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Lesson 12
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Bob Rowen’s Level 3 Action Emotions
What I learned doing this assignment is how to incorporate the emotions of danger, excitement, and adrenaline into my script.
1. Outline of scene that includes danger, excitement, and adrenaline.
Set-up (in previous scenes): Prater was warned at the union meeting, that if he continued giving the company a bad time, “bad things will happen”. McCrea told Prater and others that “trouble is brewing”. Prater’s son, Robbie, receives a threatening phone call.
Danger: On his way to the bus barn, Prater is driving an empty 79-passenger school bus traveling 70 mph when suddenly the left front tire explodes.
Excitement: The bus immediately swerves to the left. Prater looks in the driver’s side mirror and sees a cloud of black smoke filled with flying debris. He battles an out-of-control bus for what seemed like an eternity to bring it back under control.
Adrenaline: Smoke is boiling out from the left front of the bus. Prater immediately grabs the onboard fire extinguisher and runs around the front of the bus. The wheel well under the driver’s seat is on fire. Prater, in shock, walks to the highway patrol weigh station for help.
2. Scene as a first draft, highlighting danger, excitement, and adrenaline.
INT. SCHOOL BUS (MOVING) – LATE AFTERNOON
Prater is driving an empty 79-passenger school bus traveling 70 mph.
PRATER (V.O.)
Of all the fucking warnings we’ve received, the one that’s most troubling was last night’s threatening call Robbie got. I just can’t get that one out of my head.
Beat.
Prater is approaching the Clam Beach straightaway when suddenly there is an explosion in the left front wheel well. The bus swerves to the left. Prater glances in the driver’s side mirror and sees a cloud of black smoke filled with flying debris. He panics, then battles an out-of-control bus for what seemed like an eternity to bring it back under control.
EXT. FRONT OF SCHOOL BUS – CONTINUOUS
Smoke is boiling out from the left front of the bus. The wheel well under the driver’s seat is on fire. Prater immediately grabs the onboard fire extinguisher and runs around the front of the bus.
EXT. ROAD SHOULDER – CONTINUOUS
Prater now in shock starts walking to the highway patrol weigh station for help.
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Chris’s level 3 Action Emotions
What I learned is using these techniques consistently should significantly raise the level of interest in our stories.
EXT. WOODS – DAY
Our Hero stands several paces behind a small forest opening with hands up. He’s clearly surrounded and surrendering to 2 MERCENARY HENCHMEN. They methodically move toward him in military fashion. As they close the gap our Hero DIVE ROLLS behind a larger boulder and they give chase…the forest floor CRASHES beneath them. It’s the same well opening that our Hero had fallen in!
Mercenary 1 falls to the bottom with a THUD while the second manages to grab the same root that saved our hero. As the Mercenary pulls himself to safety our hero lunges toward him, snatches his compact semi-auto sniper rifle and KICKS him down the hole. His fall is softened by the first Mercenary, but it’s still a sickening THUD.
Our Hero quickly spots more Henchmen in pursuit through the rifle scope and turns in retreat.
EXT. EDGE OF THE WOODS – CONTINUOUS
In full parkour fashion, our Hero is now hotly chased by 3 of the Henchmen. He leaps boulders, flies over brush, and dodges trees with amazing agility. The Henchmen follow with equal skill. Our hero ducks back near the edge of the woods near a 30 foot vertical rock wall ledge. On top of the rock is SNIPER HENCHMAN and he’s got our hero is his sights.
Hero slides beneath a thick fallen pine and catches a reflection off the Sniper’s scope. They both take aim at each other….CRACK! Sniper falls within a few feet of 2 Henchmen at the foot of the ledge; they quickly move for cover behind trees.
One tree barely provides cover and CRACK! Our hero’s shot SPLINTERS through the narrow spruce and DROPS the Henchman.
Behind our Hero we see a dozen more well armed MERCENARIES flanking his position from below.
The Henchman by the ledge is well covered behind a hardwood. Hero shifts his site on the ledge and…CRACK. The rock SHATTERS; as rock shrapnel blinds the Henchmen, he takes a knee, clearing his eyes. Our Hero finished him off CRACK, CRACK, with precision shots.
He’s back on the run with a small ARMY hot on his trail.
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Gary Holland – Action Emotion
SETUP – The strategic command are aware of a convoy of ships headed toward Earth… the ships suddenly go dark. The Russians and Chinese are invited to the party but give no response. The colonel responds:
COLONEL:
Activate the Raptor.
SURPRISE – The Raptor is a weapons platform the enemy doesn’t know about.
Suddenly, a Galactic Police Cruiser comes out of nowhere… another twenty six ships are protected behind.
SUSPENSE – The colonel is not fazed when the captain of the cruiser comes on screen. Their conversation rises to the point:
CAPTAIN:
We know your defensive capabilities… your lasers are no match… surrender now.
COLONEL:
Not gonna happen.
The Raptor crests the back side of Earth and unleashes its PARTICLE PLASMA BEAM… the cruiser is obliterated.
SURPRISE :
A Russian platform comes into view… three times larger and ten times as old as Raptor… there is a bungling crew aboard.
DANGER:
Enemy fighters stream from cargo ships… forty powerful lasers, “COUGARS” fire from Earth orbit, cutting the fighters to pieces.
Another police cruiser flanks them and fires an energy draining beam at Raptor… its power dropping rapidly.
SURPRISE –
The Chinese step up and de-cloak two spinning star shaped weapons. They destroy four enemy ships before they self destruct.
DANGER-
The entire enemy fleet launch thousands of fighters.
ADRENALINE-
The cougars fire wide angle bursts to keep them at bay… the Raptor all but gone… the Russians are a dud… the Chinese manage two more star shaped weapons… BUT IT’S NOT ENOUGH.
Damaged enemy fighters run a kamikaze on the cougars and take out every one.
FEAR-
What’s left of the convoy approaches… a raggedy commander comes on screen.
COMMANDER:
Surrender now…
RELIEF –
The President has a bluff up his sleeve.
PRESIDENT:
We got nothing to lose… but we do got 32,000 nuclear weapons, that would love to say hello.
THE CONVOY BACKS OFF… GIVING THE HERO TIME TO DO HIS THING.
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Frances Williams Level 3 Action Emotions,
What I learned doing this assignment is how to build action scenes that will engage the audience emotionally.
INT – Covenant School Hallway – Day,
Prime Minister daughter is walking down the hall when she receives a mysterious text ‘ meet me behind the school ‘ 3 pm.
Danger – As she walks back towards the back of the school, a vehicle approaches her.
The car pulls up next to her, and two Security Guards are behind the wheel.
The two guards look her up and down, as they pull up next to her.,
Guard#1 – What are you doing here?
Prime Minister s daughter,
I’m going to meet my friends in the school yard
Ext – Covenant School Bleachers – Day,
Excitement + The Prime Minister s daughter reaches into her back pack, she pulls out some pepper spray and fires once into the face of the Guard, she drops her backpack, she kneels to pick it up before turning and running away.
Suspense – Without slowing she takes off running, always moving with her breathing steady.
EXT – FRONT OF SCHOOL – DAY,
Adrenaline
Without slowing, breathing steady, she reaches the front of the school, a bus pulls up to the curb, she slowly steps onto the bus, it pauses for a beat, and then rolls off
END INTERCUT$
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Beth Zurkowski Level 3 Action Emotions What I learned doing this assignment is I really need to concentrate on brainstorming.
3. Write the scene as a first draft, highlighting danger, excitement, and adrenaline.
V-6)(A-13) Velda gets captured, tortured and escapes.
Danger: Velda is followed by two suspicious men into the antique three story mall. She notices they are carrying guns in shoulder holsters. Excitement: She runs deep into the shop making a huge mess behind herself. The two men split up and go after her. The stairs and elevator are used. Then they have her cornered and right away she kicks the guns out of their hands. Martial arts are used by the three of them. More antiques get broken. Finally the men capture her and remove her from the mall.
Velda is taken back to Naya’s father and she is put in a chair and tied up and asked where Naya is. But Velda won’t talk. Father starts to pull her fingernails out. She still won’t talk and is moved to a room. She tries to escape out the window but it won’t break or open. She tests the door. It’s locked. Adrenaline: Velda notices the walls are made out of sheet rock so she uses her fists and punches her way through and makes her escape.
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