Lesson 3

[Brenda Boddy]

Brenda Boddy

What I learned about doing this assignment: I’ve been playing with this area of my script thought process. I gave my characters traits and I keep changing them. What I needed to figure out first was what their purpose was in the script.

Assignment/Lesson three

ASSIGNMENT 1:

Watch the next episode of your Example Show to see any places the lead characters might fit this model.

Tell us the name and Engaging Profile answers for at least one character from your example show. WELLS JAHA is the black es-friend of CLARK (the heroine). His past actions, which suggest a betrayal, have Clark angry with him. However, this episode seems to suggest there was a hidden reason that Clark’s father was betrayed, that didn’t have to do with Wells.

Role: The ex-friend

Unique purpose: Has some survival knowledge and is the ‘good guy’ pushing others to do the right thing.

Intrigue: Seems like he may not be the one who betrayed Clark.

Moral Issue: Didn’t want to take off bracelet but did from peer pressure.

Unpredictable: He’s in love with Clark, so he might do whatever it takes to help her. He shoots an attacking jungle cat, which is not what you would expect.

Emphatic: He desperately wants to be in Clark’s good graces, which makes us feel bad for him.

ASSIGNMENT 2:

Now, do the process with your show.

1. Tell us the journey of your show.

Justice starts out a fish out of water. He brings an antiquated knowledge of being a lawman and skill for using weapons. At the end of the season, he needs to know how to be part of a BORTAC unit with more advanced technology and prove capable of raising a daughter in an LGBQ world.

2. Who are the main characters that will sell your show?

a. Justice:

i. Role in show: Protagonist. It’s his journey of evolution.

ii. Unique purpose/ A lawman with a moral code, that is skilled in getting the job done. To understand his role and survive in a new age.

iii. Intrigue: He is from 1908. He is not the same person everyone else thinks he is.

iv. Moral issue: He has an old-fashioned sense of family and values, but they don’t necessarily match modern values.

v. Unpredictable: He will move in any direction necessary to keep his family safe and survive.

vi. Emphatic: He is mourning the loss of his son that he left behind.

b. Samantha:

i. Role: Justice’s inherited bi-racial daughter.

ii. Unique purpose: She gives Justice a reason to move forward. Her goal is to protect her mom and survive as a teenager in the modern world.

iii. Intrigue: She’s like a cornered animal – quiet but poised to strike out if the opportunity arises.

iv. Moral issue: She knows ‘right’ from ‘wrong’ but is willing to kill her father to stop the ongoing abuse to her family.

v. Unpredictable: She is purposefully scheming behind Justice’s back.

vi. Emphatic: We understand she is trying to protect her mom from further torment.

c. Jewel:

i. Role: Mentor.

ii. Unique purpose: She is capable and self-reliant. She will go the extra mile for someone and defend a friend to the death. The other agents trust her to get the job done.

iii. Intrigue: Jewel is very human. She has tattoos, smokes, and drinks.

iv. Moral issue: She doesn’t associate with her partners outside of work, but now she’s helping Justice learn the ropes.

v. Unpredictable: She will cross the lines of the law to help a friend.

vi. Emphatic: She lost a baby and can’t have anymore.

d. Kenzie:

i. Role: Justice’s black wife.

ii. Unique purpose: She will be able to contrast the before and after Justice. Her arc will be to accept him, as someone different from her abusive ex-husband, but never love him again. They will co-raise their daughter (if she doesn’t get killed off at some point).

iii. Intrigue: She also has an agenda to escape her abusive husband.

iv. Moral issue: When her daughter tries to kill Justice, she takes the blame.

v. Unpredictable: She’s meek and tolerates being treated poorly unless her child is involved and then she’s like a mother bear.

vi. Emphatic: We sympathize with her treatment and wounds from the previous Justice.

e. Mason:

i. Role: Friend/mentor

ii. Unique purpose: Play off Justice’s man’s man personality as a more nerdy, intellectual team member. He plays by the rules.

iii. Intrigue: (Maybe someone who turns Justice in someday? I need to think about this one).

iv. Moral issue: He’s a rule-follower, but as Justice’s new best friend he’ll need to keep Justice’s identity a secret.

v. Unpredictable: ?

vi. Emphatic: He was always beat up in school and expected to go to college. BORTAC is not a direction his family wanted him to go.