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Lesson 4: Create Your Villain Track
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Lee’s villain track
What I learned in this lesson is that the villain track can form the backbone of the action in an action movie.
- New Plan: Main Villain figures out FBI has found his hideout & is monitoring his conversations. What to do? He moves meetings to a restaurant
- Suspicion: Villain arranges to buy guns in preparation for martyrdom event, but his buyers are arrested. Did someone sell him out? If so, who?
- Find the rat: He suspects a restaurant employee overheard his plan, but focuses on the wrong employee. He sends two thugs to do a hit which looks like a mugging. The hero dispatches both of them without blowing his cover.
- Double down: Enraged, villain bears down on finding the leak in his network. Starts looking closely at restaurant staff. Befriends owner’s kid who accidentally gives clues leading to the hero.
- Retaliation and escalation: Villain barricades the restaurant and takes workers hostage, promises to kill them one-by-one until the rat comes forward.
- Fitting end: In face-to-face fight, hero takes on villains one by one, reveals his identity. Subdues the chief villain as the FBI arrives.
- Preexisting plan. Crooks: rip off the restaurant; terrorize the
restaurant employees if necessary; Terrorists: take out a highly
visible target with multiple fatalities; eliminate anyone who stands
in the way.
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B. How many ways can the Villain attack or destroy the hero? –
Terrorists: bombs, guns, suicide bombers; crooks: guns, knives -
C. What advantage does the Villain have and how can they exploit
that in this movie? Moral flexibility. An ethical code that lets
them take actions that are ruthless and underhanded—no qualms
about harming innocents. Psychological edge in the form of insights
into police thinking. Also, surprise and deception and
unpredictability. -
D. What would be a “fitting end” for this Villain where they pay
for what they’ve done? Employees who hassled the hero are shamed
when his true identity is revealed. Terrorists are done during a
climactic gun battle at the restaurant
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ROBERT SMITH’S VILLAIN TRACK
WHAT I LEARNED DOING THIS ASSIGNMENT IS…?
The importance of building a track for the villain because it is pivotal to the action of the story.
GENRE: Gangster-Action
TITLE: The Golem of Gangland.
PLACE: New York City.
TIME: 1940.
The New York Syndicate, headed by Charlie “Lucky” Luciano and Meyer Lansky have a subdivision of contract killers that came to be known as “Murder Incorporated” headed by Jewish gangsters “Lepke” Buchalter and ruthless hitman Abe “Kid Twist” Reles. This story is based on actual persons and events but fictionalized.
PITCH: In 1940 Jerusalem, a revered rabbi gives an American gangster and rabbi’s son (Max Levitsky) a demon-possessed Golem and an ancient text of a death-curse for his use in order to protect the Jewish community from enemies. After the gangsters and the Golem wreak havoc on a Nazi Rally in New York, The villain (Reles) is out to kill Max and capture the Golem and the death curse for the nefarious criminal purposes of the mob. Will Max’s rabbi father rescue him before he is destroyed by either Reles or the Golem who is growing in demonic power?
A. What might be the Villain’s plan to accomplish an evil outcome or to annihilate the Hero? The plan could be preexisting or created on the spot.
PLAN: When Boss Lepke Buchalter offers $2 million for the Golem ant the Pulsa di-Nura (Lashes of Fire) death curse, Max (the hero) refuses to give aay these items for any price because they were given to him in trust by a revered Rabbi for the protection of the Jewish Community from their enemies, not to be given to anyone else for selfish or criminal purposes. Lepke appoints the ruthless Underboss Abe “Kid Twist” Reles to kill Max and capture the Golem and the Pulsa for use in expanding the criminal power of the New York Syndicate and their branch of it, i.e., Murder Incorporated.
B. How many ways can the villain (Abe Reles) attack or destroy the Hero (Max Levitsky).
Boss Meyer Lansky calls on all Jewish gangsters to disrupt a Nazi Party Rally. To this Reles attends and so does Max with his Golem.
1. After disrupting the an uptown Nazi Party Rally, Reles car chases Max (who has the Golem in his truck) through Manhattan streets in order to kill Max and take the Golem and eventually rob him of the Pulsa, the hiding place of which is known to Reles. The car chase ends in a fatal crash for several gangsters in Reles’s car, while Reles escapes although at first he is chased by the Golem. Max and the Golem escape.
2. Next day, Max and his rabbi father (Rabbi Shmuel Levitsky) are at the newsstand of Hayyim Gottlieb looking at all the New York newspapers with their headline story of how Jewish gangsters disrupted a Nazi Rally. While talking, including about how Max should abandon the mob and renew his Jewish faith, Abe Reles does a drive by shooting, but he misses Max and kills the well-0loved Hayyim Gottlieb
3. Reles is sidetracked by his own obstacles: After the car chase and the driveby shooting of Gottlieb, Detective Mike Murtagh and Assistant D.A. Jack Saperstein crack down on the Syndicate and set out a dragnet to arrest Reles. Reles vows to assassinate Murtagh and Saperstein. Killing anyone in law enforcement is forbidden in the mob, Lepke and Lansky visit Boss Luciano, n an upstate New York prison and he orders a contract out on Reles. When Reles finds out his life is in danger from his own mob, he prefers to take refuge with Murtagh and Saperstein, promising his full cooperation as they build a case against Lepkem whom they arrest in his hiding place in Brooklyn.
4. THE END OF THE VILLAIN: Reles is kept under police protection at a Coney Island Hotel on the eve of his testifying against Lepke in court. Mysteriously he is thrown from his sixth floor hotel room to his death. It is revealed that Max prayed the death curse, the Golem overheard it and thought it was Max ordering him to kill Reles, which he did. While following the mysterious radar that leads him to Reles and back again to Max, the Golem travels through a tunnel of the New York Subway System and derails an approaching train.
5. RESOLUTION: Max surrenders to Murtagh and Saperstein and also promises to cooperate in their investigation of the Syndicate and Murder Incorporated. He also returns to his Jewish faith. His father Rabbi Shmuel, using ancient formulae, de-activates the Golem.
2. Include labels with each step of the plan
PLAN: Will Reles seize the Golem and Pulsa but he must wait until after the Jewish mobsters disrupt the Nazi Party Rally.
HIT #1 (fails): Reles car-chases Max (who has the Golem in his truck) through the street canyons of Manhattan only to end the chase in an accident. Reles survives and flees while Max and the Golem escape from this murder attempt.
HIT #2 (fails): Reles attempts a tommy gun drive-by shooting of Max as he speaks with his rabbi-father (Rabbi Shmuel Levitsky, and their beloved friend Hayyim Gottlieb.
OPPOSITION (Police): Detective Murtagh and Assistant D.A. Saperstein crackdown on the mob and set out a dragnet to arrest Reles.
DECISION: In response, Reles says they’ll never take him alive and vows to kill Murtagh and Saperstein.
OPPOSITION (Reles’s own mob): Luciano orders out a contract on Reles to preemptively kill him before he can kill Murtagh and Saperstein – totally forbidden by mob rules.
DECISION/CAPTURE: Reles decides to surrender to Murtagh and Saperstein to find protection from the police against his own mob’s effort to kill him..
INTERROGATION: Reles agrees to ‘rat’ on his former bosses and associates to help Saperstein build a court case against Lepke.
FITTING END: The Golem kills Reles by hurling him out his sixth floor hotel window.
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ATAUR’S VILLAIN TRACK
WHAT I LEARNED DOING THIS ASSIGNMENT – BRAINSTORMING WORKS BETTER STRUCTURED BY QUESTIONS LIKE A, B, C AND D BELOW, AND LABELS.
CAN RE-USE BOTH FOR THE NEXT PROJECT.
A) Noriega’s Plans to Accomplish an Evil Outcome or Annihilate Jesse
1. Sabotage the Town’s Water Supply
o Plan: Contaminate the town’s main water source with industrial waste from the mining operation, forcing the residents to relocate and making Jesse powerless to protect them.
2. Frame Jesse for a Crime
o Plan: Plant evidence to make it appear as though Jesse is involved in illegal activities, such as drug trafficking, thereby discrediting him and removing him from the equation via imprisonment.
3. Covert Assassination
o Plan: Hire a professional hitman to eliminate Jesse quietly, making it look like an accident or a random act of violence.
4. Public Discreditation Campaign
o Plan: Launch a smear campaign using media and social networks to turn the townspeople against Jesse, portraying him as a dangerous radical and undermining his support.
5. Kidnapping Jesse’s Loved Ones
o Plan: Abduct someone Jesse deeply cares about, such as a family member or close friend, and use them as leverage to force Jesse to surrender or leave town.
B) Ways Noriega Can Attack or Destroy Jesse
1. Physical Confrontation
o Directly engage Jesse in a lethal fight, relying on his own combat skills and hired muscle.
2. Legal Manipulation
o Use legal loopholes and corrupt officials to bankrupt Jesse or imprison him on false charges.
3. Psychological Warfare
o Constant harassment, threats, and intimidation to break Jesse’s spirit and force him to abandon his cause.
4. Economic Sabotage
o Destroy Jesse’s financial stability by attacking his business interests, properties, or sources of income.
5. Isolation Tactics
o Systematically remove Jesse’s allies through bribes, threats, or eliminating them, leaving him isolated and vulnerable.
C) Advantages Noriega Has and How He Can Exploit Them
1. Wealth
o Use his financial resources to bribe officials, hire mercenaries, and fund operations that undermine Jesse.
2. Connections
o Leverage his network of corrupt politicians, law enforcement, and media to manipulate public opinion and legal outcomes.
3. Experience
o Apply his military and tactical expertise to outmaneuver Jesse in combat and strategy.
4. Intimidation
o Instill fear in the townspeople and Jesse’s allies, discouraging resistance through brutal displays of power.
5. Technology
o Employ advanced surveillance and weaponry to gain an upper hand in tracking and confronting Jesse.
D) Fitting Ends for Noriega That Jesse Can Help Bring About
1. Exposed and Arrested
o Jesse gathers irrefutable evidence of Noriega’s crimes and corruption, leading to a public scandal and his arrest by federal authorities.
2. Fatal Confrontation
o During a climactic battle, Jesse manages to outfight Noriega, resulting in Noriega’s death in a dramatic showdown.
3. Turned Against by His Own Men
o Jesse sows distrust and dissent among Noriega’s mercenaries, leading to a mutiny where Noriega is betrayed and killed by his own men.
4. Self-Destruction
o Jesse manipulates Noriega into making a reckless move, such as detonating explosives that backfire and cause his own demise.
5. Exiled and Disgraced
o Jesse forces Noriega into a position where he must flee the country to avoid capture, living the rest of his life in fear and disgrace.
Noriega’s Exploitable Weaknesses
1. Overconfidence
o Jesse can exploit Noriega’s arrogance by setting traps that prey on his belief in his invincibility.
2. Paranoia
o Manipulate Noriega’s distrust of others, causing him to turn on his own allies and weaken his support system.
3. Personal Vendetta
o Use Noriega’s obsession with Jesse to lure him into dangerous situations where his judgment is impaired by emotion.
4. Hidden Past
o Uncover and expose dark secrets from Noriega’s past that discredit him and rally public opinion against him.
5. Dependence on Resources
o Sabotage Noriega’s supply lines and financial sources, crippling his operations and forcing him into desperate actions.
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