Lesson 2

[Susan Willard]

Ultimate Contained Movie Script ASSIGNMENT Lesson 2. High Concept — The Key to Selling Scripts!

Susan A. Willard’s Great Hook!

A. How did this process work for you?

This process of creating ideas for a Great Hook worked well.

· Part 1: The Brainstorming story concept ideas helped me make each attributes become more meaningful and of equal depth, so the story could be well balanced.

· Part 2: The High Concept Question was an interesting exercise. Depending on the genre, I may have to do some research for some ideas to see what has been done before.

· Part 3: The “Exchanging Components” activity was useful and fun. I enjoyed mixing up ideas with other ideas. This exercise helped me put layers together to create more interest and intrigue to the story, because I wanted several of the Exchanged Components instead of using just one.

B. What did you learn doing this assignment?

I did have fun with this assignment. I learned in this assignment that I can go farther than I first envisioned in inventing ideas. Flushing out extremes, over-the-top, or the bizarre and strange, or the unique and new ideas, then will create new ideas.

[Stacey Johnson]

Stacey’s Great Hook!

A. How did this process work for you?

Brainstorming potential settings has resulted in several new concepts. I have changed story ideas to work on several times.

B. What did you learn doing this assignment?” Transforming my ideas into contained scripts is still a little tricky; however, I believe it will be more attainable soon.

[Lynn Vincentnathan]

Lynn’s Great Hook!

A. How did this process work for you?

– I only had time to work on my best concept, but it gave me a lot of new ideas for layers and mystery, etc, and I plan to do the process on my other concepts… and keep coming up with new concepts.

– I just saw IDENTITY (mentioned in this lesson) and read the script – WOW! That’s also giving me some ideas.

B. What did you learn doing this assignment? I learned a concept can truly be improved, and it’s best to do that up front, before diving into plotting and writing it.

[Tristan Griffin]

Tristan Griffin’s Great Hook

A. How did this process work for you?

– Incredibly helpful. A useful way to continue the ideas drafted in the pre-lesson work, making me focus only on the core elements of my story ideas.

B. What did you learn doing this assignment?

– I learned that the High Concept Question is a great method to generate ideas that have never been seen on screen before.