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Lesson 2
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David Wickenden, Big M.I.S
Lesson 2 Assignment
What I have leaned doing this assignment is action alone is not enough to suck in the audience. The M.I.S. added elements that the audience needs to find out!
Conventions
· Unwitting but resourceful Hero: 30 something, professional at family cottage, for a break.
· Dangerous Villain: Cult leader and his men.
· High Stakes: the lives of a mother and daughter.
· Life and Death situations: Cult will do anything to get daughter back, include killing.
· The story is thrilling because?: Why do they want the girl? Will they kill the hero? How do they get away?
Big M.I. S.
· Big Mystery: Why does the cult want the child back, badly enough to kill?
· Big Intrigue: Can our hero trust the woman and her daughter? What are they not telling him?
· Big Suspense: Will the cult kill the hero and those he is protecting?
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ASSIGNMENT 2 – Creating the Big MIS – ‘The Maw’
What I learned doing this assignment is how to pare down the idea of the story into its key ingredients.
Logline: The scenic town of Linden Close welcomes eco-tourists, like Archer Quinn and his family, to experience its unique brand of outdoor survival adventures. When his younger sister disappears, the game becomes all too real. Can Archer save his sister? Will they get out alive?
1. Conventions of story
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Archer – A teenage boy dealing with the abandonment of his mother and resenting his father who is desperately trying to keep the family together
Dangerous Villain: Evil entity lurking in the wilderness
High stakes: Life of sister Ellie, life of Archer, life of father Gerry
Life and death situations: Dangerous environment, precarious physical challenges, disappearing tourists, untrustworthy locals, evil predator
This story is thrilling because? Archer does not know who to trust, if he is up for the dangerous adventures, if he can save his sister, if he can survive. He faces challenges at every turn, physically and psychologically.
2. Big M.I.S. of ‘The Maw’
Big Mystery: What is happening in the village of Linden Close? Why did Archer’s mother abandon the family? Why won’t Archer forgive his father?
Big Intrigue: What are the locals hiding? What or who is responsible for killing people in the coastal community?
Big Suspense: Will Archer be able to save his sister? Will the Quinn family survive?
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What I learned doing this assignment is:
The Big Mystery is the question the hero asks and pursues an answer to.
The Big Intrigue is the hero’s pursuit to figure out and destroy the villain’s plan.
The Big Suspense is the main danger the Hero experiences and how can they possibly survive?
‘The Catalog’ Big M.I.S.
Logline: A pregnant woman wakes in a secret long-term coma facility and must escape before The Operator hunts her down and kills her.
1. What are the conventions of my story:
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: A woman in her 30s wakes from a coma in a long-term medical Facility 15 years older and pregnant.
Dangerous Villain: The A.I. Facility Operator is in the business of providing designer babies to the wealthy.
High stakes: The Heroine and her unborn baby will either be killed trying to escape or be put back into a comatose state.
Life and death situations: Escape from her room; pretending to be in a coma after she wakes; keeping her mental state stable knowing she’s been in the Facility for 15 years; how did she get here? Are her parents still alive? Near-term delivery during her escape; being captured by the Operator once it’s discovered she’s awake.
This story is thrilling because? We never know if she’s going to be caught, killed, tortured, lose her baby, or be treated like a caged animal; basically, the Facility “owns” her, her family doesn’t know she’s alive, and she has no rights.
2. Tell us the Big M.I.S. of my story:
Big Mystery: How long has she been in the Facility, who put her here, why is she pregnant, and how does she get out?
Big Intrigue: Who’s running a Facility that uses women as ‘breeders,’ and why?
Big Suspense: If she doesn’t escape, she’ll be put back into a coma to be used as a breeder for the rest of her ‘useful’ life.
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Rachel Morgan’s Big M.I.S.
What I learned doing this assignment is how to stack Mystery, Intrigue, and Suspense before starting to write the story.
Logline: It’s 1954 and the FBI is chasing rumors that a rogue Soviet team has planted a suitcase-sized nuclear bomb somewhere in New York City. But when a body is found floating in the Hudson River, it’s Detective Bob Stoughton who chases the clues, discovers the rumors are true and must prevent the deaths of millions of people.
1. Story conventions:
· Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: NYPD Detective Bob Stoughton, has only been working homicide for three years but has already cemented a reputation as a dogged investigator who thinks outside the box.
· Dangerous Villain: Alexei Krasnoff, a colonel in the Soviet army who is furious over Premier Nikita Kruschev’s denunciation of Joseph Stalin, secretly establishes a rogue unit to spark a war before the U.S can gain a nuclear advantage.
· High stakes: Will Stoughton uncover the plot to detonate a nuclear bomb in New York and can he stop it in time?
· Life and death situations: Stoughton faces death at the hands of the mysterious Soviet team if he makes a misstep and war will break out if he fails.
· This story is thrilling because: We fear for Stoughton’s life and worry about the fate of New York City and the world.
2. The Big M.I.S. of the story:
· Big Mystery: What is the connection between a man found floating in the Hudson and an empty dockside warehouse that bears traces of radioactivity?
· Big Intrigue: A rogue Soviet team has smuggled an atomic bomb into New York City and is about to detonate it at a secret location.
· Big Suspense: Will Stoughton discover the rogue Soviet team in time to save New York and prevent a war?
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by Rachel Morgan.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by
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“What I learned doing this assignment is…this assignment allowed me to flesh out what are the big plot points of my story and let me see that there is potential for a good thrill ride.
1. conventions of my story
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Former LAPD SWAT
officer, wounded warrior, now doing personal protection for L.A.’s rich
and famous<div>Dangerous Villain: The mayor of LA, with connections to
the Zetas, a Mexican drug cartel, has aspirations of running for president
in the next election.High stakes: Hero protecting a woman who the cartel sicarios
are trying to kill while trying to figure out why the cartel wants her
dead—her murdered husband was developing properties financed by cartel
money.Life and death situations: Hero is shot and left for
dead–by someone it turns out that he met at a Hollywood Hills party who
is a criminal private investigator with underworld ties and who was hired
by the mayor of LA.–while he was protecting the wife of a real estate
developer from the Zeta sicarios.This story is thrilling because? In order for the mayor’s
presidential aspirations to stay intact, the hero cannot live to discover and
reveal the mayor’s ties to the Mexican drug cartel.<div>
2. My story’s Big M.I.S.
Big Mystery: Several players in the political and
entertainment community are somehow inter-connected in trying to kill the
hero before he figures out that the mayor is connected to the cartel.Big Intrigue: The mayor of LA is assisting the cartel’s
laundering of money by funneling money through big real estate
developments in LA.Big Suspense: Hero discovers that the people trying to
kill him is not the cartel but someone else connected to another case he
is working on indirectly involving
the mayor.</div></div>
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Ken Callaway’s Big M.I.S.
“What I learned doing this assignment is… This assignment is helping me to learn, understand and develop the tools needed to transform a drama into a multi-layered thriller! (Exciting stuff…)
Logline – Spellbound by JRR “Tolly” Tolkien’s nightly fireside tales, a Brummie lad at a scout jamboree in 1953 England seeks a mysterious girl that he believes is a fairy sent to destroy our world.
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: A visually impaired teen dreamer living in a fantasy world of Viking tales and adventurous boyhood games.
Dangerous Villain: A mysterious girl whose wealthy family sponsors the annual Wolf Scout jamboree on their west-midlands estate.
High stakes: Hero’s life and the possible exposure of a nation of fairy warriors plotting to take over our world.
Life and death situations: Hero accidentally kills a small fairy then is pursued by monsters as young campers disappear, leading to a confrontation between Hero and the fairy leader.
This story is thrilling because? We grow to doubt Hero’s sanity as he prepares for a war he cannot possibly win.
Big Mystery: Who is Genevieve and is she an actual Fairy?
Big Intrigue: Could anyone at the jamboree or in the village of Droitwich be a fairy? What do the fairies want?
Big Suspense: If Kevin is sane, is he the conduit between the world of men and of fairies and if so, can he stop them before they kill him?
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Mariannjely Marval, Big M.I.S.
I learned during this assignment that briefly explaining your idea and conventions is key to creating a solid story.
Logline: After finding a body inside a winery barrel, an international student must find her way out of a beauty cult before becoming the next victim.
• Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Ariana is a talented woman from Venezuela who travels to the U.S. after winning a scholarship to a Sommelier Summer Program, but when she finds herself in the middle of a cult, she uses the resilience she got from her life in the third world country.
• Dangerous Villain: Karen, the owner of the prestigious vineyard, would do anything to ensure her elite clientele is satisfied, even if it means killing young women.
• High stakes: Ariana’s life. The life of the other women in the program.
• Life and death situations: Ariana finding a woman’s body inside a wine barrel. Ariana discovering how the cult works and what’s behind the most popular wine. Ariana fighting Karen to death.
• This story is thrilling because? Throughout the story, we’re worried about Ariana’s life and the rest of the women in the summer program while trying to understand the reason behind everything.
2. Tell us the Big M.I.S. of your story?
• Big Mystery: What’s the secret ingredient behind the most popular wine, and what’s the vineyard’s owner hiding?
• Big Intrigue: An elite clientele is willing to pay any price to keep up with beauty standards, even if it involves killing young women.
• Big Suspense: Will Ariana make it out alive from the Summer Program?
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Maggie Tsavaris’s Big M.I.S. (Assignment 2)
What I learned doing this assignment is:
1) I’m even more excited (like bursting at the seams!) to write this script because after doing this assignment is that answering these questions shows me that I’ll be able to bring this story–that’s been floating around in my head since suddenly last summer–to life and make it a nail-biter of a thriller if I can flesh out each of these moving parts.
2) I need another supporting character I realized as I wrote my answer to “Life and death situations”: another linguist who starts thinking something’s going on with Leyla.
The Linguist
by Maggie Tsavaris
(inspired by several true stories)
Logline: When a linguist working for the U.S. government in Iraq is approached by a wealthy and connected Lebanese man who promises her a life of love and comfort in exchange for top secret information, she must decide whether to betray her country and risk the lives of human assets for him.
1. What are the conventions of your story?
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Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: The
linguist, Leyla, is a widow whose dead husband left her in debt and with a
young adult daughter with whom she has a volatile relationship. She has
Top Secret clearance and works hard at her assignment to a U.S. special
ops task force facility in Iraq. - Dangerous Villain: A wealthy,
connected Lebanese national, Haasim, with whom Leyla forms a romantic
connection over time, asks her to supply him with detailed information of individuals
involved in the assassination of an Iranian commander. - High stakes: Leyla’s life, the
lives of the U.S. human assets (some of whom we get to know and love), the
lives of her colleagues on the base who work with the assets. - Life and death situations: I have
not yet fleshed these out, but I have images–eerie and suspenseful, but
fleeting for now–in mind. I’m also thinking that there is another
linguist who works on the base with Leyla who, because he starts to think
something might be up with her, unwittingly endangers himself. - This story is thrilling because? Each
step forward takes Leyla and the human assets closer to a danger from
which they might not recover.
2. Tell us the Big M.I.S. of your story?
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Big Mystery: Will Leyla access highly
classified information to which she has access but which she has no need
to know, and if she does, will she turn over classified information to
Haasim, and if she does, what will happen to her and to the human assets? - Big Intrigue: Does Haasim really
love Leyla, and what is he going to do with the details of the human
assets if she turns it over to him? Hmmm, I’m not sure whether this is
really the Big Intrigue. Doesn’t quite feel intriguing enough. - Big Suspense: Leyla risks going to
prison if she’s caught, and the assets, if their details are divulged to a
terrorist organization, will be killed.
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Lenore Bechtel: Big M.I.S.
From this assignment I learned that the danger to the hero must escalate even if the hero and the viewer don’t know where it’s coming from.
Logline: Elijah suspects his remote-viewing father Daniel was murdered to keep him from revealing a diabolical plot he’d witnessed with his inner eye. When authorities discredit his suspicion, Elijah must—with only his girl-crazy friend Buzz to help him—discover who killed him, what the plot is, and prevent the plot from happening.
What are the conventions of my story?
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Elijah is the naive, somewhat sheltered ,18-year-old son of Daniel Summers, Christian minister who uses his remote-viewing capability for the benefit of the tiny mountain community.
Dangerous Villain: Morris Stoker hates Christians, wants to eliminate the religion from the entire United States, and will kill anyone who gets in his way.
High stakes: The closer Elijah comes to discovering the truth, the more his life is in danger and the more likely most American Christians will be wiped out.
Life and death situations: A beautiful girl that Elijah doesn’t know is a hologram leads him to fall into an open grave.
In his father’s wrecked car, when Elijah finds a clue that convinces him the plot is not only against his community, but against the entire United States, the car blows up and he barely escapes.
This story is thrilling because:
Everyone in the community knows that Daniel’s mother and grandmother both had remote-viewing skills and assume that Elijah inherited it to.
Stoker can’t take the chance that Elijah might see his plan with his inner eye.
No one except Elijah and Buzz know that God took the skill away when Elijah misused it by looking into the girls’ locker room. Daniel has warned him this would happen.
The Big M.I.S. of my story:
Big Mystery: Can Elijah get the FBI to believe there’s danger to the entire nation when he doesn’t know what it is?
Big Intrigue: Morris Stoker is coordinating multiple high spots in the United States to simultaneously splash holograms of Jesus coming down from the clouds to draw Christians together for His second coming so they can be gassed and killed in mass.
Big Suspense: The main danger to Elijah is that Morris Stoker wants him dead so he can’t remote-view the nearby location of his hologram equipment.
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Jason’s Big M.I.S.
“What I learned doing this assignment is…?” – the concept of a good thriller seems like the fundamental element. Everything else is just execution.
Log Line: Student Anthony’s life gets deleted and framed for murder after his car breaks down on the way back to college. Now on the run Anthony must figure out why he’s been targeted before he’s crushed beneath the compromised government bureaucracy or killed by misinformed law enforcement.
1. What are the conventions of your story?
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Anthony Mott <div>
Dangerous Villain: Victoria Stanton CEO Globo Oil
High stakes: Anthony’s life, Mollie’s life, Anthony’s family, Mr. Gregg, Home City
Life and death situations: SmogPro escape, Auto Shop Fight, Framed for Gregg’s Murder, Escape from Police, Anthony’s Family threatened, Mollie Kidnapped, City targeted.
This story is thrilling because- don’t know
2. Tell us the Big M.I.S. of your story?
Big Mystery: How does Anthony threaten the petroleum industry? </div>
Big Intrigue: Globo Oil attacking and destroying anyone who threatens their monopoly.
Big Suspense: Will Victoria Stanton, her assassins, and hackers destroy Anthony and his future? Or the future of a whole community?
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ASSIGNMENT 2 – The Big MIS
What i learnt about doing this assignment is that psychological thrillers are challenging to write and visualise because of their cerebral nature.
Psych thriller feature: Kangaroo Island (inspired by true events)
Logline: An adventurous young American backpacker’s dream working holiday in Australia turns into a nightmare when her job on a remote island sheep station descends into a harrowing fight for sanity and survival
2. What are the conventions of the story?
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Emma is a stoic, well-travelled young HR manager with IT skills, physically strong, loves animals and is not afraid of new experiences. Growing up in a large family with older brothers, she’s confident she can ‘read’ men well and retain agency over her life no matter the circumstances.
Dangerous Villain: Wayne is a manipulative farm manager who uses Gumtree to lue backpackers to work on his remote island sheep station. He knows exactly how to humiliate and psychologically abuse migrant workers, especially women, without ever breaking the law. The local police are aware of his cruel behaviour but because he hasn’t physically touched anyone (yet), they can’t charge him with a crime.
High stakes: Switching between charming country gentleman and drunken, manipulative misogynist, Emma increasingly fears for her sanity and survival. If she’s murdered out here, would she ever be found?
Life and death situations: As the sole farm worker, with no phone, no wifi and no way of leaving the island without Wayne’s permission, Emma fears for her life every time Wayne gets drunk, angry, frustrated and verbally abusive.
This movie is thrilling because? The more Emma comes to realise the danger she is in, the harder it becomes to break free of Wayne’s manipulative and controlling behavior.
3. What is the BIG Mystery, Intrigue, and Suspense of this story?
Big Mystery: Will Wayne’s psychological abuse of Emma eventually descend into physical abuse?
Big Intrigue: What sinister act or crime has Wayne committed that everyone in the small town seems to know about – and why won’t anyone tell Emma?
Big Suspense: Will Emma complete her 88 day visa program or will she find a way to leave the island before losing her sanity or worse?
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LESSON TWO =
Unwitting but resourceful heroine -Nurse/journalist who takes the position thinking she is working for the news department to find out about alternative cures and then finds out about the transplants and convinces her boss to let her follow up.
Dangerous villains – the Chinese and the doctor who suspects her and is romancing her and has already tested her DNA to see that she is a perfect match for one of the patients who needs a transplant.
High stakes – will the patient accept the transplant meaning it will kill the heroine?
Life and death – how they are using political prisoners to steal their organs. And can she escape along with the patient that she has brought along.
The big mystery in my story – who is arranging and benefiting by these illegal transplants…and how do we stop them if we can.
The big Intrigue – Heroine goes to the hospital to see the alternative cure that they convince people to try instead of traditional cancer treatments and then she learns about the transplants. The doctor who is “romancing” our heroine – is he for real or is he involved with the Chinese transplant workers? Someone is encouraging patients to go over to China and use the illegal organs taken from live political prisoners that they kill for the organs. Who is heading it here at this hospital?
Big suspense: Doctor convinces her to go over with the patient to Beijing and help him, when in reality, they have tested her DNA and believe she is the best organ donation for him and plan to kill her there and use her body parts. Who is this doctor and why is he after her? Will the patient betray her and agree to take her liver that he needs, which means seeing her dead, or will he save her in the end and give up his chance at this life-saving transplant. How do they escape?
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Joanna Bielak: Big M.I.S
My learning: The suspense, as a danger that will continue to escalate throughout the script can escalate on more than one thread, and it’s not easy to keep tension bigger and bigger.
Logline: Beta Sroka, head of the Missing Persons Police Department, must find the son of the environment minister. Behind the kidnapping stays a group of eco-activists fighting for animal rights acts. For some MEPs and the public, fighting for the environment is eco-terrorism.
1. Conventions
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Beta and her team
Dangerous Villain: Red Fox, eco-activists group
High stakes: missing boy’s life
Life and death situations: if the government does not agree to the activist’s demands, the boy will be killed.
This story is thrilling because? The boy is in danger, although activists are fighting on the right issue – animal lives matter too. Conflicts and moral dilemmas are provided on many levels.
2. Big M.I.S
Big Mystery:
Where is the boy? Who are activists and what do they want? What can or won’t deputies do?Big Intrigue:
Everyone wants to find and free the boy. Although it is also a moral issue: what about animal rights? Europe does not test food or cosmetics on animals, but, when it comes to medicine, diseases, and vaccine protection, we must invest in modern methods to stop using animals in laboratories definitively.
Animals vs. boy’s life – it’s not equal, but maybe it’s time to include animal rights in the constitution. Is there any link between heart-mind, and law? Society calls for the adoption of pro-animal acts. The government cannot yield to pressure – that’s terrorism.Big Suspense:
Beta has to negotiate simultaneously with the government and activists to free the boy. Neither of them wants to make concessions. Time flies. -
Edith Schmidt, Big M.I.S.
What I have learned doing this lesson: Essentiality of the premises.
Logline: André is struggling to stand up to his dominant father because he just wants to get his wife and children back when a stranger appears, following him everywhere and watching his every step.
1. Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: André, a man in his late 40s. His father just bought one of the few gold-beating companies in Schwabach, Germany, the home of gold-beating.
His wife just left him because she couldn’t stand his father’s humiliations any longer. For André getting his wife and his gorgeous children back is hin primary goal. But do achieve that he has to stand up to his father – which is too hard for him.
Then the stranger appears.
2. Dangerous villain: Actually this is André’s father who destroyed his family. A dominant man who gives a damn about others.
But also the stranger is a villain. And André is forced to find out why this stranger is after him. Here his physical life is in danger.
3. High stakes & 4. Life and death situations: First the stranger just watches André, but soon he threatens him. He watches hif wife, his children, the gold-beating company and finally André’s life and the lives of his wife and children.
5. This story is thrilling because André is already in a challenging situation (saving his family) but now is confronted with a second challenge: the stranger.
Big Mystery: Will André be able to stand up to his father & get his family back?
Big Intrigue: Who is the stranger and why is he following André?
Big Suspense: Will he defeat the stranger and stay alive?
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John Duvall’s Big M.I.S.
What I learned: How to frame my story within the structure of this class.
Pitch (Feature Screenplay): Sanctuary (Genre: Romantic/Sexual Thriller)
Martin Bloom, Catholic priest in a Midwestern town, is in the midst of a vocational crisis when he falls in love with Sister Teresa, a young nun, who returns his affection. Their clandestine affair is threatened when Bloom’s mentor, Monsignor Geoffrey Dennehy, dies violently and mysteriously. Bloom sets out to discover the truth behind the Monsignor’s death, only to discover that Sister Teresa herself may be a suspect.
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Father Bloom pursues the truth, even in the midst of personal vocational and romantic crises.
Dangerous Villain: Emerges during Bloom’s investigation, attempts to implicate him in the murder.
High Stakes: Bloom puts both his vocation and his love on the line for the pursuit of the truth.
Life and Death Situations: Bloom’s investigation threatens his own safety and potentially Sister Teresa’s as well.
Story is Thrilling Because: The struggle between love and trust in the face of doubt and self-doubt
is a core theme of this story. Who is the killer? Could it be his lover? Could he himself become a suspect? This screenplay resonates with several of
Hitchcock’s films, such as Vertigo, Rebecca, Notorious and I Confess.Big M.I.S.
Big Mystery: Who killed the Monsignor and why?
Big Intrigue: What clandestine secrets lie behind the murder?
Big Suspense: Can Bloom trust his lover? What danger may befall him as he closes in on a suspect?
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Carl Gundestrup.
What I have learned in this assignment?
This assignment has helped me make decisions on who the villains are, their plans, what they are willing to do to get Eric, and what Eric can do to them. It has shown me how I can stack the world against our hero Eric. It has given me a clearer sense of direction with the first film and reminded me how critical it will be to set everything up perfectly in the first film making the payoffs in the next two films more powerful. Depending on how I build the entire story and integrate the three segments, it could be a blockbuster.
DEATH TO AMERICA Episode 1 “SIGHT UNSEEN” Logline:
A brain surgeon battles global conspiracies using a device that can turn memories into video.
• Resourceful Hero: Eric Neilsen resigned his commission as a navy seal at graduation after deciding to become a brain surgeon. Ten years of Navy service provides Eric with a wealth of friends and help. His love of filmmaking in high school and college has given his research direction.
• Dangerous Villain: In the “DEATH TO AMERICA” trilogy, “Sight Unseen,” “A THOUSAND WORDS,” and “TRUTH BE TOLD,” Eric will face Villains from within the US government, China, Russia, and Iran. Each VILLAIN attacks America from differing angles and receives aid from sources within the US government. Individuals within each country/organizations also have tremendous incentives to kill Eric and his team.
• High Stakes: World Freedom – Steps: Make America insolvent. Create one world global economy – Create chaos in America with unfettered emigration, letting convicted felons out, etc.
• Life and Death Situation: Eric, his team, and the device he has created are threats to reveal the clandestine plans of Russia, China, Iran, and the traitors to the United States. Eric must be silenced at all costs, and there are multiple countries and individuals within countries whom all need Eric dead.
• The story is thrilling because it deals with real issues America and the world is currently facing and is a life-and-death situation with implications for every person in the world.
2. Tell us the Big M.I.S. of your story?
How do the villains plan to destroy America, and who are they all? Are they working in concert or individually? Who are the “freelance” players that also have a huge stake in Eric’s demise?
Open borders allow Iranian terrorists, with Russian assistance, to prepare and carry out the destruction of America’s infrastructure.
Russia and China use the internet to divide Americans, spy, and plant self-destructive ideals and false narratives.
China is stealing technology, buying up businesses and land while building advanced weapons and preparing for global domination.
The Big suspense intensifies as Eric and his team discover new plans and additional players. The stakes grow exponentially. But when Eric goes public with some of his discoveries, he is portrayed in the media as a nut case. Since they are having a hard time killing him, they discredit him while sending more and more assassins to silence him.
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THRILLER ASSIGNMENT 2
Kimbal Thompson
What I learned from ding this assignment: The potential for building up the mystery, Intrigue and suspense on many levels leading to the final Big M.I.S.
Give us your logline, then answer these questions. As you do, try to get to the essence for each answer. If you give more than a paragraph for each answer, you’ve likely gotten sucked into your own story. The more you can get to the point, the stronger your story will end up being.
IMPORTANT: Do not worry about having the perfect answers. Just fill in the answers you get, knowing you can modify them in the future.
Logline: Stopped in a small-town speed trap late at night and jailed, the young man must get away before the threats he hears though the jailhouse walls become reality.
1. What are the conventions of your story?
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Eighteen-year-old Richard Head
Dangerous Villain: Jailers and whoever is running the town.
High stakes: Get out of jail, deliver a package, save critically injured inmate, escape from caves and farm, report what is really going on in small town.
Life and death situations: Jail, landing at farmyard and taking off in sabotaged,Plane, eluding security guards, eluding detection in caves, escape.:
This story is thrilling because? The mysteries keep escalating with increasingly high stakes.
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?
Big Intrigue: What is the covert, clandestine, underhanded plot that will live under the surface for most of the movie? Among others, what is happening within and who is running this small rural town.
Big Suspense: What is the main danger to your Hero that will continue to escalate throughout the script? His likely demise.3. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.
4. Post your assignment in the forums.
Subject line: (Your name’s) Big M.I.S. (place in first line)
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Donna Stockwell’s Big MIS
What I learned doing this assignment is trying to make the underlying subplot look deceptive to the lead character will be challenging.
LOGLINE: A resourceful artist tries to keep her sanity during her daytime job as a maid by using hair from the bathtub at an exclusive hotel to make “H art”.
1. What are the conventions of your story?
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero: Aspiring Artist
Dangerous Villain: hotel penthouse guest
High stakes: will the quality of her life improve
Life and death situations: getting her art shown in a gallery
This story is thrilling because — the penthouse guest is selfish and stopping the artist from advancing because she wants her to remain as a maid, or is that all in the maid’s head?
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? Is the maid really seeing a devil in the woman she works for, is her art that bad, or is she so frustrated that she cannot get the attention of the gallery board to show her work.
Big Intrigue: What is the covert, clandestine, underhanded plot that will live under the surface for most of the movie? – The penthouse guest really sees genius is the maid’s art but pushes her to her limit before agreeing to help her show her pieces in the art gallery, and keeps her as her maid and adds to her duties to distract her from producing any more art.
Big Suspense: What is the main danger to your Hero that will continue to escalate throughout the script – Herself, since she puts herself under so much stress that she is not seeing people or her life circumstances clearly -
John Woodward’s Big M.I.S.
I learned the value of filling in the blanks.
Logline for The Takedown Artist – An art dealer’s wife seduces a washed-up cage fighter into stealing a priceless masterpiece from her husband, a notorious broker of black-market art, incurring the wrath of the painting’s owner, a ruthless Russian underworld boss. In their struggle to escape, they fall in love, but can a lover be trusted when the tie that binds is murder?
Unwitting but Resourceful Hero:
Chance Mitchell, a retired yet skilled MMA fighter, who now trains a group of professional fighters out of his shoddy gym.
Dangerous Villains:
BRAD VAN ZANDT, a notorious broker of black-market art.
ALLISON VAN ZANDT, the art dealer’s estranged wife, seems to have everything — beauty, wealth, charm. But things aren’t as they seem. Allison’s husband, Brad, is a controlling sociopath about to flee the country with an El Greco masterpiece he stole from a shady client.
VLADIMIR PRUDNIKOV, a ruthless Russian underworld boss, determined to recover the priceless masterpiece that the art dealer stole from him.
High stakes: Chance’s life and possibly a long prison term for a murder he didn’t commit. Allison’s life, and her daughter’s life.
Life and death situations: Chance’s fighter fails to take a dive, incurring the wrath of a small-time hood who fixed the fight. Chance must collect money owed to him by a shady art dealer to pay his debt to the hood. Allison must flee to Europe with Brad and the priceless masterpiece, or he kills her. All three must elude the painting’s real owner, a ruthless Russian underworld boss. Allison may or may not be using Chance. She might kill him.
This story is thrilling because? Throughout the story, we constantly worry about Chance and Allison as they try to survive while executing a plan to steal the stolen masterpiece from Allison’s controlling husband, Brad. Each attempt to recover the priceless masterpiece puts them in more danger.
Big Mystery: Where is the stolen masterpiece? Can Chance and Allison successfully steal the painting to fund their life together?
Big Intrigue: Can Chance trust Allison? Does she truly love him? Or has she seduced him only to use him to recover the painting from her brutal husband?
Big Suspense: In the struggle to possess the priceless masterpiece, who will betray whom? Who will kill whom?
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?
Big Intrigue: What is the covert, clandestine, underhanded plot that will live under the surface for most of the movie?
Big Suspense: What is the main danger to your Hero that will continue to escalate throughout the script?
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Caroline’s Big M.I.S.
What I learned: It was great fleshing this out.
Concept: An MI6 agent on a visit to the U.S. doesn’t know who to trust when his friend’s wife is kidnapped.
1. Conventions
· Hero: Unassuming British diplomat who is really a spy
· Villain: Rogue CIA officer who happens to be the best friend of the hero’s wife (now deceased)
· High Stakes: Kidnapping, an international incident
· Life and Death Situations: A race against time to save his friends without knowing the husband is working with the arms dealer who killed the hero’s wife.
· This story is thrilling because? Tense situations, betrayal, exotic locations, action, deceit, some humor.
2. Big M.I.S.
· Big Mystery: Who kidnapped the hero’s friend?
· Big Intrigue: The CIA agent is working with the arms dealer to kill the hero
· Big Suspense: Many people want him gone or dead, whatever comes first.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by Caroline Fritz.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by
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Macondo Big MIS
What I learned from this assignment: My script is for a thriller, but my previous logline *that I have labored over for years) didn’t convey it. Asking these questions crystalized my vision – I may change the logline again but now I know that I am writing, and selling, a thriller.
Logline: Macondo – Newbie US diplomat Chuck Forsythe arrives in Colombia to carry out a secret mission but his corrupt boss pulls Chuck into a war between rival drug cartels. Chuck has to stay alive while figuring out how to complete the mission.
Big Mystery: Who is trying to
sabotage the mission – his boss, the cartels or the US government? <div>Big Intrigue: Why is the boss
behaving so suspiciously? Is he trying to prevent his accepting bribes from being
discovered? Is he setting up Chuck as a fall-guy? Is he doing the dirty work of the
rival cartel?Big Suspense: Can Chuck keep the
mission secret while trying to carry it out? He is ambitious, so if he
blows it, his career is gone. If his boss or the cartels find out, Chuck
could lose his life.</div>
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Russel Traher’s BIG M.I.S.
What have I learned from this assignment?
To understand the main characters better we need to detail their M.I.S. This will make them more interesting and personable for the audience.
CONCEPT:
A candidate for US Senator finds out that a close friend of a person he murdered 40 years ago is still alive. He is hunting her down in order to prevent her from telling anyone what she might have seen.
CAST:
Lori Hatfield (initial age 15)
Ted Hatfield (Lori’s dad)
Emily Hatfield (Lori’s mom)
Jason Wilson (initial age 18, now 59) friend of Lori, known to be seeing her
George Wilson – Jason’s father and the local sheriff
Fred Smith (initial age 17) friend of Jason
Tammy Whitefield (initial age 16) friend of Lori
Julie Stevens (initial age 16, now 56) (Lori’s best friend)
Private Investigator – Jason Wilson
Psychiatrist – Jenny Farrel
CONVENTIONS:
Unwitting but Resourceful Heroes:
Private Investigator, psychiatrist and Lori’s best friend who has forgot what she saw just before Lori died.
Dangerous Villain:
The candidate for US Senator.
High stakes:
The identity of the candidate for US Senator is in jeopardy. The identity of Lori’s best friend is in jeopardy.
Life and death situations:
A person’s life is in imminent danger.
This story is thrilling because?
Several sub plots will explore the unknown and hidden lives of the main characters. And how they are an integral part of saving Lori.
Big M.I. S.:
Big Mystery:
What did the candidate for US Senator do? Will he kill the girl’s best friend if he finds her?
Big Intrigue
Who is the candidate for US Senator? Why is he trying to keep his identity a mystery?
Big Suspense:
The girl’s best friend will likely be murdered.
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Michael Katz’s Big M.I.S.
CONCEPT: Disruptive green energy technology is being sabotaged by espionage, which sends a solar astrophysicist with developing megalomania on a revenge mission to bring down the entire corrupt fossil fuel industry, who enlist Her Majesty’s Secret Service to kill him.
CONCEPT: An astrophysicist with latent megalomania is sabotaged by espionage because his green space solar technology is an existential threat to existing world order, and now he must evade the world’s greatest spy as he seeks revenge against the entire corrupt fossil fuel industry.
CONCEPT: An astrophysicist, who was going to end global warming with his new space solar technology, is sabotaged by espionage, and consequently he develops into a megalomaniac seeking revenge against the entire corrupt fossil fuel industry, and must avoid being killed by the world’s greatest spy.
1. What are the conventions of your story?
· Unwitting/unknowing but resourceful Hero: An unassuming, altruistic scientist finds himself the victim espionage, and the trauma triggers in him a developing megalomania that fuels his revenge mission.
· Dangerous Villain: The world’s greatest spy, who works for Her Majesty’s Secret Service, is sent to investigate a megalomaniac scientist, and he uses his irresistible charm, wit, and fearless, cruel spy craft to try and stop him from implementing his space solar technology.
· High stakes: Scientist’s life, his partners life, his love interest’s life, Spy #1’s life, Spy #2’s life, green energy innovation, the energy infrastructure, the fossil fuel industry, global warming, the world order, the world.
· Life and death situations: Prototype sabotage, scientist confronting Spy #1, destroying the prototype, the car chase, another attempted sabotage, killing Spy #1, eco-terrorism, Spy #2 assassination attempt, kidnapping Spy #2, Spy #2 in deathtrap, Spy #2 destroying lair, nuclear missiles fired into space to destroy hero’s spaceship, destroying the world.
· This story is thrilling because?: Throughout the story, we are constantly worried for the scientist as his righteous mission pits him against the world’s greatest spy, and as he transforms into a megalomaniac, he continually faces death, and betrayal from his lover, while trying to exact revenge.
2. Tell us the Big M.I.S. of your story?
· Big Mystery: After the scientist is sabotaged by the spy, the mystery becomes “Who is sabotaging green energy innovators and why?”
· Big Intrigue: From the hero’s POV, the cat and mouse game of facing the unmatched spy craft of the world’s greatest spy, including having his partner/lover fall in love with the spy and betray him.
· Big Suspense: Will the hero be able to evade the spy and get revenge against the corrupt fossil fuel industry?
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jC. Lauzon assignment#2 The Big M.I.S. of the story…
“What I learned doing this assignment is…”
It has helped me distribute the roles needed for the story to take form and direction.
The Big M.I.S. of the story…
• Big Mystery: What is the main mystery of your story that will keep us wondering throughout the story?
What will happen to Marcel -a man in his 40s- if he gets caught cheating on his wife? The temptation having become so intense, he wonders if it is so bad to pay for sex? Why is he so obsessed with the idea of cheating, anyway? Is it what they call the mid-life crisis?
He has agreed now anyway to buying that “weekend of joy” from the Booker, a co-worker.
He and another guy who’s getting married in a couple of weeks are going with the Booker. The nearly wed wants to taste a bit of freedom before the wedding day. The three promise themselves the fun of a lifetime.
What’s wrong with that?
Everything.
• Big Intrigue: What is the covert, clandestine, underhanded plot that will live under the surface for most of the movie?
Will the Booker cash in on that special adventure he has sold to his co-workers? Or will he go to jail? And the other freak pimp who’s after the girls, will he kill him to get his girls back? Will the police catch him before the weekend? The police is after the armed villain, who’s after the girls, who are after money…
• Big Suspense: What is the major danger to your Hero that will continue to escalate throughout the script?
My hero is always getting closer to what he has paid for, but there’s always a new obstacle on the way.
Does he risk, like the two others, being sentenced for procuring?
Will the police catch the panderer?
Will the pimp catch the girls? Wil he kill the Booker?
What if Marcel’s wife finds out?
What are the conventions of your story?
I would like it to be a fun thriller and suspense novel-movie.
My hero would be Marcel, who naively accepted this kind of dangerous deal proposed by a co-worker.
A deal involving young sex-workers.
The two girls that are under contract with a dangerous and violent pimp. A Villain who’s under police surveillance.
At High stakes are:
Safety of the two girls.
The survival of Marcel and Lise as a couple. 25 years of a mostly happy marriage is at stake.
The money involved for Marcel is also a big thing in his decision to embark on this deal.
From the pimp POV, it’s a matter of losing control over his sexworkers. Losing pride and big bucks.
From the Booker POV it’s a test to see if it would be possible to get rich selling this kind of sexy escapades in nature.
From the girls POV, it’s a matter of let’s get rich quick!
Life and death situations:
The pimp vision of the world keeps him wanting revenge and makes him want to teach a lesson to the Booker. Maybe kill him if he doesn’t understand what the two girls mean to him.
Two police officers joining the pursuit will help. Or will it not?
This story is thrilling because?
Everyone is after everyone. Everyone is lying to everyone. In the end, everyone gets what he wanted from the other, but not in the way they had imagined.
For some, it was a weekend getaway, a chance to escape the routine of the city.
For others, it was just another money making idea.
jC. Lauzon 02-23-2023
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