Lesson 4

[Mark Lynch]

Marc’s New Outline Beats

My Vision: Win the Nicholl Fellowship and receive a 10 rating on the Black list.
What I learned: Don’t strive to be perfect in this exercise. Do the basics and fill in the details later. The roadmap is much clearer this way.

WIM Module 4 — Lesson 4 – Basic Plotting

Genre:
Drama/Thriller The Corporation
versus Andy Beal.

ACT
1

Beginning: Andy Beal, an A-type
personality Billionaire, is having a mid-life crisis and needs to
challenge himself to “High Risk” stimulating endeavors.
Andy’s dream is to play with the best
poker players in the world. He decides to go to Las Vegas. Andy is a Billionaire,
but he is an amateur poker player.

PP:
Andy meets a stranger in a bar-Bob Brunson, a member of the
Corporation-and agrees to set with him for a “friendly” low-stakes game of
poker.

PP:
Andy and Bob find a special table and play. The game begins. Andy flashes a wad of cash-100s. Bob
Brunson sees Andy’s money.

PP: Inciting
Incident:

Andy, an amateur poker player, loses a low-stakes poker game to
a member of the Corporation, a group of Las Vegas professional poker
players.

PP:
Bob Brunson tells his father, Dole Brunson, that he just bet on Andy in a low-stakes game. He has lots of money and thinks they can get more of it.

PP: Turning
Point 1:

Humiliated, with a need to recoup his losses, he challenges the
leader of the Corporation, Dole Brunson, to a series of high-stakes poker
games. The games last over a period of six years. Dole and Andy Agree to the terms.

PP: Dole
Brunson. Recruits and organizes the Corporation players, one by one.

PP: Andy returns to Dallas to prepare for
the challenge. He gets his secretary to purchase 25 of the best books on
poker. Andy speed-reads all of them.

ACT 2

PP: Andy Beal arrives in Las Vegas at the Bellagio.

PP: Andy, a “fish out of water” realizes he
is no match for the Corporation, and he loses most of his money.

PP:
Andy recruits his son, to help create a computer program algorithm to give
him an advantage over the skills of the Corporation.

PP:
Andy and his son, role-play and test out the algorithm.

Turning
Point 2 / Midpoint:

Andy starts winning and gets very “cocky.” He celebrates with casino “patrons.”

PP: Dole
is forced to recruit more players into the Corporation and pool their
money to keep the challenge going.

Act 3

PP: Dole’s recruits are losing to Andy and dropping out, one by one.

Turning Point 3

Dole calls up and
recruits Phil Ivey, the best poker player in the world, for a one-on-one
challenge with Andy Beal.

PP:
Andy does extensive research on Phil Ivey and prepares for the final game.

Act 4
Climax

Phil Ivey beats Andy Beal and recoups the Corporation’s winnings.

Resolution:
Andy returns home to Dallas, Texas. He researches and finds a new “High”
risk challenge.

[jeffrey jeff glatz glatz]

Basic Plotting

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 – I found this to be a unique approach to looking for holes and while I did not find any yet, I am sure something will pop up along the process

Outline was shown in previous lesson

[Pam Ewing]

Pam Ewing’s New Outline Beats!

My Vision: Professional. Produced. Prolific. Popular.

What I learned: That I like the driving backwards through a plot

Additions – maybe not yet to story specification level of assignment:

Act 1:

· Setup on Mother is lacking – why Nat so devoted to her Mother. Show her mother not really being perfect or even looking out for Natalie’s best interest.

· Setup on relationship with husband and divorce is weak – she sees him as an unfaithful playboy out for her money – set up question of his motives within the marriage

· In my mind I see and attorney and a funeral but not what makes those scenes meaningful

· Natalie’s personality issues need direction for divorce – needs to be fearful – Turning Point turns against her and she turns more inward against herself

Act 2:

· Intro to Vlad needs more character info and incorporation of his henchmen and how villagers lives are affected by him, maybe a cautionary tale is presented

· Vlad scares her when they first meet and she surprises him by challenging some of his issues and not knowing that no one does that

· Need to add local color people like gypsy for fortune telling and foreshadowing

· Natalie is gullible, has weakness for smooth talkers isn’t very observant of surroundings

Act 3:

· Need motivation for husband’s actions what add duplicity more than help us like him

· Where is Natalie being challenged to grow up after exchanging one playboy husband for smoother evil Vlad

· Natalie questions herself after she notices some powers growing but dismisses them because – not self-confidence, trust issues, gets knocked down from trying to be assertive with abilities, sees the cracks in her overly rosy world vision

· Build Vlad’s heritage and obligation that will be stripped from him – does he have an antagonist/antagonistic message

Act 4:

· Does Natalie end up working alone or is she helped by villagers, henchmen, husband?

· Husband needs to start opening up more to Natalie – change her perspective on his past actions that make him worth being saved and worthy of her new powers and confidence

Climax

· Need to specifically embolden her and focus on her new vision

Resolution

· It becomes an empowered Natalie moment so she needs to show the weaknesses that become her strength

· Shows he ultimate decision of what to do with Vlad and whether or not to keep and set new relationship terms with husband

[Heather Hood]

Heather’s Beat Sheet

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 this assignment: it is much easier to do the beatboard using screenwriting software, especially once you take it into the script. I was totally unsuccessful in getting my beatboard done in Final Draft into the assignment space.

Act 1 Beat 1

Opening – Sarah doing laundry: a perfectionist marathon. Sarah’s husband on the phone: he’s not coming home. Seems the ‘logging camp’ where he’s been living is named Ruby.

Beat 2

On the radio a story play about the Harrison Lake Sasquatch throwing rocks at some local fishermen. Scary music. And screaming

Beat 3

Becky wants to paint. Sarah says no. Becky has a hissy fit

Beat 4

The doorbell rings. Sarah answers.

Beat 5

Joe Green going door to door with a cooler of salmon. Sarah wants one. Joe sees she’s upset, gives it to her free.

Beat 6

Harper cruising by arrests Joe,

Beat 7

Back in the kitchen Becky pulls out the paints anyways. Lila spills paint all over her dress and the clean sheets. Sarah goes ballistic and throws the kids outside telling them to stay out of the woods.

Beat 8

Becky wants payback. She drags Lila into the woods to see her “secret” place: a dark hollow where Becky leaves trinkets, and something leaves gifts in return.

Beat 9

The ‘shadow man’ watches, a dark blurry figure following behind them.

Beat 10

Inciting Incident – Lila disappears.

Beat 11

Searchers find a long clump of black hair at the hollow. Hours later Becky tells her mother it was the “Shadow Man”, happy her sister is gone.

Beat 12

Harper doesn’t seem too worried about the girl he’s sure it was Joe Green. He was there just this morning. Sarah shouldn’t worry her pretty little head about it.

Beat 13

Sarah despises Harpers condescending attitude toward her.

Act 2 Beat 1

Turning Point – Sarah has to find Lila before she needs her next dose of Phenobarbital. They’ve got 20 hours

Act 2 Beat 2

Sarah rallies the neighbors. They search the surrounding forest. Long black hairs are found in the kids secret hollow.

Harper says they’re Joe’s. The neighbors say they’re the legendary bigfoots. The CO’s say they’re bears

Act 2 Beat 3

The CO let’s Joe out of holding

Act 2 Beat 4

New plan: Sheriff Harper goes after Joe Green. He hates Indians and sets a plan in motion to capture the drifter. He loads his truck with weapons, ammunition, and a bear trap.

Act 2 Beat 5

Plan in action: Sarah decides to show Harper what she’s made of and decides to find Lila on her own, despite her terror of the forest.

Act 2 Beat 6

Midpoint Turning Point – Sarah gets hopelessly lost. She didn’t bring food or water. Not even a compass or map. The shadows all look threatening and she’s having panic attacks. Somethings following her.

Act 2 Beat 7

By nightfall everyone’s looking for her. The shadows come alive. She spends the night in a tree. She thinks she’s safe until something attacks.

Act 2 Beat 8

The next morning, she stumbles across a creek where she runs into a bear that attacks.

Act 2 Beat 9

Joe Green tracks her down and chases the bear off.

Act 3 Beat 1

Rethink everything – Joe teaches Sarah how to read the forest. How to be safe in it.

Act 3 Beat 2

New plan – Joe finds a long clump of hair and tracks a three-toed creature to Forbidden Pass. Sarah is sure Lila is with it. There are small footprints like her daughters there beside it.

Act 3 Beat 3

Sarah catches a glimpse of Joe’s feet. They have three toes. Maybe Harper was right after all. Now she doesn’t know if she should trust him.

Act 3 Beat 4

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift – Harper catches up with them. He tries to kill Joe, but something comes out of the forest and attacks the Sherriff. Harper gets caught in his own bear trap.

Act 4 Beat 1

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict – Sarah and Joe are forced into the Pass by the fight.

Act 4 Beat 2

they find a cave where they find Lila

Act 4 Beat 3

They are confronted by the “Shadow Man”, Joe’s psychopath father – a sacred Holy Man to the First Nation’s people. He’s taken the girl because she’s epileptic and therefore Holy. Sarah tries to negotiate for her daughter.

Act 4 Beat 4

Harper drags himself to the cave and shoots the “beast”.

Act 4 Beat 5

Joe tackles him in a fit of grief and rage. Harper dies.

Act 4 Beat 6

No one notices Lila is under the influence of the mushroom. She slices her mother’s throat. It’s pretty obvious Lila can’t return to society.

Act 4 Beat 7

Resolution: Joe takes his place and looks after lila.

Sarah gets her house in the woods, no longer afraid or driven to be perfect.