Lesson 3

[Rodney Cavin]

Rod’s World and Characters!

What I learned from this lesson:
To look deeply into the characters to identify their big mystery, intrigue and suspense, to fulfill the needs of the thriller genre.
(I also realized that having a Senator as a villain was a cliché, but with politics as they have been lately, he could be accepted as a red herring, thus the change.)

The Concept:
A waitress, puzzled when she receives a micro chip with a tip, soon learns many dangerous people want it forcing her to use every skill she possesses to stay alive and take down the villain.

The Big M.I.S.:
Big Mystery: What, or who is behind the micro chip?
Big Intrigue: Who is behind the micro chip and can that knowledge save Kellie’s life?
Big Suspense: Can Kellie stay alive till the villain is discovered and taken down?

The Intriguing world for this story:
The underground world where secrets are obtained and sold by persons who will kill anyone who threatens to disrupt their profits.

The top three characters:

The Hero: Kellie Stafford.
A waitress who receives a micro chip with tip and is terrified as she fears people looking for it will kill her but manages to find the villain and take them down.
Big Mystery: Although scared to death, how does Kellie use her skills to find the villain?
Big Intrigue: Kellie stretches her problem solving skills more than she ever thought possible, manages to find the villain and take them down.
Big Suspense: Resourceful but out of her element, can Kellie find the villain before being killed?

NOTE: This is a change from lesson 2.

The Red Herring: Senator John Sternum.
The Senator has deep financial problems and has been offered a way out by persons in the underworld.
Big Mystery: Is the Senator the source of stolen Pentagon secrets?
Big Intrigue: While leading an off-books investigation of the Pentagon’s stolen documents is the Senator actually building a cover for his own activities?
Big Suspense: Can Senator Sternum find the true thief before a case builds against him that destroys his reputation, family and career… or even get him killed?

The Villain: Eric Stonebridge.
A high level Pentagon civilian employee is forced to repay a large debt to the mob by stealing government secrets. The mob will protect their enterprise by killing anyone who gets in the way, including Eric.
Big Mystery: How did Eric get into such a situation and is there a way out for him?
Big Intrigue: When Eric realizes the he has become a thief and traitor, does he accept his guilt or can he find a way out:
Big Suspense: If he choses, can Eric find a way out without costing the lives of his family and probably his own?

[Steven Pickering]

Stephen’s world and characters

Ive learned to keep it simple…. For now!

CONCEPT and the Big M.I.S.

Can Michael, the butcher, stop the market owner from closing the historic building for redevelopment?

There are different market forces at play here, with people disappearing. There is an underground criminal community in the basement. Plus, the owner might be part of a group of powerful people. There is also the added consideration that the building might have a life of its own!

Will Michael avoid being the next person to disappear and find a way to stop the owner closing the market ?

The World of Markets.

This indoor market has over 100 market traders selling a wide variety of products. There are many forces at play and everyone seems to have their own personal hidden agendas.

Michael Dina – (protagonist) shy extrovert. Used to be a market manager, but became a butcher/trader. He is chosen by other traders to help stop the closure.

He has knowledge of the market that can be used to create a plan

Can he stay alive long enough to implement it and save the market?

Mr Finman – (Villain) Represents the owners and is determined to close the market

He seems to be well connected with powerful people.

He thinks he is unstoppable, but is there a chink in his amour?

Rory – (Red herring) Wife of Michael, has a history of mental illness.

Is she responsible for people disappearing? It wouldn’t be the first time!

Rory is a keen supporter of saving the market.

[Jolene Kim]

DAY 3 ASSIGNMENT

What I learned doing this assignment is to do the hard work and make sure everyone knows exactly what they want and their motives. And Intrigue is like motive to me. These three words still confuse me.

Subject line: (Jolene’s) World and Characters!

Logline: When a couple is ambuscaded into a marriage by the bride’s father/minister after three months of dating, married life reveals the groom’s fatal tendencies.

Big M.I.S.
Big Mystery: Will Katarinya figure out who she is married to and escape? Or will she end up dead?
Big Intrigue: Shaka’s unstable mental health. Manic/ Bipolar, a narcissist and has a savior complex.
Big Suspense: Will Shaka kill Katarinya?

2. The Intriguing World:
Their Hollywood Apartment:
– Online videogame world?
– The Kitchen?
– The Bedroom?

The Golf Course?
The Car?
Massage Parlors?

Unwitting but resourceful Hero: Katarinya
Mystery: Will she leave or will she die?
Suspense: Will Shaka murder her?
Intrigue: She loves Shaka.

Dangerous Villain: Shaka
Mystery: What is Shaka going to do to Katarinya?
Suspense: Will Katarinya get ahead of him and escape?
Intrigue: His loyalty changes if he doesn’t get his way. His mental health is fatally unstable.

RED HERRING: Katarinya’s father.
Mystery: Why did he marry them in public without asking permission or telling them or anyone else?
Suspense: Will he help Katarinya undo what he did?
Intrigue: He just didn’t want his daughter to be lonely so if he made a choice for her so she’d be safe.

[Lisa Vons Cooper]

Subject line: Lisa’s World and Characters!
What I learned doing this assignment is that ever character has to have a point to making it on the page. What do they each bring to the story? Why are they there? Taking the time to build the backstory can help with the whole story.
1. Remind us of your CONCEPT and 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?
o Who’s trying to end the Pilato reign?
• Big Intrigue: What is the covert, clandestine, underhanded plot that will live under the surface for most of the movie?
o Is there anyone Sam can trust, even within her own family?
o Secrets have a way of getting out and they are starting to appear.
• Big Suspense: What is the main danger to your Hero that will continue to escalate throughout the script?
o Will Sam lose her family by death or writing her off for abandoning them?
2. Tell us the Intriguing World you have selected for this story.
• A seemingly normal family that owns a family bakery and pizzeria. This family is loved by the town they live in.
• The family contains 3 generations of assassins operating out of the basement of the bakery and pizzeria.
• Sam is a flight attendant so she can travel the country without suspicion. Her parents live in California, and she lives in North Carolina. She’s able to cover coast to coast.
• The cities she travels to for work as a flight attendant are also where she does her hits.
3. With your top 2 or 3 characters, tell us the role they play and then answer these three questions:
Hero: Sam
• A. What is the mystery of this character?
o Sam is a flight attendant by day and assassin by night.
• B. What is the suspense of this character?
o By all appearances she’s a normal flight attendant but we see on her first flight she can handle herself and everyone is surprised.
• C. What is the intrigue of this character?
o Everyone wants to be friends with her. She’s nice and funny but she doesn’t get close with anyone. Only a chosen few really know her. She doesn’t know who she can trust.
Villain: Isabella the flight attendant “friend”
• A. What is the mystery of this character?
o She isn’t who she seems to be. She has a secret.
• B. What is the suspense of this character?
o She doesn’t try too hard to be Sam’s friend but she’s noisy on the DL. She asks co-workers about Sam.
• C. What is the intrigue of this character?
o She has the same interests as Sam and wants to hang out with her or asks Sam to join her and friends for nights out.
Red Herring: JJ
• A. What is the mystery of this character?
o Why is JJ so interested in Sam’s life?
• B. What is the suspense of this character?
o He has been caught snooping around Sam and Tyler’s house.
• C. What is the intrigue of this character?
o He’s Tyler’s boyfriend and Bobby’s partner. What does he want with Sam?

[Ronald Neustrom]

Ron Neustrom – DAY 3 -Character MIS

What I learned doing this assignment… Thrillers are one genre that require an extraordinary amount of design. Great thrillers usually use multiple mysteries. Many of the basic lessons like…what is the hero’s goal usually takes on many levels, misdirections, and progressions. There are deep expectations and conventions. When you see the good ones they seem simple, however they are not. The characters each have a role in the overall BIG MYSTERY and when the story begins many pieces were already in place and moving forward before the hero is established. The villain’s plan takes on a big role as does the red herring. The main emotions of betrayal, intrigue, and mystery require a high level of writing skill to keep the audience connected.

A Danger to Themselves

Concept – Years ago a mother is killed leaving two daughters in the system. One becomes a gifted victim’s advocate, and the other has dedicated her life to finding their mother’s killer.

Big Mystery – Why was Ana Cruz killed?
Big Intrigue – Vivian’s only sister has come out of prison and threatened the life Vivian has built to uncover who killed their mother. This manic, reckless pursuit will probably get both of them killed by the big city machine responsible for their mother’s death.
Big Suspense – Vivian has devoted her life to helping victims in crisis by working a suicide hotline and trying to create a local outreach. These situations are routinely life and death, violent, and rife with danger. Some are connected to a bigger mystery that will threaten to teardown everything in Vivian’s life physically, mentally, and emotionally.

World – The place where law enforcement meets social services and support for people in crisis.

Hero – Vivian Cruz, aids police with victims and social resources.
Mystery – Will she help rehabilitate her sister or support her finding the killer?
Intrigue – She is an expert at helping people in need but hesitates in working with her sister because of her checkered past.
Suspense – Her whole world is rife with suspense as her career puts her in harm’s way by helping people in crisis. It gets more tense and dangerous as she is lured into helping her sister uncover their mother’s killer.

Red Herring Character – Deputy Kaye Barret- Sheriff Department liaison for social programs.

Mystery – Why is he getting involved with Vivian’s sister Jewel? Is he part of Mayor Doud’s covert detail?
Intrigue – He presents himself as police working with social services but also has drug cases with informants. The department presents itself as a partner but the resources they provide are weak.
Suspense – He uses vulnerable women to do dangerous assignments for his own covert cover-up and financial gain.

Villain – Mayor Margaret Doud – Outgoing San Diego Mayor

Mystery – How is she connected to Anna’s killing? Will Jewel follow the clue trail all the way to the Mayor’s Office?
Intrigue – Created a small group of covert deputies who take down any opposition.
Suspense –She will do everything she can with her vast resources to protect her past violent actions that helped her rise to power.

• This reply was modified 5 months, 1 week ago by  Ronald Neustrom.