Lesson 3

[Timothy Barley]

Tim Barley’s Hero(es) and Villain(s)

What I learned doing this assignment is that the process works.

(There’s an error on the link to Lesson #2 and it replies to random writers, so here is my Lesson #2:)

Concept:

An aging former super spy, Sylvia Marlowe, announces a contest in her small New England town: kill her in 72 hours and inherit her estate. Little does everyone know, she’s luring the world’s deadliest assassins into a trap, and trying to reconnect with her estranged children.

Hero(es) Morally Right:

Sylvia Marlowe stands for redemption, family reconciliation, and the protection of her nation from hidden threats.

Villain(s) Morally Wrong:

The assembled assassins, though varied in their motivations, collectively represent greed, ruthlessness, and the willingness to kill for personal gain without moral compass.

Hero(es):

A. Unique Skill Set

• Sylvia: Mastery of espionage, psychological manipulation, and an unrivaled ability to predict enemy moves, even in her older years, she’s still formidable.
• Thomas and Emily Marlowe: Thomas Marlowe, undercover CIA agent, master of counter espionage and surveillance; Emily Marlowe, NSA hacker and former women’s Olympic 2016 judo silver medalist.

B. Motivation

• Sylvia: To reconcile with her children, atone for her past, and clandestinely serve her country one last time.
• Thomas and Emily: Initially driven by anger and curiosity and the potential inheritance, they become motivated to save their mother and uncover family secrets.

C. Secret or Wound

• Sylvia: Carries the burden of her husband’s mysterious disappearance and supposed death, which her spy life indirectly caused, and further emboldening a mysterious anti-intelligence agency.
• Thomas and Emily: Unaware of their mother’s connection to their father’s death, they harbor feelings of abandonment and betrayal.

Villain(s)

A. Unbeatable The lead antagonist, Dupre – an emissary to a shadowy figure who masterminded the international incident Sylvia was involved in, is seemingly unbeatable due to sociopathy and lack of morals.

B. Plan/Goal Fully unknown – To take Sylvia’s challenge as a means to exact revenge and claim her estate, or merely wade through everyone else to deliver a message?

C. What they lose if Hero(es) survives The villains stand to lose their literal freedom and status in the assassin community.

Impossible Mission

A. Puts Hero(es) in Action The announced contest and the arrival of assassins force Sylvia and subsequently, her children, into a life-threatening dance of strategy and survival.

B. Demands They Go Beyond Their Best: Sylvia must not only use all her skills but also overcome her emotional wounds to outsmart the assassins, all while trying to repair the relationship with her children. Thomas and Emily must confront the truth about their family and rise to the legacy of their mother’s skills under extreme pressure.

C. Destroy the Villain(s) The overarching mission, layered beneath the immediate survival challenge, is to dismantle the network of assassins and the shadowy figure at the helm, effectively eliminating a substantial global threat.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Timothy Barley.

[Tony Scott]

no reply

• This reply was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by  Tony Scott.

[David Halligan]

Dave’s Hero’s Mission Track

What I learned doing this assignment:

There’s a Man vs. AI story here, somewhere.

What makes the hero jump right into action against the overwhelming villain:

His relationship with his kids is at stake.

What is the mission that would be an impossible goal:

To save his new business and keep a promise to his kids while the villain is desperate to foil both plans.

Strong internal motivation:

Family

Strong external motivation:

Villain has friends in high places.

What could naturally happen if this hero went on a mission against this villain:

The hero would exhaust every resource then discover a new one to defeat the treacherous villain.

Clear Mission – Hero with new delivery service must defeat his ex-wife’s new husband and his robots to secure a local development deal.

Motivation – Saving his family and securing his future.

Inciting Incident – A competition between two bidders, hero and villain, to secure a lucrative contract.

First Action – A public spectacle meant to intimidate and embarrass the hero.

Obstacle – The hero’s new vehicle is sabotaged so he must bring his old one out of retirement. Not sure about these vehicles yet. I keep seeing Vespas and microcars.

Escalation – The hero must create a unique new route when the villain and co-conspirators in the public works dept. thwart him.

Overwhelming Odds – The robots access cctv to outpace the hero.

New Plan – The hero’s grassroots followers are called to action.

All-out attack – The villain and his robots cause havoc with automated things all over town.

Success – The hero climbs Mt. Doom and approaches the fire. Wait. That’s another story but you get the picture.

[Tony Scott]

Tony J Scott Hero’s Mission Track

BASIC MISSION STEPS

Clear Mission: Frankie Holly’s clear mission, get her nephew, the whistle blower’s son to the Vatican Embassy before midnight.

Motivation: Frankie’s estranged sister was murdered by the cartel trying to be the whistle blower herself.

Inciting Incident: The cartel shoots up Frankie’s house and firebombs it looking for the kid.

First Action: Frankie gets a call from the Cartel boss explaining how he only wants the kid and that she can go free.

Obstacle: Frankie and the kid go to her sister’s house to find it torched and burned to the ground. The kid finds something very important to him there.

Escalation: As they leave the house they are trailed by a drone missile attack from above. There are car chases on the ground. and road blocks at all points.

Twist: Frankie calls old team member from her car phone.

Attacking Back: Frankie puts the car into auto drive and attacks the overhead drones with automatic gunfire from the sunroof.

Overwhelming Odds: The only way out of the neighborhood is for Frankie to use her combat driving skills.

Escape: Frankie jumps the car over one of the police roadblocks.

New Plan: The car is totaled. Frankie and Joey are on foot.

Escape: Her ex team mate hovers overhead in a helicopter and lowers a rope ladder. Frankie ties Joey to her waist and they SPIE (special purpose insertion/extraction)as far as they can until the helicopter is forced down by multiple incoming gun fire.

New Plan: Frankie and Joey are on foot again.

Full out Attack: Frankie and Joey hide. Frankie estimates the number of enemy. She attacks them all various ways, vampire as well as knife fighting and gun battles.

Twist: They make it to the embassy only to discover that one of the Vatican Cardinals is also on the take. Frankie kills the Vatican Cardinal.

Success: Frankie delivers Joey in time for the hearing against Boda the cartel boss.

[Mary Goldman]

Mary’s Hero’s Mission Track

Assignment #3 – CREATING THE MISSION TRACK

What I learned from this assignment:

The importance of creating not only a solid mission, but also the actions that build the story (the track). To figure out how to justify my hero’s actions by revealing her motivations so as to ensure the audience’s buy-in.

1. What is it about this Hero that will have them go straight into the face of the overwhelming odds? First off, because of her experience as a gymnast, her skills as a sharp-shooter and as a trained CIA operative, Sky has the skills/confidence needed. Second, she is motivated to save her sister, whom she loves deeply and is her only remaining family member.
2. What is the mission that would be an impossible goal? To go up against Andros and the Russian crime organization who far outnumber her.
3. What strong internal and external motivation could drive the hero? Sky’s internal motivation is love for her sister, with whom she has been through the loss of their parents. Her external motivation is to avoid betraying her country and taking down Andros and his organization.
4. Imagine that mission playing out across a story. What could naturally happen if this hero went on this mission against this villain? Searching for her sister, searching for Andros, fighting with Andros’ thugs that guard the Sky, fighting with Andros’ thugs that guard Andros, eliminating Andros.

Mission Steps

Clear Mission: To save her sister and take down Andros and his thugs.

• Motivation: Love of sister, love of country
• Inciting Incident: Kidnapping of sister
• First Action: Find out who’s behind kidnapping
• Obstacle: Andros’ identity is hidden behind an encrypted firewall
• Escalation: A ticking clock: Sky’s sister needs her meds within 5 days or risks dying. Andros sets up surveillance of Sky. She figures this out and tries to flush out Andros’ operatives. A high-octane chase ensues.
• Overwhelming Odds: Sky against Andros’ seemingly endless army of assailants
• New Plan: With the help of a fellow agent coder, Sky discovers Andros is behind the kidnapping. She gears up to save her sister and go after Andros himself
• Full out Attack: Sky frees her sister but is captured by Andros’ men who take her to face him in his secret lair.
• Success: Using all her skills she manages to escape and ‘turn the tables’, obliterating his crew and forcing Andros to off himself.

[Raz Ray]

SUBJECT LINE: Raz Ray: Hero Mission Track.

What I learned doing this assignment?

I learned that maybe my hero’s purpose could be stronger. She needs more motivation to attack her enemies.

1. Ask the Mission Track questions to discover your Hero’s mission.

• A. What is it about this Hero that will have them go straight into the face of the overwhelming odds? : Finding out and wanting to know the truth about her past. To stop the voices in her head.
• B. What is the mission that would be an impossible goal?: The Villains who know her past have unlimited resources at their disposal.
• C. What strong internal and external motivation could drive the hero?: The hero wants to return home to her peaceful timeline and live a simple life.
• D. Imagine that mission playing out across a story. What could naturally happen if this hero went on this mission against this villain?: She could join the villain or be destroyed and become a martyr.

2. Use the Mission Steps to outline the mission.

Clear Mission: To Assassinate high-level Elites and break the genocidal spells placed on humanity.

• Motivation: After being taken from her timeline, she wants to return home where she is at peace.
• Inciting Incident: She is grudgingly sold to a high-level Elite at the Geisha house.
• First Action: The Hero is kidnapped by futuristic soldiers who claim to know about her past and then is taken to the Elite’s home.
• Obstacle: Run from the Elite, learn about her past
• Escalation: Side with the kidnappers and run.
• Overwhelming Odds: The Elites send their assassins to hunt you down. The Hero decides to follow her kidnappers into the future.
• New Plan: Instead of escaping her fears, the truth and her problems, she decided to take up the warrior’s code and learn how to fight.
• Full out Attack: The Hero confronts fights her way through the overwhelming odds of bodyguards, security staff, law enforcement, military, and augmented personal.
• Success: The Hero figures out the reason why she wants to become a killer and delivers the final blow to the villain.

[Kevin Lobo]

Lesson 3: Creating The Mission Track!

Kevin Lobo’s Hero’s Mission Track.

What I learned…To avoid jumping into the script filling in action pieces that come to my mind without proper planning. This clearly lays out the mission around which the entire plot line can be built.

ASSIGNMENT:

1. Ask the Mission Track questions to discover your Hero’s mission.

<ul type=”disc”>