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Lesson 5
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Bob Rowen’s Three Gradients
What I learned doing this assignment is the definition for “gradient of change” and how to employ it in my storyline. And furthermore, I have a better understanding of how to zero in on the transformation journey.
Transformational Journey Logline:
An idealistic, naïve, headstrong high school social science teacher must repetitively experience the realities of his educational system until he is forced to come to terms with the politics of it.
Emotional Gradient: Desired Change:
· WADE MEADOWS, a high school social science teacher, is finally granted tenure and achieves the all-important job security. EXCITEMENT.
· But Mr. Meadows soon realizes tenure is not the godsend he thought it was when it comes to the politics of his educational environment. DOUBT.
· With the support of the school’s principal, Wade feels he can freely teach without fear or favor in accordance with the school district’s century-old founding principles of Truth, Toleration, and Liberty. HOPE.
· But he learns the conservative school board members, led by the ultraconservative school board president, are not happy with his teaching and want him gone. DISCOURAGEMENT.
· Wade decides to continue his teaching and eventually finds it necessary to face the high school board of Trustees in an open disciplinary hearing. COURAGE.
· The County Office of Education (not the high school district) names Wade “TEACHER OF THE YEAR” thereby enabling him to keep his job with the high school district. TRIUMPH.
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WHAT I LEARNED DOING THIS ASSIGNMENT: How to create concurrent elements in telling a story. (PS: I have no idea on all of this – so I’m calling it “throw pasta on wall and see what sticks” lol”)
I will use the DESIRED CHANGE emotional gradient.
NOTE:
THIS WON’T LET ME POST EITHER A CUT & PASTE OF AN EXCEL SHEET TO MATCH THE FORMAT OF FLYER WE DOWNLOADED, AND IT WON’T LET ME COPY/POST A SCREENSHOT OF IT. NOT
here’s the best I can do
EXCITEMENT Angie meets Chad when she is 13. He teaches her meditation C: For the first time, she feels like she might make something good happen W: She thinks her voices make her crazy
DOUBT Wake up in an asylum C: Is abused by staff at asylum W: Believes she is crazy
HOPE She learns to trust these characters, and maybe even believes they are her past lives. She reconnects with Chad, now older, and they become partners in this transformational journey C: Some of the voices lead her astray W: She can’t tell the difference between the good and bad voices
DISCOURAGEMENT Even with Chad’s support, she is unable to break free of her doubts and stop AI C: She fails at stopping AI from influencing an election W: Overconfident
COURAGE She begins to use the voices in her espionage against AI and it works C: She is caught by AI and interrogated by police for crimes W: She doesn’t know her limits
TRIUMPH She integrates these helpful voices and learns how to stop AI by influencing it. C: AI tries to frame her. W Arrested
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This reply was modified 2 years ago by William Donnelly. Reason: Formatting on here is very limited
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This reply was modified 2 years ago by
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LESSON 5: ANDREA’S THREE GRADIENTS
1. What I learned doing this assignment:
This stage cannot be rushed. Laying this part out has enabled me to see the ebb and flow of the story beats – and whether they escalate or not to a satisfying and deep conclusion. I had to reach deep into my heart for this…as I imagine I will need to keep doing until this is done and dusted. I added an emotional beat that made sense for my character’s development.
I am not ashamed to say this process made me cry more than once.
Transformational Logline:
A neurotic mid-age writer whose main characters of her graphic novel have gone missing / must journey to her subconscious mind through hypnosis where she is immersed in her sci-fi YA story to face and heal from traumatic memories / so she can become whole and invisible, and create a reality beyond her dreams
2. Emotional Gradient:
** Desired Change
· EXCITEMENT:
Action: Jill has the opportunity to have her graphic novel published. Although she is daunted when her characters go missing, she is relieved to try the mysterious technique of quantum hypnosis to delve into her imagination – where she must commit to uncertainty.
Challenge/Weakness –
C. having to put aside personal control
W. Ignorance
· DOUBT:
Action: Within the subconscious trance Jill is faced with a dark, subterranean scene that is clearly not of this world – in this realm she’s a poor orphan, hungry, 18 yo and dependent on strangers to help her. She is deceived (betrayed) by a man who lays food out – but it’s a trap…. she is corralled by weird looking aliens and carted onto a spaceship with other misfit children. Acts out in anger and violence in an effort to escape the ship.
Challenge / Weakness:
C: being trafficked by space beings
W: Powerlessness
· HOPE:
Action: Jill discovers she has heightened but limited psychic abilities: i.e., sees energy fields, can communicate telepathically, has intuition of what to do next, pre-qualified to operate a consciousness-assisted space craft (marginally)…intel that emboldens her to form a plan of escape. She grudgingly accepts a co-escapee to support her.
Challenge/ Weakness:
C: Tries to activate a giant toddler through telepathy as a distraction for when she and her friend Pal try to get away in a space craft.
W: Her anxiety appears to get her friend killed.
· DISCOURAGEMENT:
Action: Jill finds herself on a strange planet and immediately is drawn into rescuing a young girl from being dismembered – only to lose her own arm and be tasked as this girl’s bodyguard. This planet is controlled by manipulative reptilian’s who hide behind a disguise of being human-like – these are the girl’s elite family.
Challenge/ Weakness:
C: Jill, who now looks just like her character Skyler, must learn from the girl (Ami) how to vibrationally outsmart the reptile people so they can escape. Skyler tries to enhance her psychic abilities to operate a consciousness-assisted space craft – but realizes her repressed anger impedes progress.
W. Self-doubt
· REVELATION:
Action: Ami’s influence on Skyler grows – along with trust and acceptance and a greater ability to feel joy and love. Ami discovers she is to be wed to one of the reptilian families for advancement of their species – Skyler abandons her old isolationist mentality and escalates her self-mastery training to fly them out of there.
Challenge/ Weakness
C: Skyler must overcome her lower vibrational habits such as negative self-talk in order to lift off.
W: Self-sabotage
· COURAGE:
Action: Jill – having witnessed Skyler and Ami die in her session because Skyler got triggered by the one who betrayed her (Snow Blinder) – awakens out of trance and runs out upset before getting debriefed.
After having a bad dream that night where Jill is shown a possible future life on this trajectory (problem unresolved) where it’s much worse than dying – she resolves to go back into a trance and replay the scenario over to look for a new perspective (for Skyler).
Challenge/ Weakness:
C: Making sense of the trauma and the feelings she is faced with, not realizing these are hers (as opposed to her character Skyler)
W: Dissociation
· TRIUMPH OR LOSS:
Action: Jill – inside the hypnosis session – visits the betraying character (Snow Blinder) and gains a new perspective she is eager to convey to Skyler. Skyler violently rejects this so-called rational point of view and wreaks havoc – threatening to undo all the gains she has made over her refusal to let this anger go. Ami arrives on the scene soothing Skyler.
Jill realizes then that Ami and Skyler are the source of connection for her: Skyler is her shadow – Ami is her intuition and after completely surrendering and breaking down with grief over holding this anger in for so long, integrates all the parts back together.
Challenge/ Weakness
C: Convincing her shadow Skyler that she is worthy and can be given a new role in Jill’s life.
W. Undeserving –
Finale:
Old belief “We were abandoned – and therefore unloved!” ->
New belief: “We can fly from this new place of wholeness – together as a team.”
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Paulette L. Harris What I learned about this assignment is: A natural progression that goes from bad to worse until character “gets it” and wants to change for the better…or worse!
1: Gradient is forced change
2: Emotion is Denial of failure and excitement of a new environment
3: Move to a new church in a new state.
4: Challenge is hope and overconfident.
1: Satan starts to use other people to dis-agree with him, he is questioning and defending himself, Satan is using his mirror and becoming bolder in showing himself/Ink. Pastor Don becomes double-minded and fear begins to creep in.
2: He begins to divide the body…especially the men from the women.
3: challenge, how to defend himself and his vision.
1: Fear
2: Begins to drink alcohol.
3: Try to keep members from leaving the body of Christ as things begin to unfold in the public arena.
The remaining members have stayed and prayed for the family, the church body wins with God’s help and Satan loses his bet.
4: Pastor Don loses church…forced retirement…he has still not learned his lesson but as he stops on a trip, he has a heart attack. He runs into his assistant pastor who left the church long before Pastor retired. Luckiely, he is ministered to and learns the truth as he is truly saved by repenting and learning to pray and fight the enemy of his soul.
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Susan A. Willard’s Three Gradients
What I learned doing this assignment is that The Oppression and the Betrayal are important to the Gradient of Change.
I also learned that different Transformational Characters may have different pathways in the overall Gradient of Change.
What is the
Emotional Gradient you’ll use?Forced Emotional Gradient of Change
For each emotion
of that gradient, tell us the following:Lead Transformational Character: Grandpa ~ 70 years old Gradient of Change:
B. Action: Grandpa, at a Dementia, to try to find his homeless friend who is missing. He checks in for a check up to get more information. He fails at all attempts.
C. Challenge: To find his friend who is missing, or information to lead him to his friend.
D. Weakness: Impulsive, Lying, and Frustrated
A. Emotion: Anger
C. Challenge: To think clearly and find ways to help his friend and find out where his friend has gone
D. Weakness: Impatient, Persistently Aggressive
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A. Emotion: Bargaining
B. Action: In his pursuit, he tries a different tactic of action (data collection), while discussing his dilemma with people, but there is confusion. Walter tries to entice (bargaining with) them to help him if he can show evidence or information about his allegations. They neither accept nor reject. He is dismissed. He fails repeatedly.
C. Challenge: To find help in pursuing his lost friend.
D. Weakness: Desperate, Unprepared for the crisis, unorganized, and not listening to others.
A. Emotion: Anger / Doubt
B. Action: After trying everything he can think of Walter becomes angry and fills with doubt about the situation. His grandson is now with him for the summer, and he sees nothing he can do.
C. Challenge: To reevaluate the situation for ways to find something out about his friend.
D. Weakness: Fear and Strong-willed
A. Emotion: Bargaining
B. Action: Grandpa and grandson begin to strike out in an agreement of beliefs and actions, because both are determined to find out what happened to Grandpa’s friend.
C. Challenge: To work with and trust his grandson to help him with his investigation.
D. Weakness: Lack of Confidence in himself, his grandson, and their working together.
A. Emotion: Depression
B. Action: As grandpa and grandson, they plan actions, and find demanding situations, failing in their purpose each time. They trudge on until they are completely overwhelmed and depressed. They are stymied and sit to talk and reevaluate everything that has happened. All is lost.
C. Challenge: To overcome their depression and fear to move forward and see what can be done.
D. Weakness: He is not prepared for this. Unforgiving of himself for being too old, and not being able to do more.
A. Emotion: Acceptance
B. Action: Finally, acceptance comes, grandpa sees that he, nor his grandson, cannot solve the mystery of grandpa’s missing friend. They need help.
C. Challenge: To find out what type of help they will get and continue or accept the current outcome of not knowing.
D. Weakness: Need to be more involved in the reality around them, and participate with the community they live in.
Second Transformational Character: Grandson ~ 17 years old Gradient of Change
A. Emotion: Denial
B. Action: While going to grandpa’s house, grandson calls grandpa to tell him that he (grandson) has new prosthetics that must be broken-in for wearing routinely, and while talking to grandpa, finds out that grandpa’s friend is missing. He is also friends with the missing man.
C. Challenge: To find out how grandpa’s missing friend will affect his visit over the summer with grandpa.
D. Weakness: Self-centric and concerned for his summer vacation
A. Emotion: Anger
B. Action: While being dropped off at grandpa’s house for the summer, discussions happen that he does not fully understand. He offers to help, and participate, but declined. He is left to listen, becomes concerned and angry.
C. Challenge: To find a way to show everyone he is a valuable help in this situation.
D. Weakness: Being invisible and helpless
A. Emotion: Bargaining
B. Action Being confused and frustrated, he begins to discuss ways that he could become helpful, but over and over he fails. He finally decides to work on his own to become helpful to grandpa’s quest.
C. Challenge: To listen, to learn, to find clues, to apply his critical thinking skills.
D. Weakness: Stubborn, does not like conflict, and strong willed.
A. Emotion: Anger / Doubt
B. Action: He doubts that the problem will be solved, and he anger drives him to discuss the whole situation with grandpa. He doubts what will be the outcome, but acts to find clues, and hopes they join efforts.
C. Challenge: To produce ways that the two can work together to solve the mystery.
D. Weakness: Fear, Lack of Confidence, Uncertainty
A. Emotion: Bargaining
B. Action: He doubts that the problem will be solved, and he anger drives him to discuss the whole situation with grandpa. He doubts what will be the outcome, but acts to find clues, and hopes they join efforts.
C. Challenge: To produce ways that the two can work together to solve the mystery.
D. Weakness: Fear, Lack of Confidence, Uncertainty
A. Emotion: Depression
B. Action: Working together seems to be a significant effort for more failure. After he has done all that he seems he can do, all he wants is to help grandpa to feel better. He needs help, to help grandpa.
C. Challenge: To forget about himself, and to focus on getting grandpa and finding his friend.
D. Weakness: Overwhelmed, and guarded
A. Emotion: Acceptance
B. Action: Finally, he sees that grandpa and himself have done as much as they can do. He reviews all the actions, and results of their efforts with grandpa, and hopes they will find a way to bring things to an end.
C. Challenge: To work collaborate and come to an agreement with grandpa what will be the end of the quest for his friend.
D. Weakness: He needs to learn to think before he speaks or jumps into trouble. He needs to think of others first, and appreciate, care for, love, and be more understanding to his family and community.
Third Transformational Character: Son ~ 45 years old Gradient of Change
A. Emotion: Denial
B. Action: Grandpa’s Son does not understand the chaos of what is happening. His dad is not home to take possession of his disabled grandson for the summer vacation. The call and find out he is at the Dementia clinic because an old homeless friend is missing. This cannot be happening when he must leave immediately on an important business trip.
D. Weakness: Self-focused, and financially focused, with a careless work/live balance
A. Emotion: Anger
B. Action: He cannot control the situation, between the people at the clinic, his son and his dad, the situation escalates.
C. Challenge: To leave for a business trip or risk being late at the loss of money.
D. Weakness: Thinking of financial security always first, self-interested first.
A. Emotion: Bargaining
B. Action: As he leaves his family, he begins to spout shallow and open promises that do not help the situation, because he thinks it will help, then he leaves for his business trip.
C. Challenge: To ease the situation anyway possible and leave.
D. Weakness: Unwilling to listen, preoccupied, and stressed
A. Emotion: Depression
B. Action: Driving to and throughout the business trip, he starts feeling the situation back at home, and calls both his dad and son, but does not get through, and when he does get to talk to one of them, he cannot logically understand the conversations. He is truly in the dark of the happenings. He cannot do a thing about it.
C. Challenge: To keep calling until he is sure they are doing well, and he understands what the situation they are in is all about.
D. Weakness: Guilt, Worry, Frustration
A. Emotion: Depression / Doubt
B. Action: He begins to doubt his actions of leaving his family. He is in the darkest place of not knowing what they are doing, or what he finds when he gets home.
C. Challenge: To keep himself together, until he can get to his dad’s house and help them through whatever is happening.
D. Weakness: Regret, criticizing himself, and fearful
A. Emotion: Acceptance
B. Action: Driving home he wrestles with himself and decides that he will work to build a better work/life balance for the sake of all his family. He anticipates getting home and helping them.
C. Challenge: To get to his dad’s, put the needs of his father and his son first, then take some time off, even the summer with them both.
D. Weakness: To build real relationships with his son and his dad. He also realizes that he can do a better job with interaction with friends and the community.
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Gordon Roback The Profound Screenplay Assignment Five
What I learned: The big breakthrough for me came with the new ending where Monroe plans to launch a class action lawsuit against the Insurance company using Frank’s case as a precedent. I had originally planned to end with an ironic ending where after four years of litigation and a major victory of a new record in punitive damages the $3 billion a year insurance company is basically given a minor ticket. This will give the audience more satisfaction to think that Monroe will now hit them for hundreds of millions of dollars.
For Scorched Earth I’ll use the action gradient.
Monroe
agrees to take the case and at first it is exciting. Then his office isturned upside down as he prepares for a six week trial. He rushes to court only to have the lawyers for the insurance company ask and receive an adjournment for no reason other than to delay him. He experiences both anger and frustration as the trial is put off for another six months. Needless to say, the clients are really upset.
Once they get into court in what becomes an eight week trial the high priced lawyers for the insurance company really give him the gears. He wonders if he can pull it off. They are Rhodes scholars and he graduated last in his class and they constantly belittle and insult him. Then the jury awards him everything he asked for and more and he feels elation.
However, the layers for the Empire GTA Insurance company plan to appeal which means further delays and more work. This pops his bubble.
The clients bicker among themselves and then the marriage falls apart. Margaret announces she is withdrawing from the litigation, leaving Monroe in the lurch. After everything he sacrificed and all the work he invested in the case it is all going to fall apart. Monroe sells the timber on his only asset in order to buy Margaret out so the case can continue.
The legal gunslingers send their paperwork for the upcoming trial and they have found two cases which will blow Monroe out of the water. In a panic he visits his old law professor who tells him to stop thinking like a cop and think like a lawyer. The precedents have weight but they are not fatal to his case. There are other cases which support his position.
Monroe argues before the Court of Appeal and the $1 million jury award for punitive damages is reduced to $100,000. This is a real blow. However the Appeal court rejects the insurance company’s request for a voided jury verdict and a new trial. The award for the full amount of the insurance coverage plus a special separate award for his legal costs still stands. And the Court split two to one on the reduction in punitive damages decision.
A hotshot lawyer meets with Frank (the client) and tells him Monroe is out of his depth arguing before the Supreme Court. Frank tells the high priced lawyer he is sticking with Monroe. How do you tear up a handshake? Monroe feels a lot better discovering that Frank has faith in him.
The gunslinger lawyers request the Supreme court eliminate the order for punitive damages and order a new trial. They warn that if the punitive damages award is allowed to stand many current policy holders will not be able to get fire insurance and those that do will pay far higher premiums.
The Supreme Court reinstates the $1 million award in punitive damages and rejects all the other motions. The case is front page news across the country and Monroe is flavour of the month. But to Monroe it is a pyrrhic victory since a million dollar fine is barely a speed bump to a three billion dollar a year corporation with profits of $700 million a year.
Monroe decides to rustle up the many other clients who were intimidated into accepting a pittance of their fire insurance coverage and hit the insurance company with a class action lawsuit using Frank’s case as a precedent. .This will knock the wind out of the insurance company’s sails since the quantum will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. And Monroe will get 1/3 of the award.
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Mary Godwin’s Three Gradients
What I learned from this lesson:
1 That I still have a long way to go to make all the elements of my story coherent – I only covered on aspect in this assignment.
2 That if I use the definition of gradient = incline then the procession of behavior become with each change how “inclined” is the character to do the behavior that will be necessary to get to the outcome of the story?
To avoid financial destitution a woman who’s never kept a promise must (reluctantly) hold accountable those who have broken promises to her until she discovers the real answer lies in first keeping her promise to herself.
Forced Gradient seems to be more in line with my story idea:
Denial – She denies that her financial crisis is as bad as it really is. The action gradient would be her preparation to inherit from her mother enough to solve her crisis. The challenge would be finding out there’s nothing to inherit. Her “old ways” of just working for a living is challenged when she’s wrongfully fired from her job.
Anger – Her long-suppressed anger (losing everything in her divorce) merges with her newfound anger (job loss and no inheritance) and wells up inside her as a perfect storm at how unfair life has been to her. The challenge would be finding the courage to stand up to those who wronged her. Her old way would be to just let it go and take the hit. Now, she more “inclined” to do something.
Bargaining – She contacts a lawyer to file a violation of FMLA suit. Challenge would be trying to separate past wounds from current ones so as to not erupt and look appear “crazy” in court which was her weakness in family court as she was losing – she kept breaking down in court.
Depression – Lawyer says it’s an uphill battle and will take a lot of work on her part to prove the case. She even considers suicide as a possible “retirement” plan – a weakness. Challenge would be finding the energy to push forward.
Acceptance – She accepts that she doesn’t have the energy or desire or faith to fight in court and doubles down on her writing. {Change agent comes into play here?} The challenge gradient would be her inept grammar skills (yes, I’m pointing my finger at me – they don’t come natural to me) – change agent helps here too. The new writer “her” emerges.
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Bill Southwell’s Three Gradients
What I learned from this assignment is that the transforming character must respond emotionally to circumstances thrust upon them.
“Forced Change” Emotional Gradient
Charis learns the doctor’s diagnosis: rheumatoid arthritis.
A. Emotion: “Here I am more depressed I guess than I have ever been.” DEPRESSION . “The doctor seems to think that I have rheumatoid arthritis.” DENIAL “I know that regardless of what the doctor thinks I have won’t make any difference.B. Action: “But the awful truth is that my elbows are already stiff so I can’t straighten them out all the way.” ACCEPTANCE “I was very brave when he told me and I decided at once to forget my own life and become a nuclear physicist or something and devote my life to my country and my science. At least my brain won’t be crippled.C. Challenge/Weakness: “Now I am not so brave.” DOUBTS “Once I saw a picture of a girl with rheumatoid arthritis on the front page of a newspaper. She was in a wheelchair and she was getting married. It was that unusual.”A. Emotion: “I am speaking very bitterly but I guess I have to get it off my chest.” ANGERB. Action: “I see no reason why it should happen to others and not to me but it’s hard to resign yourself to the fact that you have a crippling disease for which there is not only no cure but no help at all.” ACCEPTANCEC. Challenge/Weakness: “I just listened to a revival on the radio. I just tuned to it accidentally. As much as such things are frowned on by the church I guess I needed that message more than anyone. It was about healing and not to seek God’s healing for your own purpose but for his work. It talked about repentance. I guess I kind of needed that. I don’t know whether the devil or the Lord is sponsoring such things but if it was the devil I guess he must made a mistake because it’s done me some good.” HOPEA. Emotion: “My rheumatism has been worse but is better today except for my wrist which makes writing difficult. I hope to be back in school by thanksgiving. HOPEB. Action: “Oh I must have faith. It has been so hard lately and yet I guess I’ve learned more than ever before.” DETERMINATIONC. Challenge/Weakness: “God will give me healing. I know it and yet I keep doubting. Oh if I could just keep faith I would be so happy.” DOUBT
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