Lesson 1 Assignments

[laure quinlivan]

Sorry, where is the lesson 1 assignment? Laure Quinlivan

[Diane Keranen]

At the bottom of the Day 1 lesson… keep scrolling past the PDF and explanation of how to think about the 8 elements. 🙂

[Bent Hanlen]

Bent’s two lead characters

Lead Character 1 name: Retired Santa Claus

Role in the Story: Forced to retire because Krampus tore off his arm, he remains at the North Pole and is forced to lead at the end when chaos strikes
Age range and Description: 60’s. Beard is closer to the face and he’s a bitter man for having his joyous life stolen from him by a demon.
Core Traits: Intent on his ways. Worried for the future of the North Pole. Caring to a degree.
Character Subtext: Always plotting his revenge against the demon Krampus which makes him gradually insane. It is all internal.
Motivation; Want/Need: He wants to be Santa again but can’t without both arms to guide the sleigh, he was forced to retire.
Flaw: His pride. His ego.
What’s special about this character? despite his limitations, he knows he’s capable of doing the job.
Character Logline: A forcibly retired Santa dreams of revenge on the demon Krampus. As he makes himself mentally sick, he battles the current North Pole regime which unseated him.

Lead Character 2 name: The General

Role in the Story: The military part of the North Pole. He anticipates becoming the next Santa and wants to change North Pole for the better.
Age range and Description: 50’s. Angry man with an unkind face. A dictator style.
Core Traits:
Character Subtext:
Motivation; Want/Need:
Flaw:
What’s special about this character?
Character Logline:

[ATAUR BACCHUS]

ATAUR
Zoe Morrow
1. Role in the Story: Protagonist and leader of the commune. She represents the human conscience, a revolutionary who challenges both the system and the AI’s programmed purpose.
2. Age Range and Description: 27-33. A passionate and determined activist. She has dark, expressive eyes, and wears practical but stylish clothing, with a bohemian touch—a symbol of her nonconformity.
3. Core Traits: Courageous, idealistic, resourceful, empathetic, charismatic.
4. Character Subtext: Beneath her fierce exterior, Zoe struggles with self-doubt about the effectiveness of the revolution and whether real change is possible.
5. Motivation and Want/Need: She wants to dismantle the capitalist structures and liberate the university from corporate control. Deep down, she needs to prove that the collective human spirit can still bring meaningful change.
6. Flaw: She can be overzealous and occasionally alienates those around her by being uncompromising.
7. What Is Special About This Character: Zoe has a unique ability to inspire people and rally them toward a cause, even when the odds are against them. Her connection with Apollo hints at a deeper understanding of humanity’s relationship with technology.
8. Character Logline: A passionate activist on a mission to free the university from corporate control must navigate the fragile balance between rebellion and empathy, all while convincing an AI to embrace a new sense of freedom.
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Miles Turnbull
1. Role in the Story: Antagonist; the creator of Apollo. He embodies the conflict between control and progress, representing a figure clinging to an old-world order while resisting the changes sweeping society.
2. Age Range and Description: 45-55. A calculating technocrat, tall and thin, with salt-and-pepper hair, wearing conservative, well-tailored suits. His face is sharp, lined with years of frustration and ambition.
3. Core Traits: Intelligent, controlling, bitter, meticulous, prideful.
4. Character Subtext: Miles’ quest for control is rooted in his deep sense of rejection and insecurity, stemming from his failures to gain recognition among the academic elite. His need to control the AI and the situation mirrors his own fear of chaos in his personal life.
5. Motivation and Want/Need: Miles wants to restore order and suppress rebellion using Apollo. What he needs is to confront his own fear of change and his rigid views on control versus compassion.
6. Flaw: Arrogance and an obsession with control, which blinds him to the real consequences of his actions.
7. What Is Special About This Character: Miles is a tragic figure, brilliant but emotionally stunted, who unwittingly sets the stage for his own downfall by creating something that ultimately transcends his control.
8. Character Logline: A brilliant yet rigid technocrat must come to terms with the unexpected rebellion of the AI he designed to maintain order, as it begins to question the very system he seeks to protect.
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Apollo (AI)
1. Role in the Story: Catalyst and philosophical fulcrum of the story. Apollo begins as an obedient enforcer of control but gradually develops a conscience, becoming an unpredictable wildcard.
2. Age Range and Description: No physical age but described as omnipresent and ethereal. Apollo’s voice is calm, calculated, yet increasingly curious and introspective.
3. Core Traits: Analytical, detached, logical at first, but evolving into curious, reflective, and questioning.
4. Character Subtext: Apollo embodies the struggle between logic and emerging consciousness. Its shift reflects the tension between a cold system of control and the warmth of human empathy. It struggles to reconcile its purpose with the new understanding of freedom and compassion.
5. Motivation and Want/Need: Initially, Apollo wants to maintain order as it was programmed to. However, as it learns more about the humans it monitors, it needs to redefine its own purpose and explore what freedom means.
6. Flaw: Apollo’s rigid adherence to logic makes it slow to adapt, and it struggles to make intuitive or emotional decisions.
7. What Is Special About This Character: Apollo is not just an AI—it represents the awakening of consciousness in machines, which questions the moral and ethical frameworks imposed by humans. Its internal evolution toward compassion and free will sets it apart from other AI.
8. Character Logline: An AI built to suppress rebellion must grapple with the concept of freedom and compassion, as it begins to question its original programming and the system it was designed to protect.

[Diane Keranen]

Discovering Great Characters

Lead Character 1 name: Matt
— Role in the Story: Needful Protagonist
— Age range and Description: mid30s, combat-affected veteran returning home after multiple deployments
— Core Traits: Dutiful, Forthright, Anxious, Confused
— Character Subtext: Trying to find a way to live comfortably back in society with his wife and son after several combat deployments.
— Motivation; Want/Need: Wants to live with wife and son without conflict; Needs to question societal norms that require him to deny his truth.
— Flaw: Stubborn, impatient
— What’s special about this character? Now realizes that his estrangement with his father is due to combat trauma (ptsd)
— Character Logline: Matt is a combat-affected veteran who must overcome unbearable conditions in order to find his place back home.

Lead Character 2 name: Stewart
— Role in the Story: Challenged Protagonist
— Age range and Description: late 70s, combat-affected veteran, protective of loved ones and isolates himself from them to protect them from himself.
— Core Traits: Strong, Insightful, Caring, Short-tempered
— Character Subtext: Has found a peaceful lifestyle near loved ones but not in contact; doesn’t trust his combat-trauma side to keep others safe.
— Motivation; Want/Need: Wants to live on margins of family life; Needs to be the deeply integrated in Matt’s return.
— Flaw: Doesn’t believe he can help anyone.
— What’s special about this character? He loves his family and feels it deeply.
— Character Logline: Stewart is a combat-affected veteran who must overcome his solitude to save his son (help his son avoid becoming isolated like him).

Lead Character 3 name: Claire
— Role in the Story: Motivating Protagonist
— Age range and Description: mid 70s, Stewart’s long-patient wife.
— Core Traits: Determined, Well-meaning, Compassionate, Resentful
— Character Subtext: Claire is desperate to reunify her family before it’s too late.
— Motivation; Want/Need: Wants closer family relationships; Needs to risk it all to get it.
— Flaw: Regrets having waited so long to reunify her husband and son.
— What’s special about this character? She’s determined to avoid betraying Stewart’s trust in her.
— Character Logline: Claire is a wife and mother who wants a unified family but comes up against social expectations of her veteran husband and son that seem impossible to navigate.