Lesson 4

[Nat Melvin]

Lesson 4: Natalie’s Villain Track

WIL: This lesson helped me to add more puzzle pieces to the structure.

1. Ask the Villain Track questions to discover your Villain’s plan, decisions, and actions.

A. What might be the Villain’s plan to accomplish an evil outcome or to annihilate the hero? The plan could be pre-existing or created on the spot.

VERSION 1 PLAN: Created on the spot.

Driven by his ruthless ambition and greed, Cooper’s motivation for his nefarious plan gains a devious twist when he learns from Brie about her father’s financial struggle to upkeep aging fairground rides.

Seizing this opportunity, Cooper devises a plan to become a majority controlling partner in the fairground, or buy the owner out, and sabotage it so he can claim insurance money to build a profitable commercial strip on this land.

Facing Brie’s father’s resistance, Cooper’s plan shifts from mere financial gain to a ruthless attempt to eliminate local community’s cherished tradition, betraying Brie’s trust and putting the fair’s legacy in grave jeopardy.

VILLAIN: Cooper, a wealthy commercial real estate developer

HERO: Brie, his fiancé, personal Pilate’s instructor

B. How many ways can the Villain attack or destroy the hero?

Direct Confrontation: Cooper sends his henchmen to physically confront Brie, attempting to intimidate or harm her directly.

Psychological Manipulation: uses mind games and psychological tactics to undermine Brie’s confidence and resolve, making her doubt herself and her mission.

Sabotage: continues to sabotage the fairground rides and attractions, specifically targeting those that Brie interacts with, putting her life and the lives of the students at risk.

Blackmail: threatens to expose Brie’s past mistakes or use sensitive information against her, coercing her into backing down from her mission.

Isolation: attempt to isolate Brie by cutting off her communication with her father and the fairground maintenance team, or trapping her in a confined space, leaving her vulnerable.

Kidnapping: resort to kidnapping Brie’s children, using them as leverage to manipulate her decisions and actions.

Deception: create fake alliances or present false information to mislead Brie, leading her into traps or making her act against her own interests.

Ambushes: Cooper’s henchmen could set up ambushes and traps along Brie’s path, catching her off guard and overpowering her.

Exploiting Weaknesses: may attempt to exploit Brie’s emotional vulnerabilities, using her love for her family and her desire for reconciliation with her father to manipulate her decisions.

Destroying Evidence: destroy any evidence Brie gathers against him or any proof of his sabotage, making it harder for her to expose his plan.

Financial Pressure: threaten to cut his financial resources and hinder Brie’s dream to own her own Pilate’s studio

Frame for Crimes: set Brie up to appear as if she is the one behind the fairground incidents, leading to her arrest.

Engaging Law Enforcement: Having the influence within law enforcement, he uses this power to target Brie, making it difficult for her to operate without interference.

Utilizing Henchmen: direct his henchmen to continuously pursue and harass Brie, creating a persistent threat.

C. What advantage does the Villain have and how can they exploit that in this movie?

Access to Fairground Infrastructure: As someone with thick pockets, Cooper bribes access to financial documents, fairground’s layout, rides, and facilities.

Influence Over Fairground Employees: including security personnel and maintenance workers. He can exploit bribery or fear to feed him information about Brie’s actions and hinder her progress.

Financial Resources: Cooper’s substantial financial resources allow him to hire skilled henchmen, to obstruct Brie’s mission.

Hidden Surveillance: gains access to hidden cameras and listening devices throughout the fairground to monitor Brie’s movements, gather intelligence, and stay one step ahead.

Employee Manipulation: bribe fairground employees to act as informants or saboteurs, making it difficult for Brie to trust anyone within the fairground.

Sabotage: Cooper can order fairground maintenance teams to continue sabotaging rides and attractions, ensuring that Brie remains occupied with crisis management.

False Alibis: Cooper can create false alibis and provide fake evidence to divert suspicion away from himself, leading Brie and authorities on wild goose chases.

Psychological Warfare: intensify manipulative tactics, playing on Brie’s emotions and fears to create inner conflict and wear down her determination.

Diversion: engineer distractions within the fairground to divert Brie’s attention away from critical areas, buying him time to further his plan.

D. What would be a “fitting end” for this Villain where they pay for what they’ve done?

Fitting End: During the climactic showdown between Brie and Cooper at the fairground, his true intentions and the extent of his villainy are exposed to the public and law enforcement.

Confrontation: Brie confronts Cooper on the Ferris wheel, where the final battle takes place. With fairgoers and authorities watching, she exposes the evidence of Cooper’s sabotage, and betrayal, including conspiracy to commit harm, endangerment, and attempted financial fraud, making it impossible for him to shield himself from the mounting evidence. The confrontation becomes a public spectacle.

Family Reconciliation: Brie’s dedication and exposure of Cooper’s plot, together with her brave face-to-face showdown prompts a change of heart in her father. He realizes the extent of Cooper’s greed and manipulation and offers Brie to repair the fairground and preserve its legacy together.

Closure for Brie: She finds closure not only in bringing Cooper to justice but also in mending her relationship with her father and protecting the fairground’s future for her children and the community.

2. Include labels with each step of their plan.

Act 1:

Opening: Cooper, posing as a wealthy real estate developer and Brie’s loving fiancé, establishes himself as a trusted figure within the local community, including her father, maintenance team, and employees.

Inciting Incident: Cooper learns about the fairground’s financial struggles due to its aging rides from Brie. This critical information sparks the beginning of his nefarious plan.

1. PLAN/ OFFER: Cooper appears at Brie’s father’s office, offers partnership and gives a downpayment check as a symbol of trust from his future son in law. He receives access to document files and fairground layout. <div>

2. PLAN/ HITMEN REQUEST: Cooper calls his partner, a local mob, about the opportunity of building a profitable commercial strip on this land and requests to send a few men to help him alter the rides.

Act 1 Turning Point: Cooper decides to exploit the opportunity in its depth, recognizing the potential to manipulate the situation to his advantage. He begins laying the groundwork for his scheme, such as subtly increasing his control over the fairground’s operations by gaining trust of its employees.

Act 2:

3. PHYSICAL MANIPULATION: Cooper uses mind games and psychological tactics to undermine Brie’s confidence and resolve, making her doubt herself and her mission.

4. DIRECT CONFRONTATION: Cooper’s reaction to Brie’s investigation interferes with his plans. He orders his henchmen to physically confront Brie, attempting to intimidate her directly.

5. SABOTAGE: continues to sabotage the fairground rides and attractions, specifically targeting those that Brie interacts with, putting her life and the lives of the students at risk.

Midpoint: Cooper’s plan escalates as he infiltrates the fairground maintenance team, strategically planting hidden sabotage mechanisms within amusement rides and attractions.

6. PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE: Coopers carefully structureD sabotage begins to create minor incidents that raise concerns among fairgoers.

Act 2 Turning Point: As Brie continues investigating the mounting issues at the fairground, Cooper realizes that he needs to intensify the chaos.

7. SPECIFIC TARGETS: Cooper orders additional sabotage, targeting specific rides and creating a pattern of failures that heightens fear among fairgoers and the community.

Climax: The climax of Cooper’s plan centers around the Ferris wheel. He plans for it to malfunction spectacularly during its grand finale ride, causing shock and terror. He orchestrates a chaotic and dangerous situation at the fairground, diverting attention away from his true intentions.

Act 3:

Resolution: Cooper’s sabotage efforts have created a full-blown crisis at the fairground, drawing the attention of authorities, fairgoers, and Brie. However, his ultimate goal remains hidden. At this point, he realizes that his actions may attract more scrutiny than he anticipated.

8. KIDNAPPING: Cooper orchestrates kidnapping of Brie’s son, sending him on a Ferris wheel by himself.

Climax: Brie confronts Cooper on the Ferris wheel, revealing her knowledge of his plot and exposing the evidence of his sabotage and betrayal to the public.

9. FITTING ENDING: Cooper notices Brie using her physical abilities and knowledge to fix Ferris wheel’s mechanical failure, and gets on the Ferris wheel to stop her. Brie uses his greed to come up with a clever move, which propels him to lose his balance and fall to the ground to his death. Her father manipulates the mechanics of the Ferris wheel to safety.

Resolution: Brie saves the children from the Ferris wheel tragedy. She reconciles with her father who offers her to work together to preserve fairground legacy.

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[Connie Hood]

THIS WINDOW STILL DOES NOT ACCEPT COPY AND PASTE. NONE OF MY WORK HAS BEEN UPLOADED!!!!

Lesson #4 – Connie’s Villain Track

What I learned from this lesson: The villain has a mission and must have equal power and dimension as the hero. However I want to introduce moral ambiguity to the missions of both hero and villain as I explore their story. I’m working with a background of ineffective Prohibition laws, corrupted law enforcement and a villain who lawless actions didn’t cause harm until it was too late to stop.

[Connie Hood]

Lesson #4

Connie Hood’s Villain Track

What I learned from this lesson: The villain has a mission and must have equal power and dimension as the hero. However, I want to introduce moral ambiguity to the missions of both hero and villain as I explore their story. I’m dealing with a background of ineffective Prohibition laws, corrupted law enforcement, and a villain whose lawless actions didn’t cause harm until it was too late to stop. My research queries are in red.

BORKO Radegoyevic is a GYPSY, originally from Romania

He is illiterate, can’t even spell his last name. He grew up in extreme poverty – never even learned how to use a toilet until he joined the circus. Now he has an elegantly furnished train car of his very own.

A. Pre-planned – the guys in James Bond movies all have visionary plans – power, money,

Clever – how does he use circumstances and skills to meet his needs? He tells fortunes – what does his sense tell him about people?

His plan is to make a million dollars in bootlegging, with the circus as his cover up. What else/who else does he own? He is ruthless. Background in Romania? What sorts of things have Romani been accused of? Research Capone’s empire.

Poverty – 1930-33 Stalin enacted Holodomor in Ukraine, death by famine. Bulgaria and Romania were also deeply affected. Children starved to death, others resorted to cannibalism. Also look at City of Thieves – based on true story by David Benioff

Is Borko fat in real life? How fat?

B. How many ways can Borko attack or destroy Clara? Diabolical nature of the villain

Background with fortunetelling and use of superstition

Dracula castle – Bran, Romania. Born in the village. Tells horror stories when he is out of makeup.

Gaslighting, getting her to believe things about others.

Deception – his hilarious antics and disguise

Off color jokes leading to Sexual assault – stopping short of rape

Danger of circus acts

Bullying Johnny

Walking her into the lions? Suggesting she hand feed them?

Knife throwing

Killing a small animal in front of her

Carelessness in clown routing causes an injury

The stunt on the tightrope plays into her fears; how did they get her into an outfit? Parasol? Clara’s success at the task is a surprise to him and to her; means she is formidable.

C. What advantage does Borko have? How can it be exploited in the movie?

A series of action sequences – use of ropes to secure, to house, to trap

Physical size – he’s a big guy

Accomplished fighter

World wise

Has a roadster

Roma – multiple languages – Tsigani

– Clara has participated in butchering hogs, knows her way around a knife. She also has deadly aim with projectiles. She identified BORKO through suspicious funds, confirmed with linguistic sense.

– Maybe Johnny began circus life as a rigger while he trained as a flier.

– Clifford (FBI) is mechanical and inventive

A. Fitting end – Clifford and Clara take off in the Model T, followed by the roadster – Clifford not afraid to drive overland. They lead Borko to police – then keep going to an open field, pick up aircraft and go. Borko jumps on the wing of Clifford’s biplane, ascends until the wind knocks him off.

B.