-
Lesson 13
Reply to post your assignment.
-
5 Replies
-
ASSIGNMENT 13
Subject line: Pat’s Act 2 Reaction to TP 1
What I learned doing this assignment is organizational skills to keep it together.
Using your Beat Sheet, outline Key Scene 1.
Inciting Incident: Elaine Moves out on Hank
Turning Point 1: Hank gets divorce papers in the mail.
Reaction: Hank signs backup for night school for a Marriage Counselor License to help him get Elaine back.
MARRIAGE COUNSELOR BOSS
ACT 2 BEAT SHEET
INT. HANK’S HOUSE – DAY
Hank and Elaine have a big fight and Elaine moves out.
EXT. HANK’S MAILBOX – DAY
Hank receives the divorce papers
INT. MARRIAGE SCHOOL – DAY
Hank signs up for Marriage School
ACT 2 OUTLINE
INT. HANK’S HOUSE – DAY
BEGINNING: Hank and elaine have a big fight
MIDDLE: Elaine packs her suitcase..
END: Elaine moves out threatening divorce.
EXT. HANK’S MAILBOX – DAY
BEGINNING: Hank takes an envelope out mailbox from an attorney’s office. Smacks himself in the head with the envelope. He knows he’s in trouble.
MIDDLE: Opens the envelope
END: Discovers its divorce papers.
2. Write the “Reaction to the Turning Point” scene.
INT. MARRIAGE SCHOOL – DAY
BEGINNING: Hank signs up for Marriage Counseling night school.
MIDDLE: Opens a business without a license.
END: Auditor closes Hank’s business
-
ASSIGNMENT
Tasha’s Act 2 Reaction to TP 1
Doing this assignment, I learned the following: Having a beat sheet and outlining the scene makes all the difference if you want to write something fast. I can’t believe how easy it is to keep up with the lessons just using those two tools.
1. Using your Beat Sheet, outline Key Scene 1.
INT. COFFEE – DAY
Beginning: Bethany tries to order from Amy but get grilled about why she’s been hanging at the coffee shop a lot and finds out Bethany is looking for Brad.
Middle: Bethany tries his number again but this time she gets a message that his number has been disconnected. She tries contacting him through the dating app, but she can no longer access his profile.
End: Bethany asks Amy if she’s seen the guy she was with and Amy so no. She suggests that maybe Bethany needs to try another tactic because this one isn’t working.
INT. COSTCO – DAY
Beginning: Bethany tracks down one of her ex suitors to talk to him.
Middle: The guy sees Bethany and runs away. Bethany chases him.
End:The guy tries hard to get away from her but she corners him in the employee bathroom. She tells him she just wants to know why he stopped seeing her.
INT. COSTCO BREAK ROOM – DAY
Beginning: Bethany, the guy and a lot of his coworkers gather around the tv in the breakroom and plays a tape.
MIDDLE: The tape shows Bethany’s exorcism. The coworkers realize it’s the girl and they can’t believe it.
END: Bethany asks him where he got the tape and he says he got it in the mail the day after their date. She asks if he would have asked her out again and he tells her he would have if it wasn’t for the tape.
2. Write the “Reaction to the Turning Point” scene.
INT. COFFEE – DAY
Bethany walks up to Amy at the cash register.
AMY
Back again so soon?
BETHANY
What?
AMY
Weren’t you here yesterday and the day before that?
BETHANY
So?
AMY
So we have a strict policy about people using our wifi to work remotely. Go home. Pay for your own wifi.
BETHANY
I have my own wifi.
AMY
So if it’s not the job, why are you here all the time? I mean you already came in a lot….don’t you have a life?
BETHANY
I do.
AMY
What about that cute guy you were in here with a few days ago? You know, that Sailboat Ken guy. Go see him.
BETHANY
Have you seen him?
AMY
Nah, I have a girlfriend.
BETHANY
I mean here, have you seen him here? Recently?
AMY
I haven’t. Wait, is that why you come in here all the time now?
BETHANY
Just give me a latte and a chocolate chip cookies.
She throws a $10 bill on the counter and takes a seat at an empty table.
She pulls out her phone and takes a look at her call log. 23 outgoing messages to Brad, but no calls from him.
She calls his number again.
AUTOMATED MESSAGE
The number you have dialed has been disconnected.
Bethany dials the number again and gets the same message.
She slams her phone on the table and rubs her phone head with her palm. She thinks for a moment. Then she grabs her laptop and logons to the [Name of Dating Site].
She clicks on the link to Brad’s profile, but gets an error message.
BETHANY
What?
Frantically she refreshes the page a couple times, but still gets the error message.
Amy looks over Bethany’s shoulder at her screen.
AMY
Oh, that’s too bad.
Amy drops off the latte and the cookie.
AMY
Usually you get that kind of message when you’ve been blocked. Believe me, I know.
BETHANY
What do I do?
AMY
I don’t know, but sitting in here day after day probably isn’t the answer. What did you do to him?
BETHANY
Nothing.
AMY
Then if it was me, I’d hunt him down and make him explain himself.
Amy walks back to the counter where her co-worker, ADAM, pencil thin, black turtleneck, art-student adjacent, covers the cash register.
ADAM
What were you and Desperate Barbie talking about?
AMY
Nothing. I just told her to stalk her ex.
INT. COSTCO WAREHOUSE – DAY
Bethany walks into the Costco in the early morning. The store has just opened, so only the staff is milling around and a few shoppers intent on beating the crowds.
CHASE, a 30 y.o.bass player for a punk alt pop fusion band, chipped purple polish, black tee, black knee length skirt and a blue costco staff vest, gabs with a coworker as he preps his work station at the Lens Center.
Bethany spots him.
BETHANY
Chase!
Chase looks up. At first he doesn’t recognize Bethany. Then his face lights up in sheer terror and he runs.
BETHANY
Chase?
Bethany sprints after him.
INT. COSTCO HALLWAY – DAY
Chase runs down an aisle. He gets to the end and looks behind him.
Bethany enters the aisle on the other end and Chase screams. He takes off at a faster clip.
BETHANY
(calling after him)
I just want to talk to you! Geez!
Bethany runs harder.
INT. COSTCO HALLWAY – DAY
Chase enters the Hallway. He comes to a fork. He looks down one way and then the other. He chooses the fork to his left and disappears down it.
Bethany enters the Hallway and arrives at the fork. She looks down both hallways. Chase is nowhere in sight. She doesn’t know which one to go to.
She closes her eyes. She feels something push her towards the left fork. She opens her eyes. Nothing is there.
Slightly weirded out, she heads down the fork to the left.
INT. COSTCO STOCK ROOM – DAY
Bethany searches the rows and rows of shelves.
She passes Chases hiding place and he makes a run for it, but he’s so panicked, he trips over a box.
Bethany turns and sees him fall.
She rushes over and crouches down to help him, but he pulls away from her.
CHASE
Get away from me!
He clumsily scoots back a few inches on his butt.
CHASE
Ow!
BETHANY
Chase stop! Why are you running away from me?
Bethany reaches for him.
CHASE
Don’t touch me you monster?
Bethany stands up in surprise.
BETHANY
Monster? What have I ever done to you?Chase stops. He thinks for a second.
CHASE
Well, nothing.
BETHANY
Then what’s going on? Why did you run from me?
CHASE
Because I’m afraid of you.
BETHANY
Is that why you ghosted me?
CHASE
Yes.
BETHANY
I don’t understand. I thought we had a pretty good date. But then you just decided that I was scary?
CHASE
There’s more to it than that.
INT. COSTCO BREAK ROOM – DAY
Bethany, Chase and a whole lot of his fellow Costco employees gather around the big T.V. in the break room.
Chase connects his laptop to the T.V. and his laptop screen lights up the T.V. He clicks on a folder and brings up a clip.
Chase looks over his shoulder at the crowd.
He clicks the clip. It fills the screen and starts to play.
On the screen Bethany is 14 y.o. She writhes on the bed as Father Ptolemy and Frank try to restrain her.
BETHANY
How?
Bethany suddenly remembers that day. She sees a series of events:
The arrival of Father Ptolemy and Deacon Anders that day.
Deacon Anders setting up the camera in the corner of the room.
Deacon Anders putting the camera back in it’s case after telling Father Ptolemy he won’t fail him again.
Deacon Anders with the camera bag on his shoulder, the tripod in one hand and his other hand around Bethany supporting her weight as he helps her to walk past her father and leave her room.
Suddenly, Bethany in the video breaks free from Father Ptolemy and Frank and leans forward on the foot of the bed, taunting Deacon Anders.
Deacon Anders pushes himself against the wall on the other side of the room and Bethany extends her arm towards him. Suddenly, he is dragged across.
The crowd jumps and gasps.
Chase pauses as Bethany strangles Deacon Anders with one hand.
MARIA, a middle-aged mother of three, clutches her Costco vest at her chest.
MARIA
(to Bethany)
Is that you?
BETHANY
Yes.
MARIA
(to Chase)
And you dated her?
CHARLES
Oh hell, no!
Fellow COSTCO employee, CHARLES, 35 y.o. Large and brawny heads for the door.
The other Costco employees start to move away from Bethany.
CHASE
Don’t leave me with her.
He leaves with them.
INT. COSTCO WAREHOUSE – DAY
Chase walks out onto the main floor with the other Costco employees.
Bethany follows right behind him.
BETHANY
Please Chase!
MARIA
(to Chase)
Don’t let her out on the main floor.
(to Bethany)
You need to go, to like a convent or the Vatican or something.
BETHANY
(to Chase)
I just need to know who sent that video to you and I’ll be on my way. I swear.
MARIA
Swearing! Not today Satan!
Maria crosses herself and backs away.
MARIA
(to Chase)
Get rid of her!
Chase looks back at Bethany wide-eyed and freaked out.
CHASE
I can’t help you.
BETHANY
Please.
CHASE
I’m sorry. I don’t know who sent it to me. All I know is that we had our date and when I got home, it was waiting for me in my inbox.
BETHANY
Do you have the email?
CHASE
The person used a disposable address.
BETHANY
Can you send me the file? I’ll give you my email.
CHASE
No offense, but I don’t want to have anything to do with you.
Bethany looks defeated.
CHASE
I’m sorry.
Bethany looks up at him. She tries not to cry.
BETHANY
Chase, if someone hadn’t sent you the video. If I was still that normal girl you went on a date with. Would you have asked me out again?
Chase considers the question and smiles.
CHASE
You were awkward as hell, but I dug it. Yeah, probably.
BETHANY
Thank you.
CHASE
Please leave.
Bethany nods and leaves.
-
ACT 2 THE DESERT SONGS OF ANA VICTORIA BY KIM REED
I LEARNED THAT THERE MAY BE MORE THAN ONE HUMP IN THE ROLLER COASTER OF TRANSFORMING EVENTS.
Act 2:
INT. CHURCH – DAY
A MAN IS PRAYING. ANA VICTORIA IS CLEANING THE CHURCH. SHE WIPES DOWN THE PEWS. SHE GETS A SMALL BROOM AND STARTS TRYING TO SWEEP SAND OUT FROM UNDER THEM.
MANNY
You can use the vacuum. It’s faster. I am finished with my mediation. Why are you doing that with the small broom?
ANA VICTORIA
Sand, sand and dirt. In every small crack. Around the legs of the seats. Can’t you feel it? I tell you, I can taste it.
MANNY
The floors look very clean. The whole place looks cleaner that usual. Why are working so hard here? They can’t pay you that much.
ANA VICTORIA
Sand, sand and dirt. All over. Over again. I’ve got to get it out.
MANNY
You married? I haven’t seen you in services before. You must have children to care for.
AV
My husband is dead. My children are lost. They were stolen. I asked to clean this church.
MANNY
A volunteer? Are you Ana, the woman they found in the desert?
AV
Yes, my name is Ana Victoria. They found me in the desert. Covered in dirt and sand. I clean now. Houses, any space. I volunteer to clean this church.
MANNY
We would not ask you to do that unless you wanted to. You are doing a good job.
AV
The brush is as good as the vacuum. The cracks hold it. The broom gets in there and pulls it out.
MANNY
You are from Mexico. Michaochoan?
ANA
People always ask me where I am from. Anyone can see I am Mexacana.
MANNY
Stop cleaning. Would you like to pray with me for a few minutes. It would help me speak to God.
ANA
There is a lot to do.
MANNY HOLDS UP A HAND, INVITING AV TO TAKE HIS HAND AND SIT BESIDE HIM.
MANNY
My name is Manuel Guerrero.
AV PUTS DOWN THE SMALL BROOM. SHE TAKES HIS HAND AND SITS. THEY PRAY QUIETLY, EACH ENGULFED IN HIS AND HER OWN CONVERSATION WITH THE LORD. SOMEONE SLAMS A DOOR. IT BREAKS THEIR MEDITATION. THEY BOTH LOOK UP AT ONCE. WHEN THEY SEE EACH OTHER, THEY LAUGH.
MANNY
We got through. I think that was a sign we can talk to one another.
AV
Why would you need to talk to someone when you are trying to pray?
MANNY
I prayed. Now God wants me to talk to you.
AV
I need to finish. I have houses to do tomorrow so I cannot come back here until the end of the week.
MANNY
I could help you. Then we can make coffee in the parish hall and talk.
AV
Then I want you to help me move some of the furniture so I can get under there better.
MANNY
That’s what men are for, when you need to move the furniture.
ANA VICTORIA AND MANNY MOVE SOME FURNITURE. AV SWEEPS GRAINS OF SAND FROM THE SMALL CORNERS AND CRACKS IN THE WOODEN LEGS. MANNY IS AWARE OF AV BUT DOES NOT IMPOSE MORE CONVERSATION ON HER AS THEY WORK.
AV
That is so much better. Got all of it out of there. We can put this broom away and make coffee.
MANNY AND AV GO TO THE PARISH HALL WHERE THERE IS A KITCHEN BAR WITH A COFFEE MAKER. MANNY INSISTS THAT ANA VICTORIA SITS. MANNY TAKES OVER AND LOADS THE COFFEE MAKER.
MANNY
I wish we had Mexican chocolate. I know a place where we can get good chocolate and panderia cookies.
AV
I am grateful for what I have. I don’t have any money for sweets.
MANNY
Was that your first crossing into the United States?
AV
I didn’t want to go to the United States. I wanted to stay in my home in Mexico and raise my children. It’s a long story.
MANNY
My parents were from Mexico. They met working in Chicago.
AV
Chicago? I want to go there. I think that is where they took my children. But if you are from Chicago, why are you in Arizona?
MANNY
I am retired. I retired from the Chicago Police Department. I like the dry desert air. Chicago is very damp. I was tired of the cold winters. This desert climate is better for me.
AV
You look rested.
MANNY POURS ANA VICTORIA A CUP OF COFFEE. SHE NODS YES TO CREAMER BUT NO TO SUGAR.
MANNY
I have a cactus and rock garden. You can come over and see it sometime.
AV
Does your wife help you garden?
MANNY
My wife died two years ago. She had a stroke and a blood vessel burst in her head. We did not realize what happened until it was too late.
AV
My husband died in the desert. They said it was from heat stroke. He went out to look at the border. He said he was meeting someone. Then they brought back his corpse. He is buried on the edge of Nogales. Have you ever been to Nogales?
MANNY
No, I have only been to Mexico on vacation a few times. What is it like?
AV
Its farm country, big farms that hire refugees and migrants. There is a train that carries refugees from the south that they call The Beast. It is packed and stinks worse than animal pens. The young men terrorize everyone on the train. The sounds are horrible. I had to try to hold my children close to me. My husband was still alive with us, or we would have been hurt.
MANNY
The Beast? I saw a news story about that train. It is very dangerous. You did not have a automobile or a way to pay for a bus.
AV
My husband was wanted by bad men in our town. He thought that no one would look for him on a train full of refugees. It’s funny. My husband was also a police officer. I wish he had made it so we could retire together. I lost him. I lost my children. I feel so guilty to survive here without them.
MANNY
They are alive?
AV
Yes. Gael is seven. Carmina is four years old.
MANNY
What happened?
AV
Two men came to give us a ride across the border. They made me give the children a sedative with water and we put them in some hay in the truck bed. They insisted I sit in the cab with them. They started to molest me. They joked that they were going bring me to a brothel. They sold my children to people in Chicago. My Carmina is a beautiful girl. The driver said an older couple would pay him fifty thousand dollars for her. He did not say much about what would happen to my son. When I fought them off, the door to the truck flew open and I was thrown out into the desert.
MANNY
Ana, that is a terrifying way to come to the United States. You were lucky they found you in the morning. By midday you would fry out there.
AV
I make sure that church is clean. I get the sand out of everything.
MANNY
Thank you for giving back.
AV
I don’t feel religious about it. I learned English in school in Mexico. My husband Alejandro and I used to practice our English helping visitors and listening to American cable programs. At the church I meet people to have conversations and improve.
MANNY
You speak well. But you should take time off after what happened to you.
AV
No, down time would be a mistake. I need to get my children back. I won’t stop thinking about them. Its too painful to think about those men selling my children. I am resting and working and practicing English. So I can go to Chicago to find them.
MANNY
Yes, you must search for them. Look, I can help you. I have some connections back in Chicago. I know the neighborhoods and where we could ask who has new adopted kids.
AV
Nothing more important to me.
MANNY
I can start by checking to see if they were entered into the system. You heard about the children’s detention center? They keep records and even search for missing relatives in the states.
AV
I don’t know how to look for them. I’m illegal. I can’t call the police and ask for help. Can you help me?
MANNY
I’m retired. I am not doing anything down here. Why not? Come to my house after church on Sunday. I can show you maps of Chicago. I can help you create a strategy, so you don’t get lost.
AV
You make good coffee? Or maybe you could make us some Mexican chocolater? Okay. I need to learn more.
MANNY TAKES A PAPER TOWEL AND FINDS A PEN. HE WRITES DOWN HIS NAME, ADDRESS AND CELL NUMBER FOR ANA VICTORIA.
MANNY
Your friends know who I am. They can vouch for me.
ANA VICTORIA ACCEPTS THE PAPER TOWEL. SHE REALIZES THAT MANNY IS LONELY. HE IS LOOKING AT HER.
ANA VICTORIA
Now I will finish upstairs. She takes the coffee cups and washes them out.
MANNY
I hope to see you on Sunday.
ANA VICTORIA BEGINS TO SING THE SONG SHE SANG IN THE DESERT, THE SONG THAT REMINDS HER OF HER FAMILY.
TE
INT. MANNY’S HOUSE – SUNDAY AFTERNOON
MANNY LET’S ANA VICTORIA INTO THE FRONT DOOR. ON A TABLE IN A DINING ROOM THERE ARE A STACK OF MAPS AND A COMPUTER.
MANNY
I have these old paper maps of Illinois and the City of Chicago. I worked on the west side of the city for years.
MANY SPREADS OPEN AN OLDER PAPER STREET MAP OF CHICAGO.
AV
Oh, the city curls along the lake. I read that Lake Michigan is beautiful.
MANNY
It is. The lake is blue in the summer. In winter ice pillows up along the shoreline and makes noise.
AV
Where do we start to look?
MANNY
This areas on the southwest side is called La Villeta. It is a Mexican village inside the city of Chicago. This was the site of the old stockyards that closed in the 1970s. Then if we go east down here, we find Pilsen. The Mexican Museum of Art is located there. It is one of the older communities of Mexicans in Chicago. Then if we look closer to the old southside ports on the lake, we find Mexican families there too, and in Blue Island just outside the city.
ANA VICTORIA
I did not know there were so many Mexicans up there.
MANNY
Mexicans are the largest ethnic group in the country now. After Los Angeles and Texas, Chicago attracts people because there are jobs.
ANA VICTORIA GET EXCITED AND PACES AROUND THE TABLE LOOKING AT THE MAP. SHE BENDS OVER AND RE-EXAMINES THE AREAS MANY POINTED OUT. SHE TAPS HER FINGER ON THE PAPER AS IF TRYING TO FEEL SOMETHING, SOME ENERGY OR DIRECTION.
ANA VICTORIA
How should we start?
MANNY
First, we are going to call organizations in these communities that help Mexicans. You can’t ask the police for help, but I can. I am looking for two children who were rumored to be kidnapped in Mexico. People here are concerned. I am following up to see if I can find more information. I can check to see if they were picked up by the patrol too. No one has to see you or talk to you directly, so you will be safe.
ANA VICTORIA
I have no money to pay for this.
MANNY
I thought about you and those two children all week. This gives me a chance to investigate again, to put my police skills to good use. I can also look up old friends in the department and ask for their help. On behalf of my church group in Arizona, keeping your name out of it.
ANA VICTORIA
That may make you a target.
MANNY
It may take time to find any leads. The two men who took you and your children are probably long gone. We are looking for two children. When new children appear in a center or school or church, other people notice. Community people notice. I am retired, but I was a cop. I know how to ask questions.
ANA VICTORIA
I am ready to go.
MANNY
We should take a week to plan, make reservations, make those calls, and wait for people to answer. We may discover that we have to go to Colorado or Los Angeles instead of Chicago. We can’t jump in a minute, or we could lose leads.
ANA VICTORIA
Oh, Manny, how can I stand to wait!
MANNY
There is work to do to organize our search. I made a file in Google we can share. You can access it from a cell phone or any computer with an internet connection. I created a log where we should record everything we do and everything we collect. See here it is, date, source, description. I put this map first in the list just to show you how to enter information.
ANA VICTORIA
I want to kill those men. I want to kill all those traffickers who hurt people.
MANNY
Let’s not put that in the log. We’ll share our emotions when we are together. I do have an old Chicago Police Book of Gangs from the last year I was on the force. It lists active gangs and associated groups in the city. We are not going to contact them, but we need to be aware of who is watching parts of the city.
ANA VICTORIA
I can call the Mexican community and tell them we are searching, but not that these are my children.
MANNY
You could do that.
ANA VICTORIA LOOKS AT MANNY.
ANA VICTORIA
I can’t believe you would help me go to Chicago.
MANNY
Well, my retirement is boring. After my wife died, I have been waiting for something to help me get moving. I know you still miss your Alejandro. I can feel his presence in your heart. But your children are still alive. They should be with their mother.
ANA VICTORIA
How long does it take by train to go to Chicago?
MANNY
It’s a long ride, usually overnight. It is worth driving after we find leads.
ANA VICTORIA
You care about finding my children. Others made me feel like I would never see them again. Class dismissed. But you believe we can do it.
MANNY
I know we can do it. Most police investigations are about hard work in the search for information. They call it shoe leather because the beat cops would wear out their shoes walking around and asking people if they know anything. Together…
ANA VICTORIA HUGS MANNY
ANA VICTORIA
I need love. We both need someone.
MANNY
This feels so good. But we have a lot of work to do if we are going to find your son and daughter. A lot of work…
MANNY RELENTS AND LETS ANA VICTORIA HUG HIM. THEY ARE BOTH LONELY AND DO NOT RESIST TENDERNESS. MANNY HAS TEARS IN HIS EYES BECAUSE SHE NEEDS HIM AS MUCH AS HE NEEDS SOMEONE.
INT. CHURCH – AFTERNOON LATER IN TIME
TE 2
ANA VICTORIA MARRIES MANNY. HER RESCUERS ARE WITNESSES.
MANNY CARRIES ANA VICTORIA OVER THE THRESHOLD INSIDE HIS HOUSE. THEIR DINING ROOM IS FULL OF THE SEARCH PROJECT MATERIALS, LISTS OF ORGANIZATIONS, PLACES THAT HELP IMMIGRANTS SETTLE IN, ADOPTION SERVICES, GOVERNEMENT HELP NUMBERS.
MANY SETS ANA VICTORIA DOWN.
MANNY
Oh, I have three leads up north! I made hotel reservations. I think we should drive and see the country. That way you will not be asked for identification on the train.
ANA VICTORIA SMILES. SHE AND MANNY ARE GOING TO MAKE THIS PROJECT WORK. THEY HUG AND KISS GENTLY, PASSIONATELY.
EXT. CHICAGO STREETS – DAY
Plan in action: AV and her new husband make trips to search for the children. They get some information about where the gangs who control the desert around Nogales have sold under-age migrants as laborers in the Chicago area.
INT. CHICAGO ORGANIZATIONS – DAY
TE 3
AV finds contacts in organizations that help immigrants reunite their families. They involve her in conversations about strategy and put out messages online with information about her search.
There is a panoply or people and places that are new, where all share the label of immigrant. The people they meet encourage her. She feels real hope, but there are thousands of people who lost their relatives on the trip north, generations of people who have a connection to this experience and understand loss. AV meets people with stories about the immigrant experience.
INT. HOTEL ROOM – EVENING
Midpoint Turning Point: Despite the frustration of not finding her son and daughter, AV vows to go on. Manny convinces her to rest back home with him so that she can keep up her strength and think through their next moves in the search.
INT. HOME IN AZ – DAY
Back home, she keeps in touch with the immigrant organizations, helping when she can. One day a woman calls to tell her that she thinks she knows where the traffickers left her children. AV goes out into the desert and prays. There is hope.
-
This reply was modified 1 year, 9 months ago by Kimberly Reed.
-
This reply was modified 1 year, 9 months ago by
-
H. Vince’s Act 2 Reaction to TP 1
The 30-Day Screenplay – 2023
Lesson 13: Act 2 Begins
What I learned from doing this assignment is…
The issue with writing day or night below in those three scenes is that I don’t even know.
REACTION TO TURNING POINT IN ACT 1
Act 2:
12. INT. DIMLY LIT ROOM – UNKNOWN TIME OF DAY
BEGINNING: Victor wakes up not knowing where he is
MIDDLE: Victor tries to get up but he’s tied down
END: A beautiful woman approaches Victor holding eyedrops
13. INT. DIMLY LIT ROOM – UNKNOWN TIME OF DAY – CONTINUOUS
BEGINNING: Victor asks if the eyedrops are safe.
MIDDLE: The woman says something familiar that his mom would say.
END: Victor recognizes her from before he gave his order at the fast-food restaurant
14. FAST FOOD RESTAURANT – DAY – FLASHBACK
BEGINNING: Woman giving Victor his phone after he set it down
INT. DIMLY LIT ROOM – UNKNOWN TIME OF DAY – BACK TO PRESENT DAY
MIDDLE: The woman asks Victor if he wants to know what happened to his real mom
END: The woman puts eyedrops in Victor’s eyes
-
Chuck Czech’s Act 2 Reaction to TP 1
What I learned — I like the way each act is dissected into key scenes and each one gets its own outline/script treatment. Seems like a ‘divide and conquer’ approach to screenwriting.
Outline Key Scene 1
BEGINNING: The trio hit the road soon after torching the SUV.
MIDDLE: Brendan tries to assert himself as the new leader, but doesn’t know how the capsule works. Ronan withholds information about the capsule.
END: Paulina negotiates a stand-off, and Brendan drives while Ronan navigates.
Write the “Reaction to the Turning Point” scene
INT. RONAN’S CAR – TRAVELING – NIGHT
Brendan handles the car roughly, punching the accelerator, making sharp turns.
Coming off the gravel, the white car hits the pavement hard — bounces — then SCREECHES as it reaches full speed on the highway.
RONAN: You’re driving it too hard. You’ll blow the engine.
BRENDAN: Leave the driving to me.
RONAN: You guys are wrecking everything. The car’s been shot. Its shocks are probably broken. The undercarriage needs cleaning — it smells in here!
BRENDAN: Get used to that smell, my friend.
The capsule BEEPS and the #1 light activates.
BRENDAN: What’s going on with that capsule?
RONAN: They’re scanning us. Follow this service road.
Brendan passes the intersection without slowing.
RONAN: What are you doing? Turn!
BRENDAN: Sorry but we gotta get a little more distance before playing hide and seek.
Light #2 activates.
BRENDAN: Fix it, Ronan.
Ronan sinks back in his seat and stares out the window, defiantly mute. Light #3 activates.
BRENDAN: Ronan!
Paulina turns in her seat and squarely faces Ronan.
PAULINA: How much time do we have?
Ronan keeps looking at the dark window. Paulina places a hand on his knee.
PAULINA: I know you’re the proper driver of this car, and I’m sorry we forced you into this situation. But now we’re all on this mission together, and we need your guidance.
Ronan sulks a moment. Then he leans forward and snaps the tablet off the dashboard. Light #4 activates.
RONAN: (studying the tablet’s map) Take a right on this gravel road. It’s for ranchers, but it will throw them off.
Brendan gives Paulina an unamused glance, but he complies.
Barely slowing down, the white car careens off the pavement onto a gravel road festooned with barb wire.
BRENDAN: Satisfied?
Light #4 goes dark.
RONAN: (angry; looking out the window) Go 2.1 miles then curve left onto County 171.
Brendan lays on the gas pedal, accelerating to a dangerous speed for this rough road.
Ronan notices Radar clinging to the back of Paulina’s seat. He gently lifts the lizard with a cupped hand and holds him close to his face.
Log in to reply.