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Lesson 3
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Joyce’s Characters for Horror
WIL: Real life situations and characters blown out of proportion work in your subconscious until brainstorming yanks them out and you have victims and villains.
REUNION: SOCIAL GROUP- AT SOCIAL EVENT.: High school graduates who once belonged to a secret club return to search for damaging evidence against them during a reunion so that nothing is uncovered when the H. S. is turned into a mental hospital.
DYING PATTERN: One by one until they band together.
1.Basketball star: He took the lead from another player.
2.Salutatorian: Bumped from valedictorian by
3.Rich girl: Her father, the judge, makes sure she is top of the class.
4.Football captain: Valedictorian’s boyfriend. He is a flash in the pan after high school, so she dumps him.
5.Son of the vice principal: he is the group safety net. Nobdy can touch them if they are found to be doing anything illegal.
6. Year book editor: mistakes in the yearbook might not have been errors, but intentional.
7. Thespian: starred in every play for two years.
8. Twin sister of one of them who is in the group, but does not belong.
The monster needs to silence them all.
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Subject Line: Tony J. Scott
Characters for Horror.
I learned that specifics really will make a difference in telling a story. It helped me really hesh out why each person in the group is chosen by the monster. I learned that each character plays a specific role and is revealed through their personalities and behavior that allows the audience to identify and recognize each person separately and how each reacts to the same horrific situation.
1.
Concept:
Six to eight people are trapped in a basement strapped to chairs. They can see each other. Each chair sets almost connected to the wall directly behind it. There are walls surrounding the room on three sides. At the front of the room is a sheer black curtain and they can barely see through it. There is a large time clock hanging from the ceiling in front of the black curtain. The victims can see the clock and hear the buzzer.
Every hour the clock rings on cue. The captured group of people becomes momentarily unconscious only to awaken at a wake ceremony in a funeral parlor. One member of the group is reading a statement about the dearly departed lying in state, closed casket service. When the group wakes up back in the basement still strapped in the chairs they notice that one person from the group is missing and that strangely there is a different time on the clock. They are unaware of the time loss or being unconscious.
The Group:
The group is specially selected. In this alternate world, in order to keep the peace, humans have volunteered to donate blood for vampire consumption. They are unaware that the vampire council is secretly testing the donated blood in order to identify a certain gene that is rumored to be the base ingredient that when combined with the remainder ingredients, of a scientific solution, will allow vampires to walk during the daytime. An amendment to the Human/Vampire peace agreement states that Vampires will not pursue any attempts to sunup existence. The vampires believe that this gene may exist in colon cancer survivors but only for one year after receiving a diagnosis that their colon cancer is in submission.
2. Dying pattern.
6-8 characters die at different times, mostly in the same manner but they don’t see the dying. They only know that one more person is missing.
3.
Detective Leo Riley, an outsider to the group becomes the leader and rescuer.
Derrick, is the jerk they also suspect he is in on it. Shut up and accept your fate.
Malcom, is the complainer, worrier. We’re all going to die today.
Chester, out of control, won’t stop pleading for help.
Wanda, innocent. She has a boyfriend at home, love interest.
Michelle, she feels totally positive about someone coming to help them. She’s the one who begins to notice differences.
Nikki. Grunge guitar playing introvert feels she deserves it. This is her fate.
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Cary’s Characters for Horror
What I learned doing this assignment is that the more I flesh out each victim, the more each of their deaths will matter to the audience.
1. Tell us your Concept and the Group you have chosen.
Young Hitchhikers, previously strangers save for Miah and Hannah who are best friends. They become medical test subjects against their will.2. Tell us the Dying Pattern of this movie.
They are all medically experimented on and tortured, the most defiant ones experiencing significantly more pain, leaving two survivors.
3. Give us an Identity and a sentence for each character that makes up your group.
Introvert / Loner/ Sacrificial Lamb: Edwin – early to mid 20’s – Quiet, nerdy, first hitchhiker.
Love Interest: Mia – 21 – Sweet, inquisitive about people she meets, smart.
Out of control: Hannah – 23 – overtly flirty, aggressive, no filter.
Rebel / Rule Breaker/ Rescue attempter: Logan – 19 – Hiker, athletic, good sense of humor, shy with girls but easily lured into the car by the two girls (Mia and Hannah) he finds attractive. Logan, seeing the effects of the drinks they’re given, escapes the car and eludes being captured. With no means of communicating, he decides to find where they are and rescue the others.
Innocent: Olivia – 17 – Already caged for a while in the lab facility when they arrive. Having seen more than the others already, she is rendered mostly silent from the trauma.
Obnoxious: Jake – 16 – Already newly caged in the lab facility when they arrive. Jock with a mouth.
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Frank’s Characters for Horror
What I learned doing this assignment is that it’s good planning to know up front which characters will make it and which won’t. Prevents over-investing in a character, and distributes the stock roles appropriately across victims.
1. Horror Concept
The monster/villain: Sheriff candidate whose life was ruined by a local reporter’s exposeThe interesting terror: Intentionally prolonging the reporter’s horror any way possible
An isolated and horrific environment: Snowed in ski resort (cell phones work, but no one can reach them)
The people who will be terrorized: press crew, two resort guests, resort staffer
Primal Fears:
Fear of the unknown
Fear that something terrible will happen
Fear of the unseen
Fear of psychopaths
Fear of pain or torture
Fear of death
(Fear of the cold)2. Dying Pattern A: Characters are killed off one by one.
3. While the group has some “professionals” in it, this is more of an accidental social event.
Leader/Carrier: The local reporter takes charge as soon as the resort staffer disappears. To the monster, following the reporter’s orders means siding with the reporter (and thus targeting for death).
Rescuer/Innocent: The ski resort staffer is simply too competent and useful to the victims for the monster to leave in place. First deliberate victim, but merely bound and gagged since the monster has no real qualm with this person. Witnesses a lot of the killings. (Survivor)
Obnoxious: TV intern who is sycophantic toward the reporter, takes up a position of right-hand-man and does nothing but grate on the monster’s nerves
Loner/Red Herring: TV cameraman who sets off on his own to rig the resort’s security cameras into some protection against the monster
Out of Control: TV producer who is nominally in charge of the news crew but wigs out almost immediately
Complainer/Lover: Rich skier who’s too good for anyone else here, but listens to the reporter’s leadership
Rebel/Lover: Rich skier who goes beyond complaining to strike out for own survival, would like to take the Complainer along, becomes the monster’s lowest priority target. (Survivor) -
darryl’s Characters for horror
What I learned doing this assignment is the more relatable a character is, the more the fear seems real and (hopefully) the scarier the film.
1. Tell us your Concept and the Group you have chosen.
The concept is a psychologically lost twenty something who ventures to the other side of the world to escape a violent past only to stumble upon a doppelganger who resembles the very person she is trying to escape from.
The group is just one person who is considered an OUTSIDER pushed by society to the margins by her victimization and for being a stranger living in a strange land.
2. Tell us the Dying Pattern of this movie.
In this concept, the character does not die, at least on screen, though she is left to suffer to die tied to a bed in a decommissioned hospital inside an overgrown compound.
3. Give us an Identity and a sentence for each character that makes up your group.
It is essentially a two-hander with the father figure who assumes a few roles. One as the leader at least in a father/daughter dynamic. He could also be considered out of control. And finally, he is the one who brings the horror to Petra. Petra, is the loner/introvert who has moved to a foreign land where she doesn’t know anyone and more importantly, no one knows her. She can be considered innocent, at least initially for being a victim of abuse. But the doppelganger could be considered innocent for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He could also be deemed a sacrificial lamb allowing Petra to exact revenge on the father who died.
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Lesson 3: Survivors and Victims
Subject Line: (Huey J. Williams) Characters for Horror
What I learned:
How to create interesting characters to play the roles of the movie.
Movie: “THE THINGAMAJIG”-
A GROUP Of YOUNG ADULTS head out to the woods near a lake for some camping,
fishing, drinking, and romance to celebrate High School Graduations before
they ship out to collage.
Dying Pattern:
The outing starts out wonderful until they become terrorized, attacked,
and hunted by the Thingamajig, most survive, but TWO OF THE YOUTHS and
Alden’s DOG die to save the OTHERS.
CHARACTERS:
LEADER: ALDEN-most experienced with camping and hunting, runs a Sports shop with his
Dad, a good tracker.
ALDEN’S DOG SHAD(German Shepherd) very well trained to hunt.
MORAL ONE: ASHLEY-Alden’s girlfriend, a city girl not very big on camping and hunting,
strong morals, her Mom a nurse, she has first aid skills.
A TAGALONG: COREY-a comic book junky, brainiac, but a little dopey.
A TAGALONG: CATE-Corey’s other half, a fish out of water, never been camping in her
life, her Dad’s a Sheriff, she reads crime stories when the lights are out at campsite.
RESCUER: GRAM-body builder, fulback on High School Varsity Football Team, tuff, fearless,
once a gang leader before joining the football team.
COMPLAINER: ZOEY-Grams girlfriend, daughter of a well off Family, she doesn’t like anything
about camping or hunting, the mosquito’s, the bugs, laying on the ground, the noises at night,
sometimes she gets out of control, she’s sorry she came.
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Sunil Pappu’s Characters for Horror
“What I learned doing this assignment is that it’s not enough to have characters that work for the concept but each one must have a specific role that will heighten the audience’s emotional journey.”
• TITLE: Signals
• CONCEPT: A family with no digital footprint stranded in a mega mall in town, must remain blindfolded to survive, where deaf light-sensitive mysterious species gouge the eyes and kill.
GROUP: Social Group (A Family)
DYING PATTERN: B. The characters experience the terror and survive together, but one or two die.
CHARACTERS:
Leader: The father who needs to rise above the loss of his twin son and mend his relationship with the other twin to defeat the monster.
Sacrificial Lamb: the athletic twin son who dies trying to save his girlfriend
Introvert / Loner: twin survivor – who’s blind and has a natural advantage over the monster and figures out the monster’s weakness.
Rescuer: Mother who wants to bring the estranged father and son and, in the end, saves her family by sacrificing herself
Innocent: the younger sister who inadvertently makes situations worse and puts the family at risk
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Brian King’s Characters for Horror:
This assignment taught me the importance of including characters that align with the concept, effectively uniting the story, theme, and concept. However, I was unsure if the Group should include my hero. I like the first draft of the group, now I’ve got to make sure the hero doesn’t become passive. I’m still unsure what specific experiment the monster/Father is doing… It could be a plan to live forever, a cure for zombies, cuz secretly he’s a zombie, etc. I’m not worried about finding a solution… YET… but….
Concept and Group: Concept: Would you risk your life to reunite with a deceased loved one, knowing there’s a fifty-fifty chance they could return as a zombie and trigger an apocalypse?
Group A: Social group comprising townies and mystery solvers.
The Pattern of Deaths: The townies attempt to unravel the mystery. Deaths will occur at a rate of one every thirty pages, with an additional death in the prologue. The villain will select each victim for their specific talent, using them in his sinister science experiments. The number of deaths may increase depending on how close a group member discovers the villain’s plan. At the midpoint, a group member, possibly a detective, will raise the question, “What could these victims all have in common?” This leads to the hero/Daughter solving the puzzle.
Identity and Description of Each Group Character:
Leader: The boyfriend of the hero and a devoted companion. He met the hero when he visited the funeral home to plan arrangements for his deceased mother or father (to be determined).
Rescuer: The hero’s tela-therapist, frustrated with the lack of progress in the hero’s healing, pays a house call.
Law enforcement: An aging sheriff on the brink of retirement who is unexpectedly confronted with true evil but rises to the occasion.
Troublemaker: A lone wolf kid attempts to uncover the truth, breaks into the mortuary, and gets killed by the monster before he/she can raise the alarm.
Goth Girl: The hero’s best friend / they drifted apart after the death of the hero’s mother. She still cares deeply for her friend but feels powerless in bringing her out of a profound depression.
The Traitor: The boyfriend’s mother, is engaged in an affair with the monster/father. She is willing to do anything for the monster, as she believes it will grant her power and status.
Loyal Stooge: Max, one of the monster’s successful creations managed to survive. Programmed by the monster to carry out its bidding, Max works as a floor walker at the mortuary, doing its dirty work. Seemingly benign, until he’s not.
Odd Duck: A conspiracy theorist and rumor spreader, often sharing horror stories about the mortuary owner. Despite being seen as the “woman who cried wolf,” this character finally stumbles upon the truth about the monster. Unfortunately, no one believes them.
Nurse to Hero: Hired by the monster, this nurse discovers the monster’s true intentions but accepts money to keep quiet. Eventually, they decide to go to the authorities but are killed by the monster.
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DEB STENARD’S CHARACTERS FOR HORROR
WHAT I LEARNED IN DOING THIS ASSIGNEMENT IS:
It is really helpful to have the universal characters list in order to being to flesh out roles of each person in the script. If I know the “role” of each character, it is easier to place them in the story and it actually helps go forward with the storyline.
MOVIE: SPITE FENCE-
The billionaire boss of a new ultra-exclusive mountain development locks a Doomsday Prepper off of his property by “eminent domain”, and the prepper vows revenge.
The group is SOCIAL GROUP (CO-WORKERS)
DYING PATTERN-
A. put 6 to 8 characters together and kill them off one by one
CHARACTERS:
CARRIER: The Billionaire, utter disregard for the locals, BRINGS THE HORROR TO THE GROUP by building a “spite fence” and angering the Prepper.
OUT OF CONTROL/OBNOXIOUS: Second-in-Command is a boot-licking sycophant, who pushes the Prepper beyond the limit of his control, in order to gain points with his boss.
INNOCENT: Billionaire’s decorative girlfriend, tells her boyfriend about this perfect development area, because she was born here and wants to bring prosperity to her community. Doesn’t realize the peaceful community she grew up in no longer exists
MONSTER BAIT: Second-in-Command’s annoying secretary/girlfriend who hates the great outdoors and wanted to go to CANCUN, not a CABIN. Continually takes stupid chances.
COMPLAINER: part-time gardener/local yokel who grew up with the innocent and wants his old friend to share the wealth. Tries to suck up to the Carrier by doing anything he asks and is first one killed for his troubles.
RESCUER: Mature woman who manages the estate. Has lived in the area her whole life and knows the woods and the people like the back of her hand. Including the Monster.
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Subject line: (Marissa Lichwick) Characters for Horror
I learned about universal characters which was really interesting and made the process easy. I also learned about the 3 different types of Dying Patterns which is fascinating and so few.
I’m learning how structured Horror script writing is and how vast the stories are. But, when broken down it’s clear to see that they do fall into these categories under specific concepts, groups, villains, and survivors. I really enjoy it.
1. Tell us your Concept and the Group you have chosen: Social group (family)
A family gathers to grieve and bury their mother. As the family tries to understand the missing pieces of their mother’s life, a mysterious, faceless demon begins to destroy her house and those inside it.
2. Tell us the Dying Pattern of this movie: B. The characters experience the terror and survive together, but one or two die.
3. Give us an Identity and a sentence for each character that makes up your group.
Leader: Adair, Mother. Brings her family together after the death of her mother, to gather her remains.
Rescuer: Everest, generic father figure to accompany his wife and family.
Loner: Poppy, daughter and younger sister. Quiet, mysterious. Likes to play with dolls.
Rebel: Soonae, older daughter. Defiant teenager who holds a grudge against Adair.
Carrier: Lizzy, Adair’s sister who finds the teraphim (idol) and secretly gives it to Poppy to cajole her.
Moral One: Raif, Lizzy’s husband. Resourceful, inventive, and with a strong moral compass.
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What I learned doing this assignment is the more planning you do before writing the script the better your script will be.
My concept: A group of social misfits who are tired of being bullied conjure a vengeance demon.
The dying pattern: As the demon starts picking off the bullies, the group starts to have doubts about what they are doing.
My characters: An introvert- Part of the social group who seeks revenge for unknown reasons
The moral one: who is the first of the group to doubt what they are doing?
A love interest that becomes a sacrificial lamb.
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Frances Williams Characters for Horror
What I Learned doing this assignment is how to identify the Roles of Victims and Survivors for your movie.
Social Group – A group of Scientists
Dying Pattern – Characters experience terror and die together, but one or two survive.
Characters
Leader John, Chief of Pathology
Rescuer – Jack, Father Figure who must save the day
Moral One – Susan, Resourceful, inventive with a strong moral compass.
Complainer – Meredith
Out of Control – Zack
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Jackson’s characters of horror
What I learned from this assignment
How to give each character a personality.
It focuses on a particular classroom at a high school, on the last day before break (winter for now)
The monster kills people off one by one until the students are able to stop it.
The teacher acts as their leader, trying to guide and protect the students.
Student a – A troublemaker, arrested for breaking and entering, and handy in most situations.
Student 2- Friends with student a, Bookish, smart, good planner
Student 3 – Friends with character 4, no particular talents, stutter, moral code.
Character 4 – the Doppelgänger uses their desire to be popular to fracture their friendship
Student 5 – The Doppelgänger, portraying a shy, nervous student
Student 6 – Very passionate about acting and RPGs. Dating Student 2.
Student 7 – an arrogant athlete
Student 8 – Loves Geometry, Leader of Math Team,
Student 9 – curious, dies early, turns on the news.
Student 10 – comedic class clown that struggles to take situations seriously.
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Michelle’s Characters for Horror
Movie Group: Sinners
Dying Pattern: A
The Group:
· Leader: Maddock – ex-Marine, never going back, here for the long haul
· Rescuer: Giles – good heart, damaged soul
· Out of control / Obnoxious: Luke – Insta famous down under
· Complainer: Roger – vocal at all the wrong times
· Innocent: Sara – self-help seeker
· Rebel / Rule Breaker: Mad Dog – narcissist
· Moral One/Innocent: Evelyn – self-help seeker
· Monster Bait: Jessel, Jesus 1, Jesus 2, Parishioners, One, Two, Three, Four – massacre victims
· The Carrier: Pastor Tim – monster trainer
· Sacrificial Lamb: Evelyn’s sister – opposite Evelyn in every way
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Budinscak Characters for Horror
Survivors and Victims
Day 3
What I learned doing this assignment is…
o That I’m really looking forward to killing off a few victims.
o There are a few groups I’d like to creatively dispatch.
o The three distinct dying patterns.
o The number of universal character types for a horror story.
1. Tell us your Concept and the Group chosen:
CONCEPT:
Monster: An alien able to assume either a human or animal host.
Terror: An unknown killer stalks, isolates and slaughters its victims at random.
Environment: Dark woods, marsh areas and underground tunnels.
Victims: Government black ops soldiers, bad locals and social media influencers.
GROUP: Team of professionals.
2. Dying Pattern: Put 6 to 8 characters together and kill them off one by one.
3. Character Identities within the Group:
LEADER: Commander – runs Black Ops. He was brought in to close this operation down, and he’s intent on doing it in one day.
MONSTER BAIT: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie – the Commander’s hand-picked soldiers due to their loyalty and unique skill sets. They will meet a horrible end.
CARRIER: Echo – Another experienced soldier in the Commander’s regime, and the individual who brings the Monster back with him.
OUT OF CONTROL/OBNOXIOUS: Site Ops Manager (SOM). He’s being replaced by the Commander and is none too happy about it.
COMPLAINER: Drone Pilot. Part of the previous regime under the SOM and his reckless flying drew unwanted attention to the project.
LOVERS: Social Media Influencer Couple. They stumbled upon this operation completely by accident.
RED HERRING: Dad. A farmer who’s lost livestock to animal attacks like he’s never seen before.
INNOCENT: Vicki – a rookie Forest Ranger. She followed up on a UFO sighting and was in the wrong place at the wrong time getting swept into this military operation.
RESCUER: Stranger/Starman. Vicki picks up this passenger up hitchhiking. He’s here to ‘rescue a friend’.
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Chuck Czech’s Characters for Horror
I learned that audiences have certain expectations in how characters are defined, sorted, eliminated or saved, and following these patterns would make a story more acceptable and satisfying to them.
1. My CONCEPT is a police investigation into who or what is behind a rash of missing persons cases that have occurred in a rural region of Minnesota every thirty years for the past 150 years. The GROUP is a TEAM OF PROFESSIONALS, inside and outside law enforcement, who are involved in trying to solve cold cases in their vicinity. (That said, another potential group is a SOCIAL GROUP — the residents of the region who are the target of the demonic antagonist, which includes the team of professionals themselves.)
2. Whether we define the Group as a Team of Professionals or the region’s Social Group, the DYING PATTERN would be (B) — the characters experience the terror and survive together but one or two die during the course of the story.
3. CHARACTER IDENTITY/ROLE
LEADER: Kay Lund – Though approaching middle-age, she’s a rookie investigator who recognizes a pattern in her missing persons cases and (though she doesn’t understand what she’s dealing with) pressures a young medium to join an investigation before the pattern begins again. She’s risking someone else’s life for her own career advancement.
INTROVERT/LONER: Becca Leaks – A timid college student who’s developed a way to “disappear” into an alternate dimension; she proves to be the key to identifying the actual demonic perpetrator behind the crimes. She’s trying to make up for a tragic childhood decision that left her sister dead.
LOVE INTEREST: Cam Drury – An experienced investigator who’s several years younger than Kay but wants to be romantically involved with her. Because of this, he’s willing to partner with the less experienced Kay and entertain her outlandish theories about demon possession.
MORAL ONE: Lt. Kyle Sorenson – Senior Investigator who supervises Lund and Drury and grounds every investigative development in the concrete world of common-sense police work.
MORAL ONE: Dr. Glenn Geissler – Anthropology professor who’s a civilian consultant on the Sheriff Department’s cold cases; he acquaints Kay on the concept of a World Between, which many cultures worldwide have embraced as reality. Actually, Geissler acts as a kind of a sage or gatekeeper with inside knowledge about what might be going on.
Not technically part of the Team of Professionals, but influential characters in Kay and Becca’s stories:
MONSTER BAIT: Ty and Rudy – Kay’s kids from a failed marriage; they struggle as they witness their mom being absorbed in her law enforcement career while dealing with an incorrigible ex-husband.
MONSTER BAIT: Cheryl – Kay’s duplex neighbor; she pulls up the slack and looks after Ty and Rudy when Kay is preoccupied with police work.
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Brian G. Walsh’s Characters for Horror
What I learned doing this assignment is knowing the specific roles each character plays helps with creating characters with traits suited to those roles.
Concept: An escaped prisoner returns to his hometown to prevent the release of a horde of fallen angels who are imprisoned inside the corpse of a 17th Century exorcist priest who was secretly buried deep inside an abandoned copper mine.
Group: Team of Professionals
Dying Pattern: Pattern A – The sheriff, some of his deputies and some volunteers searching for the escaped prisoner are killed, one at a time.
Characters:
Leader – Deputy Christine Diamond; former girlfriend and high-school classmate of escaped prisoner.
Rescuer – Raleigh Frederick Douglass; escaped prisoner, former Army Sgt.-Major, confessed murderer who returned to his hometown to prevent the release of the horde of demons.
Innocent – Stephanie Cooper; daughter of Raleigh’s best friend who has a crush on Raleigh.
Out of control / Obnoxious – Deputy Oak Harris; bully-with-a-badge throws his weight around and threatens people as often as he meets them.
Red Herring – Lucas Cooper; lifelong best friend of Raleigh, retired Army Sergeant.
Love Interest or lovers – Denise Washington; Raleigh’s ex-wife who divorced him after he confessed to murder.
Complainer – Deputy Hugh Taylor; finds something to complain about in every situation.
Rebel / Rule Breaker – Retired Sheriff Frank Knickerbocker. The old sheriff claims he was in Bethel, New York, for Woodstock from August 15–18, 1969, when he would have been 9 years old. He quotes from old rock songs and was “born to be wild.”
Moral One – Sheriff Titus Reynolds; he believes in Old Testament justice. Though he didn’t know him well, he was friendly with Raleigh and respected his military service. But he believes that a soldier and law officer should be punished more severely than a regular citizen. He has issued a verbal “shoot on sight” order to his charges.
Monster Bait – Deputy Michael Johnson; he is daring and tries to make himself bait in order to catch Raleigh.
The Carrier: The one who brings the horror to the group – Randolph Marshall, the illegitimate brother of the man Raleigh killed, and the one who has assumed responsibility (and expects to reap the rewards) of the pact his brother made with the spirit of a fallen angel who spoke to him through his dead brother.
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Bill Curley My Concept Group: My group consists of both professionals in the construction and real estate profession and local politicians. All play active roles in the screenplay “The Bog”. Dying Pattern: My dying pattern consists of several people, professionasl and laborers. Many in both groups recieve hidious deaths when intentionally violating an ancient Native American Barial ground in the Wisconsin Northwoods. A showdown comes about at script,s end. Leader: A real estate development firm and its CEO insist on violating sacred burial grounds to build luxury homes in an ancient bog rimmed by old growth forests protected for centuries. Rescue: Nagawicka. This beautiful Indian squaw reverses the pattern of horrific deaths and preserves an ancient area of forest from developent. Any individual in violation will experience an agonizing death by any one of asorted Wendigos, horrific monsters of Indian lore. Innocent: Several workers of a land development firm recieve gruesome deaths while performing thier jobs. Deaths occur when giant porcupines and assorted woodland animals become giant sized via Indian spirits. Complainer: A construction worker begins a trend of constant bickering and decension when questioning the merit of the very project he is working on. Moral One: One of the employees openly questions the role of his boss in invading sacred burial grounds. Monsters spare his life. Monster Bait: A local real estate agent attempts to communicate with monsters deep inside a burial ground. This individual merely seals he own fate. Note: Other characters will be placed as needed. What I learned: Every horror movie has succesful templates of which to construct a viable screenplay. I now have an excellent framework by which I can develop my unique story.
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Wade’s Characters for Horror
What I learned doing this assignment is that you have to give each victim and survivor a different talent to help out the crew. Each has to have their own gift. I’ve done numerous Escape Rooms and it’s alway fun to see how each team member contributes.
1. Social Event and Social Group
The setting is a Boy Scout Summer Camp. There are numerous members from different Boy Scout Troops from different cities. We focus on a group of youngsters who are grouped together to get their canoe merit badge by having to “swamp their canoe”. It’s a difficult thing to do and we begin to see their different abilities.
2. The Characters experience the terror. As of now, I have 5 youngsters and 2 adults as victims. I have one lone survivor.
3.
Adam-He will be the lone survivor from the group. He is the person that keeps the different personalities working together cohesively.
Peter-He is Adam’s best friend. He is very sheepish and cannot make decisions on his own. He lacks confidence.
Matthew-He is considered a nerd and very stand offish. He loves the Boy Scouts because he is very helpful with the troop duties.
Noah-He is an Eagle Scout who assists with running the summer camp. He is very strong and cocky. He is in charge of overlooking the group when they have to “swamp their canoe”.
Hannah-She is on one of the few females working at the camp. She helps in the kitchen and has her own cabin. She is very kind to the staffers.
David-He is one of the interrogators who is brought in to talk to the camp staff, attendees about the murder of a camper.
Sarah-She is the other interrogator who is brought in to question the camp staff and attendees.
Both David and Sarah are annoyed that they have to “rough it” during this investigation.
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Barb’s CH’s for Horror
Group: Social event. All are on the tour bus to see a museum for serial killers.
Dying Pattern: starts with 10 and some are killed alone one by one and others in groups of two where one sees the other murdered then runs for their life
Characters:
Obnoxious guy – this guy pays to be let into the closed museum and is super cocky so is the 1st to die.
Hot guy/Red Herring – a little eye candy but is killed early on….but no one knows until near the end. They think he making out with someone at first. For awhile they think he could be the killer.
Complainer girl: She does not want to be in the museum but her BF, who is obnoxious forces her to go and then tries to have sex with her. She refuses.
Leader guy – well he thinks he is anyway., but he starts to spiral out of control
Rescuer girls – brainy and eventually figures out the mystery then has to save her friend. the 2nd one watches her friend get murdered but escapes and teams up with the brainy girl to exact their revenge on the killers for killing everyone and trying to kill them.
Innocent guy: the funny boy in the wheelchair who one killer wants to spare, but the other kills him anyway. He pulls on our heart strings.
Love interest/Complainer girl: She wants to spend time with her BF, but he’s brought his brother who is in a wheelchair and is taking up his time. She finally gets him alone to have sex.
Moral one: guy who is invited to see museum by mysterious person and wants to know more so goes b/c his grandfather was a doctor in the facility and his grandmother murdered by the psycho. He wants knowledge. His life has been bleak.
Semi-rebel – the rocker who is there to get inspiration to help him write his latest album.
I learned to have interesting characters with great, valid reasons for being where they are.
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Susan’s Characters for Horror
What I learned doing this assignment is how important the different roles of the characters are and how much it helps to understand their role before giving them life.
1. Group: Social Group: Family Reunion
2. Dying Pattern: They all get tortured, but the only ones who die are the ones who can’t withstand the torture–so gradual and sporadic, because the type of torture seems random.
3. Leader: After a slow, incompetent start, Jerry overcomes his self-doubt and out of necessity (because those he followed before fail or die) becomes the leader.
Innocent: Ralph, a much younger brother. Jerry and Chuck make up stories to tell him to soothe him in the cell.
Out of Control/Obnoxious/Love Interest: Wilhelmina, Mick’s girlfriend and Jerry’s love interest, who is always pushing the boys to prove they love her
Red Herring/Rebel/Rule Breaker/Carrier: Mick, who appears confident but crumbles when it counts. Having to prove himself is what gets them kidnapped
Complainer: Mick, Jerry, and Ralph’s mother, who needs more mothering than she offers.
Sacrificial Lamb: Chuck, the father, already in the role of sacrificing daily for his wife, in the end sacrifices his life for his family–and still his wife complains
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LESSON 3: SURVIVORS AND VICTIMS
What I learned doing this assignment is: That you could probably mix-and-match the dying groups a bit. My concept is somewhere between A and B.
ASSIGNMENT
As you saw in the example THE PURGE, create the Survivors and Victims of your movie.
Concept:
1. Tell us your Concept and the Group you have chosen.
Concept: A divorced woman discovers that the house she won in a divorce is a death trap used by her ex-husband to murder sinners.
Group: Sinners
2. Tell us the Dying Pattern of this movie.
A. Put 6 to 8 characters together and kill them off one by one.
3. Give us an Identity and a sentence for each character that makes up your group.
Example: Leader: Without much consideration, Mike sets a direction, then inspires or pushes the group to go there. Hopefully, he guesses the right direction.
• Leader
• Rescuer – Scott, Laura’s new husband, whom she left Adam for.
• Innocent – Sandy, Laura’s friend who urges Laura to leave Adam.
• Out of control / Obnoxious – David
• Red Herring
• Love Interest or lovers – Paul: Sandy’s husband; Vince: Jessica’s boyfriend.
• Complainer – Regan, Laura’s friend who complains about everything.
• Rebel / Rule Breaker – Jessica, Laura’s friend who hates rules.
• Introvert / Loner
• Moral One
• Monster Bait
• The Carrier: The one who brings the horror to the group – Laura, the wife. She divorces Adam and triggers his quest for revenge.
• Sacrificial Lamb – Emma, Laura’s single friend who is trying to get over a breakup.
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ASSIGNMENT
Subject line: Diana’s characters for Horror
I learned doing this assignment that I have to narrow my list of characters more so the story can be more developed.
Concept: Mystery person or group is violently killing everyone in places where people normally feel safe in everyday America in an effort to cause fear and chaos on “main street, USA“.
There are no survivor’s so no one can help unravel the sources or the how and why.
The Dying Pattern is no one survives until 1 day, one woman is spared and no one knows why.
The Characters:
-many victims simply living life such as strangers in a parking lot whose only connection is they are being hunted by the same monster.
-the lone survivor from one event later becomes the one that brings the curse to others. As the monster regrets letting her go he stalks her to kill her but every time leaves her alive however kills anyone who just happens to be in the same place as her. This brings her both to the extreme trauma of seeing the murders and also knowing they died because of her.
-fbi agent is trying to solve the case and becomes involved (professionally)in trying to solve it, save her, and keep him/herself from becoming a victim
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Subject line: Patrick Characters for Horror
What I learned doing this assignment is that I need to be sure all the characters serve a purpose in achieving the concept of the script.
1. Tell us your Concept and the Group you have chosen.
My group is a town, and in this town is a group of friends that fight back, but this has been happening for decades.
2. Tell us the Dying Pattern of this movie.Pattern B The characters experience the terror and survive together, but one or two die.
3. Give us an Identity and a sentence for each character that makes up your group.
James is a school boy leader, John John is an innocent, Mr. Burns is the introvert loner, Carrie is love interest, James Parents are the carriers. Mr. Burns brother is a sacrificial lamb. Elizabeth is a complainer, Erik Johnsen is monster bait.
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Group targeted are dv abusers
They die by strangulation or drowning as Stan tried to do to Fran
She is wanting revenge from Stan.
Weapon of choice is what Stan did to her.
She appears at odd places doing things. Maybe Becky, Stan’s wife dies instead of him, when Stan should have.
Martin: the gay detective who had feelings for Fran
Stan: the lover/killer detective who she is really after
Becky: Stan’s wife who hated Fran and made her life miserable.
Captain: Who should have investigated Fran’s death more and ignored obvious clues that it was someone he knew.
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What I learned doing this assignment is not to dive into details – just stick with what the assignment asks for.
1. Tell us your Concept and the Group you have chosen.
Synopsis:
In the desolate backcountry of Texas, Carlos, a reformed gangster seeking redemption, becomes fixated on purchasing a vintage hearse owned by the venerable Father Ramirez, unaware of the dark secret hidden within its shadows. Little does Carlos know, only those who have committed murder can perceive the hearse, and it serves as a vessel for collecting the bodies and trapping the souls of the damned, transporting them to Hell for judgment.
The Meat Wagon targets sinners.
2. Tell us the Dying Pattern of this movie.
The characters experience the terror and survive together, but one or two die.
3. Give us an Identity and a sentence for each character that makes up your group.
LEADER/REBEL: Carlos is a born leader. In his gangster days, he was the one who called the shots for his crew. He is also the head of his household.
MORAL ONE: Maria– wife: has a strong Catholic faith and is Carlos’ moral compass. She believes the best in her husband despite his violent, dark past.
INNOCENT: Alejandro- Carlos’s young son who thinks his dad is a hero.
THE CARRIER/RED HERRING: Father Diego – A man with a dark past and an unnaturally long life. He sets his sights on Carlos as replacement to become the familiar for the Meat Wagon. Also serves as a red herring because he’s also Carlos’ priest.
OUT OF CONTROL: Jude – Carlos’s friend; he dies a violent death in a gang-related hit. Targeted by the Meat Wagon for disposal.
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