Lesson 11

[Kenneth Wood]

Ken Wood’s Level 2 Horror Emotion Scene

I learned that focusing the action in my second act on the emotions of FEAR, SUSPENSE and DREAD, raises the intensity of the story.

Set up for this scene: The Spider has already killed five people on a banana boat from Brazil. It has now been caught by lead arachnologist, Dr. Rexy Lamber, with the aid of mysterious Brazilian arachnologist, Atticus Xanderman, and the State Medical Examiner, Keaton Mercer.

Now, Rexy has the spider in the Anti-Venom Lab to perform a venom extraction. She has brought in two University students as lab assistants.

Fear, Suspense and dread permeate this scene, as this spider has proven to have a wildly aggressive killer instinct. And now it is hopefully anesthetized enough with CO2 for Rexy and team to lay her out on an open table and attempt a venom extraction. The fear, suspense and dread of her waking up mid procedure is nerve wracking. When the spider does, Rexy freezes and almost causes her student Cali Ann to get killed.

INT. ANTI-VENOM LAB – DAY

[…]

REXY

Atticus, once more with the CO2.

KEATON

How much is enough?

REXY

We just want to anesthetize her, not euthanize her.

Atticus and Rexy coordinate another spraying, then watch. Teras moves backwards into the cave structure.

CALI ANN

Is it ready?

REXY

Let’s find out.

ATTICUS

Can I perform the extraction? I mean, if I get bit, look at as penance for my bad jokes.

REXY

Very well.

Atticus slides open the lid and takes a pair of long tongs and slowly moves them to touch Teras on the face. Sweat breaks out on his forehead. Atticus looks up at Rexy. Rexy nods.

Teras strikes high up on the tongs!

ATTICUS

Whoa!

Atticus drops them, jerks his hand out, and closes the lid. Eyes grow wide around the room.

ATTICUS

Not enough.

REXY

Let’s give it another shot.

Rexy inserts the nozzle. Reese presses the handle. CO2 fog swirls to fill the whole tank.

REXY

That’s enough.

A sluggish Teras climbs up through the fog on top of the cave structure. She raises her butt upward and emits a stream of silk, attaching it to the lid.

She turns upside down. Each leg reaches up to grab hold of the single strand. She sleeps, dangling midair.

KEATON

What’s she doing?

REXY

Cali Ann? Care to explain?

CALI ANN

When a spider experiences freezing temperatures, it will often take this posture to keep her vital organs warm.

REESE

She’s going into a sleep state, to conserve energy.

ATTICUS

Doc. I can tell already. The terrarium is too deep. I’m going to need her out on the table to perform the extraction.

KEATON

Are you kidding?

REXY

We should be okay, Keaton. Cali, take the other end of the lid and we’ll lift her over together.

Cali Ann complies.

REXY

One, two, three.

They lift the spider out, swing her over to the tray, and lay her down.

REXY

Reese, scrape off the silk from the lid.

The spider’s legs in the air.

REXY

Let’s do this quick. Cali Ann, get me another pari of tongs.

She complies. Rexy uses the tongs to turn the spider over and hold it down.

REXY

Cali Ann hold the tongs. Reese, turn on the vacuum pump.

They comply. Rexy moves aside.

REXY

Atticus, she’s all yours.

Atticus moves in place. He uses a one-foot-long wooden stick the width of a toothpick to force out the shiny, black fangs.

Rexy positions the small glass nozzle of the pump near Teras’ fangs.

Atticus strokes the fangs up and down. Slowly a bead of the deadly venom forms on one fang. Rexy vacuums it into the glass nozzle.

REXY

We need more than that.

Atticus strokes the fangs up and down. Nothing comes.

ATTICUS

She’s not producing this way.

REXY

We’ll have to hook her up.

Rexy raps Teras’s upper body with wire and tape, and attaches an alligator clip to the wire.

KEATON

Fill me in, here.

REXY

An electric circuit will deliver a twelve-volts shock when we touch her mouth with the other end.

While holding the fangs out with the toothpick, Atticus takes a small rod with an alligator clip attached to it and touches Teras’s mouth.

The spider jumps. The people jump as well. The spider relaxes and so do the people.

We get a close up of Teras’s face as LARGE BEADS OF VENOM form on both FANGS. Rexy vacuums them into the glass nozzle.

REXY

One more?

ATTICUS

Okay.

Rexy delivers the jolt. Large venom beads form. Rexy vacuums them up. This time, TERAS’S LEGS START TO FLEX.

REESE

Is she waking up?

CALI ANN

What do I do?

REXY

Get her in the terrarium. Quick. Don’t drop her.

Cali Ann lifts her off the tray with the tongs and moves her over the terrarium. Teras goes into a frenzy, fighting the tongs and the wire wrap.

Rexy, uncharacteristically freezes and backs up. Keaton frowns at her. Teras clings to the tongs and bites them.

CALI ANN

It won’t let go. What do I do?

Rexy is speechless. Keaton frowns in surprise.

Teras emits silk and uses her legs to encase the tongs.

CALI ANN

What do I do?

KEATON

Let go of it all.

Teras and the tongs crash into the terrarium. Rexy reaches for the lid and knocks it off the table. Atticus picks it up and slams it in place.

ATTICUS

Whew! What a temper.

Keaton puts the weight on top. Rexy sees that Cali Ann is shaking. She hugs her, trying to mask her own fear.

[…]

[Kris Kristensen]

What I learned from this lesson… really digging these beats. I think I understood all of this inherently, but it’s really nice to be able to label the beats, and build them off of one another, having a stronger progression that what I already had in the last draft of my script. It’s also fun to rewrite these scenes without referring back to the last draft. They feel much richer to me, even as I rewrite them partially from memory, but not hanging on to the prior edition.

Officers Gleeson and Firth have been sent to the castle to look for any signs of “Monsters”.

INT./EXT. CASTLE RUINS – DAY

OFFICER GLEESON and OFFICER FIRTH wander the decaying ruins of the castle.

FIRTH
There’s nothin’ here, let’s head back.

GLEESON
What’s this?

He points toward the set of stairs that lead down underground.

FIRTH
Probably just a wine cellar. Let’s go.

GLEESON
Ya ain’t scared, are ya?

FIRTH
Scared? No.
(looking around nervously)
More like bored. C’mon.

They hear a sound; something moving down below.

GLEESON
Ah, this is nuthin’ but a wild goose chase.

They head back to their car, when a call comes in on their radio.

DISPATCH (o.s.)
Chief said to make sure and check out the underground while you’re there.

GLEESON
Copy that.

Reluctantly, he heads back toward the stairwell. Turns on his flashlight. Begins his descent, then realizes that Firth isn’t following.

GLEESON
Do you wanna go first?

FIRTH
I don’t wanna go at all.

GLEESON
I know. I was being sarcastic.

FIRTH
Oh.
(beat)
I don’t wanna go first.

GLEESON
Then get your arse in gear or I’ll have you written up.

FIRTH
You can’t do that, you’re my partner.

GLEESON
If you’re my partner, then you’re coming with me.

Can’t argue with that logic, I guess. Firth flicks on his flashlight and follows Gleeson –

DOWN THE STAIRS.

GLEESON
Mr. Quarterman, are you down here?

FIRTH
Pipe down.

GLEESON
I thought you were bored, just trying to livin’ this up for ya.

They reach –

THE BOTTOM OF THE STEPS.

An intersection.

GLEESON
You go left, I’ll go right.

FIRTH
Maybe we should stick together.

GLEESON
Just tryin’ to livin’ it up for you.

Very funny.

They go their separate ways.

RIGHT TUNNEL

Pitch black. Gleeson can only see whatever’s directly in the lamp beam before him.

LEFT TUNNEL

Firth inches his way down the tunnel. He’s hardly progressed from where he started.

FIRTH
(into his radio)
I don’t think there’s anything down here.
(no response)
Gleeson, are you there?
(no response)
Gleeson?

RIGHT TUNNEL

Gleeson continues on his path into the darkness, but isn’t receiving any radio signal.

LEFT TUNNEL

Firth is switching channels on his radio.

FIRTH
Gleeson, do you hear me? Gleeson, come in.

From out of the darkness behind Firth, the Quarterman emerges, wraps his three arms around the policeman.

Firth drops his flashlight to the ground. He screams as he’s dragged into the black.

RIGHT TUNNEL

Gleeson turns toward the scream.

GLEESON
Firth?! FIRTH!

Gleeson, bites his lip, afraid to move.

GLEESON
(dry mouth)
Firth…

He creeps back toward –

THE JUNCTION.

He aims his flashlight down into –

THE LEFT TUNNEL.

Squints his eyes, peering into the blackness beyond the flashlight beam.

GLEESON

(into his radio)

Firth, are you alright?

Gleeson’s voice emits from Firth’s radio, just a little further down the tunnel.

GLEESON

Firth, let’s go up.

No response.

GLEESON
Damnit.

He creeps down the tunnel toward, speaking into his radio.

GLEESON

C’mon, answer your radio, boy.

His words echoing louder from Firth’s radio.

GLEESON

Firth?

His flashlight beam lands on Firth’s discarded radio on the ground.

GLEESON

(into radio)

Dispatch, this is Officer Gleeson, I need backup. Officer missing, presumed down.

And as he turns toward the exit on these last few words, his flashlight beam lights up –

THE FACE OF THE QUARTERMAN who is hovering right behind him!

• This reply was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by  Kris Kristensen.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by  Kris Kristensen.

[Mike Coste]

Mike’s Level 2 Horror Scene

What I learned doing this assignment is how to lead into heightened emotions using other ones. Featr and suspense can lead to dread.

INT- Room 313- Evening

Brad, Heather, and Jacob enter the room. It is a classroom set up with individual desks facing away from the door toward a podium and chalkboard up front. There is also a television monitor attached about six feet high to the left of the podium.

BRAD

Okay, here we are. Can you hear me? What’s this about a test?

(to Heather and Jacob)

I don’t see any paper. What’s this exam?

JACOB

Let’s just go. Let’s get out of here. Please?

BRAD

Where are we going to go, Jacob? We haven’t found a way out yet. And should we just leave David?

HEATHER

Where are Madison and Emily? Do you think they’re messing with us?

The monitor comes on, and we see Dave sitting at a table with two glasses, one marked A and one marked B. Heather, Brad, and Jacob just stare at the monitor.

BRAD

David looks scared. I’ve know him for a long time. He can’t bluff at poker. He’s not that good an actor. This is real.

HEATHER (yelling)

Very funny Emily. I know you’re doing this. Look, I’m sorry I got us trapped here. There’s no reason to…

THE PROFESSOR

Welcome class. You’re a little late. It’s going to be harder to finish the exam. Please take your seats.

Heather, Jacob, and Brad look at each other.

JACOB

Um, sir? Do I have to take the exam? Can I leave? I have to use the restroom.

THE PROFESSOR

I said sit down.

They all sit down

Do you see the handcuffs on under your seats? Put them on. Make sure you lock one side onto your desk and the other to your hand. Make sure the chain goes around the pole so you can’t leave your desk.

BRAD

Dude, are you crazy? I’m not putting on any cuffs. I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you come here and put them on for me?

David’s eyes widen as we see a knife come up against his throat.

THE PROFESSOR

Please address me properly.

BRAD

Um, sir?

THE PROFESSOR

Good. Much better.

BRAD

Sir. Can you please let our friend go?

THE PROFESSOR

Of course I can.

BRAD

Thank…

THE PROFESSOR

But I won’t. At least not until you answer the first question.

BRAD

What’s the question?

THE PROFESSOR

First, put on the handcuffs.

BRAD

Okay. Okay.

Brad puts on the handcuffs as instructed. Jacob and Heather follow suit.

THE PROFESSOR

Let me explain the rules. As you can see, your friend, (to David), what’s your name?

DAVID

David

THE PROFESSOR

Your last name.

DAVID

Williams.

THE PROFESSOR

As you can see, your friend, Mr. Williams, is in a bit of a predicament. I won’t allow him to leave, and he has two glasses in front of him. Glass A. (points to glass A) and Glass B (points to glass B). One glass, the glass representing the correct answer, has water. The other, the incorrect answer has poison. You can help save his life. Just answer the question.

HEATHER

So what’s the question, Sir?

JACOB

Can I please use the restroom?

THE PROFESSOR

No. You may not.

THE PROFESSOR

Here’s the question. Within two decimals, tell me the circumference of a circle with diameter of ten. Is it A, 31.4 or B, 78.5?

HEATHER

Wait. I know this.(beat) Pi R squared. If the diameter is 10, then the radius is 5. Five squared is 25. Pi is 3.14, so 3.14 times 25 has to be somewhere around 75. The answer is B.

THE PROFESSOR

B. Are your sure young lady?

HEATHER

Yes.

The Professor gives glass B to David, and he drinks it. We wait a few seconds, and he smiles and stands up. The monitor goes blank.

JACOB

Wow, Heather, that was good. You must pay attention in math. Maybe they’ll let us go.

BRAD

I wouldn’t be so sure.

HEATHER

Why?

Brad just stares forward.

The door opens, and David walks in.

HEATHER

David. You’re okay.

David smiles weakly.

BRAD

The circumference of a circle is two Pi R.

HEATHER

What are you talking about?

BRAD

He said circumference, not area. It’s two Pi R, not Pi R squared. You were wrong.

HEATHER

But…

David falls to the floor with a thud.

[Rachelle Storti]

Rachelle’s Level 2 Horror Emotion Scene

What I learned: The horror can always be kicked up a notch!

INT. CONTINUOUS – O.R.

The Doctor enters. Medusa prepares to assist him (fear).

Ryan understands what is happening now. He struggles against his restraints (suspense).

Estrella is screaming, straightjacketed in the corner of the room. Medusa suggests switching her out for Ryan. The Doctor explains the importance of having a healthy specimen for the surgery to have the greatest chance of success.

Ryan bargains for his body (dread).

[Bill Anderson]

Bill Anderson’s Level 2 Horror Emotion Scene

What I learned doing this assignment is the particular value of separating out and building on suspense to dread.

MOTHERLAND

Context from Outline:

INT – JACK AND BETH’S ROOM – DAY

Leah discovers that Jack has kept some dissected pieces of the mushroom there. Jan discovers Leah in Jack’s room and challenges her – what’s she doing in there? – Leah tells Jan she suspects Jack is hallucinating – that the mushroom he was handling is psychedelic – none of his story is real and that Michael is probably fine – getting help.

INT – JEB”S OFFICE – DAY

Jan conspiratorially shows Beth the photo of Mum’s ring then reveals the real thing – explains it’s from mum’s skeleton unearthed under the gnarly tree, how she found it and why she thinks that Leah’s hiding something – knows something she’s not telling. Jan tells Beth Leah thinks Jack’s just hallucinating from mushroom contact. But Beth believes what Jack says happened – Jan needs to know for sure if Michael’s dead – what if he’s badly injured but still alive? Beth tells her not to go – it’s not safe – look what happened to Jack! Who else could go? Jan suggests they make Leah go – Leah was the one who killed their mother in childbirth: if there’s no truth to the vengeful mother returning, and it was all just a hallucination then Leah’s perfectly safe – but if their mother has somehow come back for vengeance then best she takes Leah and leaves Beth and Jan alone – Beth reluctantly agrees.

Scripted scene:

INT. FARMHOUSE – EVENING

Jeb comes in breathless from pouring gallons of toxic herbicide onto the dirt around the house. Leah, tending to Jeb, watches Jack pick up all their mobiles to check if any of them have signal restored – in vain.

Jan and Beth come from Jeb’s office.

JAN

Where did it happen?

JACK

In the wood, where I told you, and all the way back…

(Jan points to a large scale map of the farm on the wall and interrupts him:)

JAN

… Show me where Michael is.

(Jack points to a spot in the wood – right on the edge of their land.)

JAN

What if he’s not dead?

(Jack sees what’s coming:)

JACK

Jan, Michael’s gone…

JAN

… he might still be alive…

JACK

… No…

JAN

… The way you told it you didn’t check…

JACK

… He’s gone!… I ain’t going back there to…

JAN

… I need to know! We might still be able to save him!…

(… Jan looks to Leah for support…)

JACK

… We need to protect ourselves HERE…

LEAH

… I’ll go.

(Beth sees what Jan’s done – can’t look Leah in the eye.)

LEAH

(to the dog)

C’mon.

(Leah touches Jan reassuringly on her way out. Beth seeks solace, hiding in a hug with Jack.)

EXT. WILD FOREST – EVENING

As the forest shimmers, hisses, creaks and groans with supernatural threat, even though Leah sees more and more of the fungus growing in the wood she becomes less convinced with every step that Jack was merely hallucinating.

She sees something that stops her in her tracks: the body of Michael lying on the forest floor where we last saw him…

… Leah approaches Michael with great caution, looking closely for signs of life – she turns Michael’s body over – it’s horrifically consumed by fungus and penetrated by roots – hugely unnatural advanced decay – his body is already hollowed out by fungus and maggots which crawl out of his mouth – eel-like amphibian scavengers wriggle out of his eye sockets… Leah backs away, struggling to comprehend how this could have happened so quickly…

[Andre]

“There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it”- Alfred Hitchcock.
1. Andre’s Level 2 Horror Emotion Scene.
2. Look through my ACT 2 scenes and pick one that I would like to write through all three emotions. It very likely will be a scene where some kind of horror actions begins.
• Essence
o Turn-style abortion clinics strategically placed in urban neighborhoods.
o Humanity’s Civil Race War. There is nothing civil about it.
o The failure of black men, the sorry ass niggas, who abandon their children and the women they impregnate.
o Boss Bitch Baddies and the ghetto attitude of ignorance.
o The failure of the community in forgetting who they are, the spiritual embodiment they are held to responsibleness and the enslavers of the peoples-which take us to Africa and those who trapped and enslaved their own to be sold and purchased to a foreign man. Slave ports exist in Africa because slavery was a business that Africa capitalized off of.

• Fear
o Loss of freewill.
o Betrayal and Abandonment by God.
o KKK with black people underneath the hoods.

• Suspense
o Humanity’s Civil Race War. But not like humans anticipate, but much-much worse! There is nothing civil about it. The war that was fought in heaven, can now be fought on earth; Humans against Angels. Enough is enough. But the war is not like the ignorant race baiting humans plan, not human race vs human race, but human race versus race of angels and other creations. When the Nephilim return, supported to balance the powers.
o Moving shadows. Shadow play.
o Buzzing of insects.
o Voodoo, séance.

• Dread
o 15th Amendment to Constitution ratified. Slavery is re-instituted.
o Lynching’s are legalized.
o All coalesced within the black lives movement and the failure of the black community to keep the family unit tight and together.
o The negative narrative programming the negro.
o Juneteenth- “These SANs get an entire month (February) and a day called Juneteenth”. Where’s my day and month?
o Having patience for those less evolved. Bestow the love and faith of Christ.

3. Brainstorm the scene to emphasize the Level 2 emotions and write it. See below…
4. What I learned doing this assignment is…
As we move into ACT 2, we usually see the Level2 emotions show up – Fear, Suspense, and Dread. There may be others mixed in there, especially during death scenes, but I want the audience experiencing these three emotions. They will set up the more drastic emotions of ACT 3.

Note: Any horror emotion can be used in any scene. But in general, there is a build-up of emotions as I go from ACT 1 to ACT 2 to ACT 3.

ESSENCE
The expectation of torture or death.

FEAR
Definition: A distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.
How to: Create a sense of impending danger, but not expected death for the characters.

Fear is a baseline emotion for a Horror movie that is present from the opening scene to the ending. Notice the definition mentioned “whether the threat is real of imagined”. This is why fake scares actually work in many movies. They create the experience of “imagined fear.”
Even if the fear isn’t real onscreen, it helps to build the ambiance of terror the audience will ultimately feel. I want to keep my audience in constant fear, but of course, the job is to then take them to a place of real horror with the Level 3 emotions from the next lesson.

SUSPENSE
A state or feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen.
How to: Set up some consequence and delay the delivery.

First, there must be perceived consequence. Something bad could happen, so establish the bad thing that could happen.
Second, I delay the delivery. The longer the delay, the more suspense we feel.
“There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it”- Alfred Hitchcock.

DREAD
Dread: To be reluctant to do, meet, or experience something dangerous or horrific. Terror or apprehension as to something in the future; great fear.
How to: Set up a known danger (something atrocious, appalling, or hideous), then require the Character to face that danger head on.
Dread isn’t that they happened upon the terrifying situation, but that they already know about it and must choose to face it.

5. Post to forums.

The Scene
INT. NEWSROOM – NIGHT
Triggering the Blacks. News report, leading story.
Newsroom story pitch based on the feed beaming down from around the world. Personalities clash. Tempers flare. Biases and prejudices reveal themselves.
In preparation of and the timing of an Electrical Storm, harnessing the negative energy from a movement involving “black lives” and (anti) matter less than peaceful protests, vandalism, riots, racism, chaos and confusion are planned to conjure the living element of dark-lifeforce. Timed with the use of the Particle Accelerator used to harness Anti-Matter.
With the carbon base structure already in existence 6 Neutrons, 6 Protons, 6 Electrons, the Anti-Christ is to be perfected from aborted fetuses fused with anti-matter. Altering human DNA from ATCG 10565 to ATCCCG 1056665 with the triple-helix.

ANGER. When society fails to punish crimes, group resentment usually asserts itself as lynch law; the provision of sanctuary as a means of escaping this sudden group anger. Lynching and dueling represent the unwillingness of the individual to surrender private redress to the state.
Good, finally something to bring justice and order back to society. Many see it as a solution to the crime and social issues.
Lynchings and slavery are reconstituted on the land due to the riots and disorderly conduct.
The law is abused and EVERYONE becomes a target, not just the colored folks, EVERYONE! Along with vaccine mandates, and embedded chips to monitor location, pulse, body, etc. Some call it, the mark of the beast.
The flared tempers and emotions triggered prove there is a there there, a story to be told. Ashkenazi capitalizes from this and seeks his ace in the hole, a nobody. Someone his staff can use like a fresh dog bone to chew on. They single out Indigo from —juror duty, on short list from —.

Beginning: (Mislead / Reveal, Suspense)
Good, finally something to bring justice and order back to society. Many see it as a solution to the crime and social issues.

Middle: (Misinterpretation, Internal and External Dilemmas)
Lynching’s and slavery are reconstituted on the land due to the riots and disorderly conduct.

Ending: (Reveal, Characters change radically, Uncomfortable Moment)
The law is abused and EVERYONE becomes a target, not just the colored folks, EVERYONE! Along with vaccine mandates, and embedded chips to monitor location, pulse, body, etc. Some call it, the mark of the beast.

End Andre’s Level 2 Horror Emotion Scene.