Lesson 13

[CJ Lyons]

CJ’s Unique Action

What I learned doing this assignment is that even though I thought I’d done all my research/brainstorming there is always room to dig deeper and find the tiny but vibrant details unique to the setting or situation that twist the action into something unique and memorable.

Tell us about the improvements that you have made: I reached out to friends who live in my setting and asked them to give me stories of unusual Mardis Gras “private” traditions that tourists never get to see and I learned of one that totally transformed a scene from interesting to deeply personal (rising the stakes for the characters beyond the action) and something we haven’t seen before.

[ray Moore]

Ray’s Unique Action

What I learned doing this assignment is how to add uniqueness to an action scene to make it more interesting.

1. Looking at your entire story, what is unique about each of these places:

1.Environment: Hero’s mother’s greenhouse

2. Rules: Don’t mess with Mama

3. Villain: Villain’s lack of love in his heart

4. Mission: Villain’s attempt to kidnap the hero’s mother

5. Struggle: Protect loved ones and the portal device

6. Unique Skillset: hero’s mother is a master with plant life

7. Meaning: The mother has tricks up her sleeve to protect her and her garden

8. Allies: Hero’s partner sense of timing and speed and unpredictableness in a situation

9. Weapon: Using the hero’s mother as a bargaining tool to get the portal device

2. Brainstorm ways to make one or more of those places unique:

A. What if the hero’s mother can fight

B. The hero’s mother defends herself with her plants

C. Specific to character or environment. Greenhouse has exotic plants and she will protect them with her life

D. Shocking or Surprising. The mother is fighting her attackers

E. Go opposite.The mother using household items to protect herself

F. What haven’t we seen? The mother using one of her plants to kill some of the Hitsquad and escapes

[karl gromelski]

(Your Name’s) Unique Action!

What I learned doing this assignment is… the more you work your plot, characters and setting to make them unique – the more your story becomes more engaging.

taking the last scene I worked on… examining the various components of it… I discovered a more interesting location for the action.

instead of having the pair break into an ATF office to hack the Fed database…

what if they hacked illegal surveillance set up at a gun show?

they hack into the video feed…

this has the ATF breaking rules, the hackers benefiting from this and the shoot out to be much more engaging/ comical and thrilling…

meanwhile, the Black Ops team that’s been sent to eliminate them arrive to terminate them

now when a shoot-out & Police are called and Girl gets captured…

it’s a crazier gun battle that’s never been seen before

• This reply was modified 1 year, 10 months ago by  karl gromelski.

[Deb Johnson]

Deb’s Unique Action

What I learned:

This was a great way to attack the action sequences from multiple angles. I am behind (in this class) and on a script I’m rewriting – so, instead of using this to generate ideas for the action movie I’m developing, I decided to switch gears and utilize this technique for the action sequences in my rewrite. This was an extremely valuable exercise. What I thought was good just improved by 100%. I’m going to use this for the rest of my action sequences to elevate their quality.

Improvements to my “chase” scene:

Set up: In a game of “Would You Rather”, the “rathers” magically come true and five kids are chased by “monsters”; 2 by a werewolf and 3 by ten zombies.

· Each child has their own capacity to run – instead of having them all run “together” – they are broken up by their ability – making it more interesting to watch.

· Now that some are in the lead and some behind – those in the lead need to help in some way – elevating the teamwork needed to win.

· In the end – when they escape – they will be given part of a weapon that they will piece together… this will eventually help them when they get to the end of the game.