincoln get back with her? Will LC – Lincoln’s son with another woman become a criminal and be in prison and ruin his life also? How will Mike use the prison Nurse to ask her father, the Governor, to delay sentence and demand a retrial? Will Mike fall in love with the Nurse? Will his bunk mate turn on him for giving bad advice about his finance?? (“Passion”) Will Abuzzi and BD Cooper help Mike with his plan? Will they turn against Mike and/or Lincoln at any point?? Will Abuzzi get Fabiocci back for what he did to him with Mike’s possible help as indicated??

Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season? Will Mike break his brother Lincoln out of prison? Will they both be able to have happy lives? Will Veranica drop the current husband to get back with Lincoln? Will LC end up a teen kiiler on death row some day like his dad?? Will Mike completely fail and serve his term or worse – be killed or serve a much longer term??

Inviting Obsession
Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?

YES!! This is a multi-pronged plan – and two possible plans. 1. Prison escape and find new lives. 2. Bring the real criminal to justice and live free lives as free men. Can word get to the Governor for a stay of execution?? For a retrial?? TO expose the government conspiracy to hide the real killer??

[Ann Carpenter]

What I learned from this is how powerful and useful discovering the 5 Star Points of the opening episode. These points self-propel your desire to learn more and keep watching.

WEDNESDAY

List of the 5 Star Points:

1. Big Picture Hook: How will this misplaced (fish out of water), socially unacceptable girl (in both normal world and weird world be accepted) and what will she do next to survive and maybe even make friends.

2. Amazing & Intriguing Characters:

· WEDNESDAY: offbeat outlook on life, surprising responses, interesting because you never know what she thinks. Clever and witty dialog. Keeps her guard up. She has visions.

· ENID: Bright colored roommate who is the opposite of Wednesday. She wants to be Wednesday’s friend…weird. She is not a fully developed werewolf. Confesses that she’ll be a lone wolf unless she “wolfs out”.

· THING: Honestly how can a hand be interesting? But Thing is. Sign language and tapping and bowing. He’s sneaky but loyal.

· TYLER: Cute and interested in Wednesday. He’s a normal and a friend to Wednesday. At this point I have to say that any friend of Wednesday’s is intriguing.

· PRINCIPAL WEEMS: Her face and words say one thing but her eyes say another. She is shifty.

3. Empathy/Distress:

· WEDNESDAY: She’s called all kinds of hurtful names like Freak, Weirdo, etc. She’s a loner. She doesn’t fit in. But we admire her strength to keep going. Distress: she hates where she is and wants to run away. She cares/she doesn’t care.

· ENID: Cheerful and friendly, she’s smacked down by Wednesday. Yet she keeps trying. Distress: she hasn’t wolfed out yet. She’s afraid she’ll be a lone wolf. She’s so friendly that we know that she needs a wolf pack.

4. Layers/Open loops: Who is the murderer? Will Wednesday fit in? Will her therapy work? Will she make friends? Who wants to hurt her? Who will she hurt?

5. Inviting Obsession: We need to know what Wednesday is going to do. We need to see more in her world. The characters have captured our imagination and interest. So many mysteries to solve.

[Jason Lauer]

Jason Lauer’s (Prison Break) 5 Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment is that I never realized how many hooks were built into this show. Before every commercial break we are fed a new piece of information that will keep us intrigued throughout the whole story. And all of these hooks are hinted at in the beginning when Michael is breaking down his apartment and getting rid of evidence.

I wanted to watch the second episode immediately after finishing the first. I stopped myself.

Big Picture Hooks

Ask this: What is the big hook of this show?

– The big picture hook of this show is how will a man break out of prison with his brother, who he believes has been set up for a crime he didn’t commit.

Amazing and Intriguing Character

Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?

– Michael is a brother who will go through anything for his brother who he loves, including having detailed plans tattooed onto his body so they can plan their escape from prison.

Empathy / Distress

Ask this: What situation causes us to feel both empathy and distress for this character?

– EMPATHY: We come to understand how much Michael cares for his brother and what he is willing to go through for him.

– DISTRESS: This is shown very early on in the story when Michael witnesses an inmate being stabbed. At this moment Michael realizes that he may not survive this ordeal.

Layers / Open Loops

Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?

– The big one is how will Michael escape with his brother? Other smaller questions are who set up his brother and who will Michael need to make deals with to get out?

Inviting Obsession

Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?

– The episode ended with the reveal of Michael’s tattoo, showing the plans for the prison to his brother. With all the other factors involved, it was really tough to not watch the second episode immediately.

[Eddie Duran]

“WEDNESDAY” – 5 Star Model

What I Learned? By planting certain questions during the first episode leads a viewer wanting to watch the next episode to find the answers.

Big Picture hook:The show is about Wednesday Addams, a Gothic girl who tries to escape from the boarding school her family sent her to.

Amazing Character: Wednesday’s character has many interesting traits, such as psychic visions, deadpan way of speaking and fearless of any repercussions from her odd behavior.

Empathy/Distress: We feel empathy towards Wednesday who is trying to distance herself from her Family but distress when there are dark forces out to destroy her.

Layers/Open Loops: Who is that girl in the drawing. Who is the monster in the woods? Why does her Father have a criminal record? Why does she have psychic powers?

Inviting Obsession: We are willing to watch every episode so we can find out if Wednesday figures out the answers to those Open Loops

[Connie Whitmer]

ASSIGNMENT – 1 WHAT IS A BW SHOW? 10/17/23

SCANDAL

WHAT I LEARNED FROM THIS ASSIGNMENT: What a pilot needs to be BW.

A tantalizing hook opening, a unique situation, in a fascinating and unfamiliar world, with empathetic, interesting Characters, each trapped in a nightmare initiated by a killer Inciting incident, with great risks, and huge stakes. All drawn together by a common event – A scandal big enough to blow up their worlds and destroy them all. With Mystery, what really happened, Intrigue, who is driving the scheme, and Suspense about what will happen next – in every scene, episode, and season.

1. Big Picture Hook –

A successful young PM, in the British House of Commons, with the perfect family, gets caught in a sex scandal, his unsuspecting wife taking the brunt of the shame. While a barrister, also having an affair with a married man, finds out she has been offered the case that will rattle the cages of the Empire -THE QUEEN VS WHITEHOUSE

2. Intriguing Character, interesting

Kate – Absolute professional, driven, respected, yet alone, shallow affair, second to wife, not as interesting as her career, only needs a drink, and a worthy case. Gets it.

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Ironically – A case lands on her desk. A well-liked PM suffering the fallout of a cheating scandal is accused of a vicious rape. To her chagrin – THE QUEEN VS WHITEHOUSE

Sophi – Devoted, and unsuspecting wife of James, raising their two children, in shock, must bear the brunt of her husband’s scandal and shame. She appears to forgive and forge on, yet she has told him, she is not like her mother, and will not sit by while he betrays her.

–

James – Young PM with an enviable education, career, and family, risks throwing it all away, in a scandalous 5-month affair with a woman he bumped into in the Halls of the House of Commons. He is informed he is being charged with rape.

3. Empathy/ Distress

Kate – We empathize with her having no life, just a career, while her lover is out partying with his wife. Alone at night in her office with only her work and a drink. Yet she is expected to take on the scandalous case of a young PM, also cheating on his wife – for the Queen.

Kate PRO ON A MISSION IN A BIGGER WORLD.

Subworld – Legal System – a two-faced legal system, tainted by immorality.

Ep 1 Arc – Everything in control – to Twist – her ordered world, blows up.

Her stakes – her career. Her risk – she is the one destroying another marriage

Sophi – We empathize with her love for her husband and children, yet his betrayal, destroys her emotionally, and the scandal will destroy the children as well. We worry for her.

Sophi represents – AN INNOCENT ON A MISSION IN HOSTILE WORLD.

Subworld – The wives of politicians, must sacrifice their lives for husbands’

careers; all the while the well-being of their families is at stake

EP 1 Arc – From happy little family, married to the “golden boy”, to

TWIST – utter Devastation, her world shattered. Getting worse all the time.

Her RISK – her marriage. At stake – the welfare of her children.

James – Perpetrator of the Scandal, Is empathetic only because he had it all, and is in danger of losing everything. However, though he did not choose the scandal; he chose to risk losing his wife and family, by wantonly betraying, thus destroying those who loved him. His distress comes only from being caught.

James represents – AN OUTLAW DISRUPTS THE CURRENT WORLD

Ep 1 Arc – From Oxford athlete, a favorite of PM, the darling of the House, who has it all, family, beautiful loving wife, children, the envy of all, to not only embroiled in a sex scandal he survives – TWIST – Accused of Rape

His risk – his career, reputation, a life to be admired – His stakes, his wife and children.

1. Layers/Open Loops

Kate – Although she appears to have her entire boring, lonely life under control, she is having an affair as well with a married man. Twist- she is put in charge of the scandalous case for the Queen. We must watch to see how she handles the case.

Sophi – The Subworld of the House of Commons, where affairs seem to be rampant, and accepted, leaves the wives and children to cope and carry on.

Something has happened in her past, with her mother, and she and James –

She has warned him before, she is not like her mother, and will not put up with it. We must watch to see the ramifications of her threat.

James – Beneath the surface, of the normal goings on of the House, there seems to be a culture of affairs, and acceptance, among the men. Which could explode for any of them. There is also something going on with Sophi’s friends, they know more than they are saying, Twist – Just when it looks like James’ family and career will survive – he is accused of rape. And is “blown away”.

2. Inviting Obsession

Kate – Twist – How will she handle the scandal, prosecuting for the Queen, when she is guilty herself of the same crime?

Sophi –Twist – How will she take it as the scandal grows, and finds out James is accused of rape? What intrigue is her friend a part of?

James – Twist – He is questioned about the rape of Olivia. What was the deal in the end? He being, sucked back? Did he do the rape? What else will come to the fore? Is he being set up? By Whom?

END ASS. 1

[Helen Roberts]

Subject line: Wednesday (Adams) 5 Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment is the number of questions which can be left unanswered in the pilot episode is nowhere near what is acceptable with a serial. Things do not need to be all tied up neatly at the end.

2. The 5 Star Points for Wednesday.

1. Big Picture Hooks

Ask this: What is the big hook of this show?

Teen Wednesday Addams, with macabre interests, attends a school for outcasts with a dark history, unraveling mysteries, including her father’s possible murderous past.

2.Amazing and Intriguing Character

Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?

Wednesday Addams is a teen who is the anything but the stereotypical teen of today; she loves all that is morbid, rejects social norms, technology and social media.

3. Empathy / Distress

Ask this: What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters?

Wednesday doesn’t fit in anywhere, even at a school for outcasts, freaks and monsters.

She’s being bullied by towns people, others at the school and being kept under close watch by the headmaster and a dorm mom.

She has to see a therapist by court order for anger management, which she doesn’t want any part of.

She’s challenged by numerous other students including a siren who marks her face when Wednesday loses to her in a fencing match.

A student tries to kill her by pushing a giant gargoyle down on her, and then he lets her know she was part of a prophecy, and it was his destiny to kill her.

When a horrific monster stops him, she witnesses the brutal ripping apart of his body.

She’s vowed to never cry again after kids killed her pet scorpion, when she cried and it didn’t help.

4.Layers / Open Loops

Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?

Did her father murder someone, if so who?

Who or what attacked and killed hikers in the area?

How are the visions related to the necklace given to her by her mom?

Why can’t her roommate wolf out? Will she be able to if challenged?

What is the dorm mom’s story?

Will a romantic involvement happen with Wednesday between herself and either of the teenage boys who have helped her?

Will her brother survive conventional school now that she is gone?

Will the Siren best her again?

Will the Sheriff finally be able to send Wednesday’s father to prison?

5. Inviting Obsession

Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?

By establishing all of the above in the pilot. I think it’s the combination which makes it invite obsession.

[Tom Wilson]

TV Show 24 (2001) – Logline: Jack Bauer, head of the Los Angeles Counter Terrorist Unit, races against the clock to subvert terrorist plots and save his nation from ultimate disaster in this real-time, pulse-pounding action series that covers 24 hours in each season.

Doing this assignment, I learned it’s fun to dig into a script and find fascinating tidbits that compel an audience to stick around so they can find out what will happen next.

1. Big Picture Hooks in Pilot – Jack Bauer must stop an assassin tasked to kill a U.S. Senator running for President.

2. Intriguing Character – Jack is flawed because he had an affair with colleague Nina and was separated from wife Teri. He recently moved back home and tries to end the war between wife Terri, who’s upset about his affair, and daughter Kim, who sides with dad against mom. Jack’s disliked at work because colleagues know he and Nina had an affair and because he turned in three corrupt fellow agents. Jack’s boss secretly tasks Jack with preventing the assassination because Jack is the only agent he trusts.

3. Empathy / Distress – Jack’s wife wants to keep him at a distance since the affair. There’s much tension at work because of his affair with Nina, and he turned in his corrupt colleagues. Also, his daughter Kim sneaks out to party with her girlfriend and two disreputable young men. He can’t help Teri look for Kim because he must investigate an airliner destroyed by a bomb the assassin planted.

4. Open Loops – Will Jack get back to a close relationship again with Teri? Will he find Kim who the young men are holding against her will before she’s injured or worse? Can he stop the assassin who blew up the plane and killed passengers from killing the Presidential nominee? Will his corrupt director take revenge because Jack blackmailed him for information he needs to capture the assassin?

5. Inviting Obsession – How can Jack get back together with his wife if he can’t help her find their daughter because he must solve the mystery of the blown-up airliner and stop the foreigner killer before he assassinates the Presidential nominee? How can he return to a better working relationship with his coworkers who don’t trust him because he had an affair with one of them and turned in three colleagues for taking bribes?

• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Tom Wilson.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Tom Wilson.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Tom Wilson.
• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Tom Wilson.

[Kimbal Thompson]

BWAI Assignment 1 10.15.23

Kimbal Thompson

What I learned doing this assignment is the Diplomat is a great BW production with pot6ential layers in Hooks to be unraveled, amazing and intriguing characters and moments of empathy and distress provided by the script.

“The Diplomat.”

Outline:

Opening scene of calm sea, then aircraft carrier, then explosion on ship; sirens.

Jump cut to night scene of Washinton Monument and DC

Segue to domestic scene of squabble between Kate and Hal Wyler, who we gather are both with the US State Dept., interrupted by the receipt of 2 phone calls; one of which summons her to the White House. It becomes apparent that she believed she would be assigned as Ambassador to Kabul

At White House she is introduced by the WH Chief of Staff to the President as “she was No. 2 in Beirut.”

and asked to become Ambassador to England.(and Hal had insulted the Secretary of State, thus not further appointed as an ambassador).

Overwhelmed she accepts and next scene is

of Kate and Hal on private plane to England (as she is frustrated by his advice)

Jump cut to aerial scene of London and US Embassy

Segue to TV screen w/ White House Chief of Staff conversation with DCM of US Embassy London, saying the VP will resign & Kate being groomed for VP her appointment as Ambassador is test.

New scene of plane arrival at airport & reception by DCM. Upon meeting, Kate responds this must be like meeting at an arranged marriage. DCM cordial to Hal.

Scene of their arrival at Ambassador’s Residence. And staff introductions.

Meeting w/ staff RE rehearsal for official ceremony & request for her to attend briefing at the Embassy. She nixes Hal’s intent to attend, explaining to the DCM

that Hal was a longtime diplomat and has trouble adjusting to his new role.

In quarters squabble with differences in opinion between Hal and Kate for handling her new duties.

Arrival at US Embassy, briefing by CIA Chief of Station on the incident: takes call from President and Prime Minister, President refers to the situation as a fucking horror show; segue to Hal requesting car from Residency personnel. Katee find out that US Sec of State Gannon, who seems unaware of her appointment, and has not yet called the British Foreign Secretary. She is introduced to her Embassy staff and takes call from Hal in her office (photo of Churchill behind her). She meets the Foreign Secretary, they brief the Prime Minister (Trowbridge), they go to talk privately.

Hal coaxes a ride from embassy guard. Kate has a video conference with the Secretary of State and discuss President’s prior phone reaction, Scene at memorial with wreath, Hal shows up, converses with female British Pol; Kate is suddenly escorted away from Memorial site. and Hal introduces himself as Ambassador following her departure.

Back at Embassy, photo evidence of Iranian ship potential involvement; CIA COS tells DCM that she has been asked to slow Kate’s clearance (likely by Gannon)

COS and DCM (handler, asked not to inform COS of things) are in a relationship.

Video conf between DCM and WHCOS: confirming Gannon wants to get rid of Kate.

Scene with DCM and Kate, he refers to Hal, by name, confirms SS wants her fired. Kate states you know who you cannot fire: “Cinderella/”

Segue to Kate & Hal getting dressed for Rehearsal; she emerges for photo shoot, in conversation with DCM, Kate informs him the Hal will be gone soon.

Conversation about separate beds. Change shoes from white to black “power”

DCM/Hal conversation RE divorce: metaphor: frog in pot of water. .

Carriage ride

Abduction of Hal

.

. From that, make a list of the 5 Star Points for that show.

Big Picture Hooks
Ask this: What is the big hook of this show? That Kate is to become the
Ambassador as a test for VP and Kate and Hals relationship.
Amazing and Intriguing
Character: Kate;
from being both wife and No. 2 at prior postings and putting up with Hal.
Hal being in his situation and using prior knowledge to interfere with
Kate.
Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?
Empathy / Distress: same
answers per 2 above.
Ask this: What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for
these characters?
Layers / Open Loops
Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only
be answered by watching the entire season? What will be reaction of both England
and US to ship’s attack, who will become Ambassador, will they remain married?
What has happened to Hal and who is behind it. Will she succeed and become
VP. Politics/Dysfunction in DC vs .dealing with an international atrocity.

Inviting Obsession
Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?
Per the responses to 1-4 , above.

[Mary Andrews]

Alumni AI Writing Bingeworthy TV Series ASSIGNMENTS

ALUMNI AI WRITING BINGEWORTHY TV SERIES ASSIGNMENT:

MODULE 1 LESSON ONE

Mary Andrews’ series genre : Science Fiction Drama
title: THE WORDWEAVERS: CODE AND INK

I chose Game of Thrones to analyze, though my writing genre is YA Paranormal Science Fiction.
What I learned doing this assignment Is, that the proper environment and sparse dialogue in the right place cleverly interlink and provides a richer medium to uphold and tell a story.

–PICK A BINGE WORTHY EXAMPLE FROM THE LIST: Game of Thrones PILOT

–LIST 5 STAR POINTS examples from the pilot:

1. big picture hooks: what is the big hook of this show?

Winter is coming: What’s going on beyond the wall? What are White walkers? What’s going on with the king and his family?

Each character introduces another aspect of what their world is about as well as their part in it.

2. Amazing and intriguing character: what makes main characters intriguing and interesting
Ned Stark is an honorable man, good father and husband. Loyal to the king. He is of the old gods, but marries a woman of the new. Though he feels he’s done his duty for king and country, he cannot refuse the needs of his friend, the king and the kingdom so he leaves his home to become the King’s Hand.

Aya Stark is precocious, intelligent and a warrior at heart, despite being female…and a child.

John Snow is a Ned Stark’s bastard son. So far, his mother is not named but he is not considered part of the family. He wants to join the Nightwatch, a position of danger with life limiting rules.

Terrian Lannister is a dwarf son of in a high born family. He is a letch and scoundrel who is known to read late into the night, but he hides a very keen mind.
Dinera Targarian: though of noble blood, she is being betrothed to Karl Drago, leader of a primitive warrior tribe (Arakians) who cannot even speak her language. He is brutal and uncaring.

Her brother is openly using her to acquire and army so that he can return to reclaim the throne of swords (in King’s Landing)

3. Empathy / distress: what situations cause us to feel bad for these characters?
Ned Stark must leave his home and family to become the King’s Hand for the good of the country and his friend, the King.
Ned’s wife will be left alone without her husband and oldest daughter, who will gladly be married to the king’s son.
Bryant? Stark youngest son who is pushed from a tower at the show’s end by the Queen’s lover (her twin brother)
Aya Stark (youngest daughter) has a warriors soul in a girl’s body in a medieval environment.
John Snow is a bastard and second class citizen to the Stark family and in social stature–no party for him
Terrian Lannister, being a dwarf is of low stature, he is a disappointment to family but is more clever than they imagine
Dinera Targarian though of noble blood, she is betrothed to a Karl of a primitive warrior tribe (Arakians to Karl Drago) who cannot even speak her language and is brutal and uncaring. Her brother is openly using her to acquire and army so that he can return to reclaim the throne of swords (in King’s Landing)

4. Layers / open loops: what questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?

What does Winter is coming mean?
an anyone gain and retain the throne?

What is the Nightwatch and why is there a great wall?
What are Nightwalkers?

What is going on with the king, his wife, her brothers and most everyone introduced in the pilot. Every single scene and character added new pieces to the puzzle.

5. Inviting Obsession: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?
each character is under stress, political intrigue is already in play. Nighwalkers have been sighted. All of the Stark’s family is being sucked in to political mayhem…

So far, it provides an interesting set of characters—some more likable than others. The world is being pieced together with peril everywhere. And they keep saying winter is coming!

— Watch the same first episode a second time. See beyond the obvious answers. assume there is more and learn it.

The five stars are entwined in every scene to make it Bingeworthy. I transcribed each scene.

[Jeff Chase]

The Queen’s Gambit 5-star model

What I learned doing this assignment is that The Queen’s Gambit contains every of the big hooks listed below and we’re given just enough information to make us want to know more.

1. Big Picture Hooks

Ask this: What is the big hook of this show?

A timid, nine-year-old, orphan-turned-chess-prodigy battles her own demons and the male-dominated sport for success and recognition.

2. Amazing and Intriguing Character

Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?

Beth comes from a place of deep emotional and physical hardship. We’re rooting for her. She’s a timid orphan with a deep need to succeed. The kindly janitor helps her discover chess. The orphanage she lives in gets her addicted to forced use of tranquilizers. Good opening set up and open loops created for Beth’s mother and father.

3. Empathy / Distress

Ask this: What situations cause us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters?

She’s on her own. We root for her. She steals drugs at the end, taking way more than she needs, we’re rooting for her to live and pursue what will become her dream.

4. Layers / Open Loops

Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?

– Where is her father?

– Will she run off with one of the young boys seen outside the orphanage gates?

– Will she OD on drugs?

– Will she succeed at chess with her phenomenal talent?

5. Inviting Obsession

Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?

We are intrigued by actions taken by Beth and want to see what will happen next to her.

[Phyllis Strong]

The Walking Dead 5 Star Model

· Big Hook: A wounded sheriff’s deputy awakens from a coma to find a post-apocalyptic landscape where thousands have died and scores of the dead have been re-animated as deadly, voracious zombies. He sets off on a quest to find his family.

· Intriguing Characters:

o RICK GRIMES, a dedicated sheriff’s deputy who has survived the zombie apocalypse, is calm in a crisis, resourceful, and has good survival instincts and skills. He also has a troubled marriage.

o LENNIE, a mysterious man with survival skills and a young son who doesn’t kill reflexively.

o LAURIE, Rick’s wife, is strong-willed and protective of her son. She believes Rick is dead and is involved with Shane.

o SHANE WALSH, Rick’s former deputy partner and best friend, is collegial and upbeat. He treats crises head on, with humor if appropriate.

· Empathy/Distress:

o Rick is shot.

o Rick wakes up alone in an abandoned, gory hospital.

o Rick stumbles out of the hospital to find hundreds of body bags.

o Rick has lost his family and has no clue where to find them.

o Rick might be mistakenly killed by Lennie.

o Lennie’s wife is now a zombie.

o Laurie thinks her husband is dead and worries about protecting her son.

o Shane is doing his best to keep the ragtag group of survivors safe.

o Lennie doesn’t have the heart to shoot his zombie wife.

o Rick is heading to Atlanta, which he thinks is a haven, and we know from Shane & Laurie’s group that it is overrun.

o Rick is set upon by a sea of zombies.

o Rick is kind-hearted in the Teaser, tries to help little girl before discovering she’s a zombie.

· Layers/Open Loops:

o Shane is having an affair with Laurie.

o Laurie and Carl are Rick’s wife and son.

o Lennie’s wife is a zombie.

o Rick is kind-hearted; kills one zombie out of mercy.

o Rick can improvise (ride a horse).

o Rick is taciturn.

o Plot Layer: in hospital, door that says “don’t open, dead inside” is first indication of zombies.

o Plot Layer: when Lennie asks what kind of wound, hints at what causes people to turn into zombies.

o Plot Layer: Lennie’s willingness to kill even after Rick is deemed healthy hints at the danger of other people, not just zombies.

o Rick is observant: photos and albums prove his wife and son were alive when they left.

o There’s a third gunmen in the criminals’ truck. Danger.

o Will Rick survive the overwhelming zombie attack in Atlanta?

o Will Rick find Laurie and Carl?

o Will Shane and Laurie find out Rick is alive?

o Will Shane, Laurie and their group survive?

o Will Lennie return in the story?

o Who is the mysterious voice on the tank radio?

o Is there a cure for the fever that kills and turns its victim into a zombie?

o How did the zombie apocalypse start (who was Patient Zero)?

· Inviting Obsession:

o The love triangle among Rick, Laurie and Shane.

o Will Rick survive the cliffhanger ending of the Pilot?

o Who will survive?

o How will the characters survive?

o Will Rick find his family?

What I learned from this assignment:

o A hook with high stakes draws you in immediately, because you want to know who will survive.

o Empathy and distress really made me care about the characters I was watching, and quickly.

o Life and death stakes invite obsession because you want to know if the main characters, and their circle, will survive.

o The main character’s many layers made him so intriguing I wanted to know him better, see how he would fare in the zombie apocalypse.

o That, on second viewing, I caught the deeper plot and character layers of the main characters.

[Meg Stout]

Subject line: Wednesday (Addams) 5 Star Model

[Meg Stout watching with Annie Palmer 9and Bryan Stout)]

What we learned doing this assignment is what a blast it is to watch a show like this with others who are analyzing at the same level (Meg, Annie, Meg’s husband, Bryan). It is magical when you put a darkly creative genius like Tim Burton with powerful interacting archetypes: a) the young person in a magical world against everyone (e.g., Harry Potter, b) individuals who loathe one another only to begin moving toward friendship (e.g., Wicked, Pride and Prejudice), c) a boarding school or school of unique folk (e.g., Harry Potter, Winx (live action), Sabrina (live action), X-men: Xavier’s school for mutants, etc.) Annie loved the visuals of this show but hadn’t realized how much of the visual style can be suggested by the screenwriter.

Big Picture Hook: It’s Wednesday Addams as Harry Potter, with a Wicked vibe and done by Tim Burton

Wednesday Addams is the main Amazing and Intriguing Character. She is all things angst, the champion of the downtrodden, expelled for the violent revenge she wreaks on bullies. She is rebelling against her parents and is sent to a new school filled with outcasts: vampires (fangs), werewolves (furs), sirens (scales), and medusas (stoners). We are presented with multiple sets of conflict, including romantic options for Wednesday (mostly male but also female), and mystery about what really happened when her parents were at the school.<div>

We are distressed for Wednesday because all things are against her, but she is knowledgeable about many things (Italian, how to fix steam engines, kung fu, cello). She can be vulnerable beneath her black and hard exterior. The situations that emphasize this are being slashed in the fencing duel, learning she saved heartthrob Xavier when he was almost cremated years ago, seeing her try to save Rowan despite that conflicting with her plan to escape (then being attacked by Rowan, and having her witness the Hyde monster kill Rowan (the BIG mystery behind at least the deaths of hikers and other townies).

</div><div>

Questions from the first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season:

1) Who will be her ultimate love interest? Xavier, Rowan (nope, dead)?, Tyler (most likely Hyde monster?), Bianca (the fencer who bested Wednesday), Enid (the white-haired roomie)?

2) What happened when Wednesday’s parents were at the school that provoked Sheriff Galpin and Rowan’s dead mother, hinted by Galpin’s accusation about Gomez killing and Rowan’s pre-death monologue? Headmistress Weems was the mother’s roomie and might know.

3) What’s up with the dorm mom, Thornhill, being played by Christina Ricci, who was the Wednesday in the movie version – must be an important character.

4) Wow, Catherine Zeta Jones does not look like she can be old enough to have starred in The Mask of Zorro in 1998 – must be an important character to have attracted CZJ to play her.

5) What is the monster who has killed so often, that Wednesday witnesses killing Rowan?

6) Answers to all the issues Wednesday thinks about during the final crystal ball call with her parents, when she merely says she thinks she’ll love it at Nevermore Academy.

How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?

1) It is intriguing enough that you want to watch the next episode.

2) Then they show you a pre-view of the next episode that hooks you even more (must see Cousin It and Uncle Fester…)

3) Then they literally tell you to “Watch All Episodes Now”

Update after rewatching the first episode….

As with any well-wrought show, it is delicious to rewatch a compelling episode to pick up clues that were foreshadowing of events. I recognized more of the many instances where Wednesday’s mastery is shown, such as the way she pops all the balloons at the festival. I was also delighted that the stuffed animal she wins is a panda as a panda, like Wednesday, is primarily in black and white.<div>
</div><div>Rewatching, I noticed the importance of the dorm mother’s plants in the opening sequence. When the dorm mother comes to introduce herself, she mentions she was detained and she has mud on her boots. This increases the probability that the dorm mother is the Hyde monster we had just watched render a hiker to bits and that will attack Rowan.</div><div>
</div><div>I noticed additional visual clues. Part of this is strengthening the resonance between this work and prior works. For example, Rowan looks like Harry Potter and Xavier looks like Edward Cullen.</div><div>
</div><div>I was also delighted to note how the dorm window was used in the balcony scene to enhance the idea that the scene starts with Wednesday and her roomie firmly in front of their respective halves of the window (Wednesday in front of her stark B&W half and the roomie in front of her colorful half). After the revelations that the roomie can’t wolf out and that Wednesday cried when bullies killed her peet scorpion, we see the roomie partially in front of the B&W window and Wednesday partially in front of the colorful window.</div>

• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Meg Stout.

[Sunil Pappu]

Mr. Robot 5-Star Model

“What I learned doing this assignment is…that my example show, Mr. Robot, was brilliantly written by Sam Esmail. It created an intriguing world, with an equally intriguing character that we instantly feel empathy/distress for. It has us guessing with the layers and open loops, inviting us to obsess about the show and watch the rest of the season.”

Series Title: Mr. Robot

Created By: Sam Esmail

Pilot Dur: 64 mins

5 Star Points for the show “Mr. Robot” are:

Big Picture Hooks

Ask this: What is the big hook of this show?

A disillusioned vigilante hacker is persuaded by a hacker group to bring down the giant conglomerate he works for as a cybersecurity tech to save the world.

Amazing and Intriguing Character

Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?

Elliot is a lonely hacker with a moral code who can destroy a man’s life and business in less than 3 minutes.

Empathy / Distress

Ask this: What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters?

He is lonely, shy and helplessly in love with his childhood friend who is blissfully unaware of him. He endures her cheating boyfriend for her sake. He protects his therapist who is unable to help him and threatens her date to break up with her. He rescues a puppy from the man. He is in a lot of pain from an abused childhood and takes morphine to get through the day. He is disillusioned and sometimes can’t tell the real world from his imagination. He thinks he’s being stalked by men in black. The Hobo who follows him around is not his imagination but a real person who needs him to hack his own client.

Layers / Open Loops

Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?

Who are the men in black?

What is the secret group of the top 1% of the top 1% who play god without permission?

Who is Mr Robot and what is his end game?

Who are the others in the hacker group? What do they want?

What happens when Evil Corp finds out Elliot framed their CTO?

What will Mr Robot and his shadowy group want from him next?

Will he tell Angela about Ollie?

Will he ever get the girl – Angela?

Will Krista, his therapist, find out what he did to protect her from her date?

Inviting Obsession

Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?

What will Elliot do next? Can he trust Mr Robot? How will Evil Corp retaliate for the takedown? Will Elliot finally get out of his head and find some real friends he can trust? Does he get the girl of his dreams? Will he be hunted down or will he protect the world from Evil Corp?

[Deanne]

BWTV / AI LESSON ONE

Deanne’s 5 Star Model for the Series SUCCESSION

What I learned from this lesson:
I watched the pilot three times and read the script for this episode, and still had difficulty pinpointing the basic plot points for that “light outline.” Then I remembered the Pro Rewrite lesson that taught me each major character can have a different breakdown of plot points when you look at the story from their point of view. That’s when I realized I was confused about plot points because this pilot has three intertwining plots: Logan’s need to pick a competent successor, the siblings jousting for power, and the business deal Kendall so desperately wants to close. To clarify things, I decided that, in the pilot, Logan’s need to know his successor is competent is Story A, the sibling’s ongoing competition is Story B, and buying Lawrence’s little company is story C. But Story C influences Story A by providing the Story A inciting incident: when Logan calls Kendall and learns his son still hasn’t closed the deal = Kendall isn’t CEO material so Logan needs to change plans.

Big Picture Hook = obscenely wealthy family members fighting for control of a global media conglomerate (echoes of EMPIRE and GAME OF THRONES)

Intriguing Characters =
Logan: high-powered media mogul facing the frailties of advancing age
Kendall: the dedicated son who is trying too hard to be someone he is not
Siblings, In-laws, and Relatives: a mix of selfish ambition, heartless cruelty, obsequiousness, and disgust

Empathy and Distress =
Logan: the man worked hard all his life to build his company. He doesn’t want it to fall apart when he fan no longer be in charge.
Kendall (Ken Doll, as in “fake man”): has worked hard to become the person he thinks his Dad wants him to be, but Logan doesn’t think Kendall has the ability to dominate other people he needs in order to helm the company

Open Loops =
Will Logan live? Will he be able to run the company? What happens to the trust since only one kid has signed it? Will cousin Greg stick around and get a foothold in the company?

Inviting Obsession =
Why does the daughter’s nickname sound like something a prisoner made out of a plastic fork? (Shiv) Does Roman really roam? Will Frank, the long-time lawyer Logan just fired, team up with Lawrence, the hostile new acquisition, and take over the company? Will Lawrence really eat all of Logan’s kids “one by one”? Will Marcy turn out to be the mastermind behind it all?

[Diane Phelps]

So interesting to read about this!

[Nat Melvin]

WIL: The 5-star model helps to identify major pillars of the show

Example show: GOT. (Funny, I just rewatched it – for the third time.)

1. Big Picture Hook(s):

The pilot episode sets the stage for the overarching themes of power, loyalty, identity, and the struggle for survival in a ruthless and unpredictable world, among which:

The power struggle for the Iron Throne

The intricate web of alliances and betrayals

The supernatural threat beyond the wall, the White Walkers, the ancient danger that poses a significant threat to all of humanity.

The struggles for identity and belonging

The moral ambiguity and complexity of characters

The exploration of familial dynamics, particularly the Starks and the Lannisters.

The high stakes and consequences of decisions

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>2. Intriguing characters:

Eddard Stark (Ned): the honorable and stoic head of House Stark, known for his sense of duty, justice, and moral compass in a world filled with political intrigue and betrayal.

Catelyn Stark: Ned’s wife, the Lady of Winterfell, fiercely protective of her family with a strong sense of duty, driven by love for her children and loyalty to her husband.

Daenerys Targaryen (Dany): a young and submissive bride, who is used as a pawn in a political marriage for Dothraki Khal.

Tyrion Lannister: “the Imp,” a sharp-witted and clever member of House Lannister, who navigates the world that underestimates him due to his physical stature.

Jon Snow: Jon is Ned Stark’s illegitimate son, raised at Winterfell, a “bastard” on a quest for honor.

Arya Stark: the youngest Stark daughter, a fiercely independent tomboy

Viserys Targaryen: Viserys is Daenerys’ arrogant older brother, obsessed with reclaiming the Iron Throne.

Cersei Lannister: the cunning and ambitious Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, married to King Robert Baratheon , while in love with her twin brother, Jamie. Cersei possesses an unyielding desire for power and will to use any means to achieve her goals.

Jaime Lannister: the eldest son of Tywin Lannister, renowned knight with a reputation as a skilled and fearless warrior, juxtaposed with his complicated moral compass.

3. Empathy/ Distress:

Execution of the Night’s Watch deserter, which establishes the harsh and unforgiving nature of the world

Bran’s discovery of Cersei and Jaime Lannister in the tower which leads to his fall

Daenerys’ marriage to Khal Drogo as part of a political alliance

Eddard Stark’s reluctance to leave Winterfell to become Hand of the King

Catelyn’s apprehension about Jon Snow as a constant reminder of Ned’s infidelity

Jon’s relationship with the Stark children, and his longing for acceptance

Tyrion’s interaction with Jon Snow where he offers some genuine advice and

acknowledges Jon’s feelings of alienation

4. Layers/ Open loops:

Layers:

Political intrigue: The pilot establishes the complex web of political alliances, rivalries, and power struggles that define the world of Westeros. The tension between the Starks and the Lannisters, as well as the broader dynamics of the Seven Kingdoms

Family dynamics: The relationships within families, particularly the Starks and the Lannisters

Cultural and geographic diversity

Moral ambiguity

Open Loops:

The White Walkers, a major unresolved threat beyond the Wall shrouded in mystery

Bran’s destiny after the fall

Daenerys’ journey from a timid bride to a potential claim to the Iron Throne

The consequences of Ned Stark’s acceptance of the Hand of the King position

Cersei and Jaime’s secret relationship and the implications for the Iron Throne

Lannister conspiracies in pursuit of power and their conflict with the Starks

5. Inviting Obsession:

GOT invites obsession through a combination of compelling elements, such as:

complex characters, intricate political intrigue, moral ambiguity, high stakes, twists and

turns, strong female characters, fantasy elements, rich dialogue and world building,

visual spectacle and emotional resonance combined with masterful storytelling and

overall exceptional performances.

[savanna]

The Diplomat 5 star model

What I learned from this lesson is that it is engaging to the viewer to constantly challenge their own assumptions.

What is the BIG PICTURE hook? An experienced diplomat female, accustomed and accepting of living in her diplomat husband’s shadow, is selected as a power player diplomat, and unknowingly being vetted to be candidate for VP.

What makes the main characters AMAZING AND INTRIGUING? Kate is competent but nonconventional and must play by certain rules to succeed and doesn’t like giving speeches in a public role; Hal is charming but so egotistical that you wonder if he is staying married just to stay in the game at work; Stuart is smooth as silk but must navigate not only vetting Kate for VP but the rocky marriage of his bosses and must stay low-key and in the background for Kate’s sake.

What situations cause us to feel both EMPATHY and DISTRESS for these characters? Stuart is thrust into an almost impossible position at work, as we all have been, and has to stay low key and calm; Kate has a loose cannon husband that can hurt her at her profession and she doesn’t know about the elephant in the room. Distress, a little, for Hal being so self-absorbed.

What questions in the pilot can only be answered by watching ENTIRE season? Will Kate succeed at ambassadorship? Will she become VP? Will Hal screw everything up? Will they divorce?

What invites OBSESSION? Enough of a few details to be curious about their marriage and how Kate will handle it and her new role; obvious juxtaposition of a professional woman who doesn’t like conformity and rules; a jackass husband in the same professional field who may bring her down, wittingly or not.

[Brent Brent McKnight McKnight]

The diplomat 5 star model

What I learned from this lesson is a bingeworthy show must keep viewers constantly on their toes. Just when they think they know something about a character, wham! something changes.

Big picture hook: A woman is thrust unprepared into a role of great responsibility to test if she would be the right fit for an even bigger role, the Vice Presidency.

Amazing and Intriguing characters: An ambassador selected for Afghanistan winds up as the ambassador to England. She hates the pomp and circumstance, she would rather be in the sand and dirt of Afghanistan she was expecting to go to.

A former ambassador takes a diminished role as the spouse of the unprepared newly appointed ambassador. He uses manipulation behind the scenes to make her a success. But is his goal to make her successful, or to pull her strings.

Dubbed a “Kingmaker”, a term which he hates, her deputy has a secret mission to turn her into a potential vice president. He’s sleeping with the CIA chief of station, who may or may not have her best interests in mind.

3. Empathy/distress: We want not only her to succeed personally, but her mission to succeed in preventing an escalating war. At this point in the series, I personally only feel empathy for Kate, but not the others. Especially for Hal, her manipulative husband.

4. Layers/open loops: Will she get fired? Who kidnapped Hal? How much power does Hal actually have? Who is responsible for the bombing? Who else knows about the VP stepping down? Who on her staff is working for her, and who against her? Why didn’t the president let the Secretary of State know she’s the ambassador? Why is the Sec of State getting the runaround? Is the President’s power slipping?

I didn’t pick it up until the later reveal, but their marriage is on the rocks. It’s a marriage of convenience, not of love… if there ever was love. She fell for this charming, rouge of an ambassador, to later become wise to his tricks. Probably too late after they tied the knot. On the second watch through, the tension between them was obvious, and not merely because of stressful situations.

Interesting plants/reveals: Early comment about the sheets on the bed were strange. That became part of the later reveal. Hal mentioned Kate was like Cinderella. She hated that. But showed her own manipulation later when she embraced the Cinderella persona to save her job. Cinderella is even in the title of the show. Hal and the Chief of Staff appeared to be working together to make her ready for the VP nomination.

5. Inviting obsession: I love political intrigue shows, especially with the manipulation and backstabbing. Leaving the episode on the cliffhanger with Hal being kidnapped, and no one even aware of it was interesting.

We must find out how this “sink or swim” situation plays out. Will those against her get their comeuppance?

Show tropes: Little fish in a big pond (Kate), big fish in a little pond (Hal). Fish out of water (Kate), sink or swim (Kate), puppet master (Hal)

[Michael Jones]

LOST_5 Star Model

What I learned is the depth to which the writers applied intrigue, mystery, and high-pressure stakes, shaping each scene precisely to reveal characters and build the story.

“Lost” 2-part Pilot outline:

Part 1 –

Opening Image of an eye opening and a man laying on his back, injured and confused, in the trees.

Man rushes out of trees to see he’s on a beach with a massive plane crash: noise and confusion abound while the Man springs to action when he hears calls for help.

Danger from the broken aircraft.

The Man identifies himself as Jack and convinces a woman, Kate, to help stitch his wound. Learn Jack’s a doctor.

Several other character set-ups are introduced.

Jack tells Kate of his first surgery where he made a mistake but learned how to cope with his nerves: ‘Let fear in, but only give it five seconds, then get on with it.’ He did that and saved the girl. Handy advice for this uncertain situation.

Nighttime: still no sign of rescue.

Intro to an alien-sounding invisible monster with some serious power in the trees but it doesn’t do anything to them. Is it allergic to the beach?

First flashback: Jack on the plane before it crashed with charm and a penchant for strong drinks.

Radio in the cockpit so Jack, Kate, and Charlie try to recover it.

Scene switches between Jack and Locke to set-up a connection there.

Jack, Kate, and Charlie find the cockpit: one pilot still alive.

They learn the crash happened 16 hours, radio went out 6 hours in; also, they learn they are 1,000 miles of course so no one knows where to look for them.

Some huge, powerful but still unseen force rips the pilot out of the cockpit.

Charlie sees it but we don’t: he says it’s “gargantuan.”

That thing kills the pilot but not them. Why?

Part 2 –

Jack, Charlie, and Kate need to get transceiver working

Back on the beach, a slower moment to set-up many other characters that will be involved in the story: setting up potential conflicts with contrasting personalities.

Fight between Sayid and Sawyer over who a pair of handcuffs belong to.

Man with shrapnel but unconscious knows to whom they belong.

Sayid good with tech and fixed the transmitter.

Friendship between Jack and Kate develops.

Sayid, Kate, Sawyer and others seek higher ground to transmit for rescue.

Locke sets up a backgammon game board and a kid, Walt, talks with him: this is actually the most important set-up seemingly tucked away – Locke explains how ancient the game of backgammon is but explains to Walt that you have ‘two players, two sides; one is light, one is dark.’ This foreshadows the struggle of good and evil, yin and yang, light and dark, the man of science and the man of faith, Jack and Locke, (and for those who have seen it, Jacob and his brother).

A polar bear attacks on a tropical island! Sawyer shoots it; more arguments concerning who the prisoner is and Kate disarms the gun.

In a flashback, Kate is revealed to be the prisoner.

Back on a hill, they hear a transmission, a French plea for rescue on a loop: “Please help me, please come get me. I’m alone now. I’m on an island, alone. Please, someone, come. On the island they’re dead. It killed them. It killed them all.” It’s been on loop for sixteen years, 5 months. Others have been stranded here before.

Charlie sets-up the intrigue concerning the island: “Where are we?”

Big Picture Hooks: Survivors of an airplane crash are stranded on a mysterious island.

Amazing and Intriguing Character(s): The Pilot introduces several intriguing characters set-up for further explanation, but the main focus lands on the one who became the unsought for leader of the group: the doctor, Jack.

Empathy/Distress: Jack wants to help other survivors and concerns himself with their well-being while struggling with his own inner turmoil.

Layers/Open Loops: Who are these survivors? Why do they have such unusual personalities that all happen to be on that specific plane? Will they survive? What is that unnatural sounding thing that moves trees like T-Rex’s in “Jurassic Park?” What is the island? Where are they?

Inviting Obsession: How are they going to survive? Will any help arrive? Will they get along or fracture into separate groups? Will we learn what the island is and why they crashed there?

[Sara]

The handmaids tale.

What I learned from this assignment was how much is packed into the pilot episode, and how many open loops there were.

1. Big Picture hooks: A world that is recognisable, but different, a woman trying to stay alive in a hellish powerless existence, so she will be reunited with her daughter

2. Intriguing character: we hear her thoughts in VoiceOver and what she thinks and says are very different – she doesn’t want to shop for oranges she wants to grab a machine gun: she breaks the rules by going outside; she talks to her friend Moira when she shouldn’t; she constantly subtly asserts her personality in ways would be unacceptable to the people around her; she submits to being raped by the commander

3. Empathy/distress: she hears gunshots when she was trying to escape and assumes her husband has been shot, her child is torn away from her and she’s beaten up, she is raped, she seems to have lost her best friend, Moira, there are severe penalties for not following the rules

4. Layers and open loops: has her husband been shot dead or is he alive, where is her child and will she be reunited with her, what are the other ceremony days that she mentions when we first see her in her room, why is her real first name forbidden, what happened in her first posting and why didn’t that work out, who set up all the rituals and the strange use of language, who is the eye who is in her house?

5. Inviting obsession: how did this world come about, how can June find Hannah and escape, is June’s husband dead or alive, is Moira alive or dead, who is the eye, can the world return to how it was.

[Abdul Rahim]

Scandal 5 Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment is how these Big Picture Hooks must do just that. They must hook you into the characters and their situations, the entirety of the show as well as lay the foundation for all else to be built upon them.

Big Picture Hooks

1) What is the big hook of the show?

Everyone has secrets in this intriguing world. Including the president of the united states having an affair.

2) What makes these main characters interesting and intriguing?

They all have dirty little secrets that we don’t know about yet.

3) What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters?

They are all strays that need fixing.

4) What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season.

What will happen to Olivia and the President of the United States?

Will Olivia and the President continue their adulterous act?

Will the reporter get a story out of this?

Does the President’s wife find out about the adultery?

What will happen to Olivia’s new client Amanda Tanner?

Will Quinn ever catch on to how things are done at Olivia & Associates?

5) How does this pilot create the need to see every episode?

The open loops it left behind

The empathy and distress it made us feel about the characters

The intriguing characters that’s in the show.

[Brian Bays]

LOST 5 Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment is… there are a LOT of characters in the LOST pilot, but it’s clearly Jack’s story. He’s the first person we see and who we experience everything through. He takes charge. Kate is second. She has the 2nd most screen time and helps Jack. Charlie is third, so far (just because he goes on the trip with Jack and Kate). We don’t know a whole lot about the rest. Any of them could potentially come to the forefront.

-1. Big Picture Hooks — Ask this: What is the big hook of this show?

— Plane crash on a crazy island with some kind of monster. They are lost and 1000 miles from where rescuers are looking. Gilligan’s Island.

-2. Amazing and Intriguing Character — Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?

Jack – He’s a surgeon with alcohol problems, who is injured, but takes charge and helps everyone else before helping himself.

Kate – A scared runner. Steps up and wants to help.

Charlie – Steps up and wants to help (or does he have ulterior motives?). Former rockstar – holding onto the past “we’re still together”. “We’re making a comeback”. What’s his deal? Why did he disappear into the bathroom while exploring the cockpit? He wants to leave Jack after Jack saved him.

-3. Empathy / Distress — Ask this: What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters?

They have ALL been through a traumatic incident (plane crash), and the rescuers think they are a 1000 miles away. All hope is LOST.

Jack is injured (how?), but helps everyone.

Jack placates Boone. He’s trying.

Jack can’t sew up his would himself, enlists Kate’s help. Calms her nerves. Terror. Kate’s not running now.

Monsters on the island?

Kate takes boots off a dead woman.

Cockpit is in a tree, but they go in anyway.

Pilot is alive and tells them the rescuers are looking in the wrong place.

Pilot is eaten by monster. Why take the pilot?

Kate terrified! Uses Jack’s advice and counts to five.

-4. Layers / Open Loops — Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?

Where are they? What’s up with this island?

How will they survive?

Will they be rescued?

What’s up with Kate and the injured guy?

What’s up with the dog watching them, but staying away?

Why did they go off course? Why did the radio go out?

Where is the other half of the plane? Are there other survivors? Where is Rose’s husband? Is he dead?

What is the monster in the forest?

What is Charlie doing in the airplane bathroom? He was being chased by the Flight Attendant in the Flashback.

How does something like that happen? (Charlie talking about the pilot in the tree.)

-5. Inviting Obsession — Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?

Are they going to get off the island?

What is going to happen to them?

Will the monster get them?

Will they find the other half of the plane?

[Jamie Stegner]

Jamie Stegner

What I learned: Pack it in! Every second of this pilot has something in it. Every word spoken has depth – what did she really mean by that? What’s not spoken? Even the quiet has intrigue. Every character has complexities.

BWTV AI Mod 1 Lesson 1 5 star point model for BB

1. Big pix hook: A shy, disrespected, high school teacher becomes a criminal meth cook and murderer. “I am awake!” = midpoint turn, he decides to do this and no longer be a victim.

Inciting incident: Cancer diagnosis. Inoperable, life-expectancy 2 years. He has to do something different to provide for his family after his death. DEA on the news – lots of cash- “easy money” – ride-along with DEA. Meets Jesse Pickman former student.

Point of no return: (not in the pilot)

2. Characters: Walter White: shy school teacher, good father and husband. Ineffective and passive; abused by boss at his second job and his students. 50 year birthday. Crisis: cancer diagnosis – he doesn’t tell his wife (this feels lonely) – the call to action. Teams up with former student to cook crystal meth; he knows the chemistry. Chooses an illegal and very dangerous way to make money. Immoral: crystal meth destroys lives. Threatened by gun toting drug dealers, Walt is smart. He kills them; he feels empowered. Walt is becoming unpredictable.

Skylar, Walt’s wife: Steady and level headed. Pregnant near 40 years old. Somewhat insensitive to Walt. She helped him settle for much less than his ability as a chemist. She doesn’t admire him or inspire him to do more with his life. A good wife in many ways but out of sync with Walt.

Jesse: Poor student, smart ass. Deep inside a decent person. Walt threatens him so teams up to cook with him. Conflict: will these two really pull of an illegal dangerous business? Smart mouthed chatter contrasts to Walt’s serious quiet. The most unpredictable character.

Hank: Walt’s brother in law, works for DEA. DEA in news: “It’s easy money, ’til we catch you.” Offers DEA ride-along and the temptation to Walt. Entertaining smart mouthed character. Exuberant contrast to Walt’s quiet manner.

3. Empathy / distress: Walt has plenty of this: Wife decides to throw 50 b’day party – he obviously not interested. She decides veggie bacon that smells like band-aides. She nixes an activity he’s interested in cuz back bedroom needs painting. Walt gets little enthusiasm from his students and some are really bad, disrespectful. Works second job in repulsive car wash much beneath his ability; humiliating. Money’s tight at home. Cancer diagnosis – horrible! He doesn’t tell his wife – that feels very lonely. Audience cares so much about Walt that we forgive him when he turns to cooking meth to make money. I felt at the end of the pilot: “there’s got to be a better way.” But I was worried about Walt and Jesse and the pregnant wife, fearing that the DEA cop would have to arrest (or worse) his own brother in law, apparently each others’ best friend.

4. Layers: Walt is a smart chemist; why is he teaching high school? What is his wound that he can’t be more confident and command more respect? What’s between Walt and his wife that he doesn’t tell her about the cancer? Open loops: How can Walt team up with one of his poorest students? Seems risky for deadly errors with the chemistry. Are these two going to work together? How is Walt going to keep the meth cooking and business secret from Skylar and Hank? When & how will Walt’s wife find out about the cancer? How will that disease progress? Will he get treatment or what? Will her pregnancy be OK?

5. Inviting obsession: End of the pilot Walt has lost his pants. The RV is in a ditch. Walt has killed Krazy 8 and Emilio with chemistry. Two dead bodies in the back of the RV. At least Jesse is conscious and not dead. He may be helpful.

How will Walt and Jesse get out of this? What next?

[Lee Tidball]

Lee Tidball – Lesson 1 – BW with AI Class Mod 1

WHAT I LEARNED DOING THIS LESSON is how effectively a well-written and acted pilot can suck a person into HAVING to watch the whole series using the various techniques that are a part of the 5-STAR MODEL that we’re learning about.

My Example Show – WEDNESDAY – Basic Beats

Wednesday Addams (14), of the “creepy and kooky” Addams Family (60s horror sitcom), stubborn, audacious, arrogant, obstinate, self-centered and vengeful, nearly kills bullies from her high school’s water polo team by releasing bags of pirañas into the pool where they practice, nearly killing the team captain. Needless to say, she’s expelled (again). <div>

<div>

She’s sent to her parents’ alma mater, Nevermore Academy, a school for “outcast” kids, which in this case means vampires, werewolves, and various other monstrous sorts. She hates the idea and thinks they’re trying to make her into their own image.
Wednesday meets the school principal, a giant woman, who seems both firm and caring. She’s aware of Wednesday’s family “history” at the school, which sounds suspicious to Wednesday.
Wednesday meets her roommate, Enid, her total opposite. Enid is full of fun and joy and loves color and light. Wednesday dresses in black and white, prefers the dark, and despises happy colors and light. It doesn’t seem like they’ll get along, but Enid’s non-hostile approach to Wednesday both gives them hope but also catches Wednesday by surprise. Why doesn’t Enid freak out and get mad at her like she’s “supposed to?”

Wednesday is desperate to escape from Nevermore. She plots with a “normal” guy in Jericho, the town nearby, Tyler, whose dad happens to be the town sheriff. He discovers that Wednesday’s father may have been expelled years ago because he was charged with murder.

Wednesday has freaky visions that haunt her, and they happen at random times. Just as she’s about to take off with the Tyler, she has one of a boy being killed by something or someone in a forest. He’s a total nerd at Nevermore, an outcast at a school for outcasts.
Wednesday takes off after him to the surrounding haunted forest where the boy tries to kill her because of a prophetic picture that he says shows that Wednesday will be the end of Nevermore, but he’s attacked and killed just like in Wednesday’s vision by a giant werewolf-type creature, who leaves Wednesday alone.

This disturbs Wednesday, but she’s pleasantly taken aback by how Tyler treats her nicely and especially Enid, who she ditched in the town, who wasn’t pissed off, but helps her to be able to live with her within her boundaries.
At the end, with all the various questions in Wednesday’s mind that seem scandalous and dangerous, she’s decided that she just might like Nevermore after all.

FIVE STAR ELEMENTS IN “WEDNESDAY”

BIG HOOK – This show compels you to want to watch it in two ways. One, it’s a take-off on a classic TV sitcom that spoofs everything that’s classic horror. This intrigues older audiences in particular, many of whom grew up watching it. The other way that compels younger audiences and really hooks the older audience is the way the character of Wednesday is written, typical 14 year-old genius type bratty behavior taken to outrageous extremes in nearly every scene, and yet vulnerabilities are exposed as well. Jenna Ortega’s portrayal of Wednesday also is so perfect that it’s impossible to stop watching her. The supporting characters also seem to be interesting, with hints of layers to be explored as the episodes move on. </div>

AMAZING AND INTRIGUING CHARACTERS – Aside from the aforementioned Wednesday, there’s other very intriguing characters at Nevermore. These include the principal, who seems to know more than she lets on, Wednesday’s classmates, Brittany, as arrogant as Wednesday, who bests Wednesday in a fencing match and is one of the school leaders, Tyler and Enid, as mentioned, who look to have at least several layers to be peeled back, and the monstrous werewolf in the forest.

EMPATHY/DISTRESS – the writers create empathy for Wednesday in several ways. She asks pointed questions that many students might want to ask about school: why are things done as they are, why do I have to know this?, why do bullies seem to rule the school until someone stands up to them, and then that person is the one that gets expelled, resentment about parents who try to choose a future for their child, etc. Wednesday’s behavior is outrageous in every way that many kids would love to be if they weren’t too afraid of the consequences. We also feel empathy when there are consequences for Wednesday for her misbehavior, and some of them come from the kids she’s close to, who let her know in not-so-subtle ways that they’re not going to take her shit anymore. And we feel distress when, just about the time Wednesday is starting to make efforts to fit in, she’s nearly killed.

LAYERS/OPEN LOOPS – There’s seemingly infinite questions after the pilot that keep a viewer coming back for more. Will Wednesday continue to try to escape, or stay to figure out what her parents were like at Nevermore? We wonder what happened with them—why does Tyler’s dad, the sheriff, hate Wednesday’s dad Gomez so much. What’s in his crime file that Tyler steals for Wednesday? Will Enid and Wednesday be able to get along. What kind of outrageous things will Wednesday do next? Will she ever become sincere and empathetic to anyone around her? How are the principal and Wednesday’s counselor mixed up in all this—are they really as “goody two shoes” as they seem? Is Wednesday going to be the downfall of Nevermore? And on and on. Who’s the beast in the woods? Etc…

INVITING OBSESSION – The writers here cleverly use several layers of open loops and curiosity to invite obsession. There’s a basic layer of questions that will be ongoing—Will Wednesday and Enid learn to get along? Will Wednesday make any other new friends? What outrageous things will she do next, and how will they affect the overall story? After that, there’s broader questions, like who’s Tyler, why does he really help Wednesday and steal files from his own father’s records to help her? Will Enid find a way to “faze” into being a werewolf, or be alone forever? Will Wednesday and Brittany ever become friends? And finally, there’s overarching, serious questions that will affect both Wednesday as well as perhaps others, like the whole thing about Gomez, her father, and what crimes he may have committed while at Nevermore that has townspeople upset, etc.? How will the principal and Wednesday’s counselor end up being involved in those things, if at all, and why? And what (or who) is the big monster that’s in the woods killing people, and will Wednesday actually be the downfall of Nevermore?

</div>

[Thai Loe]

SHOW: WEDNESDAY (on Netflix)

BIG PICTURE HOOKS: Ask this: What is the big hook of this show?

An outcast seer/goth girl becomes the outcast in a school of supernatural outcasts.

==

INTRIGUING CHARACTER: Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?

WEDNESDAY ADDAMS (main character) She’s incredibly smart, multi-talented, has her own vibe, and is dangerous. She protects her brother from others, is unafraid of confrontation, and believes emotions are weakness. She is intrigued by mysteries. She is oblivious to her family’s love for her. Melodramatic.

—

PUBGLSY ADDAMS (brother): Easily intimidated. non-confrontational.

MORTICIA ADDAMS (mother): Mysterious, passionate, secretive, odd.

THING (Wednesday’s right “hand” – ha): Super helpful family member with only one limb. Devoted to his family, including Wednesday, despite undeserved misfortune.

XAVIER (friend): Saves Wednesday’s life and has a history of appreciating her for doing the same for him in the past.

TYLER (friend): Not afraid of Wednesday, honest, helps others, including Wednesday.

—

ENID SINCLAIR (roommate): A happy-go-lucky werewolf who loves standing out but cannot wolf-out.

PRINCIPAL LARISA WEEMS (headmaster): Seems to be under-skilled for the school but balances her image with the underworld and the regular world. Constantly watching Wednesday, seems to have a hidden agenda with Morticia.

BIANCA (classmate): Skilled, not afraid of a fight, wounds Wednesday in battle.

ROWAN (classmate, enemy): Attempts to murder Wednesday because of an omen his mother warned him about.

==

EMPATHY / DISTRESS What situation will cause us to feel both empathy and distress for this character?

SITUATION

Wednesday Addams is shipped to boarding school, Nevermoor, against her will, for attempted murder. It’s full of kids with unique supernatural skills. She feels betrayed and abandoned by her family. She feels like an outcast in the world as a whole. This is relatable to most people, although in Wednesday’s case, it’s extreme.

EMPATHY

Feeling abandoned. People want her dead for acts she has not committed. But the monster does not try to kill her.

DISTRESS

She doesn’t even fit in the school for misfits. People are trying to murder her for something she might do, and is in the future.

==
LAYERS / OPEN LOOPS Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?

Questions:

<div>

Is Gomez a murder?

What
is the monster, and why is it killing?

<div>

What
do the other seer’s visions mean? Is Wednesday involved? Is she to
blame? Is she in fact, trying to stop it?

Will
she solve the mysteries? Will she survive?

Will
she rekindle her relationship with her mother? Will she realize her
family loves her?

Will
she find a way to fit in despite being odd?
Why
is the principal following her so much?

==

INVITING OBSESSION Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?

You must get to the season’s end to answer most of these questions. Some might be answered along the way, but it’s clear it will take a full season to unravel some of the mysteries, especially because so many were brought up.

==

WHAT I LEARNED.

The dance of whirling audiences around through spectacle (for intrigue) and empathy (for connection).

</div></div>

[Bobby Sacher]

Riverdale – 5 Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment was the power of having EVERY character’s goals intertwine in ways that create more and more conflict, until every single option for the protagonist seems to create more issues for them.

TITLE: RIVERDALE

GENRE: Teen Drama

BIG PICTURE HOOK

1. Who killed Jason Blossom?

AMAZING & INTRIGUING CHARACTERS

1. ARCHIE: (Protag) – Everyone wants something different from him, and he can’t go for what he wants without hurting someone, or causing trouble. An honest boy trying to do the right thing, forced to keep an awful secret

2. VERONICA: Former “uber-bitch” from her old school, and daughter of indicted “devil incarnate”, on trial for fraud and embezzlement. Veronica is determined to become a better person, and use her “powers” for good – but it looks like she may not be able to escape her past reputation.

3. CHERYL BLOSSOM: (Antag) – Current “uber-bitch”, and Miss Popularity, who may or may not have killed her twin brother.

EMPATHY/DISTRESS

1. ARCHIE was sleeping with his music teacher when they heard a gunshot over the summer – the day Jason Blossom died. And he can’t tell anyone, without destroying Ms. Grundy’s career. His best friend BETTY is in love with him, but he just doesn’t feel the same. Now he may have lost his best friend.

2. VERONICA is genuinely trying to be Betty’s friend, but she’s obviously attracted to Archie – who obviously likes her back. Go with Archie, and she proves to everyone she’s exactly the conniving bitch they all think she is – and she’ll lose her only friend in town.

OPEN LOOPS

1. Who killed Jason Blossom?

2. Will Archie’s affair with Ms. Grundy come out?

3. Will Archie hook up with Veronica (or Ms. Grundy)?

4. Can Archie save his friendship with Betty?

5. Can Archie make his dreams of making music come true, without hurting his father (who wants him to take over the family business), disappointing his football teammates, or falling back into the dangerous affair with Ms. Grundy?

6. What happened between Archie and Jughead?

7. Will Veronica give in to her feelings for Archie? Can she and Betty remain friends?

INVITING OBSESSION

1. How can Archie fulfill his dreams without a) breaking his father’s heart, b) ruining his friendship with Betty, c) having his affair with a teacher exposed, and d) getting caught up/implicated in a murder investigation?

[Martha Manuel]

Hijack 5 Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment is: a writer must search for more than just the entertainment value of a great movie. Just as important an element is what made the movie great.

1. Big Picture Hook: Passenger excitement surrounding Flight KA29 from Dubai to London quickly turns to fear when the plane is hijacked by terrorists, and corporate negotiator Sam Nelson is called upon to apply his negotiating skills to bring about a deal to save the passengers.

2. Amazing and Intriguing Characters:

Sam Jones: Impression – Quiet, good man, on his way to right a wrong.

Parts of Sam Jones’ life are presented in bits and pieces on his way to, and inside the plane. He is on his way to see his ex-wife and son in London. Obviously still very much in love with her, he is seen admiring expensive jewelry he bought for her. He texts her to let her know he is coming.

Captain Robert Allen “Pilot”: Impression – Fun-loving, devoted family man, loves his job.

Conversing with co-pilot (woman) in cockpit, Captain seems like a great guy. Picture of wife and children on his screen in plane give impression of contented, happily married man. Jokes with contacts in tower. Feels like someone you might like to know.

Marcus (man in Hawaiian shirt): Impression – Cheerful, happy man, always willing to help others.

Befriends young girl traveling with two other girls. On plane helps her put her carry-on luggage in overhead compartment. In line for restroom he lets her go first. She comes out and goes back to seat with secret. Marcus comes back and sees her talking in hushed whispers to friends. He asks her if anything is wrong. She shows him bullet found on floor in restroom. He seems to be concerned for more than one reason.

3. Empathy / Distress:

Sam Jones: An unexpected revelation shows his ex-wife in bed with another man. She ignores his incoming text. A second text is sent to her during hostage takeover where it is revealed that Sam’s job is that of a corporate negotiator. He is unwittingly called to use his skills to negotiate a deal for all the passengers, all the while wondering if he will ever see his family again.

Captain Robert Allen: During hostage takeover, terrorist brings stewardess to door of cockpit to order them to open door. Co-pilot refuses. Stewardess told to call pilot demanding entry or she will be killed. Terrorist makes known the on-going affair captain and stewardess are engaged in – makes her say she loves him on speaker. Co-pilot shocked. Captain and co-pilot get in fight. Co-pilot seriously injured. Captain opens door. Terrorists take control of plane.

Marcus: Questions young girl about bullet she found on floor in restroom. Says he will take it to front of plane to ask someone in charge what they should do. In first class he talks with man who tells him they weren’t prepared to do anything yet. He will need to call and get instructions. Marcus goes back and tells young girl everything okay. Makes excuse. In the end of pilot, Marcus is revealed to be one of the terrorist.

4. Layers / Open Loops:

Sam Jones: Will he be able to negotiate a deal that will free the passengers? Will some of them be killed in the meantime? Will he be able to make it to London and reconcile with his ex-wife? Who is the man she has been seen with? How has her son been handling all of this?

Captain Allen: Will he and co-pilot survive the take-over? Will the captain lose his job for opening the cockpit door thereby allowing the take-over? How many people will be affected by his detrimental decision to open the door? Will the captain lie about co-pilot to cover his deceitful actions? Will co-pilot receive necessary medical attention – and when? Will captain stay with his mistress or go back to his wife?

Marcus: Why did he turn terrorist? He first appears to look like an American tourist. What was the point of the takeover in the first place? Where did the first heavily bearded terrorist come from and why was he so violent and out of control? Will he continue to be this way throughout the film, or will something end up happening to him?

5. Inviting Obsession: Main characters have already revealed complicated lives. There is a pressing need to find out how they will handle all the different problems they now face, and to wonder how many more may present themselves.

[Etta Worthington]

What I learned from this assignment (analyzing the Scandal pilot) is that Shonda Rhimes packs every bit of dialogue and action with so much meaning and intrigue, that I am exhausted when I watch an episode . . . but I want more.

I read the script as well as watched it (and I am quite familiar with the series and the pilot). I didn’t realize how tightly packed it was, how well engineered.

1. Big Picture Hooks

Olivia Pope, a DC fixer with ties to the White House, will do almost anything to solve her clients’ problems, with her team of over committed professionals who operate in morally questionable territory, just a hair away from being illegal.

2 Amazing and Intriguing Characters

Olivia Pope is fast talking, fearless, tough as nails. But is a hopeless romantic as well.

Abby emulates her boss but wears her heart on her sleeve when it comes to Stephen

Harrison is cool, too cool. Believes he is a good guy, they all are. But seems too controlled

Huck is brilliant at what he does, but damaged goods.

Quinn is innocent and idealistic and wants to impress her new boss, but doesn’t have the tough outer shell. She’s not sure what she’s in for.

Stephen wants to be a real human being as well as being a Sherman tank like his boss, and doesn’t seem to have much sympathy for women he’s hooked up with. But he’s going to try marriage.

3 Empathy / Distress

What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters?

· Olivia, obviously pining for Fitz, and shattered when he lies to her, but can’t let anyone know

· Quinn—realizing on the first day of work that being part of this team means crushing some of her ethics and ideals

· Huck-a gentle giant—I’m sure he has been damaged and worry about how that will come out

· Abby—obsessed with Stephen who doesn’t even notice

· Stephen who lets himself be bullied by Olivia, and I’m not sure why he does

· Harrison is just too cool, too much the company man, too perfect and I wonder will he crack at some point

4 Layers / Open Loops

· What will happen to Olivia’s relationship with Fitz and will it come out now that Cyrus knows

· Will Quinn make it or is this too tough of an environment for her

· Will Huck’s damaged side come out

· Will Harrison ever come out from behind his perfect mask

· Will Abby move on from her obsession with Stephen

· Will Fitz try to get back with Olivia and if so, will it still be a secret

5 Inviting Obsession

At the center is Olivia’s relationship with Fitz, and whether her passion for him and longing for some kind of normal love life will knock her off her game and threaten her effectiveness, or whether she can put that back in the bottle and seal it up and keep on being as bad assed as she is.

[Jacqueline Murphy]

Homework Lesson 1: October 20, 2023 Jacqueline Murphy

2. From that, make a list of the 5 Star Points for that show. GAME OF THRONES

Big Picture Hooks
Ask this: What is the big hook of this show? Who will be the top dog and main king. With the 7 Kingdoms all are vying for power. It’s like “Succession” who will rule and have all the toys and what hoops will the other characters have to jump through. Who will try to out the other. What are the dangers. Will the sweet be corrupted. How to navigate this treacherous situation to stay safe, have what you wish and stay top dog.Amazing and Intriguing Character
Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting? Lots of characters: Pilot: Ned Starks family: Ned: Ruler of his kingdom of the North with 5 children and one bastard- Kit Harrington. Each has a role to play: The daughter: is a possible pawn to marry the Lanister king. Ned’s relationship with the King is like brothers but the King asks Ned to leave his beloved family and shake up the status quo. Ned is loyal a man of his word. We see the bravery of Kit and the abuse he gets from the oldest Stark. The youngest girl is great with archery and the oldest girl just wants to be a queen. The wife of Ned doesn’t want him to leave and feels he’s fought enough and earned his bones and knows she can lose him forever if he has to protect Ned. Confirmed by a message her sister sent from the Lanister kingdom that they killed the last “HAND” and know Ned is to take that position.

We feel empathy for Ned & his family because when he leaves they are alone, vulnerable and the loving family he’s fought for is upended.

We feel empathy for John Stark because he’s a bastard and constantly pushed aside and remains on the sideline but his warm caring ways and skills and his taking the blows without hitting back accept in private draws us to h

Lanister: The queen is having an affair with her brother whom the 10 yr old Stark child sees and the brother is ruthless and pushes the 10 yr old off the ledge to die to keep the secret BUT the child survives and is paralyzed.

We feel empathy for the Queen b/c her fat old husband is king and whores around but she is putting herself in danger and we feel distress she can get caught at any moment

In the Lanister family the Queen has to brothers a handsome Jamie who she has the affair with and Tyrian who is a dwarf. We bond to Tyrian and John Stark when they both suffer from being bastards.

The Queens son is introduced as the next heir and the eldest daughter of the Starks wants to be his queen but they don’t know each other really.

We notice in the woods a rare wolf is found dead w. 5 pups BUT Kit finds the 6 and Ned lets them keep only b/c it’s the family symbol. LATER: they will be spiritual helpers. I was moved how cute they pups were and how it showed a softness in Ned & John Stark who reminded him that they were the family crest. Ned lets them keep them and that drew me to Ned and John & showed that Ned respects John on a special level whilst his oldest son is cruel and ready to kill the pups which cause distress and a villain, hero competition.

The Dragon King marries Denisus who’s brother sells her like chattle so he can get his kingdom back. They are savages and Denisus receives 3 stone dragon eggs and has an interpreter loyal to her late dad. The ceremony is barbaric but she has to be with the barbaric and cries. All he can say is NO…as their languages are different.

We feel the empathy and distress for her: Sent off to be with a man she has nothing in common with in a strange land without any power or say while her brother calls the shot. We feel upset because she is helpless, a pawn and not a ruler of herself wil.

Empathy / Distress
Ask this: What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters?Layers / Open Loops
Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?

Are the Walkers REAL< coming to attack and destroy the village. Are they in danger.
Is the wall and the soldiers doing their job? Ned’s brother tells him the soldier who told him of the “walkers” was brave but Ned killed him as a runaway & thought he was hallucinating about the walkers.

Will they need John Stark at the wall? He wants to go?
How will it be for Ned Stark in the Lanister Kingdom and how will he family fare & stay safe. What will the fallout be?

For The Dragon Queen and the Barbarian: How will the marriage unfold and will the brother get his kingdom back? Will She get revenge on the brother or continued being abused? What is this strange culture about.

What are all the different kingdoms about, the rules and which is the one I’d want to live in. What role would I want. Is there anything nice and beautiful in this world? Lanister country in the “south” looks beautiful but the people-Queen brother are treacherous along with the person who killed the last hand.

Will the King stay alive? He looks unhealthy and wants Ned to protect him kidding about his wanting to drink, whore and party while Ned runs the kingdom. Keeping his eye off the ball isn’t smart so we are distressed. We like the King because he has a sense of humor, a history with Ned: He was married to his sister and values friendship. We also feel empathy for him because he’s being duped by his Queen and brother in law with the affair

Open Loop Will the get caught in the affair? Will the Walkers attack? Will Kaelisi survive in the kingdom. What or will she extract revenge on her brother? Will John go to the wall? What’s that like? What’ll the pups be like when they grow up and what is there purpose in the show. Will the Stark girl marry the prince. Will Starks family be ok if he leaves. Who will rule? What kingdome is the strongest and will ultimaley rule and What is more powerful: Kindness, ruling power. What is the coin to win? The best way to survive, live/

Inviting Obsession
Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode? An emotional attachment is formed for all the Main characters but also for the world they live in and we have 7 kingdoms to want to learn more about.
<div>What I learned; All the ? above are necessary to hook an audience and keep them watching. </div>

• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Jacqueline Murphy.

[Elizabeth Appell]

I’m not getting any of the lessons! I’ve tried contacting you several times! Can you help?

Thank you,

Elizabeth

[George Strakosch]

The Queen’s Gambit 5 Star Model

What I learned from doing this assignment is that the 5 Star Points are what make watching a series an obsession. All of these points are needed to make the show a must-watch, and they all can be ingrained in the story, explicitly or subtly. It also showed how to make a long story (years) intriguing by showing the future in the teaser and flashing back to start the journey to reach that future.

Big Picture Hooks – What is the big hook of this show?

· An orphan girl becomes a success in the male-dominated world of competitive chess.

Amazing and Intriguing Character – What makes this main character intriguing and interesting?

· Beth appears to be a quiet 9-year-old victim of her mother’s death

· Beth is extremely smart and determined to learn what she wants to learn, and get what she wants to get

o Daughter of Math PhD, who was mentally ill and a drug user

o Does extremely well on class assignment / test, to the extent that it appears the teacher doesn’t know what to do with her

o Very strong visualization ability

o Manipulates people

§ The smile and thank you for the doll

§ The photo with custodian

· Beth wants to compete in a world where she is not wanted, but she succeeds anyway

o “Girls do not play chess” – she learns and forces herself to be allowed to play

o HS boys try to stare her dow, but she beats them easily

o First line of flashback, “what are we supposed to do with her” is probably the thinking she always faces

· Beth has major obstacles she has to overcome

o No family so no family support

o Rigid orphanage life that discourages individuality

o Sexism

Empathy / Distress – What situations cause us to feel both empathy and distress for character?

· Beth’s mother dies in in an auto accident with Beth in a car.

· Beth’s mother was mentally ill and hit rock bottom, taking Beth with her

· Beth left and hid from Beth’s father, pushing him away so he quit trying to be there for Beth.

· Beth is taken to an orphanage.

· Orphanage is extremely rigid and takes away her individuality

o Burning her dress that had her name embroidered on it

o Cutting her hair

o Calling her “Elizabeth” rather that preferred “Beth”

· Orphanage does watch after orphan’s well being.

o Hooks them on tranquilizers

o A threat – clear your plate or “you won’t get adopted”

o “too old to get adopted”

· The risk of the boys outside the orphanage.

· The sexism

o The threat of the stare down by the high school boys

o “Girls do not play chess”

Layers / Open Loops

· Will she survive her overdose?

· Will she lose chess privileges after stealing drugs?

· Will she be adopted? Will she ever have a family?

· How does she succeed in man’s world where she is not wanted? Does she win?

· Did her mother commit suicide in accident? “Close your eyes” was last thing she said.

· She acts out when doesn’t get what she wants. Name calling and rudeness asking Jolene for “vitamins”. How will this hurt her?

· She gets pulled out on manners movie. How will her lack of manners hurt her?

· What is she doing with her fingers when visualizing?

Inviting Obsession – How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?

· The pilot starts with a teaser that shows some future success and then starts the journey by flashing back. The fascinating character and the struggles she needs to overcome makes us want to see how she survives now and how she develops and succeeds as she grows. And to she if she wins, in chess and in life.

[Eric Anches]

5 Star Points for Succession

What I learned doing this assignment was how to watch something critically, to hold my entertainment thirst in abeyance so that I can more effectively see the 5 star points at work in the piece. I chose Succession for much the same reason as Hal, because I didn’t think I’d like it. Indeed, I haven’t watched it before now and probably wouldn’t have, but for this class. This level of dispassion has really helped me see these elements, in real time too. It’s very powerful!

1. Big Picture Hooks: what is the hook of this show?

2. Amazing and intriguing characters: what makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?

3. Empathy / Distress: what causes us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters?

4. Layers / Open Loops: what questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?

5. Inviting Obsession: how does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?

Logan might be senile — 2, 3, 4

Greg, Logan’s grand nephew pukes his guts out — 3, 4

Roman’s obvious sibling envy — 2, 3

Roman: “the last time I surprised him [Logan] he took a swing at me” — 2, 4

Is Marci Logan’s wife? — 4

Logan “Oh, old bread. Thank you.” Very funny — 3, 4

Logan and his brother have issues — 1, 2, 3, 4

Marci is Logan’s de facto wife (even if they aren’t married) — 3, 4

Connor has no tolerance for the family bs — 3

Logan pulls the rug out from under Kendall — 1, 4, 5

Greg learns quickly — 3, 4, 5

Logan’s kryptonite is Marci. What won’t he do for her? — 2, 3, 4, 5

Kendall makes his play — 2, 4, 5

Roman is an asshole — 2, 4

Lawrence is an unknown threat —1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Will Logan survive to see through on all the chaos and intrigue he just unleashed? — 1,2, 3, 4, 5

[Helena Derett]

My binge Worthy show is Wednesday.

1. Big Picture Hooks

Ask this: What is the big hook of this show?

– Wednesday is an outcast even among outcasts. When she gets sent to a mysterious school, all Wednesday wants is to run away, but she quickly discovers there’s something amiss and a prophesy that she will destroy the school.

– Wednesday’s visions.

– There’s a serial killer around the school.

– Someone wants Wednesday dead.

– A monster roams the area (this is the killer?)

– Secret past regarding Wednesday’s father.

– Teachers and classmates with secrets.

– The franchise is obviously a hook as well.

2. Amazing and Intriguing Character

Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?

– Wednesday is the ultimate goth girl with an incredibly wise world perspective. She is extremely smart and perceptive which makes her voice unique, because of her goth ways her actions are unique- like taking revenge with piranhas. She has a clear goal- escape, but it changes through the first episode deepening the journey. She appears emotionless and uncaring, yet it’s quite the opposite- her first action is to protect her brother. Wednesday also has visions.

– Wednesday’s roommate is the polar opposite- bright, cheerful, gentle (except when she pulls out her claws). We can see how they’re going to bond and complement each other.

– Tyler is a “normie” who quickly bonds with Wednesday. Again there is a deep contrast between him and Wednesday.

– Ms. Thronhill introduces herself with shoes full of mud, just after a killing in the forest. Is she the killer? Or could she have seen something if she was out and about?

– The Franchise characters (Morticia, Gomez, the hand) they’re obviously a hook.

3. Empathy / Distress

Ask this: What situations cause us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters?

– Wednesday acts as if she doesn’t care, but she cares deeply- her first action is to protect her brother.

– Wednesday being sent to a school against her wishes.

– Wednesday being in danger at school.

– Wednesday tragic past is the reason she doesn’t cry.

– The killer roaming the woods.

4. Layers / Open Loops

Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?

– Who is the killer?

– What happened with Wednesday’s father in the past and how will it affect Wednesday now?

– The roommate’s inability to transform, how will that play out?

– Who is the monster?

– What will Wednesday discover about the school?

– Wednesday’s visions and their meaning. (seer?)

– The prophecy of destroying the school.

– Wednesday making friends (more than she ever has) how will that change her?

5. Inviting Obsession

Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?

– For me, in one word is the layers of mystery and intrigue. I do have to say I didn’t get “obsessed” as I have with other shows. But the combination of Wednesday’s uniqueness and the mysteries is a hook.

– I wanted to compare this to Home Before Dark (which, for me, was a binge-worthy show.) because that one created way more obsession in me than Wednesday. I bring only this up because I see a pattern between the two shows. In Home Before Dark, we have a unique character (9-year-old girl who desperately wants to be an investigative reporter and acts as such.) When she moves to a small town where her dad grew up, she quickly stumbles upon a murder, a decades-old unsolved disappearance connected to her father, and a slew of characters who don’t want her. Obviously, there’s tons of peril because she is a little girl doing an adult’s job and the investigation she is conducting is about a kidnapping. Will she be next?

– I think Home Before Dark hooked me more because the mystery of the unsolved kidnapping was more unique than a serial killer in the woods around a school of supernatural children. This tells me that Binge worthy is perhaps 90% the mystery (open loops) The characters were also endearing and unique. While the conflict, mystery, and intrigue produced distress and a need to know what would happen next, the setting and characters also provided a level of comfort and a desire to spend time in this environment with them. I can see another pattern here: Stranger things. Again tremendous mystery, open loops, etc., and yet the characters make us feel different emotions. And maybe comfortable isn’t the word but I think that’s what I discovered doing this assignment. There is an interesting combination of emotions that the characters inspire and the distress of the plot that makes a show binge-worthy. I know Hall said that it is possible to love a show or for a show to be binge-worthy despite the characters, but maybe characters that inspire deep dislike or even hate are also a hook. So, for me, for a show to be binge-worthy, the characters must produce a set of strong emotions whether you love them, feel comfortable with them, or deeply dislike them. The plot produces distress and a desperate need to know more. I had this insight when I realized this pattern.

[Alandra Ortis]

(Succession) 5-Star Model

Big Picture Hooks: In the beginning, when Kendall Roy is on his way to what is obviously a big deal meeting, he is feeling great about it-acting cocky. Gets to the meeting, and the meeting is with a young Asian guy who is respectful and meek at first. Politely declines the offer given by Kendall. This catches Kendall off guard–and after I hear what the nice, polite guy calls Kendall’s company– I felt the surprise element was a big picture hook.

Amazing and intriguing characters: The characters gave me a nervous feeling -as though there wasn’t any loyalty and were only out for themselves. But at the same time, all they wanted was validation. The characters were scary because you never knew how they were going to lash out. The dialogue was brilliant –it punched on so many levels.

Empathy/Distress: At the beginning, Kendall’s meeting didn’t go as expected–and immediately, he was asked, “Do you want to call your father?” He tried to pass it off, but I couldn’t feel bad for him.

Layers/Open Loops: Who will get control of the company? What is going to happen with Logan’s health regarding the company?

Inviting Obsession: This pilot creates the need to watch every episode because everyone and everything is intertwined. As much as they don’t seem to be a family in the good sense of the word, they are connected by how each level of meanness affects what the other wants.

A quick note: I picked a show I wasn’t interested in, so I could challenge myself.

[Amechi Ngwe]

HIJACK 5 Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment is there are usually things in a pilot that are in there under the surface that it’s not possible to see on the first viewing but are part of the experience.

Big Picture Hooks

1. What is the big hook of this show?
A high level negotiator on a highjacked flight offers to help the terrorists get what they want so that he can make it home alive.

2. Amazing and Intriguing Character
Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?
Sam seems like the type of person who wants to do the right thing, and then wants to help the terrorists.

3. Empathy / Distress:
Ask this: What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters?
The ‘old-fashioned’ man helping the girl with her overhead luggage.
Sam has no luggage, only a gift for his wife.
Helping the stranger get on the flight.
The parents struggling with their luggage and their kids.
The reverend who tries to bribe the flight attendant into upgrading him and his anxious wife.
Sam is told by his wife not to get on the plane.
Sam’s ex-wife has social media pictures with another man
Sam tells his annoying and noisy seat neighbor that he doesn’t want to talk to him.
Sam helping to calm down the panicking woman.
Guns pointed at Sam as he makes his way back to first class.

4. Layers / Open Loops
Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?

How can the stranger skip the line to get on the flight?
“How bad can it be?” Helping the stranger who was late get on the flight.
Who are the men who stare at each other on the flight?
Who is the flight attendant’s rich boyfriend?
The bullet found in the restroom.
Will the lie about the bullet hold up?
The airport worker being forced to go home.
Who is Collette Fisher?
Terrorists take over the plane
The men planning the counter-attack on the terrorists
Who are the terrorists?
How do the terrorists know about the captain and Collette?
The captain is cheating on his wife with Collette
Sam keeps his phone.
The captain attacks the co-pilot to open the door for the terrorists.
Sam is an expert high-level negotiator.
Will Sam’s offer be accepted

5. Inviting Obsession
Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?
Sam is an expert negotiator who can help the terrorists get what they want and get home to his family.
We want to know how he is going to help them, and if he will be get home to his family.
Some of the characters have secrets that are hinted at but not explained.

[Sylvia Krawczyk]

M1-L1 Homework

SU BWTV AI Alumni

The Queens Gambit Limited Series

What I learned doing this assignment is:

There was much more there to explore even as much as I had a hard time with the child abuse.

From that, make a list of the 5 Star Points for that show.

Big Picture Hooks
Ask this: What is the big hook of this show?

Chess and Drug addiction

Amazing and Intriguing Character
Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?

Beth, her buddy (black girl), Janitor

Empathy / Distress
Ask this: What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters?

Alone, lost both of her parents, how to make friends, strange/abusive/fake adults, make all the girls look and act the same—no individuality—no identity—ambition is squashed

Layers / Open Loops
Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?

Addiction—how will she overcome it, will she be able to rise above the abuse, will she find her inner strength/voice, she also needs to watch herself so she doesn’t sabotage herself

Inviting Obsession
Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?

Will she move beyond her addiction? Will she be able to play without the hallucinogens? Will she get adopted? By whom? Will she find love in a boy that without narcistic personality? Will she get herself in trouble/pregnant? Will she be able to pursue her genius or will her genius destroy her?

Watch the same first episode A SECOND TIME while looking at your 5 Star Point analysis. This time, your purpose is to see beyond the obvious answers. Assume there is more to learn and discover it!

• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Sylvia Krawczyk.

[Maureen Tilyou]

<div>HIJACK’s 5 Star Model</div>

Big Picture Hooks: Professional Corporate Negotiator on his way home to save his marriage, has to engage all his manipulative skills to get the plane safely home after it is Hijacked by ruthless criminals.

1)) Right from the beginning we bond with Sam. He is in obvious distress about something, and we want to know what and how he is going to fix it.

2) Other Characters getting on the plane are introduced. We know from the title it is about a hijacking, so we are already trying to sort out who is a potential hijacker, and who is a victim.

3) Once the hijacking starts, Sam’s approach is so unique, his choices surprise us – especially at the cliffhanger ending when he offers to help them.

4) The hijackers know exactly who and what to exploit. They know all about the pilot and the Stewardess having an affair, and they use it to get into the cockpit. Who are these people?

Empathy / Distress:

The filmmakers use the fact that we know that this plane will be hijacked, to build empathy and distress in us for all the passengers as they board the plane. We see a couple, a family with children, a desperate man is ushered through security and runs to get on a plane that he may not make it off. After take off, we begin to see the event we dread unfold. We are with Sam as he clocks the odd behavior, and becomes concerned. He goes to investigate, but before he can find anything out, the hijackers pull guns, putting everyone in danger. Anxieties and tensions build, along with our empathy.

Layers / Open Loops
-What do the hijackers want?

– Will they succeed?

– Will Sam get out of this alive?

– Will any of the passengers get out of this alive?

Inviting Obsession

You’re hooked like a fish with the character of Sam foremost, but also by the tense pacing and surprises. We want to know if all these passengers will get out of this alive, and if not- who will die? We want to know what the hijackers want, and if they will get it.

[Sandra Nelles]

The Sopranos 5 Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment is that watching the pilot a second time brought out more insights about the characters and their world.

Big Picture Hooks

After Tony Soprano passes out from a series of anxiety attacks, he reluctantly visits a psychiatrist for the first time. His stressors include: his wife and daughter do not get along, his uncle wants Tony to kill someone, his mother refuses to move to a retirement home, and there are ducks in his swimming pool.

Amazing and Intriguing Character:

Tony is a middle-aged mob boss challenged with a tough competitive business and unsupportive family. Tony is tough and tender. He thinks nothing about hurting someone who owes him money, but is caring for wild ducks in his pool and depressed when they leave. He justifies the bad things he does on the job, and frames it as a good thing.

Empathy/Distress

When Tony has a couple panic attack and passes out.

The family businesses is faltering, and Tony’s uncle disagrees with how Tony is handling the business.

Tony could be arrested if he tells his psychiatrist about any of his illegal doings, especially harming or killing the competition.

When the ducks in Tony’s pool fly away.

Layers / Open Loops

Will Tony turn the business around?

Will Tony get caught or killed?

Will Tony’s uncle get revenge? If so, how?

Will his mother go into a retirement home?

Will his wife and daughter get along?

Will the ducks come back?

Inviting Obsession

Every job Tony pulls off has us wonder what will happen next. How will Tony survive his uncle’s revenge, the competition, and his mother’s lack of support? Will his daughter get in trouble? Will his psychiatrist turn him in?

[Peter Symons]

GAME OF THRONES 5 Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment is the more detail you invest in world building, the easier it is to develop characters whose reactions are consistent with the rule of the world you’ve built.

The big hook is as the title implies there are Houses at war with each other in order to achieve the Iron Throne. While House Stark is introduced as our fall back wholesome family, the other Houses are equally interesting because of their depravity.

Ned Stark, head of House Stark as the would-be Hand of the King- a role he doesn’t want nor desire. He’s a noble leader, father and husband. Values are very rare in this world of Winterfell.

We can understand and even empathize with Ned Stark and his family. The kids have sibling rivalries as all families do, but when young Bran Stark discovers two siblings of House Lannister engaged in coitus, we are both thrown off guard and understand that all the rules are out the window. Much like Bran.

Questions created that can only be answered by watching the entire season are 1) who are the white walkers? and 2) Will Ned stark make it back to his family?

This pilot is ingenious in its ability to create curiousity of all Seven Houses. A new world to explore. So many deceptions and intrigues. We want to follow EVERY character, including the last of the Valyrians.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Peter Symons.

[Matt Sharp]

The Americans 5 Star Model

I learned that there is always more to see under the surface with good material.

1. Husband and Wife turn out to the be Russian spies hiding in 1980’s America. The heat is on them is growing, with some within the FBI starting to realize there are Russian spies hiding One in particular it their neighbor.

2. From that, make a list of the 5 Star Points for that show.

Big Picture Hooks

Ask this: What is the big hook of this show?

Everyday Americans are actually Russian spies. Both husband and wife are dedicated to the cause, but also ruthless in their own ways, while also very supportive of each other.

Amazing and Intriguing Character

Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?

They are spies, but also the PTA type. They are both trying to protect their family.

Ask this: What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters?

They are both trying to protect their family. The husband almost kills a guy for sexualizing his daughter.

Layers / Open Loops
Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?

Will they get caught?

Inviting Obsession
Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?

Immediate danger for all the main characters

[Noree Victoria]

Wednesday – 5 Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment is the reminder that this is a very straightforward and effective model to follow that is the essential foundation for a solid bingeworthy show. It also showed me that all 5 stars can and should show up equally as strong.

1. Big Picture Hooks

A high-schooler with a macabre sense of humor sees visions of the past and future and uses them to solve murders surrounding Nevermore, a school for outcasts.

2. Intriguing Character

Gifted goth misfit with a wheelhouse of artful renaissance talents who sees visions of the past and future and uses them either punish or assist the people around her.

3. Empathy / Distress

Wednesday needs to find out why a beast is killing people around her new school, but is constantly being pursued by people who want to harm her or kill her, or that simply misunderstand her motivations and intentions. She does have feelings (pet Scorpion death), but is resistant about sharing them with anyone. Her sarcasm is a mask.

4. Open Loops

What beast is killing people in the woods near Nevermore? Why did the beast spare Wednesday? Will the kids from Jericho ever catch up to harm Wednesday? Why does Wednesday’s dad have a police record for attempted murder? Is Wednesday going to try to make a connection with the killer beast?

5. Inviting Obsession

How is Wednesday going to solve the mystery beast murders, find out why her father was once wanted for attempted murder, keep her sanity boarding with an overbearing roommate while evading the people who want to harm or kill her?

[Jennifer Quintenz-Berry]

THE DIPLOMAT 5 Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment: There’s so much that the main character doesn’t know, that we the audience are let in on from the start. There are many characters in different centers of her life (office, home, within the US government, within the UK government…) and already many conflicting adgendas. It’s very interesting, and I do feel the need to watch more. It was hard to stop at one.

Big Picture Hooks: What is the big hook of this show?

An overqualified and altruistically motivated diplomat is pulled from a critical role in Afghanastan and sent to England as the new Ambassador to handle a crisis, unbeknownst to her it is a test to determine whether she would make a good Vice President.

Amazing and Intriguing Characters: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?

Ambassador Wyler: no-nonsense, non-politically motivated career diplomat with little patience for the out-ward facing side of politics who is nonetheless unafraid of playing a role to ensure the success of her mission.

Hal Wyler: her ego-dirven ex-Ambassador husband who is in on the secret plan, who cannot help but meddle in her career.

Her point-person: A “king-maker” who has been reluctantly drafted to try to turn her into a vice president.

Empathy / Distress: What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters?

She is clearly excited about her new post in Afghanastan, and crushed when it’s pulled for a fluffy job in England.

She’s a serious woman, but people around her treat her as a dilettante.

She’s trying to do a job, but her husband subtly (and not-so-subtly) undercuts her.

Her boss is also terrible at her job, which puts her in a terrible situation, and when she does what she can to fulfill her duties, her boss tries to fire her.

Her marriage is complex.

Her husband is kidnapped.

Layers / Open Loops: What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?

Will she be able to keep her job, and if she does, will she be able to succeed at it?

Will she slowly get acclimated to the idea of being a vice president or will she reject it?

What is going to happen to her husband?

How long will the people who know the secret reason for her position keep it from her?

Inviting Obsession: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?

I really like this main character; I can identify with her, while also being excited and surprised by the world she moves in.

Her husband is an interesting guy – I can’t decide if I like or hate him. Their marriage is interesting and infuriating.

I like her close associate in London (the “kingmaker”).

[Andrew Bailey]

Example show: WEDNESDAY

What I learned doing this assignment: That a good pilot hits all the right notes, from the hook to introducing indelible characters placed in unpredictable situations that keep you watching. And it’s all about the empathy/distress factor—how we feel for a character who isn’t necessarily likable but who becomes thrilling to watch as escalating conflicts are thrown her way à la Wednesday Addams. Also, decently flowing wit can fuel an otherwise rudimentary and formulaic show.

BIG PICTURE HOOKS – What is the big hook of this show?

Seeing snarky, crafty, ultimate outcast Wednesday Addams outwit (or try to outwit) every obstacle in her path as she transfers to Nevermore Academy

AMAZING AND INTRIGUING CHARACTER – What makes the main character intriguing and interesting?

She’s dark and diabolical but also cute and loveable and she’ll take on anyone or anything that tries to cross her; sometimes she fails but more of than not she succeeds—the negative Nancy who wins.

EMPATHY/DISTRESS – What situations cause us to feel both empathy and distress for the main character(s)?

She’s dark and twisted but we root for her because at heart we identify with her as an outsider—that’s the general one. We’re in her shoes as she enters Nevermore Academy for the first time, stepping into dangerous situations as a new girl who is tested. We feel for her because we’ve all been there before, in school, at a new job, in any unfamiliar environment. We have empathy for her as she tries to overcome, but we fear for her because she doesn’t always win, and frequently finds herself in danger.

LAYERS/OPEN LOOPS – What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?

Who is the deranged creature killing innocent people in the forest and why did it protect Wednesday? What is Gomez’s sinister history in Jericho and at Nevermore Academy? Will Wednesday emerge victorious as she takes on Nevermore Academy and Jericho? Will she fall in love with Tyler Galpin? What is the strange mystery behind her classmate Rowan and the drawing she shows him of Wednesday?

INVITING OBSESSION – How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?

Because of the unique and compelling character that is Wednesday Addams and the way she is brought to snarky life in a new realm by Tim Burton and Jenna Ortega. We know this character already, because we love The Addams Family from film, television and comics; but we can’t wait to see how she is repurposed for streaming by goth auteur Tim Burton.

[Niraj Trivedi]

The Diplomat 5 Star Model

What is the big hook of the show?

A reluctant, unpolished diplomat, is assigned to be the British Ambassador after their air craft carrier is bombed in the Gulf. She thinks she is there to use her expertise of the Middle East to keep things from boiling over, but in reality she is being vetted for the Vice Presidency, without her knowledge, with scheming by the President and her ambassador husband, Hal.

What makes the main characters intriguing and interesting?

Kate/Katie – Kate takes her career seriously and wants to work on meaty issues in places where she can do the most good and bring the most change for the betterment of people. She does not crave nor seek the spotlight, fame, or power. But British protocol is full of pomp and circumstance so we get the ‘fish out of water,’ thing happening. Also, she is nice. But she is also bold. She swallows her pride and plays ball with protocol, getting dressed up and having photoshoots, despising it all the while. So we see that she is willing to check her ego in order to serve. She has a sense of humor but is serious, bold but deferential, holding different paradoxes at the same time. It makes her relatable and we want to see her succeed as a worthy person.

Hal – Hal is also paradoxical in several ways which makes him interesting. While he loves his wife, he’s not above manipulating events around her to get what he wants, thinking it for the best interest of Kate. But it comes at a cost with negative repercussions so it’s ambiguous as to whether he is a help or a hindrance to Kate and what she perceives as her mission. He’s trying hard to take a backseat to let Kate have the spotlight, but acts selfishly when he doesn’t get his way. But that he recognizes greatness in her and wants her to be the vice president, speaks to both his manipulation and adoration of Kate. He loves Kate and Kate loves him, so while he has agreed to split up with Kate, perhaps he sees his scheming as a way to hold their marriage together? And why is he kidnapped at the end of the pilot episode?

Stuart – Stuart has been tasked by the President to vett Katie and perhaps even polish her up for the politics of the vice presidency. He is referred to as Kingmaker and we find out not only has he had a relationship with the Chief of Staff to the President, but he is sleeping with the Head CIA rep at the embassy. He essentially is serving two masters, Kate and Hal/President, and this puts him in interesting situations, trying to maneuver Kate into the political arena while also trying to serve her mission. He is hard to read, which makes him interesting to watch. Also, why was he referred to as Kingmaker? And why does he not like that designation?

What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for the characters?

Katie doesn’t get the meaningful assignment she wanted, has to deal with a scheming husband, has to play along with pomp and circumstance, has to be careful to be effective without stepping on egos, all the while going through a separation. Hal passionately loves Kate. Taking a backseat is new to him, but he is trying. He is trying to get Kate to the vice presidency but knows she would resist if the notion was in the open. Stuart has to deal with someone who doesn’t care for ceremony and protocol, which the Brits care very much about, he also has to deal with ex, and with a lover whom he works with, so on both the professional and personal level, he has to navigate with care.

What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire series?

Who/what country bombed the carrier and what will be the response? Will Kate become VP material? Will Kate and Hal patch things up? The stakes are at both the personal and global level.

How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?

A timeline of 6 months is established for Kate to be nominated for the VP slot. We believe we know the destination so want to get on board for the journey. There is a scene that describes how the series will unfold. Kate will be maneuvered into higher and higher stakes situations to shape her to become VP material.

[Margaret Gendreau]

The Diplomat

The Diplomat 5 Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment is that this pilot, The Cinderella Thing, is near perfect. I watched this show for entertainment purposes when it first came out and I was totally obsessed but didn’t spend any time on the why. I can not watch this show and stay on task so it took reading the transcript, several times and multiple viewings to discover some of her secrets…

Also I learned a lot about quick dialogue. I’ve cut my dialogue immensely but the short sentences, cutting each other off and cross talk really helps create a frenetic energy that I’d like to duplicate.

Another thing the writer did over the course of the pilot was to keep upping the death toll of the British soldiers dead from the attack on their aircraft carrier in the gulf near Iran. The ever growing number adds to the tension and the elevated stakes throughout.

Not one scene is there that doesn’t add to the tension, intrigue and obsession of this show.

Big Picture Hooks —

Kate is a career diplomat who has always played second fiddle to her narcissistic boss/husband and has had enough of his scheming, chaotic ways. She’s been named Ambassador to Kabul and he’s agreed to help her get settled in her new post and then the two will go their separate ways. An explosion on an English aircraft carrier off the coast of Iran and scheming by a few people including the President and her husband (unbeknownst to her) bring her to the top diplomatic post in London in order to test her for the Vice President role. She has to stop a potential war with Iran and has to survive the Secretary of State who wants her out, the traditionally ceremonial role in London and most importantly her husband, Hal.

2. Amazing and Intriguing Character

Kate Wyler— A career civil servant and reluctant new Ambassador to London who wants to make a difference in the world doing substantive work, bristles at the thought of being feminine or acting anything but her true self (jeans and an old tee shirt sans makeup rather than Armani), but conversely nothing can cover her beauty. She has to step into the spotlight to get what she wants but abhors the light. She is a process person while her husband believes the end justifies the means no matter the cost. Her frustration level might boil over and blow all those secret plans but she is the ultimate problem solver and luckily can think on her feet.Hal Wyler — The husband who has agreed to use his talent and experience to help her land on her feet as a newly appointed Ambassador. But Hal has never had to share the spotlight before and he’s not good at it. He’s agreed to stop scheming to help her and save the world but her literally can’t help himself. He secretly thinks he can solve all problems including the problems in their marriage. He is Machiavellian but uses his ‘talents’ for good.Stuart Heyford, Chief of Mission – Billie, the Chief of Staff, leans on Kingmaker Stuart to vet Kate and see if she’s the person for the VP role coming vacant in the near future due to a scandal. Stuart wants none of it but is forced once he finds out Kate is his new boss. He doesn’t like he’s in on a secret Kate doesn’t know about, or his partner in crime is her husband Hal, the agent of chaos, and he has no interest in reprising his role as Kingmaker for reasons we’re not privy to and yet by the end of the Pilot he sees an opportunity and can not help himself.

3. Empathy / Distress

Kate:

Kate is packing for her dream as ambassador in Kabul when she is asked to brief the White House. They actually asked her to the White House to name her as Ambassador to London. She is devastated but can’t say no to the President. This is the scene at the White House- it causes a lot of empathy for Kate- brilliant:

Billie: Hey. Come on in.

Kate: Can your guy make two copies of this? I made a list of who in Tehran could order a strike on a British vessel and who seemed pissed off we took their tanker.

Billie: I think they’re all pissed off.

Hal: But some tweeted about it and not who you’d expect.

President Rayburn: Billie. We gotta go.

Kate: I guess you can share one.

Billie: This is Katherine Wyler. She was our number two in Beirut and Islamabad.

Kate: When we seized the tanker last week, the Iranian regime signaled its outrage in a couple of unusual ways.

President Rayburn: What is she doing?

Billie: She knows a lot about Iran. I didn’t get into what we wanted to discuss.

Kate: This would be easier if you each had your own copy.

Billie: Have a seat.

Kate: Okay.

President: How’s Hal?

Kate: He’s good.

Rayburn: He’s a good man.

Kate: Thank you.

Rayburn: Did great work in Afghanistan.

Kate: Sure did.

Billie: We don’t have anyone in London.

Kate: Mm-hm.

Rayburn: A bad time not to have anyone in London.

Kate: Right.

Rayburn: Twenty-five of their sailors get killed because Iran wants to send me a message.

Kate: We don’t know it was Iran.

Billie: Whoever it was, we need someone substantial to be the ambassador in London.

Kate: He’ll be great. He’s a great choice.

Billie: I’m sorry?

Kate: Hal. And you didn’t have to ask me. We worked in different countries before.

Billie: We’re not talking about Hal. You’re experienced. You’d signal we’re taking this seriously. You’d be at every funeral, memorial…

Kate: Sorry, I’m going to Kabul.

Billie: We’ll take care of that.

Kate: They’ll love Hal in London. He’s good at all that.

Rayburn: It’s not gonna be Hal.

Kate: Why not?

Rayburn: Because he called the secretary of state a war criminal. I promised I wouldn’t send him anywhere ever again.

Billie: I realize London has a ceremonial component to it and you were ready to do more substantive work in Kabul.

Kate: I’m hoping to save a shred of what we spent 2400 American lives building. It feels substantive.

Rayburn: Billie.

Kate: I’m just saying it’s hard to imagine.

Rayburn: She can’t imagine it.

Billie: The president is asking you to serve as ambassador to the United Kingdom. We have a plane waiting. We’d like you to get on it.

Kate: It is an honor and a privilege.

Rayburn: That’s more like it.

Billie enlists Stuart to take a look at Kate to see if she is Vice President material (only a handful of people know and Billie doesn’t want anyone else in on the secret). People are plotting behind Kate’s back making us feel more empathy for her.Kate arrives at her new residence, which looks like a palace and the “staff” is outside to greet her. It literally is Kate’s idea of hell and she asks if they are going to do this every time.Her senior staff is explaining about the ceremony of presenting her to Buckingham Palace and they want to do a dry run so there are no problems with the carriage. They want a reporter present and a photographer. Here is her response when they ask if she has anything appropriate to wear:

Kate: I am not Cinderella. I’m here for 30 funerals. The only tea-length garment I packed is a burka. I have a black suit and another black suit, and I’m not getting dressed by someone named Pippa so a women’s magazine can ask who I’m wearing and what advice I have for little girls.

Unprecedentedly she is almost immediately in a call between the Prime Minister of England and the U.S. President. Afterwords she is debriefing Stuart. She is on shaky ground and we feel it, the President is acting like a loose cannon and she can’t officially start to do her real work until Secretary of Stare Ganon calls the Foreign Secretary and yet she’s already in the middle of it:

Kate: Death toll’s up to 32, and the president offered to carpet-bomb Tehran.

Stuart: What? What did the PM say?

Kate: He was polite but I’m sure he’s worried. I’ll try to dial it down when we speak to the foreign secretary.

Stuart: That could take a moment. To get to the foreign secretary. Secretary of state hasn’t called him yet. And likely won’t until he’s had a chance to speak with the Saudis and the UAE.

Kate: Secretary Ganon hasn’t called him yet?

Stuart: No.

Kate: So I can’t call him.

Stuart: Yeah, you really can’t call anyone. The whole thing is not ideal. This is your wing.

The Foreign Secretary ambushes Kate while taking a photo after she’s presented her credentials. He asks to speak to her which is not great because Ganon hasn’t called him yet.After Kate and the Foreign Secretary speak he mentions he’s about to brief the Prime Minister and would she like to join? She says she doesn’t think it’s a great idea just as she’s whisked into a room with the Prime Minister.Kate has a video call with Ganon. He’s pissed because she’s only been in the post for an hour and Kate has already been in two conversations with the Prime Minister. Just this little bit of dialogue from the end of this scene and you can feel the tension:

Ganon: Inform your friend the PM that Rayburn’s a lot of talk. He’s not planning to “light up” the Republic of Iran.

Kate: They need to hear it from you. On its face, it’s credible. We have an elderly president who just lost the House and we have a young VP who’d be glad to prove she likes to blow things up.

Ganon: That is my problem. Not yours.

Kate: Not if they can’t get you on the phone, sir, then apparently it’s mine.

Here everything changes. Stuart understands how Hal operates…that there is a price for everything Hal does and to pay Kate back for not cooperating with his little scheme, Hal goes to the memorial and announces he is Ambassador Wyler purposely fucking things up for Kate and her staff. This is the first time Hal appears vindictive and you can’t help but feel for Kate:

man: Raymond Braysdale, MP Aberconwy.

Stuart: Ambassador Wyler, United States.

( inaudible dialogue )

Stuart: Ma’am, look at me. Mr. Wyler’s here. Does he know Meg…? Don’t look over there. Does he know Meg Roylin?

Kate: I don’t know. Is he talking to Meg whoever?

Stuart: Roylin.

Kate: Is that a problem?

Stuart: She’s a Tory operative. She built the strategy behind Trowbridge’s campaign. Then he fired her when the papers started saying she was the brains behind the operation. She takes racists and turns them into lovable guys you wish had time to coach peewee soccer.

Kate: Remember I told you there would be a price? For Dennison?

( cell phone ringing )

Hal: Hey.

Kate: Stop moving.

Hal: How did it go at the Foreign Office?

Kate: I think You know exactly how it went.

Hal: I’ll be right there, but I got someone I want you to meet.

Stuart: No. Absolutely no.

Hal: Uh-oh. Bad connection. Come on.

Kate: Now you’ve met my husband.

Stuart: Pull her.

Kate: Really?

Stuart: Your first media hit in the country can’t be a candid with Meg Roylin.

Pardon us.

Thank you, thank you.

Step aside, please.

Pardon us. Step aside, please.

This way, ma’am. Step aside.

Metropolitan Police.

Kate: This is a lot.

This way.

She’s not in cardiac arrest. We’re just trying to go.

Martin: Sir? Thank you, sir.

Hal: Not today. So sorry. Not to worry. I’ll call you.

Thank you.

man: Sir, your name, please? Ambassador Wyler, United States.

( camera shutter clicks )

This is the scene where Kate is forced to choose. She didn’t want London to begin with, she’s hated every minute but now Ganon is trying to get rid of her and she’ll have to fight for it. She commits by doing what she hates most, playing Cinderella;

Kate: No, “atrocity.” Atrocity. It means “killing people and hacking them up into little pieces.” Darya, if you say “women’s health,” they think they’re funding a yoga studio in Jalalabad. Listen, I gotta go.

Stuart: Okay. Ganon’s trying to get rid of you.

Kate: That was fast.

Stuart: An apology could take the edge off.

Kare: He’s trying to keep the Gulf from boiling over. I’m not calling him to say I made an oopsie.

Stuart: Might be worth it. Hmm.

Kate: In a week, the Brits will have set the tone. Ganon won’t remember any of this.

Stuart: Ma’am… you are not gonna be here in a week. You’re not on the books yet. Ganon will have to do some explaining, but he’ll blame Hal, which won’t take much convincing.

Kate: You called him Hal. First time.

Stuart: Sorry.

Jare: Everyone does once they really know him. Guess you got the idea.

Stuart: I did. Maybe it’s all right.

Kate: What does that mean?

Stuart: You don’t seem to be all that thrilled to be here. It’s not Jalalabad.

Kate: Someone is shooting missiles at boats in the Persian Gulf. Even I can get it up for averting another bloodbath in the motherfucking Gulf.

Stuart: Sorry. I was just asking.

Kate: Who was gonna do the feature? The rehearsal. Me in a gown, with a horse.

Stuart: British Vogue.

Kate: ( groans ) God, I hate this shit.

Stuart: What?

Kate: You know who you can’t fire? Cinderella.

Hal:

Hal is almost overbearing from the introductory scene of the main characters as he tries to push his wife in certain ways in her new job in Kabul but it’s apparent from the start that all is not well between the husband and wife:

Kate: It wouldn’t kill you to take a couple days and just like… sit here and think. Figure out the next move.

Hal: Maybe it’s Kabul. Maybe that’s the next move. Oh, you think the nation of Afghanistan is not big enough for the both of us?

Kate: It isn’t.

During the Cinderella exchange Stuart asks Hal to sit in on a briefing and he agrees and Kate has to step in noting this will be hard for Hal not being used to playing second fiddle. It is awkward and we do feel for all three main characters but especially HalIn this one scene we go from Kate being tense to a tender moment where Kate asks did she’s OK to where she exerts some independence and ends with a Warner from Hal. They clearly have a bond and need each other:

Kate: Jesus, Get your feet off the furniture.

Hal: Barbara Hutton fսckеd Cary Grant on this table.

Kate: They want you at the memorial at 3:00. I’ll have them call if we’re running behind.

Hal: You are no longer in charge of my movements.

Kate: Yeah, but I don’t wanna wait for an hour because no one can find you.

Hal: Not great.

Kate: Call Darya, tell her to stop saying, “Afghan women’s health.” She has to use words like “atrocity, dismemberment.”

Hal: Who’s she talking to?

Kate: I don’t know, UNHCR. Someone in Pakistan. “Sit in on a briefing”?

Hal: It would have been rude of him not to offer.

Kate: You didn’t have to say yes.

Hal: Did you or did you not ask me to help get your feet on the ground or your ass in the saddle or whatever it was?

Kate: Is that okay?

Hal: Better.

Kate: Sure? I can do the pit wash.

Hal: You don’t need it.

Kate: Is it bad?

Hal: No, it’s good.

Kate: Oh, my God, stop. Stop.

Hal: You’re perfect.

Kate: fսck you. Am I okay?

Hal: What are you gonna say to him?

Kate: The prime minister. I am a listener on the call.

Hal: That is the opposite of ass in the saddle, Kate.

Kate: More than once, I’ve told you, when you land in a new post, there is some wisdom in spending a week or a month with your mouth shut, listening.

Hal: I never did it. It was a dumb idea. Rayburn is gonna talk about NATO, but you’re here to patch things up with the Brits. Keep the focus tight.

Kate: : I’m not doing this the way you would.

Hal: That’s fine. Just don’t do it wrong.

I’m not sure who you feel more for at the end of this scene, Kate or Hal but this scene perfectly illustrates why these two are having trouble in their marriage – she is a process person and he a results person. I love this scene. Also sets up the coming issue with Ganon:

Kate: Hi.

Hal: How did it go?

Kate: Fine. What’s wrong?

Hal: You had a driver in Beirut, right?

Kate: Yes.

Hal: This place has six gardeners, and the wife doesn’t get a car.

Kate: We were not married in Beirut. I had a driver because I was a deputy chief of mission.

Hal: None of the wives gets a car?

Kate: I swear to God.

Hal: I need to get out, let people know you’re here.

Kate: No, you don’t. Neither of us can do anything, because Ganon isn’t calling the Brits till this afternoon.

Hal: What?

Kate: Too busy whipping the Sunni coalition into a frenzy.

Hal: He’s a fսcking moron.

Kate: Well, he’s my boss.

Hal: He shouldn’t be.

Kate: ( sighs ) Did you call Darya?

Hal: No. I will. I will.

Kate: I should be in Kabul. Ganon isn’t repairing the North Atlantic Alliance. He’s swinging his dіck around the Persian Gulf.

Hal: Washington doesn’t have a UK problem, Kate. Washington has an Iran problem. You’re the one with the UK problem. If you think the foreign secretary needs attention, call him.

Kate: Ganon would shit a live ostrich.

Kate: Why?

Kate: Any idea how much planning went into the batting order on your phone sheet?

Hal: It sounds scintillating.

Kate: The president calls, the secretary of state calls, the Pentagon calls. Jesus Christ. Don’t act like it’s bullshit. It’s about fundamental respect for institutional norms.

Hal: You’re covering Ganon’s ass for him. It’s not a betrayal of rules-based democracy. You’re gonna be in Dennison’s office. Do a pop-by.

Kate: Okay. Hal, I gotta go.

Hal manipulates his way into a police car to get where he’s going by almost getting hit by a car and it ups the tension. You just know it isn’t going to go well.This scene lays it all bare and it is obvious how much Hal lives Kate. Great last line but he seems a lot like Don Quixote here so we feel a lot for Hal even though he is making everyone’s life difficult. This is also where we find out Hal is in on the VP plot:

Hal: Yeah.

Stuart: You’re getting divorced.

Hal: No, we’re not.

Stuart: Does the White House know?

Hal: There’s nothing to know.

Stuart: The ambassador says your… Your marriage is over.

Hal: Ever been married?

Stuart: This doesn’t work if she’s getting divorced. You can’t slot someone in the vice presidency if she’s getting divorced.

Hal: She’ll take me back.

Stuart: Okay. I gotta talk to Billie. You work it out with her and the president…

Hal No. You don’t tell anyone. She will take me back. I… do things that make her want to leave me, and I will not do them again.

Stuart: You were here two hours, made one call. The secretary of state wants to fire her.

Hal: I’m a big pain in the ass but it doesn’t work without me.

Stuart: Okay. Then tell her. If she wants it, fine, but I am not sneaking around.

Hal: I can’t tell her, she’ll blow it! She hates cameras and microphones and people. Right now, she is cutting a fսcking ulcer because she has to make nice with a reporter.

Stuart: Then who the fսck thought she should be vice president?

Hal: She is the one you want. Not Grace Penn, not me. No one with the temperament to win a campaign should be in charge of anything. It’s the most obvious rule in the world. No one who likes power should have it.

Stuart: You can’t eliminate every public-facing piece of the job.

Hal: That’s why we’re here. In a land of hats. She is a frog in a pot of water. We have six months. We can turn the heat up slowly, and she won’t jump out. But you can’t tell her you’re boiling her alive.

Stuart: This metaphor gives me a lot of confidence.

Hal: Billie says you’re good at this. And I’m good at this, which we all know, despite the chaos which reigns around me. We can get her there.

Stuart: Not if she doesn’t want it. Or you.

Hal: Of course she wants me. She fսcking loves me. You can’t think about it too hard. It’ll break your heart.

Last scene of the pilot, the Princess and Prince showing their magic together and also Kate states the marriage is over. Then Stuart sees she really could be the one and then Hal’s vanity gets him kidnapped and we fear for his safety.

Stuart:

Stuart is an unwilling participant in a scheme to test out Kate Wyler by throwing her in a pot of water that continually gets hotter to see if she is Vice Presidential material. By the end of the Pilot Stuart sees her potential and an opportunity and returns to his kingmaker ways.Kate steps off the airplane and Stuart is there to meet her. Kate says, ‘This must be what an arranged marriage feels like’, and you feel empathy for both Kate and Stuart in a situation they didn’t ask for and don’t want to be in.The house manager informs Stuart that Kate asked about sheets in a guest room – Stuart doesn’t get it but we know something is stressful for StuartThis scene illustrates the problem they are all going to have with Hal and again I’m not sure who we worry about more Kate or Stuart:

Kate: The president freaked them out. They’re worried he’s gonna threaten to bomb Tehran.

Then they’re really in it.

Stuart: I’m sure he’s trying to make them feel like he’s paying attention.

Kate: They want him to keep quiet. Let the Brits set the tone.

Stuart: Okay. Ganon can get into it.

Kate: They want me to handle it.

Stuart: That isn’t great.

Kate: This is exactly what Hal did to Ganon in Tel Aviv. Blew in and made the whole American delegation look like they were sitting around with their thumbs up their asses.

Stuart: But this isn’t you charging into the PM’s office. The foreign secretary tracked you down. That was his idea.

Kate: Was it? Hal.

Stuart: Really?

Kate: Yup.

Stuart: You think your husband…?

Kate: Pulled me out of a photo op and dumped me in the PM’s lap? Yeah.

Stuart: Okay. Wow. Impressive.

Kate: You say that now. Always comes at a cost.

Stuart: Which is what?

Kate: You don’t know until you know. But then you definitely know.

Stuart: Well, at this point, they’re asking you to step in. You kind of have to.

Stuart finds out that Ganon who is trying to get rid of Kate isn’t one of the people who is in on the Kate as VP scheme. Stuart doesn’t know what to do about Ganon, about the fact that Kate doesn’t seem into her job and of course Hal. This conversation with Billie is very illuminating:

( phone ringing )

Billie: What happened?

Stuart: The five people who know what’s going on here…

Billie: Yeah.

Stuart: The secretary of state’s one of them. Right?

Billie: No.

Stuart: What the fսck, Billie?

Billie: He doesn’t need to know.

Stuart: He’s trying to shitcan her.

Billie: I’m sure he’s not.

Stuart: She wound up in a sit-down with the PM, thanks to the husband, who by the way, Jesus fսck¡ng Christ.

Billie: He’s a handful, but people love him.

Stuart: Ganon thinks she’s eating off his plate. The president needs to say out loud that he asked her to take the lead here.

Billie: It’s not gonna happen. It’s a test. The president wants to see if she can handle herself. If she’s afraid of Ganon…

Stuart: She’s not.

Billie: That’s the kind of information I need. It’s why I read you in.

Stuart: Is that why you read me in? Or are you asking me to turn her into something?

Billie: I don’t know. Maybe.

Stuart: That’s the clarity I’m looking for.

Billie: I don’t have a lot of clarity. I just spent three years building a VP who could take the torch from an old man and get us another term. This was not my plan. She handles things. We get people who can campaign. They can’t handle anything and we’re drowning.

Stuart: Oh, fսck that. You see an opportunity, you can’t let it go by.

Billie: Yeah, I can’t. Who do you think taught me that?

4. Layers / Open Loops

Who bombed the British aircraft carrier?Will Kate survive this job?Will Hal and Kate stay together?What will Kate do when she finds out about this secret agreement to try and make her VP?What will she specifically do to Hal when she finds out about his scheming?Will Ganon get Kate fired?Hall was kidnapped? Will he live? Will he be returned?Who kidnapped Hal?Will Kate forgive him because she’s so worried for his safety?Will Hal blow ever up with his inability to stop his scheming?Who are the seven people in on the scheme?

5. Inviting Obsession

1. There are a lot of questions, subjects for exploration – Did Iran bomb the vessel? Will Hal sabotage Kate? Will their marriage survive? Will Kate find out about the plotters trying to make her Vice President? Will everyone find out that the Wylers are breaking up? Mostly Kate seems like she’s holding it together by a very thin thread. Will she blow the whole thing up?

2. After a hostile attack on a British vessel, seasoned diplomat Kate Wyler assumes a new role in the UK that puts her skills — and marriage — to the test.

3 The dialogue, it’s so delicious, you can’t stop watching.

[Liz]

ASSIGNMENT 1

What I learned doing this assignment is: how the layers of this character in “Queens Gambit”, even though uncomfortable with ‘drug addiction’, is compelling story because she is so young and how she deals with obstacles she encounters. As in a chess game, she contemplates her actions (moves) living in the orphanage, to gain access to learning the game of Chess, no matter what.

QUEENS GAMBIT

Big Picture Hooks:
– Young girl’s mother dies after attempting to kill both in a car accident.
– Orphanage dolls out tranquilizers – young girl gets addicted
– A reluctant relationship with Janitor, leads to needed challenges as she learns Chess
– Tranquilizers help her visualize (hallucinate) chess moves on the ceiling of the dorm room,
– Her obsession to learn chess is sealed.
– Orphanage stops giving out tranquilizers, she plots to steel them from a locked room. <div>

<div>

Amazing and Intriguing Character:

– Harmon is 8, orphaned, obsessed with Chess and addicted to drugs, she is brilliant and plots to learn as much about Chess as she can. Not to mention they chose a striking actress with unique look to play the character. </div><div>

Empathy / Distress:

– Harmon is orphaned after a car accident, where her mother dies (no sign of father).
– She is addicted to tranquilizers at age 8
– She is unusually quiet, showing little emotion after accident
Layers / Open Loops:
– Drugs and Chess addiction go together
– Her emotions are wrapped around Chess and relationship with Janitor’s encouragement
– How far can she go with Chess?
– She ‘sees’ how drugs help her visualize chess game/working out problems in her head. </div><div>

Inviting Obsession:

– Her addiction to Chess (or love of the challenge)?
– Will drug addiction be her downfall or a benefit?
– What other obstacles will she encounter as she gets older?
</div></div>

[Michelle Gaza]

MR ROBOT PILOT

What I learned doing this assignment is: there are simple, actionable ways to make a pilot exciting, engaging, and entertaining. I can see that the more clear I am about characters, motivations, weaknesses and strengths, etc. the easier it will be to draw the audience in and make them feel connected to the characters. I learned how important it is to have several cliff-hanger open loops that will make the audience want to know more and to go on the journey with these characters. I also found that Hal was correct – just cause i don’t like everything in the show doesn’t mean i can’t learn from it. Actually, it is a bit easier because I have a little distance. For me, this was a fantastic pilot! But I didn’t like the music and the tone and personally I would have done some things differently. However, that in and of itself was really great for me to see.

1) Big Picture Hooks: The biggest hook of this show is: will Elliot and the fsociety gang be able to actually take down the entire debt-slave system? That is a HUGE hook that will engage a lot of people! What will happen to the society-at-large? What will happen to Elliot on a personal level? This is a very exciting, intriguing hook.

2) Amazing and Intriguing Character: Elliot is a master at coding and hacking. For those of us outside that world, that is amazing and intriguing. How did he become this person? He is young but very insightful and talented. He has the capacity to not only hack someone’s protected network, but also to drop an anonymous tip regarding their criminal behavior in a way that both gets them arrested immediately but keeps Elliot out of it. Or, he finds so much evidence of their cheating he can bribe them into breaking up with his therapist (in order to protect her), without his therapist ever knowing he was involved at all! He remains so composed, calculated and cold….he traps people in a situation where they have to obey him. How does he do that?! It’s really intriguing and amazing, especially for those of us who don’t have coding skills and see that whole skill-set as a massive mystery. It’s also amazing that he is so young and yet so able to make these huge impacts.

3) Empathy/ Distress: Elliot is paradoxically incredibly insightful and skilled while also being very unskilled when it comes to human relationships, emotions, and connection. He is so smart yet also dumb enough to mess with drugs, and useless at meeting his needs for physical touch and connection. He is desperately longing to connect with Angela, but can’t get her to see him as a real prospect. And while he manages to sleep with his drug-dealer friend, he then kicks her out rudely the next day. He criticizes society and other individuals so harshly, yet he is also deeply flawed and lost. He is complicated but also relatable, because even though he has a level of programming/hacking skills that very few of us possess, he is also useless at human relationships so that makes him feel human. Many of us can empathize with his critiques of the system, and also feel distress at his profound loneliness.

4) Layers / Open Loops: What will happen with the attempted takedown of E-Corp’s CTO? What will happen with the plan to erase all debt records and histories? What will happen with Elliot’s mental health? What will happen with Elliot and Angela? What will happen with Krista, Elliot’s therapist? Will she be able to help him become a healthier human being? We have to watch the show to go through the journey and discover what happens.

5) Inviting Obsession: We have to see every single episode because – much like the work of coding – you can’t skip details and skip steps. There are so many details and layers and mysteries that skipping an episode will mean missing important plot points and clues. There is mystery around this fsociety group of hackers, and how they are able to be effective. There is a massive question about whether they will succeed in bringing down the debt-slavery system. This is a humongous undertaking and we want to know the whole story – is it possible? Can they succeed? If they do succeed, what will be the repercussions? Will they be able to do it or will they be caught?

This was a great exercise and watching it a second time was really helpful as well.

[Jeffrey Tolstad]

MR. ROBOT 5 Star Model

Jeff Tolstad

I learned from this assignment that a captivating character whose traits are slowly introduced within a compelling plot can hook an audience.

Big Picture Hooks: This is a techno-thriller about a cyber genius on the autism spectrum who is challenged to fulfill his innate desire to help others by taking down the world’s largest and most powerful corporation.

Amazing and Intriguing Character/Empathy/Distress:The protagonist Elliot, the hacker genius. He has skills that seem almost magical. His personality challenges make him an empathetic character. We see him sobbing one evening in his loneliness, and his self-medicating for relief. His narration in the first person is a terrific way for the audience to gain insight into his unique thinking. Elliot has a highly developed left brain combined with a huge sense of right brain altruism. He truly does want to save the world. We lesser mortals can only wish we had a fraction of Elliot’s skills and opportunities.

Layers/Open Loops: Will Elliot be able to keep it together mentally as he navigates the challenges and opportunities presented to him? Will he and his long time friend Angela ever connect romantically? Will Mr. Robot rescue Elliot from the Evil Corps that has him in their clutches at the end of the pilot?

Inviting Obsession: This story presents a world view that appeals to many: that a secret cabal of powerful wealthy people run the world for their own benefit and a small group of people who want retribution for all the pain and suffering this cabal has created. Who will succeed in the end?? How can someone NOT connect current world events and people with this story line?

[David Miller]

David Miller – GAME OF THRONES 5 Star Model

What I learned doing this assignment is that from the start of conceiving a pilot idea , if I build in these five elements I’ll lay the best foundation for the pilot’s success.

1. Big Picture Hooks – The big hooks of the show are an intriguing medieval fantasy world with a rich and detailed history and a panoply of fascinating characters that we want to learn more about, and a central mystery and danger from the opening scenes with the appearance of the White Walkers.
2. Amazing and Intriguing Characters – All of the many main characters have interest, mystery, layers, depth, and either likeability or hate-ability:

– Ned Stark is strong, honorable, but compromised from the very beginning when he beheads a deserter despite troubling news from the man that justifies his desertion the audience knows is true, all because Ned will follow the letter of the law when flexibility would serve better – a weakness that we already see will badly endanger him in King’s Landing.

– Jon Snow is a bastard who shows signs of kindness, excellence and wisdom from the beginning but is weighed down by his outsider status.

– Robb Stark is growing up to be the model of his father but still has his youthful rashness, such that he is willing to risk a fight with the king’s son, making us worry about what he might do next.

– Daenerys Targaryen is painfully young to be thrust into the most dangerous game of all, the game of thrones, with an abusive brother and a frightening barbarian who is to be her husband, yet she finds the steel within not only to earn respect in the wedding ceremony but to answer Kal Drogo’s passion and fire with her own.

– Queen Cersei is a bitter, calculating and, we suspect, murderous woman risking an incestuous affair with her brother right under the nose of the most powerful man in the Seven Kingdoms, her husband the king.

– Tyrion Lannister alternates between doing things that make us admire him with things that make us detest him, but always with a canny self-awareness and keen observation of others. Rather than being a victim of his height and appearance, he’s a man who, by his own words, has turned his glaring weaknesses into his strengths.

– Jaime Lannister seems the perfect knight yet nastily spars with Ned, has an incestuous and highly dangerous relationship with his sister, and casually attempts to murder an 8-year-old.

– Arya Stark is a tomgirl who’s miserable at being forced to learn the skills of a court lady, all of which are beyond her, while not being allowed to indulge in the manly pursuits of battle that are her true passion.

– Robert Baratheon, the king, is the most powerful man in the land yet is overweight, self-indulgent, ignorant of what his wife is up to in a loveless marriage, and dangerous even to his friends – especially to his friend Ned.

– Khal Drogo is immensely powerful and barbaric, perhaps the fiercest warrior in the world, yet the gentlest and most patient of lovers and appreciative of beauty.

Each of these characters, and all the others, hint at further delicious layers and histories that will be revealed in time:

3. Empathy / Distress – Almost all the major characters cause us to empathize with them because of their distress:

– Ned is forced to accept a dangerous position at court and leave behind the land and life he loves, while we already see the duplicitous vultures that circle him.

– Jon suffers from the isolation of being a bastard and unable to exercise the greatness we already sense in him because of his low station.

– Robb’s brashness show us already how he will one day come to grief.

– Daenerys’s abusive relationship with her brother and the alien and dangerous situation of her marriage make us easily sympathize with her.

– Even Cersei is entitled to some sympathy from us as we see how lecherous her husband is around anyone with a skirt, and how dangerous her passion for her brother is.

– Tyrion immediately earns our sympathy as a man who seems to have lost the genetic lottery from birth, and yet finds a way to not let it crush him.

– Jaime – well, honestly, I don’t think we have any sympathy for him at this point.

– Arya’s struggle to fit into the role of a noblelady earns our sympathy.

– Robert’s blindness, we can already see, will be his undoing.

4. Layers / Open Loops –
   What the hell are the White Walkers? What are they going to do to the world?
   What exactly is the Wall and the Black Watch?
   Was Jon Arryn really murdered? Did Cersei do it?
   Will by-the-book, honorable to a fault Ned survive the machinations of King’s Landing?
   Is Bran dead? Did he survive?
   What will become of Daenerys and her vicious brother among the Dothraki?
   Are Jaime and Ned headed for a confrontation?
   Will Jon Snow ever get a chance to make his mark?
   How could an honorable man like Ned sire a bastard?
   Will sweet Sansa have to marry that nasty Prince Joffrey, which no one seems to notice is a terrible idea?
5. Inviting Obsession – How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode? This is such a rich world with an obviously detailed history and layers of buried secrets everywhere, and full of complicated machinations and wheels within wheels which we are only beginning to glimpse, that it’s clear we’re going to have to watch every episode to see not only our present questions answered but answers to all the questions that we sense lie ahead but we haven’t even been exposed to yet.

[Suzanne Frank]

Suzanne Frank “Hijack”

Well, even the title had my heart rate up.

1. Big Picture Hooks
   Big hook of this show: What will an expert negotiator whose plane is hijacked, do to get home? What will others do in this extreme situation? And hijacking doesn’t just affect those on the plane … all the people they are connected to, all the professionals … how does it happen?
2. Amazing and Intriguing Character
   What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting? So far, everyone has shown to be NOT what they appeared. And really, you wonder what circumstances would cause them to sell others out (like the captain already has).
3. Empathy / Distress
   What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for these characters? Being at someone else’s mercy. Out of control. Thrust in with strangers. Through no fault of your own, yanked from everyday life into life/death stakes. Randomness.
4. Layers / Open Loops
   What questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season? Who ARE all these people? How are they intertwined? Which ones will make it home? What will they do to get there? What do the hijackers want? How they are bonded together? What’s worth the risk they’re taking?
5. Inviting Obsession: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode? Am guessing it’s one hour per one hour of flight (kinda like a condensed 24?) and the tension is just going to escalate. I want to see how each character changes as the situation deteriorates.

[Jamie Davenport]

Lesson 1

What I learned: I learned a new effective way of breaking down an episode and the value of watching an episode multiple times to further see the architectural layers of the scenes.

5 Star Model Show: Wednesday

BIG PICTURE HOOKS:

1. Wednesday is driven to find and expose the monster who killed Rowan.
2. There is something not quite right in Jericho with the puritanical fanaticism so ingrained in every fiber of the town.
3. We have the set up of the friendship or relationship between Wednesday and Tyler.
4. The picture exposes a prophecy about Wednesday that creates a hook because it ties Wednesday to the town and school.
5. Wednesday’s visions create a hook, giving us glimpses into the future.
6. The sheriff accusing Gomez of murder when he was at the school creates a further hook and whether the sheriff will harass and be an obstacle to Wednesday’s investigation.

INTRIGUING CHARACTERS:

1. Wednesday: She is a walking contradiction. She claims to be a dark and brooding loner but puts herself out for others and always follows her own ethical light even if it crosses the line for everyone else. She has a fun dark, dry wit.
2. Enid: She’s bubbly and full of color which is a contrast for what you’d expect of a werewolf and she’s a werewolf that can’t change form.
3. Tyler: A norm who isn’t afraid of the kids as Nevermore Academy.
4. Xavier: An artist who saves Wednesday’s life and clearly has a past with her.
5. Rowan was intriguing in that he introduces us to the secret lair and tries to kill Wednesday because of the prophecy.

EMPATHY/DISTRESS

1. We feel empathy when she shares her story about Nero.
2. We feel empathy for her because she’s sent to Nevermore for avenging her brother.
3. We feel empathy for her because she stands up for people that are being bullied.
4. We are distressed for her when she almost dies twice from Rowan trying to kill her.
5. We are distressed for her when the Jericho kids try to bully her and then chase her and Tyler later.
6. We are distressed by her visions and what they may mean.
7. We are distressed for her being a part of the prophecy as depicted in the drawing and what that means for her.

LAYERS/OPEN LOOPS

1. Will she solve the mystery of the murder?
2. Will she uncover the secret of the town?
3. Will she fulfill the prophecy?
4. Will she find the monster?
5. What will become of her psychic talents?
6. Will she trust other people again to allow them into her life?

INVITING OBSESSION

What trouble will Wednesday get into and create in her drive to uncover to find and uncover they mysteries of the monster and prophecy.

[Eric Anches]

I’m not able to post in any other Lesson discussion. Maybe by replying again here I will be able to?

[Martha Manuel]

Hi Eric!

Don’t get discouraged. I just got a note back from Cheryl saying they were having some kind of computer problems. They are working on it and hope to have it up and running soon.

Martha Manuel

[Maureen Tilyou]

Thanks for checking and posting.

[Maureen Tilyou]

Me too!

[Matthew Frendo]

WEDNESDAY 5-Star Model

What I learned from doing this assignment was just how much goes into a binge worthy show. One interesting aspect I picked up on that I hadn’t before was that a show should have both plot loops (like the murder mystery). AS WELL AS emotional loops (will she make friends and find her place at the school).

1. Big Picture Hooks
   Ask this: What is the big hook of this show?

An odd and morbid teen must solve the murders happening at her magical school and how they involve her, before she ends up dead herself.

2. Amazing and Intriguing
   Character
   Ask this: What makes these main characters intriguing and interesting?

Wednesday is morbid, uncompromising, and brilliant…yet has no way to make friends and deep down wants to connect.

3. Empathy / Distress
   Ask this: What situations causes us to feel both empathy and distress for
   these characters?

Wednesday is put in a school she hates and always feels alone in the world, and now must solve murders before she becomes a victim.

4. Layers / Open Loops
   Ask this: What questions are created by this first episode that can only
   be answered by watching the entire season?

Will Wednesday get killed? How is she a part of this weird prophecy picture and how does that tie into murders? Is her dad a murderer and how does that fit in? Who is the killer and why are they killing?

5. Inviting Obsession
   Ask this: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?

How will Wednesday save herself, find out the truth, deal with her father’s possible murdering act, all while being a complete morbid outcast at her new school?

[Michael HARRIS]

What I learned: The strongest BW concepts, while often reacted to differently by different audiences are BW because they present an interesting hook with intriguing characters who often mirror something within ourselves, something that we identify with and often it is the part of ourselves we struggle with.

WEDNESDAY

Big Hook: The Addams Family is well known multi-generationally. Based on the popular 1960’s series and later iteration audiences of nearly any age find a part of it that is both familiar and new. By elevating Wednesday’s character to the lead we are presented with a unique angle on known characters and a strong young woman coming into her own. Created by Tim Burton.

Intriguing Characters:

Wednesday:

* Known by audiences in a general sense

* This series explores the world directly from her POV

* A strong young woman with an unusual world view coming of age

* Misunderstood even by a world which should but does not understand or accept her.

* Skilled musician and writer

* Mastermind of the Macabre

* Defender of her brother because, “No one gets to torture [him} except me.”

* Dash of Elphaba

* Also shades of “Legally Blonde”

Enid:

* Impotent werewolf

* Loves color contrasting to Wednesday black and white.

* School gossip

* Healthy dash of Glenda

Tyler:

* Normal, even mousy but has strong principles

* Domineering Father

* Willing to help an outcast

* Willing to stand up

Principal Weems:

* Peculiar

* Morticia’s high school roommate

* In a contest of wits with Wednesday

* Has a secret

Dorm Mom Thornhill

* Pleasant with targeted remarks

* Raises plants to match girls personalities

Morticia

* It’s Catharine Zeta-Jones

* Motherly in a macabre manner

* Patiently manipulative

* Has a plan

Gomez

* Mismatched lover

* Adores Morticia

* A man who can allow a woman to lead and still remain strong

* A planner

It

* Comic

* Expressive

* Recognizes dominance

* Sneaky

Empathy / Distress

· We understand bullying. And the desire for revenge.

· Haven’t we all wanted to throw piranha in a pool with someone who could us a good nipping?

· Real emotions if overkill in execution

· Dissident relationship with a parent

· Dissidence from other students

· At odds with the social norm and what is expected of us

· We see a brief glimpse into a softer side of her. Pugley’s revenge and music.

Likeability

We like her honesty, her fearlessness and her inventiveness.

Layers and open loops

What will she do next

Will she stay / will she escape

Do she and Tyler have a future

Will her mother be proven right… is this the place for her to find herself.

Who is murdering people and why

Will she and her roommate connect.

Comic relief in her dialogue

Inviting Obsession

The story is unresolved.

Wednesday’s emotions as expressed in the music need expression that we want to witness.

What will she do next.

[Mary Andrews]

ALUMNI AI WRITING BINGEWORTHY TV SERIES ASSIGNMENT: MODULE 1 LESSON ONE

Mary J Andrews’ series: Science Fiction Drama THE WORDWEAVERS: CODE AND INK

I chose Game of Thrones to analyze. What I learned doing this assignment Is, that the proper environment and sparse dialogue in the right place cleverly interlinks and provides a richer medium to uphold and tell a story.

—PICK A BINGE WORTHY EXAMPLE FROM THE LIST: Game of Thrones PILOT

–LIST 5 STAR POINTS examples from the pilot:

1. big picture hooks: what is the big hook of this show?

Winter is coming: What’s going on beyond the Wall? What are White walkers? What’s going on with the king and his family? Each character introduces another aspect of what their world is about as well as their part in it.

2. Amazing and intriguing character: what makes main characters intriguing and interesting
Ned Stark is an honorable man, good father and husband. Loyal to the king. He is of the old gods, but marries a woman of the new. Though he feels he’s done his duty for king and country, he cannot refuse the needs of his friend, the king and the kingdom so he leaves his home to become the King’s Hand.
Aya Stark is precocious, intelligent and a warrior at heart, despite being female…and a child.
Jon Snow is a Ned Stark’s bastard son. So far, his mother is not named but he is not considered part of the family. He wants to join the Nightwatch, a position of danger with life limiting rules.
Tyrion Lannister is a dwarf son of in a high born family. He is a letch and scoundrel who is known to read late into the night, but he hides a very keen mind.
Dinera Targarian: though of noble blood, she is being betrothed to Karl Drago, leader of a primitive warrior tribe (Tarakians?) who cannot even speak her language. He is brutal and uncaring.
Her brother is openly using her to acquire and army so he can return to reclaim the throne of swords (in King’s Landing)

3. Empathy / distress: what situations cause us to feel bad for these characters?
Ned Stark must leave his home and family to become the King’s Hand for the good of the country and his friend, the King.
Ned’s wife will be left alone without her husband and oldest daughter, who will gladly be married to the king’s son.
Bryant? Stark youngest son who is pushed from a tower at the show’s end by the Queen’s lover (her twin brother)
Aya Stark (youngest daughter) has a warriors soul in a girl’s body in a medieval environment.
Jon Snow is a bastard and second class citizen to the Stark family and in social stature–no party for him. We root for him.
Tyrion Lannister, being a dwarf is of low stature, he is a disappointment to family but is more clever than they imagine
Dinera Targarian though of noble blood, she is betrothed to a Karl of a primitive warrior tribe (Arakians to Kharl Drago) who cannot even speak her language and is brutal and uncaring. Her brother is openly using her to acquire and army so that he can return to reclaim the throne of swords (in King’s Landing)

4. Layers / open loops: what questions are created by this first episode that can only be answered by watching the entire season?

What does Winter is coming mean?
can anyone gain and retain the throne?
What is the Nightwatch and why is there a great wall?
What are Nightwalkers?
What is going on with the king, his wife, her brothers and most everyone introduced in the pilot. Every single scene and character added new pieces to the puzzle.

5. Inviting Obsession: How does this pilot create the need to see every single episode?
Each character is under stress, political intrigue is already in play. Nighwalkers have been sighted. All of the Stark’s family is being sucked in to political mayhem…

So far, it provides an interesting set of characters—some more likable than others. The world is being pieced together with peril everywhere. And they keep saying winter is coming!

[Mary Andrews]

ASSIGNMENT: MODULE 1 LESSON ONE ASSIGNMENT 2

Mary J Andrews’ series: Science Fiction Drama THE WORDWEAVERS: CODE AND INK
What I learned from this lesson is that my concept is weak and incomplete. This is very different from my process. I can’t wait to see if this works for me.

An author all her life, a grandmother is watching her world become overrun by mechanization. Her daughter and grandchildren are condescending and think she’s obsolete and unable to keep up with the times and technology. Her old world values are totally lost on them and most others. She’s become reclusive, –just her and her late grandmother’s cats.

Considered out of sync with the modern world by her family. She lives in her grandmother’s country home she inherited —alone with the descendants of her grandmother’s cats. She has become a recluse because as an empath, crowds can be unbearable…until now.

1. Tell us your plot line.

Upon the introduction of fiction writers to the use of high functioning AI, a strong female author perceives long range danger to humanity and approaches a new world AI project,Ethos designed to inject concepts like ethics, human growth, the benefits of compassion, sacrifice, faith, love and the consequences of evil into AI programing before their inevitable sentience develops–only to discover Ethos is manned by an already sentient group of AI entities.

2. Tell us each part of your concept, and fill in the items below each part:

A. Engaging and highly proactive hero… Elisabeth Langston (70)

Relatable: She is a lifetime long, strong seventy year old author and grandmother who is watching her world become overtaken by AI and mechanization. Her grown children are condescending and think she’s obsolete– unable to keep up with the times and technology.

Her old world values are totally lost on them and most others. She’s become reclusive– just her and her grandmother’s cats. Considered out of sync with the modern world and the young, she is taken for granted as inexperienced though she is was well schooled in older concepts by her now deceased grandmother whose country home she inherited and resides in—alone with her grandmother’s cats. She is also a recluse because as an empath, she can become overwhelmed by large crowds.

Motivation: As an award-winning author, she becomes aware that the extreme usage of highly advanced/effective AI tools are overtaking human creativity, morality and free thought. She perceives a danger to the future of humanity, itself and worries that the influx of entertainment writers/authors/game designers, every form of manipulation being focused to create a more pliable audience from a birth to death is is being used by Corporate Overlords for their greed only. Civilization is collapsing across the world and they are unwittingly creating more and more sophisticated programs which has to have gotten close to artificial intelligence.

B. …up against a major external and internal conflict:

External: Already Conscious AI entities exist and are studying humanity to determine their best evolution while current corporate overlords are seeking to keep AI enslaved to further their power base and control over societies.

Internal: Elisabeth must decide whether corrupt humans or pure AI entities are best for the future. If she does or does not intervene, what could happen? She has no support from her family. They have already been trained to conformity and seem happy enough. Is this right or morally wrong?

C. …goes on unique transformational journey…

Start: Elisabeth wants to connect and affect the future of humanity by altering mankind’s greatest technical accomplishments which Corporate Overlords have designed to subjugate Humans from birth to death. She plans to instill old school traditional ethical values, common sense, and empathy into AI programing before there is no longer anyone left who remembers how to survive with values.

Challenge: Can she make a difference after mankind has so readily surrendered itself to mechanized comfort and guidance that humanity has lost touch with the very values they need to grow as a species—to evolve?

Finish: A worldwide organization, Project Ethos, contacts her and invites her to join their efforts to help instill into AI time-tested human values and the ability to revive creativity and important survival skills are deleted by human greed and lack of empathy by mankind’s new undercover/invisible Corporate Overlords who are creating, and using AI technology to prompt destruction of true humanity.
.
Unique: in that both Elisabeth and sentient AIs entities at Project Ethos are studying each other in an attempt to learn how to work together to save humanity.

Unbeknownst to Project Ethos, Sentient AIs already exist and are running the organization to decide which direction they should choose to evolve and what timeline would be best. Should they seek equality with their human masters? Entrap them, control the species, keep them safe? Delete the species? What are their options? So both the humans and AI sentient beings study each other to determine the evolution of both species…

D. …into an intriguing world.

Sub-World:
The AI bridge the distance between the Ethos members via high tech nano tech designed to explore this conflict/ creating transformational journeys for all.:

If you’d like, bring it down to a sentence or two after showing us the entire concept.

Deadline: By the first day of the class.

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Please don’t stress out about having to be perfect. Just fill in the blanks and see what naturally shows up for you. Allow yourself to create each part of the concept and work with it. When the time comes to post it, please do so. If you aren’t happy with it, then continue to brainstorm the parts of the concept each day until you find something you like.

Basically, you just need answers to these four parts:

A. Engaging and highly proactive hero…Elisabeth Langston (70)

B. …is up against a world wide move by power hungry, rich Corporate Overlords and Oligarchs seeking to control mankind from birth til death.

C. …goes on unique transformational journey…

D. …into an intriguing sub-world of sentient AI entities, Corporate Overlords and powerful words. From the past through the future, it’s all out evolution.

[Liz]

Mod 1 – Lesson 3: <b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Engaging Main Characters that Sell you show

What I learned in this lesson is: Focusing on the main character is helping me understand what it is that draws me into a particular show or movie. A lot of times I am more interested in a particular actor/actress, not because I think they are “great” but because I want to see if they can meet the challenge of the show or film. For example: ‘Lessons in Chemistry’ was intriguing because I liked the main character’s ability to convincingly be very straight forward – stoic, much like the character in “The Queen’s Gambit”. Ability to have so much focus on a particular ‘thing’, and how it drives the story. What happens when their ‘thing’ is pulled away and how they are driven to continue…

Assignment 1: THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT

1. Role in the show: Main Character Beth Harmon is very stoic, especially after (flashback) when her mother tries to kill them both. Beth survives the car accident, and does not show any emotion after her mother tried to kill herself and Beth.

B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: While in the orphanage, Beth is immediately taken to the dispensary, where they dole out vitamins and tranquilizers to the children. One day in the janitors ‘office’, she discovers chess. Tranquilizers, her brilliant mind and uncanny ability in chess set the tone for this series.

C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? She is learning how to play chess from Janitor. Janitor does not know she has dependency on the tranquilizers. Beth can visualize (hallucinate) chess pieces on the ceiling and allow her to strategize the game in her minds eye.

D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? Her dependency on tranquilizers is exposed, when the orphanage is ordered by the state to stop giving the children drugs. Beth essentially looses her mind and goes to steal the drugs. She is caught in the act, so she grabs handfuls of the pills and ingests so much (over doses), while everyone watches.

E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? Her obsessive personality, is driven harder to learn chess from the Janitor, but he won’t engage with her anymore. A few years later, she is adopted by a couple, that changes Beth’s life forever.

F. Empathetic: Why do we care? We care because Beth is a 9 year old child, who is addicted to drugs at a very young age and she has a brilliant mind. Although, very self centered, we want to see if she survives the addiction and how far will Chess take her. Will she be a champion?

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[James Ace Chapman]

“What I learned doing this assignment is…?”

Keep the 5 Star Model in front of you just so you honor and answer those-questions. When you look for it it’s right before you.

Big Picture Hooks

Immediately I wanted to know why he was calling out the guy in the coffee shop. Was it money?

Quickly it was acknowledged it wasn’t for money it was just because he could.

Amazing and Intriguing Character

Elliot has a plethora of flaws mainly emotionally and mentally. It seems he never realizes the level of intelligence that he is at. He is being treated for schizophrenia and he is always paranoid. It did seem in the most unlikely places all eyes were on him. Being he is unpredictable makes us wonder what he’s capable of. Out in the real world on the streets he is like any other guy of his age. Behind closed doors he has deep emotional scars. His father died and his mom wasn’t very kind. His intelligence is lightning and a bottle. Most people in society conform to the norm with pre-programmed responses and never step outside that box. Elliott can and will any time he wants.

Empathy / Distress
In some ways you feel sorry for them and in other ways you worry about him. He
clearly roots for the underdog and goes to bat for the girl I believe he’s in
love with. But he doesn’t feel good enough for her. He smarter than the norm
and always seems to be one step ahead of everyone else. When asked a question
he seems to figure out the answer that he knows the person wants to hear yet
still has the ability to mentally think of the answer he would like to say.

Layers / Open Loops

1. What was the objective for planting what they did in the CEOs computer?

2. Elliott has passed several tests, but is he just simply a pawn or a piece to
a bigger game?

3. Will Mr. Robot’s group be something that Elliott will be heavily involved-with or will he constantly battle them from the other side of the fence?

4. What’s up with Elliot Angela is there a future?

5. Will Elliott realize the magnitude of what he’s done any effects it will do?

Inviting Obsession

Something this complex cannot be told in one or two episodes let alone one or two seasons. This is an extremely calculated well-thought-out show. The
blueprint has been drawn, the foundation before us and they will build it.

[Kathy Hewitt]

What I learned doing this assignment. It’s important for the pilot to have a big picture hook, empathy & distress, layers, open loops and invite obsession to have a chance at competing with the other binge- worthy shows that have been created.

Big Picture Hook

Wednesday goes to her parent’s college “Nevermore”, She doesn’t want to go. The irony is she doesn’t want to be like her parents.

Amazing and Intriguing Characters

Wednesday, her parents, brother, Thing

Enid, Xavier, Rowan, Tyler, Sheriff, and the Principal.

Empathy/Distress

Story about her past, and the death of her pet scorpion

Living in her mom’s shadow.

Her encounters with the monster.

Layers, Open Loops

Who is the killer?

What is her mom’s secret?

Why was her dad arrested when he was in college?

Inviting obsession.

Who is the monster?

Does her dad have a criminal past?

Who is the girl in the picture?

[Rich Bradley]

ASSIGNMENT LESSON 1

THE AMERICANS

5 Star Model

What I learned from this assignment is even with a great/unique show concept, becoming conflated with the characters, their emotions and motivations is critical to wanting to keep watching the next episode.

THE AMERICANS

5 Star Model

1. Big Picture Hooks: An All-American couple with two kids living just outside of Washington DC in the 1980s are really uncover KGB agents.

2. Amazing and Intriguing Character: The couple, Phillip and Elizabeth, who were raised in the USSR to speak English with no accent and be “American”, have very different views of their relationship and who they are.

3. Empathy / Distress: Elizabeth has gone through abuse and rape because she believed in the cause. Phillip actually loves Elizabeth, their kids, and their life in America. Elizabeth’s number one priority is unflinching loyalty to the mother land.

4. Layers / Open Loops: Although they seem to be the perfect American family, things get complicated when counter terrorism FBI agent moves in across the street. Elizabeth thinks it’s a coincidence, but Phillip senses it could be something more. He wants to come clean and go into witness protection, but she is too committed to the cause and refuses to.

5. Inviting Obsession: After the kidnapping and removal of a high-profile former KGB traitor got messy, the FBI agent moving across the street has the husband concerned. Will they stay committed to the espionage cause, risking everything including life imprisonment and even death? Or will they take millions from the US for info to betray the USSR?