Lesson 2

[Mary Sawyer]

Mary’s Big MIS

What I learning doing this assignment was:

I learned that I want to strengthen all of my MISes, but what I have for right now is fine. Lots of opportunity for growth in the story now.

Logline: An aging superhero fights to initiate her granddaughter before a powerful mutant genius destroys the world.

1. What are the (Thriller) conventions of your story? (keep your answers short: the essence)

Unwitting, but Resourceful Hero: SG. Very resourceful, but not aware of her daughter’s involvement in the dark side.

Dangerous Villain: Praxis… and Brickman – taking over the world. Jennifer (SG daughter)…

High States: Praxis will take over the world (why?)

Life and death situations: SG’s life is threatened, Daughter’s life (appears to be) threatened, Granddaughter’s life is also at stake.

This story is thrilling because? At every moment, we are worried, or questioning, or hoping.

2. The Big M.I.S of the story

Big Mystery: What is the main mystery of my story that will keep the audience wondering throughout the story? (The secret, question or puzzle that must be solved by the Hero, often to save their life or someone else’s. It shows up early. It lures the Hero into threatening situations. Must FORCE the Hero into solving it; it is the result of some serious ACTION. Who/what is causing all of these natural disasters and why?

Big Intrigue: What is the covert, clandestine, underhanded plot that will live under the surface for most of the movie? What makes this movie intriguing?

The secret crew that is helping Praxis operate in the real world. And what does Jennifer have to do with it?

Big Suspense: What is the main danger to the Hero that will continue to escalate throughout the script? Stakes must be HIGH. Audiences needs to worry that the Hero or their loved one won’t survive. Make it life threatening.

Will SG be able to initiate her granddaughter before Praxis can get to her?

[Lorraine Passchier]

Rain’s big M.I.S.
What I learned from this assignment is how to focus and plan before writing by using the conventions of mystery, intrigue, and suspense. My impulse is usually to start writing right away without a solid plan.

The Sentient Code

Logline
A young scientist uncovers a clandestine society’s plan to exploit global resource scarcity by manipulating environmental events. As she investigates, she must decipher clues from a mysterious AI, forcing her to confront whether its intentions are salvation or destruction for humanity.

Unwitting but Resourceful Hero:
Scientist Keisha Sloane, haunted by her past as a discredited whistleblower, finds herself in a maelstrom of doubt and disbelief. She’s uncovered a chilling plot by a clandestine society to exploit global resource scarcity through the manipulation of weather events. The stakes are high, and Keisha’s credibility is on the line. Battling doubt and skepticism, Keisha receives cryptic clues from a mysterious AI, leading her closer to uncovering the conspiracy.

Dangerous Villain:
Boa Zhang, leader of a secret society of power brokers, ruthlessly pursues global dominance through manipulation and blackmail. With an insatiable thirst for power, Zhang orchestrates weather events to sow chaos worldwide.

High Stakes:
In a world on the brink of ecological collapse, Zhang’s engineered weather events wreak havoc, leaving irreversible damage in their wake. As chaos spreads globally, Keisha races against time to gather evidence and thwart Zhang’s plans before humanity faces destruction.

Life and Death Situations:
Weather events unleashed by Zhang place entire cities at risk. The mysterious AI’s clues lead Keisha to Vesper Cove where she hopes to gather evidence and end the mounting death toll. Caught in Zhang’s clutches, Keisha confronts death as she battles deadly challenges orchestrated by him. With the aid of the mysterious AI, she escapes captivity, only to face more obstacles in her quest to uncover the truth.

This story is thrilling because?
Is the mysterious AI helping Keisha a force of good or evil? Is it being controlled by Zhang and deceiving her? Where will its next message lead her, and what will she uncover?

The Big Mystery:
Is the mysterious AI helping Keisha a force of good or evil? Is it being controlled by Zhang and deceiving her? Where will its next message lead her?

The Big Intrigue:
Zhang’s charisma attracts the world’s elite into his orbit. Who are the members of the secret society, and what information is Zhang using to blackmail them when they fall out of line?

The Big Suspense:
Will Keisha succeed in penetrating the secret society to gain the irrefutable proof she needs to expose the secret society? Will Keisha fold due to past humiliation when she hits an obstacle or will she risk death to continue?

[BG]

[Thriller] Day 2: Creating the Big MIS

ASSIGNMENT

Subject line: BG’s Big M.I.S. (place in first line)

What I learned doing this assignment: I think setting up my Big MIS in short, memorable snippets like this will make it easy to remember them and will be a constant reminder as I write to stick to the program, i.e. make it mysterious, intriguing, and suspenseful.

Logline: An undercover reporter with a broken heart and a beautiful German agent try to stop a group of billionaires planning to start a war to gain control of energy resources.

1. What are the conventions of your story?

Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Alex Grant is an engineer-turned-reporter with a broken heart. In the midst of investigating a tip, he puts himself in the crosshairs of major intelligence agencies. Over time, he discovers that there is a deadly conspiracy to start a war for profit and must decide whether to try to stop it or continue nursing his broken heart.

Dangerous Villain: Viktor Varga, billionaire philanthropist, has made it his mission in life to defend Western supremacy. His current project is starting a civil war in Malnia to gain control of European energy supplies.

High stakes: Alex’s life, Will Hastings’ life, Lilly’s life, lives of all the people who would die in a civil war, and the exposure of the NORTHSTAR conspiracy.

Life and death situations: Hitman attacking Alex, Will’s abduction and torture, battle at the safe house, hitman killing energy mogul, explosion at The Club.

This story is thrilling because? Throughout the story, we are constantly worried for Alex and Will as they try to solve the mystery. Each mystery they uncover puts them in more danger.

2. Tell us the Big M.I.S. of your story?

Big Mystery: What is the main mystery of your story that will keep us wondering throughout the story? Who wants Alex to investigate Viktor Varga? What is Viktor Varga upto? What would be valuable enough to start a war?

Big Intrigue: What is the covert, clandestine, underhanded plot that will live under the surface for most of the movie? A group of billionaires is out to start a war to gain control of energy resources. Major intelligence agencies are aware of this and are supportive.

Big Suspense: What is the main danger to your Hero that will continue to escalate throughout the script? Are Alex and Will going to be tortured and killed by the conspirators or the intelligence agencies for continuing their investigation?

[Gloria Katch]

Sorry I posted Lesson 1 and 2 together.

What I learned is to look for character traits that have high stakes and have lots of possibilities for things to happen to them.

[Donna Donna Hoke Hoke]

Donna’s MIS:

Logline: Sasha and stepmom Maria plans an overdue catch-up at Maria’s oceanfront home, but when Sasha arrives, she finds her estranged father, Peter, standing over Maria’s dead body. Determined to uncover the reason for Maria’s murder, Sasha puts herself in the path of danger.

Big Mystery: Who killed Maria and what is someone still looking for?

Big Intrigue: Brendan gets close to Sasha hoping to find out who his father is

Big
Suspense: Brendan wants to use Sasha to get information while
keeping secret the fact that he killed Maria; to do this, he continues to implicate
other people, including Sasha’s father, Peter.

. What are the conventions of your story?

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