Lesson 4

[Kristina Zill]

KZ’s Elevated Interest

Vision: To master screenwriting so that I can win contests, and work with producers to get my scripts made into movies.

What I learned from doing this assignment is…how to brainstorm more interesting scenes. However, I’m drawing a blank on some of the scenes with secondary characters, so I’m going to brainstorm the characters a bit more to get some ideas.

Key scenes:

Scene 2: Opening, Lead character introductions

A. More interesting setting / C. Suspense

Rather than having the characters practicing low-stakes negotiations, I moved it to an apparent bank hold-up, where Wendy is negotiating with a Gunman for her life.

Scene 3: C. Internal dilemma

Posed the thematic question of the movie: Is is possible to have a win/win situation, or does somebody always have to lose?

Scene 51: A. More interesting setting

As Mrs. Ghosh guides Wendy through a meditation, I changed the scene so that we hear Mrs. G’s voice O.S., while on screen, we see Wendy’s imaginative interpretations of the words.

Scene 69: Dream Negotiation PP2

Suspense / Uncertainty – Chuck tries to get the low number out of Wendy, but she chooses Darwin and love instead.

[Paul McGregor]

Paul Elevated Interest

6. Vision of success from this program: I want to write scripts that become movies that change people’s lives.

7. What I learned from doing this assignment was how the interest techniques help brainstorm new approaches to scenes. They act as prompts to come up with new ideas, and these new ideas impact the rest of the story. Assignments like this one prepare us for the sort of task a producer will give us (one day!).

5.

Sc. 1: Opening scene: Added uncomfortable moment, a cop tries to chat up Lilia while she is trying to save the dying man. Also added heightened uncertainty about whether the man will survive the gunshot wounds.

Sc. 9: Farewells at airport: Added more interesting setting. The scene is split in two and begins in the expensive car of one of Tino’s friends. Provides a secret setting for handing over the wad of dollars to his grand-daughter. Both elements also add intrigue (where does the money come from and how can Tino’s friend afford such a car?).

Sc. 18: Marisol’s death at party: Added superior position. We now see the drugs being put in the beer that will kill Marisol. Added betrayal, with the friend who invited Marisol to the party being privy to what his friends are doing with her drink. Added suspense, by delaying Marisol’s death till after she is taken to hospital.

Sc. 36: Lilia meets her daughter’s killer: Added more interesting setting. Instead of Scott being brought to Lilia’s home, she finds him incarcerated in one of the Cartel’s underground jails. Added character radically changes, with Lilia, normally composed and collected, launching into an attack that almost kills Scott. Also increased the suspense surrounding what the plans are for Scott. They are not made clear before the scene closes.

Sc. 39: Scott is on his ‘drug trip’ in the Sierra Madre outside Culiacán: Added character changes radically. Scott has gone from the brash, rich, Senator’s son, to the submissive and weak prisoner of Lilia (mother of the girl he killed) and now he goes from being an empty-headed college student to someone who actually thinks about what is going on, as he experiences at first-hand the reality behind the drugs he has always taken for granted.

Sc. 46: Marisol’s funeral. Added a major twist. There is a massive media presence. The press are covering the story. Lilia’s posting of videos on the internet has had an impact and the funeral is a big story. (This change will have a significant impact on how the rest of the story develops.)

END