Lesson 4

[Pam Ewing]

Pam Ewing’s Character Intrigue

My Vision: Professional. Produced. Prolific. Popular.

What I learned: I don’t have intrigue yet so I am trying everything.

Natalie: Role: Protagonist

· Hidden Agenda – She still loves him but she knows about his business and has been trying to buy it to keep tied to her

· Competition – since she doesn’t feel good enough she’s in competition with everyone whether they know it or not

· Conspiracies – Her mother was involved in secrets with people, like her attorney, that still try to control her

· Secrets – She’s just playing Vlad to get Jeff jealous not knowing how dangerous Vlad can be

· Deception – is deceiving herself like seeing open umbrellas when actually a bat in flight is depicted

· Unspoken Wound – TBD

· Secret Identity – her nickname is Cici – which means born in the morning. As Vlad’s secret/her inheritance unfold we learn that born in daylight that has the power to break the Dracula chain (all vampires being born at night)

Jeff: Role: Soon-to-be-ex-husband/Love Interest

· Hidden Agenda – Has a business he needs money to save so how is Natalie worth more stealing, divorce, inheritance?

· Competition – he schmoozes Vlad to size up the competition

· Conspiracies – He has been working with Natalie’s attorney to maybe get more than he’s due

· Secrets – He might still love her

· Deception – He’s been letting her believe that he’s having an affair in order to disguise his business operations

· Unspoken Wound – Yes he needs one

· Secret Identity – he’s not just a schmoozer but he actually has smarts

Vlad Role: Villain/Love interest

· Hidden Agenda/Competition – He can’t decide if he wants to try to co-rule with Natalie or just destroy her

· Conspiracies – he knows the legends that he uses to hang on to his power

· Secrets – He is not the chosen one but no one has challenged him so he thinks he’ll get away with it

· Deception – Evil, Controls most of the locals and frightens the rest, superpowers

· Unspoken Wound – again he should have one – this must be my weakness!

[Heather Hood]

So you have a vampire that’s developing a conscience after living with humans after so long and has suddenly discovered he’s in love? Maybe that’s his weakness. Maybe he’s terrified of vampiric retribution in some form? Or will he turn mortal and is it fear of death? Or maybe just the catharsis of impending change that he can’t handle? Just throwing thought at you : )

[jeffrey jeff glatz glatz]

Jeff Glatz’s Character Intrigue

My Vision: To create commercial studio size films that move people. To create characters that can live forever and bring electrifying memories to those that have watched one of my films.

What I learned from doing this assignment – Really opened up the story to new ideas and intrigue possibilities.

Character Name: Chris Wentworth

• Role: Protagonist / Lead
• Hidden agendas:
• Competition:
• Conspiracies:
• Secrets: A descendant.
• Deception: 1) Brilliant mind covers up unbelievable physical abilities, that she has kept hidden for years. 2) Intentionally underperformed in sports growing up.
• Unspoken Wound: 1) Always felt out of place. 2) Felt loss of her birth mother without knowing that is the loss she felt.
• Secret Identity: Descendant of Zeus

Character Name: James

• Role: Chris’ Guardian/Protector
• Hidden agendas: 1) Covert plan to protect Chris without her knowing it.
• Competition:
• Conspiracies:
• Secrets: 1) Kept his job secret for years.
• Deception: 1) Not really a student.
• Unspoken Wound: 1) Raised for just one purpose to protect Chris.
• Secret Identity: 1) super human abilities

Character Name: Ronin

• Role: Antagonist / Lead
• Hidden agendas: 1) To elevate his son. 2) Have his son marry Chris?
• Competition:
• Conspiracies: 1) Is he working with one of Chris’ protector or Librarians?
• Secrets: 1) James father as well?
• Deception: 1) Appears as normal business billionaire to the World.
• Unspoken Wound: 1) Was not trusted with the Key originally.
• Secret Identity: Descendant of Japanese God of the Wind.

Character Name: Ando

• Role: Antagonist / Right Hand of Ronin 1) His Son
• Hidden agendas: 1) Make Chris fall for him.
• Competition: 1) Trying to make James look bad or untrustworthy.
• Conspiracies:
• Secrets:
• Deception: 1) Maybe he is the one set up on a date with her at beginning or at restaurant in background? 2) Is Ronin there as well? 3) Chris at bar for her blind date and Ando is there trying to pick her up, Diana intervenes?
• Unspoken Wound: 1) His father’s disappointment in him.
• Secret Identity: 1) Son of Ronin

[Heather Hood]

Heather’s Character Intrigue

Vision statement: I want to see my scripts optioned this year and turned into movies that the audience will remember long after they leave the theatre.

What I learned from doing this assignment: I really had to think about some of these things. Consequently, the characters evolved a little to adapt. Nobody floats through life without having something to hide. It’s just a matter of finding what it is.

2. For each of your main characters, use this list to brainstorm one or more Intrigue items that might apply. You don’t need all of them; just one or two.

Character
Name: Sarah
Role:
Mother. <div>

Hidden
agendas: needs to be perfect.

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Competition:
doesn’t want social services to take away her children

Conspiracies:
Has to hide her husband’s abuse.

Secrets:
was placed in foster care when she was five

Deception:
a pious housewife.

Unspoken
Wound: she was responsible for her little brother’s death.

Secret
Identity: she wants to be a witch. (So people will fear and respect her)

3. Give us an idea of how that character’s subtext might show up in your movie.

· She will learn about tracking from Joe. Also about Indian lore and plants

· I haven’t decided about the end of the movie yet. There may be a community of native Elders living in the pass. She might be invited to live there after she escapes from her daughter trying to kill her. The ending is still in flux – the last thing anyone would expect is for a young child to turn on its parent.- but that’s where it is right now.

· Character: Sherriff Harper

· Role: Antagonist/RCMP looking for the missing girl

· Hidden agenda: Bigot, can’t stand Indians.

· Competition: Conservation officers think it was a bear

· Conspiracy: church congregation think he’s wrong and he needs to look at pedophiles.

· Secrets: Joe once beat the shit out of him and he has a score to settle

· Deception: A dutiful officer of the law.

· Unspoken wound: He’s been passed over for promotion.

· Secret identity: Poacher in his off time.

3. Give us an idea of how that character’s subtext might show up in your movie.

· He would use his hunting and trapping skills to catch Joe.

· His conversation would be double edged – respectful but underneath, insulting at the same time.

· Character: Joe

· Role: Indigenous Tracker who offers to find the girl

· Hidden agenda: Knows who took her and why.

· Competition: Harper who won’t hesitate to kill the “Shadow Man” for the prestige it will bring him.

· Conspiracy: Everyone thinks she’s been snatched by a bear or Bigfoot.

· Secrets: The “Shadow Man” is his father, a reclusive tribal Medicine man with mystical powers.

· Deception: He knows his father is dying and has taken the girl to be his replacement because of her illness.

· Unspoken wound: His father doesn’t see him as worthy to be his successor.

· Secret identity: Ghost dancer.

3. Give us an idea of how that character’s subtext might show up in your movie

· He drinks for a reason – he is ashamed of himself for his father’s lack of respect.

· He is given new purpose teaching Sarah how to survive in the forest.

· Maybe there will be some sort of relationship develop between them- ???

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[Cameron Martin]

Cameron Martin’s Character Intrigue

Vision: Write a movie that connects with audiences on a deep spiritual level, regardless of background, while prioritizing quality time with family.

What I learned doing this assignment is…I really like Hal’s setup for this, in comparison to the ProSeries. In the ProSeries, we did all this character work AFTER the outlining portion. Getting a good chunk of these character attributes and micro-plots worked ahead of time can go a long way to making sure your story structure and outline is actually built to create more nuanced character interactions. Also learned, just like the last lesson, to work with what’s already in front of you first: Does one character operate from a superior position from another, Is there a certain role a character THINKS they play, but in actually they play a different role? How can those different power dynamics play out in intriguing a subversive ways?

Character Name: Null

Role: Protagonist

Hidden agendas: To keep her copy unaware of what’s happening, to stop her copy’s revenge quest

Competition: Only one may exit the labyrinthian prison Null and Janice woke up in. Therefore, Null must ensure she’s the one that survives, and leaves Janice behind.

Conspiracies: Null works with Calvex who’s overseeing the purgatory to plot a disaster/sabotage for Janice

Secrets: Null’s amnesia is a secret

Deception: Making Janice believe Null is the original. Making Janice believe she’s won/playing dead

Unspoken Wound: Null is just a copy to “test” the original; a sacrificial lamb on Janice’s revenge quest, which is why she wasn’t given any memories

Secret Identity: Null is the copy, but pretends she’s the original

…

Character Name: Janice

Role: Antagonist

Hidden agendas: Janice killed herself to reincarnate through the Afterlife Protocol as a “better” version of herself to exact revenge.

Competition: Only one is allowed to exit Calvex’s designed purgatory, so Janice has to compete for her new life with a copy that was designed to test her.

Conspiracies: Janice already has an arrangement with Calvex that Null is the one to be left behind, since Null is a redundant copy. Janice plots with Calvex to make her trip back to the real world easier, by having Null go through the hell that was designed for her.

Secrets: Janice has all of her memories, and knows that this is all part of her planned revenge tour to exact vengeance on her assailants.

Deception: Janice fills in wrong details of her past to throw Null off. Janice pretends to not know her own memories to give Null a false sense of confidence

Unspoken Wound: Janice was assaulted, and wants to be reborn in order to make it right, exacting vengeance and remaking herself so that she can never be hurt again

Secret Identity: Janice is the original and on a revenge quest, but pretends she’s just as lost as Null; a hapless victim in Calvex’s manufactured purgatory