Lesson 12

[Beverley]

Beverley Wood’s Seabiscuit analysis

What I learned doing this assignment is that you can build tension by holding onto moments (longer than I generally do!) and that sweet moments can be held longer too and profound moments aren’t always in dialogue sometimes they are in action (or inaction).

Profound moments in the movie and what they meant to me:

“We never know how high we are until we are called to rise” quoted by Red early in the movie was the theme of the movie being stated in the first five pages and it made me understand greatness would follow.

The moment, after the son of Howard dies, and they close the doors to the stable which now holds the cars and it goes dark, just like Howard’s world has.

Two fathers paralleled, one on the train, one in a rich house, both lost their sons : doesn’t matter how much money you have.

When Red still read the classics, even when being beaten half to death in the ring – showed his spirit

Trainer first: “You don’t throw a whole life away just because it’s banged up a little”… people and animals deserve a second chance.

The trainer sees how the horse fights, then how Red fights and the penny drops for him.

“He just needs to learn to be a horse again” which is what they all needed…to learn to be who they are again.

“I’d rather have you strong than thin” someone cares again.

Then those stable doors open again and let in the light, the cars are out, horse is in.

When he almost throws the books away, but doesn’t. He’s still hurting…

Every time he calls the horse “Pops”, he’s speaking to his absent father (I’m kinda surprised he didn’t come back…)

The Depression itself was a living metaphor

When the crowds come out for the race and they are lined up cheering and Red speaks to the horse, Holy Cow, look at that, this is for you… he sees himself in the kids lined up at the rail.

“Sometimes all somebody needs is a second chance” – stating the movie’s theme again

“It’s not in his feet George, it’s right here (heart)” Most profound like of the whole movie for me. Nothing counts but what is in your heart.

“That’s okay Pops, I’ll come to you” after they were both injured… this is perhaps where he realized that his father was also injured… and forgives him?

Then, oh yeah, maybe THIS is the most profound, when Howard says it back to the trainer: “You don’t throw a whole life away because it’s banged up a bit”.

“I think it’s better to break a man’s leg than his heart”. There’s that heart again, the most important piece of anyone.

When the wife is playing the sons game and Howard is watching and she says, “I can’t get the ball to stay in the hole no matter what I do”… nothing is going to bring back their son.

Brilliant movie, thanks for the assignment.

[mark.napier2022@gmail.com napier]

Napier Turn Insights into Actions

***FYI, content I am posting has been registered (as a Treatment) with the Screenwriters Guild and copyrighted through the Library of Congress. When I am done with the script, it too will be registered and copyrighted. I understand what we post here is to be treated as such in the same manner.

ASSIGNMENT 2

I believe this exercise addresses more ‘Show me than Tell me’ for the audience to absorb the message being pushed.

1. Create a list of the New Ways and Insights you’d like audiences to experience when they watch your movie.
A. ACTION (1): Seven years after pulling himself off the streets homeless, the hero runs for federal office. He brings attention to his cause to represent the Discarded and Forgotten; qualifying as the first in the nation to use “In-Kind” contributions as a low budget Independent candidate and proves the low income and impoverish too can run for federal office.
INSIGHT (1): You can recover from adversity and loss – “Keep Standing.” [ACT 2B]

B. ACTION (2): The hero thumbs through a press release where a Federal District Judge in Washington, DC orders the CIA to release its reports on the number of child pornography cases (10 in all) the Agency has suppressed internally to disclose, let alone released to the public. The hero notices the incident he reported is not one of them. He wonders to himself, if his is not disclosed, just how many more is the CIA refusing to disclose, despite a federal court order? And why was only one case prosecuted? Answer—that person did not have access to sensitive programs.
INSIGHT (2): More oversight of the Intelligence Community is needed. [ACT 2B]

C. ACTION (3): The hero’s efforts to mass mail, produce press releases, organize protests, and place politicians on both sides of the isle on the defensive sheds light on the CIA underground culture which forces change in Agency policies to prosecute predators regardless of access to sources and methods.
INSIGHT (3): It takes only ‘ONE’ to be a force multiplier to make change.

D. ACTION (4): Hero testifies before Congressional hearing on Whistleblower Protections and points out how Whistleblowers are nothing but political pawns for their use to badger their opponents across the isle. Current protections are just ‘window dressing’ and offer no support or services during their ordeal.
INSIGHT (4): Whistleblowers need more protections and support. [ACT 3]

E. ACTION (5): Stigmatized as a loser for being a strip dancer, the people at the bar he performs at are taken aback to discover the hero’s photo album that shows how he used to have successful careers in both the CIA and US Army Reserves before becoming homeless. They corner him and ask what happened.
INSIGHT (5): Don’t judge the homeless as a ‘Nobody,’ as they use to be a ‘Somebody.’ [I may consider shifting this to follow the opening scene of ACT 1 vs ACT 2A]
2. With that list, brainstorm ways to turn the New Ways / Insights into Action. Come up with at least five (5) New Ways and the Action that will express them.
3. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” (place at top of your work). I believe this exercise addresses more ‘Show me than Tell me’ for the audience to absorb the message being pushed.
4. Post to the forums at https://www.ScreenwritingClasses.com/forums
Subject line: (Your name’s) Turns Insights Into Action (place in first line)

***FYI, content I am posting has been registered (as a Treatment) with the Screenwriters Guild and copyrighted through the Library of Congress. When I am done with the script, it too will be registered and copyrighted. I understand what we post here is to be treated as such in the same manner.

[Diane Keranen]

Diane’s Seabiscuit Analysis

(Followed below by assignment 2)

What I learned doing this assignment is that if I can say it with actions rather than words, the moment will be more meaningful, more profound. Work to get the audience to feel the moments rather than only watch the moments.

At the beginning when the cowboy caught a wild horse. The thundering hooves and free-running, wild horses (a metaphor for free spirits) ended up with a captured horse. But, that doesn’t capture the free spirit. Later, he ponders the barbed wire that divided up the vast wild spaces.

The bicycle shop with no business. The seeming hopelessness of the broken Stanley Steamer with the parts all spread out. Despair inspired innovation.

The poetry read at the table. John (Red) remembered the line of the poem: “We never know how high we are / Till we are called to rise. Then, if we are true to plan / Our statures touch the skies.” While dialogue, it’s the action at the table that brings life to the words and sets up Red for later choices. He doesn’t remember what comes next in the poem, but the part he remembered and recited is telling.

The CRASH! on the sidewalk of the newspaper announcing the stock market crash. Highlights the struggle of times.

Red is generous. We see this when he gives is dad the $2 he earned while in the encampment.

Watching Red watching the jockey ride. He loved it. His parents left him with the stable and promised to come back. They saw this as Red having a chance at a future.

The fight on horseback when he first got hired. The stakes of losing are high. He must win!

When the young son takes the truck on his own with fishing gear. He crashes and dies. An interesting series of shots with the toy car crashed in the water, the Cracker Jack candy, and then the overturned tire of the truck the son died in.

The men on the train from different backgrounds all being moved like cattle.

I’m drawn to the powerful postures and gazes characters show. The way the Charles takes in the personality of “the greatest jockey” who arrives at the racetrack.

When Smith takes ownership of the wild white horse and comforts it. The small gesture of humane treatment the horse has probably not known.

Red’s memory of “There’s my hole, I got to fly!” in the conversation on horseback at the back of the pack. Combined with the gambler yelling “how do you miss a hole like that, are you blind?” and Red fully realizes that he is blind in one eye.

The growing crowds that come to see Seabiscuit run and the enthusiasm of the betters.

The humility that Smith pulls out when War Admiral is a “great horse.”

Howard’s frustration at not being the best.

Taunting by the War Admiral handlers.

Howard wants a matchup between War Admiral and Seabiscuit and musters support for it.

The challenge from Seabuscuit’s owner to War Admiral’s owner through the media.

Team War Admiral accepts the challenge. Seeing War Admiral is imposing. He’s big. And fast.

Smith develops some retraining to prepare Seabiscuit. They train him at night when the crowds are not there. Red, too, finds inspiration in the new training.

Red gets hurt “breezing” a different horse for a different trainer. Howard plays with his son’s toy. He’s at the precipice of loss again.

The little bits of interaction between Woolf and Red are a set-up for Woolf replacing Red for the War Admiral challenge race. Red shares that winning is in Seabiscuit’s heart. Tells him how to help the horse win.

When the bell rings and we fade to white to hear radio broadcasts of the start of the race.

When George “set him loose” because we were shown the details of how to win the race. We see the underdog win. We feel the underdog win. The nation feels the underdog win.

The injury to Seabiscuit. Red seems to know it as it happens even when he’s not at the race. His spirit and Seabiscuit’s spirit are the same.

The vet offers to “put him down” because Seabiscuit will never race again. Cut to…
Seabiscuit arriving back to the farm to be greeted by similarly lame Red.

Red notices Seabiscuit moving better and the go for a slow ride. They heal together.

Red’s eating changes. As a jockey, he ate very little. While healing, he ate a lot. After healing and riding, he started to eat very little again. This reflected his sense of returning to racing. Smith trains Seabiscuit again. Seems uncertain if the horse can pull out another round of successful racing.

There are a lot of brief profound moments in this movie, but the “big one” the Depression and the three “hero” stories told through the stories of Howard, Smith, Red, and Seabiscuit ties all of the small moments together. Every small moment is a akin to a brick in huge wall of emotion.

Profound Moments — Assignment 2

Jakes shock at realizing the hurt he caused by shooting the rabbit. This turns around everything he’s ever heard about hunting. When teased and challenged to “man up” he struggles with coming to terms with his reality and social expectations.

Claire gives the engraved Zippo lighter to Stewart as a gift “to remember me” just as he leaves for Basic Training. He keeps this lighter with him and the surface is dulled from his use of it and his running his thumb over the inscription. This lighter reminds us that he loves her dearly.

Stewart comes across his friend Gavin’s auto crash. While everyone believes it an accident due to driving drunk, Stewart knows this was intentional. Gavin wasn’t drunk that night. He was driven by ghosts from his combat past.

Matt’s anxiety grows with a series of triggers: the party, the people, the hero conflict, the firecrackers. He leaves and seeks solitude. This is what his father did.

Claire and Stewart (in flashback) try for a baby before he leaves for Basic Training. It doesn’t work, she doesn’t get pregnant. They end up not having a baby until several years after he gets back from war.

[Beverley]

Day 12 Assignment 2

Beverley Wood’s turns insight into action

What I learned from doing this assignment is that it’s impactful to deliver insight through action

My five for I Know You’re Out There Somewhere

Kim takes him to see a “Drying of the Tears” Lakota ceremony and he gets it.

Matt takes Lauren’s ashes/ghost to the café and lake and realizes this isn’t sustainable and they can’t be doing this.

Whenever Kim stops to smell the roses, Matt waches (3X) progressively more intently.

Matt reads books on dealing with grief and death and starts to understand.

He drinks mushroom tea and sees god and understands why she must go.

He sets her free, spills her ashes, only to understand that he can keep her forever now.

When Johnny (Kim’s brother) visits in the last scene, he has the largest insight of all – and realizes Kim was a spirit guide there to escort Lauren.

[Mitch Haraguchi]

Assignment 1

What I learned doing this assignment is a good movie is full of various profound moments that indicate a shift in characters or the time.

Q: Watch the movie SEABISCUIT. As you do, look for the Profound Moments (any moment in the story that seems profound to you). List the Profound Moments, then tell briefly what made them profound for you.

1. No more frontier
After freely travelling an open prairie riding on his horse, Tom Smith is forced to stop at a barbed-wire fence. This profound moment clearly shows that an old way of horse riding is being replaced by a new transportation, automobiles.

2. Being abandoned by your own family
In the horse-riding field, Red’s mother suddenly hugs Red without saying anything while sobbing. This profound moment tells that something bad has happened to Red and that there will be no more old way, which is confirmed by the statement (dialogue) of his father.

3. Giving a second chance
After having lost his son, Howard changed. When Red lies to Smith about the reason for his failure to win Santa Anita Handicap and later admits his partial blindness, Smith gets furious. The audience would expect that Red would be fired. However, Howard declares that Pollard will remain Seabiscuit's jockey. This Howard’s decision may be related to the loss of his child.

• This reply was modified 8 months, 3 weeks ago by  Mitch Haraguchi.
• This reply was modified 8 months, 3 weeks ago by  Mitch Haraguchi.

[Mitch Haraguchi]

Assignment 2

Mitch turns insights into actions.

What I learned doing this assignment is that this is the toughest assignment so far, but brainstorming the New Ways to find profound moments helps clarify the theme of the movie.

Q: Create a list of the New Ways and Insights you’d like audiences to experience when they watch your movie. With that list, brainstorm ways to turn the New Ways / Insights into Action. Come up with at least five (5) New Ways and the Action that will express them.

1) ACTION: Russell almost gives up identifying the ethnicity of the Asian man (Taiki) who does not utter a word since he lost his memory. Accidentally, a Japanese food helps recall his memory and he says a few words, which surprises Russell and Dr. Foreman.
INSIGHT: Food of your native land is one of essential elements that constitute your identity. You should not underestimate the power of food.

2) ACTION: When Russell goes to Antonia’s (the only coffee shop in town) as always, he is shocked to find the joint closed.
INSIGHT: His status quo is beginning to end.

3) ACTION: Russell is shocked to find a photo where his daughter Kaitie, a huge anime fan, is enjoying “cosplay.”
INSIGHT: Russell is forced to admit that Katie as he knows is no longer here.

4) ACTION: Katie ignores the warning from his dad and starts searching the Asian man who went missing.
INSGHT: Katie’s first step to become independent and explore the real world from the two-dimensional world of anime.

5) ACTION: When searching the Asian man, Russell finds Katie and learns that she was almost raped by punks but was saved by the Asian man. Russell does not scold Katie, and hugs her instead.
INSIGHT: Old Russell is no more.

• This reply was modified 8 months, 3 weeks ago by  Mitch Haraguchi.
• This reply was modified 8 months, 3 weeks ago by  Mitch Haraguchi.

[Angela Booth]

Angela Booth – Assignment 1

What I learned doing this assignment is the truly profound moments are often silent, allowing the viewers own emotional response to fill the void,

When Smith sees the barbed wire, he knows the days of roaming free and living under the stars are coming to an end, and that land ownership and “toeing the line” are the future.
The almost-silent scene of Howard holding his dead son as he grieves is extremely profound. For all his wealth, he is just as vulnerable to loss as anyone else.
When Red is handed the bag of books by his father, the reality that these are all his worldly goods and that he is passing them on to his son is profound in that it marks the end of the hopes of the father and represents his hopes for his son’s future.
When Seabiscuit trains in the dark to learn to win at the sound of the bell, Red learns to trust in the horse completely. Until then, he thought their success was a dual effort. This is the moment that teaches Red that Seabiscuit can win the race without him. The will to win comes from within Seabiscuit.
When Seabiscuit and Red take their first tentative ride together, it is heartwarming to see them both triumph over adversity. We feel that we can also overcome hardships that try to stand in our way, if we want it badly enough.

[Angela Booth]

Angela Booth Turns Insights Into Action

What I learned doing this assignment is that small, silent moments can have powerful impact.

ASSIGNMENT 2
1. Create a list of the New Ways and Insights you’d like audiences to experience when they watch your movie.
New way/Insight:
Georgia realises she doesn’t have to prepare all the meals all the time. She can trust Martin to take over.
Action:
The boys prefer her husband’s recipe for spaghetti bolognaise when they clear their plates and ask for more.

New way/Insight:
Jodie realises she’s a great boss and can handle the business by herself.
Action:
The employees have a collection when her mother passes away. A speech from one of the crew that thanks her for her compassion and understanding as a boss is followed by a long-standing round of applause.

New way/Insight:
Tiff shakes off the burden of being the breadwinner for the family and asks for support from the family to start her own business.
Action:
Finn and Zac each go on to employment websites and begin looking for work to bring in extra money while Tiff plans her new enterprise.

New way/Insight:
Anne realises she doesn’t have to put up with bullying at work any more.
Action:
She packs up her desk and walks out, not looking back.

New way/Insight:
Calli realises who she is on the inside is more important than the image she portrays.
Action:
Calli stops wearing fake eyelashes and nails.