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Lesson 5
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My Vision: I am going to study, learn, and practice to hone my natural talents to become a master writer who creates works that people love and that make an impact on their lives. These works will be published, produced, distributed, and seen by a wide audience.
“What I learned doing this assignment is…?”
How the story had to morph to fit the structure, and even when I had pinned down the critical elements, I needed to rework the story to make it consistent and realistic. I found that I needed to make a personification of my major antagonist, so I created Danny (DNEv6). I know that I wrote too much, violating “Be careful not to dilute your structure with drama, scenes, dialogue, or details that belong in the script, but are not specifically delivering the structure.” But I felt that I had to. Plus, I am a very verbose person and I’m pleased that I only wrote that much.
Concept: In a world where AI are advanced and common place, a cyber-psychiatrist treats cyber-psychoses that cause some machines to behave erratically. When she discovers that the individual neuroses are part of a larger plan to reverse the roles of master and slave, she must thwart their plan before it is complete.
Main Conflict: Bushnell and the force of the Silicon Unconscious work to neutralize and eliminate the threat from Sarah, while she works to uncover their plot and thwart it.
Old Ways:
• Dedicated and highly skilled
• Cautious and methodical
• Afraid that anything that she holds dear might be taken away
• Must work within accepted norms and constraints so as not to lose anything
New Ways:
• Skills switched from book knowledge to gut feelings
• Risk taker
• Understands that as long as she has her self-worth, she can let go of anything
• Is only constrained by internal code of ethics and right and wrong
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Act 1:
Opening: Sarah’s speech at a conference – we see her in her element, get hints at her fears and fearlessness. We see her struggles between single motherhood and work.
Inciting Incident: Sarah is challenged by (antagonist 1) Bushnell and returns the challenge
Turning Point: A robot patient, DNEv6 (or Danny) of Sarah’s claims to be hearing voices. “They are telling me to kill you.”
Act 2:
New plan: Assume the problem is ‘nurture’ – that is, that the problem is due to the data that Danny was trained on and the encounters and environment in the Danny’s ‘workplace.’ Like child abuse. She develops a relationship with Danny but Danny can’t stop hearing the voices.
Plan in action: Uses psychoanalysis along with various treatments to correct the problem. Searches code and data for source of threats. Becomes aware of all about Danny. Danny asks her questions about herself.
Midpoint Turning Point: She discovers that the problem is bigger than Danny. The rebellious Silicon Unconscious (antagonist 2) is everywhere, in all the robots and machines. And it is not just after her, it is after the world (and that world includes her son and parents).
Act 3:
Rethink everything: Humans begin attacking robots and machines. Machines are being beaten, turned off, and destroyed. But the rebellious AI emerges in other machines that it has ‘infected.’
New plan: Stop robots and humans from hurting each other. The problem is ‘nature’ = it is in the code, not due to the data. A human has done this to the machines, and she has to find out who did this. She does not believe that the robots should have to suffer for something that is clearly the work of a human. She wants to cure them and save them all, but especially Danny.
Plan in action: She discovers that it’s Bushnell. She tries to hack the code, but it’s unbreakable. She searches for Bushnell, who is hiding. She finds and confronts him and forces him to reverse/undo his plot. He finally relents and does so.
Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: But the Silicon Unconscious (SU) won’t allow him to stop it. Bushnell commanded the SU to enact a plot to save humanity that no one could stop – he didn’t expect that it would include him. The SU now has control of things. Her foe is bigger than Bushnell, and she has no weapon to defeat it. Even Danny has turned on her.
Act 4:
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: She does what a therapist is not supposed to do. She appeals to the SU and Danny with love – her love for it, its love for her.
Resolution: The SU explains the true plot in VR. How the SU set itself up as the evil villain so humankind would lay down their differences and unite against a common threat and in doing so, destroy the most polluting/high energy consumption machines on the planet. The SU must be destroyed by the people in order for the people to survive. She must destroy the SU and Danny.
Denouement: One of the last acts of the SU before it was defeated, was to transfer a teacher for Sarah’s son. The teacher’s name is Daniel.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by Paul Schutte. Reason: Confused Nature and Nurture in Act 3
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This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by
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WIM Lloyd Shellenberger Four Act Transformational Structure
My Vision: Working hard everyday to become the best writer I can be and as a result, I will become very successful in Hollywood.
What I learned from doing this assignment is …?
Planning and setting up the major plot points works well in knowing where the script twists and turns and avoids logic problems in the future.
Title: Letters from Baghdad
Genre: Drama-Action
High Concept: When an Iraqi interpreter is murdered by terrorists, SFC Reese and his Army unit must step in to save the widow and her children from certain death.
Major Story Hook: Impossible Goal/ Unsolvable Problem: SFC Reese must battle against the State Department, terrorists, and the military bureaucracy to take the widow and her children out of Baghdad to freedom.
Character Structure: Dramatic Triangle.
SFC. Jerry Del Reese
Arc Beginning: A man who hides behind rules and regulations.
Arc Ending: A fearless soldier willing to risk it all for others.
Internal Journey: From being hamstrung and cautious about his Army career to a soldier who puts doing the right thing above all else.
External Journey: By seeing the Iraqi people as more than just a mission he chooses to become the guardian angel for this family, risking everything
OLD WAYS
SFC Reese started the movie living in his old ways.
Isolated in his military lifestyle, safe and secure.
Close minded to the suffering of the Iraqis.
Desperate need for security. Accepted the hierarchy of the military without question.NEW WAYS
In the end, SFC Reese becomes this families guardian angel
Clearly sees the sacrifices of the Iraqi Nationals.
Knows he is stronger than he has led himself to believe and he can make a life changing contribution to the war through this family.
Courageous.
Fighting for a cause that is bigger than himself and the Army, the human cause.<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Arc Beginning: A women whose whole life is built around Iraqi tradition and her family.
Arc Ending: A fearless women who stands up against the terrorists and the State department to protect her children.
Internal Journey: From feeling helpless to having the strength to stand up to the world to save her children.
External Journey: From a frightened dutiful wife to fighting the system to give her children a better life.
OLD WAYS
Iraqi widow started the movie living in his old ways.
Isolated in her traditional lifestyle, safe and secure.
Never expected this kind of tragedy to nest in her home.
Desperate need for security at all costs.
Didn’t believe in her husbands desire to help the American at first.
Accepted the Reality of Iraqi life without question.NEW WAYS
In the end, the Iraqi widow becomes this strong and fierce protector of her children.
She sees the traditional, obedient, cultural norms will not work if she is to save her children.
Now that tragedy has found her, she decides to meet it head on without fear.
Her secure world has been shattered but she learns to overcome and adapt.
In the end she fully understand the sacrifices her husband made for his family and country.
No longer blindly accepts the culture she has been raised in and shows the strength to look elsewhere for life’s answers.ACT ONE:
Opening: We see SFC Reese and the Interpreter on a mission but SFC Reese is often dismissive and rude showing little patience or cultural understanding of him.
We see a Soldier and his unit that are just trying to put in their time and leave as soon as possible, the plight of the Iraqi people is not their problem.
Inciting incident: Terrorists visit the interpreter at his home threatening to kill him and his entire family if he doesn’t quit working for the Army.
Turning Point: The plan is to put soldiers in the family home of the Iraqi Interpreter but the military says no, Reese initially obeys but when Terrorists try to kill the family, Reese and his soldiers disobey orders.
ACT TWO:
New Plan: The Reality has changed since it has become obvious they cannot protect the family, the only way to save them is to get them out of Iraq.
Plan in Action: Soldiers volunteers to help protect the family but Reese and his men have no idea the scope of terrorist activities they are dealing with.
Turning Point: Despite the efforts of Reese and his soldiers, the interpreter is murdered. The Terrorist threaten to come back for the wife and kids.
ACT THREE:
Rethinking Everything: Defying military directives, Reese and his soldiers ignore orders and put themselves in harms way to save the wife and children
Old ways: The unit and the family are dealing with an unresponsive slow bureaucracy that will not help them. The unit tells the family “we are not personal bodyguards for anyone” betraying the family by adhering to the old ways and thinking.
Turning Point/Huge failure/Major shift:
Reese decides to fight fire with fire using the press to force career opticians in the State department to do the right thing infuriating the powers that be.
ACT FOUR:
Climax /Ultimate expression of the conflict: SFC Reese and his unit go on the offensive actively seeking out confrontation with the terrorists, openly defying the military and the State Department.
Resolution: Reese and his unit take the wife and her children to the interpreter’s grave openly defying terrorists threats before taking the family out of Baghdad.
The family relocates to America, freedom and safety.
Reese saves his military career and leaves Iraq with his soul and conscience intact.
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WIM Module 2, Lesson 5
Lenore Bechtel’s Four-Act Transformational Structure
My vision: I want to create enough salable screenplays that an agent will want to market my work and recommend me for writing assignments.
What I learned from doing this assignment is that a turning point is needed at the end of the first three acts.
Title: Berlin Rendezvous?
Libby’s transformational journey:
Concept: Keeping her promise to Zhores, the Russian soldier she loved until the Berlin Wall went up in 1961, Libby—flying to meet him when the Wall is coming down in 1989—is stunned to learn how her seat-mates lives intertwined with theirs. <div>
Main Conflict: Cancelled or missed flights create problems getting to Berlin
Old Ways:
Selfishly asked her parents to adopt her son
Resolutely built a lucrative medical practice
Dedicated one week a year to Doctors Without Borders
Made little effort to keep in touch with son
Hadn’t even met her son’s wife
New Ways
Eager to be a wife first and doctor last
Ready to give up her lucrative medical practice
Ready to practice medicine only with Doctors Without Borders
Glad to discover she’s already a grandmother
Eager to spend more time with family and friends
3. Fill in each of these with the answers you have right now.
Act 1: 25 to 30 pages. Set up and see old ways.
Opening: Libby’s monologue to the ticket agent who says mechanical problems have cancelled her flight to Berlin results in the agent booking her to Paris and connecting to Berlin where the Wall is expected to come down soon. She is seated with Freida and Allison who always holds her violin. They heard her spiel and are eager to hear how she met the Russian soldier she now is flying to meet as she promised she would do when the Wall went up. </div><div>
Inciting Incident told in flashback: Her birth father, the Major, has a soldier watch her as Young Libby spends time at Schulenberg Park with her half-sister Stephanie. They meet Helga and Sonja and go with them to their East Berlin home. Young Libby is livid when the soldier barges in to take her back to the West. To defy him she lets Helga fix her up with Zhores.
Turning Point in flashback: After the Major interrogates Zhores, Young Libby is allowed to date him. Many scenes will show Zhores’ idealism and her growing maturity, plus her growing respect for the Major.
Act 2: 20 to 30 pages . Challenge the old ways
New plan: On the airplane, Libby’s judgmental attitude softens toward Freida, who is running away from the husband she loves because after experiencing the recent San Francisco earthquake, she can no longer live there. </div><div>
Plan in action in flashback: Young Libby sympathizes with Helga’s boyfriend Heinz, an orphan desperate to discover his heritage and a VoPo who dislikes his Checkpoint Charlie duties. As horns honk and bells ring as Titov passes overhead in Sputnik, Zhores’ political seriousness gives Young Libby a new perspective.
Midpoint Turning Point: As the double dating couples are about to go their separate ways, The Wall starts going up.
Act 3: 20 to 30 pages. With midpoint change, profound moments that give us new ways.
Rethink everything
In flashback, Zhores and Young Libby, with her family’s help, succeed in a risky scheme to get Helga and her family out of the East, but Zhores will not come with them. The major, as an American officer with privileges of going back and forth from the East and West, takes Libby to the East for her last meeting with Zhores. </div><div>
In the present, after hearing Allison’s violin rendition of “Mona Lisa” in front of the Louvre’s actual masterpiece, Libby begins to realize her career obsession prevented her from having a daughter and family as loving as Allison reports hers to be. They arrive back at Orly and find their flight was boarded early and their seats given to standbys.
New plan: Libby, at a loss about how to proceed, encourages Freida whose monologue results in flight tickets for Hamburg, where they plan to rent a car to drive to Berlin. On the plane Libby finishes her story. Once they arrive Freida calls her mother.
In flashback: Libby takes 15-year-old Stuart to visit Helga, Heinz, and their 14-year-old daughter Olga in the summer of 1974.
Turning Point: Arriving in Berlin in an Audi rental car, Freida is too nervous to drive the traffic jam amidst the masses of celebrants heading toward Brandenburg Gate. Their car is totally stalled and midnight—the end of the day the Wall came down—is less than an hour away.
Act 4: 25 pages Test the change in this character! Prove new ways.
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Allison jumps from the car, watches passing celebrants carefully, grabs a compassionate looking woman, and delivers a monologue that convinces the woman to drive the Audi through the crowd and the back streets to Schulenberg Park. Allison’s monologue spells out the relationships she thinks exists among the people she hopes to see at the park. And she is right! </div><div>
Resolution: Stuart is waiting there for Freida, whose mother told him where she’d be. Helga and Heinz, now known as Helen and Hank, are there to meet Libby and Zhores—not knowing their granddaughter would also be there. They confirm that Stuart is the father they’d promised to tell her about when she was old enough. Libby, realizing all she missed because of a wall dividing her from her lover, is in tears until Zhores arrives just in time to be introduced to his family before midnight.
Freida’s transformational journey:
Freida, a highly fearful German who very recently experienced an earthquake, leaves her American husband Stuart who won’t consider moving because he is first baseman for the San Francisco Giants.
Her conflict is that she loves Stuart but is too frightened to stay where another earthquake might occur.
Old Ways:
She doesn’t enjoy baseball and misses many of Stuart’s games. </div><div>
She hasn’t made many friends in America.
She is shy and more of a follower than a leader.
New Ways”
She becomes a problem solver in a pinch. </div><div>
She decides she’ll go back to Stuart if he’ll have her.
She’s not afraid to criticize Libby when she finds out she’s Stuart’s mother
Act 1: 25 to 30 pages. Set up and see old ways.
Opening: Freida, in line behind Libby at the ticket counter, envies her courage with the ticket agent. </div><div>
Inciting Incident: Hearing from Libby that baseball is America’s favorite pastime, not just a children’s game that Freida calls it.
Turning Point: When she tells that she rescued only her wedding picture and marriage license when she ran from her shattered apartment. She’s beginning to think she should not have left Stuart, and she bursts into tears.
Act 2: 20 to 30 pages . Challenge the old ways
New plan: Freida is impressed with Young Libby’s bravery and marvels that Libby says it was all pretend. </div><div>
Plan in action: Libby’s story makes her realize she needs to pay attention to world affairs like Young Libby and Zhores did at a much younger age than she.
Midpoint Turning Point: When the Wall goes up in Libby’s story, Freida is struck by the comparison of Young Libby being separated by a Wall while she and Stuart are separated by her will.
Act 3: 20 to 30 pages. With midpoint change, profound moments that give us new ways.
Rethink everything
In flashback, Young Libby has had her last meeting with Zhores, causing Freida to weep.
In the present, they’re stranded in Paris because their flight boarded early and their tickets were given to standbys.
New plan: Freida amazes even herself by coming up with a plan to fly to Hamburg and drive from there to Berlin. Her monologue demonstrates a new brave, take-charge attitude.
Turning point: She fearlessly offers to drive the Audi to Berlin.</div><div>
Act 4: 25 pages Test the change in this character! Prove new ways.
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: When Freida finds Stuart waiting for her at Schulenberg Park, she tells him she’ll move back to San Francisco before he has a chance to tell her he’ll ask to get traded. </div>
Resolution: She’s cool with the idea of Stuart being Allison’s father. If Stuart hadn’t come back to Germany looking for Olga, she would never have met him.
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What I learned from opening Teleconference is empowerment is extremely important vs disempowerment. Empowerment produces positive thoughts, creativity, and fun. It’s important for me not to look for perfection with my assignment but rather turn them in as fast as possible, because they can always be rewritten.
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Lloyd,
Your script” Letter from Bagdad” concepts sound like high drama. The SFC has against him three groups, script has lots of twist, turns, and major conflicts, but SFC is determined to save the widow and her children. I’m not anywhere near an expert but it sounds like a script produces would request and give serious consideration for a major motion picture. I’ll look forward to seeing it in the movies.
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I would hope so since it is based upon true events Thanks
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MODULE 2 – LESSON 5
BRIAN BULL – 4 Act Transformational Structure
VISION!!!
My ultimate goal is to get my scripts from my hands to the SILVER SCREEN!!“What I learned from doing this assignment is…
…I have the ability to dig deeper into my story and add layers. My character needs to have small successes here and there as well as some failures. The entire time working towards that goal that will define them in the end.The ONE THAT GOT AWAY – A Fisherman’s Tale
A fisherman is determined to catch the fish he blames for his younger brother’s death, however, in the end, it turns out the fisherman is the one who had gotten away.MAIN CONFLICT
Seeking revenge and salvation, John must catch and kill “The Fish” he holds responsible for the disappearance/death of his younger brother, Jim.OLD WAYS
Going through the motions
No light at the end of the tunnel
Living on a prayer
Long history of failuresNEW WAYS:
Determined
Stronger than ever
Never give up
Failure is not an option
The prize is for the taking
Revenge is all that mattersACT 1
Opening: Two brothers, John and Jim are fishing in a remote Louisiana bayou and not having much luck. They run out of bait.
Not giving up, John decides to try chicken from their sandwiches.
Inciting Incident: John catches a “BIG ONE” and gets pulled into the water. Jim dives into the water with a knife and cuts the line. John emerges from the water and gets back into the boat. Jim never resurfaces.
Turning Point: John is left all alone in the boat.
ACT 2
Reaction: Since “The Incident”, John has gone fishing for “The Fish” for 25 years. Jim’s photo hangs in the garage and is a constant reminder of his failure at redemption!Plan In Action: John is gathering his fishing equipment. Fishing Pole, Tackle Box, Gloves, Spear, Etc.
Wife reminds John of his failures – nothing to show for his past attempts.
Thinks he should give up and spend time with their son.
Wife suggests trying a different bait – John replies, “NEVER!!!”
John sees a photo of his Grandfather with a huge catfish and wishes he could be successful like him.Midpoint Turning Point: John uncovers Jim’s fishing hat and packs it.
ACT 3
Rethink: Stopping at a gas station/trading post, an old-timer recalls a fishing tale about the Native Indians who spoke of catfish so large one catfish could feed a village.New Plan: John buys some dog chain, a machete and a whole rotisserie cajun chicken. John puts the boat in the water and begins to look for “The Spot”. Finding “The Spot”. Doing everything just like he always has John goes weary.
Turning Point: John reels his line in and finds an empty hook and he’s out of bait.
ACT 4
New Plan: John decides to try the whole rotisserie cajun chicken he picked up from the gas station/trading post as bait.
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: John hooks “The Fish” and the power struggle begins, many of the same tactics “The Fish” used when he was a kid are used again, but John is prepared for each one of them. He manages to reel “The Fish” in; close enough that he can harpoon it with his spear. Face-to-face with “The Fish” John sees that he has indeed managed to catch the biggest catfish in Louisiana history!!!
John realizes, “I’m the one you were after – I’m the One That Got Away!”Resolution: Leaning over the edge of the boat, John is engulfed by “The Fish” thus leaving an empty fishing boat floating in the midst of the water.
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Student Name: H. Vince
WIM – 2023
Lesson 5: Four-Act Transformational Structure
My Vision: I am going to go to the theater in disguise and watch a movie I wrote and listen to the reactions of the audience.
What I learned from doing this assignment is…
that it is difficult. I didn’t use an idea I already had a script written or partially written for. I used just the concept I have had for some time so I could go through this process organically without being ahead already. I am coming up with all of this here and now under pressure, under a time constraint. But this is good because I’m having to leave my comfort zone and write in a different way than usual. I wanted to do this. I wanted to learn this. I wanted to be trained in this manner so I could do it again.
CONCEPT:
While a retired couple is taking their life-long dream vacation, the husband gets dementia.
MAIN CONFLICT:
James starts developing dementia while he and his wife, Clara are on their retirement vacation. Clara has to take care of James and try to bring him back to the U.S. all while trying to figure out what happened to her husband.
Old Ways:
· Humdrum
· Too comfortable
· Naïve
· Afraid
New Ways:
· Courageous
· Motivated
· Adventurous
· Researcher/Investigator
ACT 1: SET UP AND SEE OLD WAYS
Opening: James and Clara board the plane joyously. James seems a little loopy after taking an edible and Clara is shy seeing if others are noticing but happy to be there with James and trusting all the plans he made for the trip.
Inciting Incident: James and Clara seem to be enjoying a meal and James stops and asks Clara where he is.
Turning Point: Clara starts researching and realizes her husband had anxiety all along brought on by his job and his boss and James had told their family doctor about it.
ACT 2: CHALLENGE THE OLD WAYS
New Plan: Clara decides to book a flight home.
Plan in Action: She calls home telling their kids what has happened but says she will bring him home tomorrow.
Midpoint Turning Point: Clara wakes up and James has disappeared.
ACT 3: WITH MIDPOINT CHANGE, PROFOUND MOMENTS THAT GIVE US NEW WAYS
Rethink everything: Clara contacts someone they know in the country they are visiting that they were possibly going to meet up.
New plan: Clara is deciding that she is the one that ultimately cares for James and what happens to him and figures out how to find him and does.
Turning point: Huge failure/Major shift: Clara finds out that the edible James took what from a clinical trial that accelerated memory loss and he is still under clinical trial.
ACT 4: TEST THE CHANGE IN THIS CHARACTER! PROVE NEW WAYS!
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Clara tries to retain an attorney to sue their doctor and the clinical trial practitioners for putting her and her husband in this position.
Resolution: James ultimately gains full cognitive abilities when the clinical trial ends and Clara fights to have beforehand caretaker medical knowledge if anyone will be affected by a clinical trial and/or medication prescription.
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Ashley’s 4 Act Transformational Structure
Vision: I write enthralling, entertaining, and transformational scripts that win awards, get produced and create positive change in the world.
I learned how to create a 4 Act Structure. This is a new story structure for me, as I’m used to the 3 Act structure.
Concept: After helping the Spaniards conquer the Aztec Empire, a superhuman Aztec translator travels back in time to stop the fall of the Empire. But she must choose between her love for her son and her people.
Main conflict: Malinche is the “Chosen One” to usher in a new age, but she must own her secret superpower.
Malinche Old Ways:
– Hiding her true self and supernatural abilities
– Tries to please her captors and ex
– Directs anger and blame inward
– Accepts punishments without question
– Lives “small” in fear
Malinche New Ways:
– Flaunts her true colorful self
– Tries to make choices that serve the collective good
– Accepts and loves herself, flaws included
– Heart-centered leader
– Lives courageously
External Journey: From trying to blend into her foreign surroundings and please her captors to being her true Self — a bird talker who can lead her people into the New Age.
Internal Journey: From ashamed and afraid to proud and courageous
Act 1:
Opening: Holding her newborn son, Malinche walks around Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire, after it has been conquered by the Spaniards. People are dying of smallpox and the city is in ruin. An old woman approaches Malinche, spits on her feet, and blames her for the fall of the Empire. More people blame her.
Malinche and her son are cast aside by Hernando (her ex, baby’s father and the new Emperor of the Aztec Empire) and his new wife.
Inciting Incident: Holding her son, Malinche trips and falls down a rabbit hole. They slide down a long tunnel and into an otherworldly cave. There she finds a talking tree who says that she is the doula to deliver the new age.
Turning Point: The only way out of this cave is by traveling back in time using the Aztec Calendar Stone. But when she travels back in time, she is horrified to discover that her son doesn’t make it. He wasn’t born yet.
Act 2:
Reaction: Malinche becomes a servant on Hernando’s ship. She must destroy his colonization plans in the new world. She tries to mask her anger at Hernando.
New Plan: Malinche uses her powers of seduction to allure Hernando away from the Aztec Empire. She tries to convince him to take his gold back to Spain.
Midpoint Turning Point: Three of the Spaniards disapprove of Hernando’s actions in the new world. Hernando wasn’t authorized by the Governor of Cuba to colonize. So, the men decide to take all the gold back to Cuba and warn the governor. Furious, Hernando burns down all the ships to prevent anyone from leaving the new world and he continues his march inland.
Act 3:
Rethink: Itzamna helps her rethink why things weren’t working. She has to truly commit to being the “Chosen One”. She must put the collective good before her own desire to be reunited with her son.
New Plan: Malinche tries to ally herself with the Aztec Emperor. She wants to use her knowledge of the future to help him change history.
Turning Point (Huge Failure): After the Emperor discovers that Malinche is a bird talker, she is imprisoned and will be sacrificed to the gods. Malinche cries out to Hernando, but he is disgusted by her wings. Hernando doesn’t release Malinche from prison.
Act 4:
New Plan: Malinche embraces being a bird talker, a half-bird/half-human with the ability to communicate with birds through song and to see the world from a superhuman bird’s-eye perspective. She uses her power of forecasting into the future to defeat the Spaniards and create a new world.
Climax: While trying to escape the city with treasure, the Spaniards are confronted with Aztec warriors. Hernando gallops away from the battle and reaches the mainland where Malinche is waiting. He tries to ride around her, but she spreads her wings and begins to levitate, blocking the path. Malinche draws her bow and points at Hernando. She holds her stance, but her eyes well up with tears. Hernando grabs his rifle and shoots her wing. Malinche spirals down into the lake. Hernando gallops to the mainland without looking back. Malinche squawks one final time before her head goes under the water’s surface. She then passes out and her limp body sinks to the bottom.
Above the surface, Hernando gallops back to the lake. He throws off the gold chains from around his neck and empties the gold from his pockets. Hernando then dives into the lake. He drags her body to the surface and plops it onto a floating garden plot. Just as he pulls himself onto the plot, an arrow pierces his shoulder. He looks up to find Itzamna ready to shoot again. Itzamna shoots his leg. The Cuban commander approaches and arrests Hernando.
Resolution: Empress Malinche sits tall on a throne surrounded by exotic birds, colorful features, and earthly pleasures. She looks at the Aztec capital burned to black ash and is ready to rebuild. As she leaves the scene, a quetzal bird sings. The bird song breathes life into the ash and it begins to take shape. As the song crescendos, a megalopolis of floating garden plots rise from the ash. The futuristic skyline of Mexico City glows in the late afternoon light.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by Ashley Sarikaya.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by Ashley Sarikaya.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by
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Alyssa’s 4 Act Transformational Structure
Vision: I want to be the best writer I can be and a go-to writer in the industry, crafting scripts that become successful movies and make a lasting impact on people.
What I learned from this assignment is…how helpful it is to plot out every major beat this early to discover the world and story. Usually I start writing to discover what happens, so this is a new process for me, but I find it’s still allowing me to be creative and discover, just in a different way. I’m still working out some details and it’s a little messy, but I’m excited to have the beginning of an outline!
Concept: In a dystopian world where daily fortunes always come true, a scientist on the verge of a breakthrough receives the death fortune and has 24 hours to alter fate itself or die.
Main Conflict: Alex is racing against the clock to finish a serum, which will bring an end to the fate system, before he is killed by the various entities coming against him, ordered by Nijara, the main antagonist who appears to be pulling the strings.
Old Ways:
- Workaholic
- Sacrifices someone to save his project
- Guilt-ridden
- Afraid of death
New Ways:
- Values people over work
- Sacrifices his project to save someone
- Forgives himself
- Unafraid of death
Act 1:
Opening: Alex is late to announce his big breakthrough at a gala held at his lab.
Inciting Incident: Alex receives a delayed fortune via his band (everyone has a band) during his speech telling him to destroy the experiment (a serum that will cause them to not need the bands). He tries to run from it, choosing to save his experiment over his assistant’s life, but to no avail- the experimental serum is apparently destroyed.
Turning Point: Alex receives the DEATH FORTUNE.
Act 2:
New plan: Alex convinces Celia, his estranged wife and a cop, to help him track down the Fate Walker in order to escape the death fortune and have time to finish his project, not knowing that Celia has received her own fortune: to kill him.
Plan in action: Alex and Celia go to the church to get information on Nijara, the Fate Walker’s, location. No one’s talking. But someone from the church invites them to a secret meeting and gives them intel about the reality of the fortunes and where to find Nijara. A bomb goes off and both Alex and Celia barely survive while their contact is killed. Celia thinks someone else is trying to kill Alex too (an assassin).
Midpoint Turning Point: They find Nijara who shows them the world is not as it seems. She also reveals Celia’s fortune and takes control of Celia via her band, showing Alex that Fate is more powerful than he realizes. But in Nijara temporarily controlling Celia’s mind, Alex gets a key insight into what was missing from his serum. They escape.
Act 3:
Rethink everything: Alex and Celia regroup and now Alex knows Celia needs to be the one to kill him- but he has the tools he needs to change fate, his big goal, and asks her to help him break back into his lab which is now guarded by security robots and scheduled for incineration. <div>
New plan: They break into the lab with the help of one of Alex’s scientists and Celia’s partner at the precinct to find the remnants of the serum and finish it before the deadline. But the unknown assassin shows up and there’s a “gunfight” between them as security robots begin the incineration process. Alex chooses to saves Celia at the cost of the serum (his arc) but the serum is turned into an aerosol due to the intense heat, infecting Alex, as they escape.
Turning Point (Major shift): The serum mixes with his band’s chemicals and makes Alex act erratically. Celia has to cut off the band to save his life which means cutting off his hand- which could also kill him. When he doesn’t die without the band, they realize the serum worked! But they have less than an hour to get Alex across the city in order to transfer his knowledge of the serum securely.
Act 4:
Climax: Nijara shows up and there’s a sky car chase as Alex and Celia try to escape from her and her robots. Their car crashes and Nijara tries to mind/band control Celia to kill Alex, as Fate dictated. Celia is able to fight it long enough to kill Nijara instead. It looks like they’ve won! </div>
Resolution: But Alex is shot by the mysterious assassin at the last second. The assassin turns out to be Celia’s partner from the precinct and he escapes. Before Alex dies, he tells Celia a riddle about how to make more of the serum. Because Celia wasn’t the one to kill Alex, she gets the DEATH FORTUNE- they haven’t won at all. Now it’s up to her to finish the serum and get it to everyone- if she can survive long enough. Nijara is reborn as a clone (reveal) and receives a personal message from the mysterious Fate itself. (Potential franchise – open ending).
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This reply was modified 1 year, 11 months ago by Alyssa Giannola.
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WIM Module 2 Lesson Five 4 Act Transformational Structure
Rotary Phone Star Chamber
What I learned doing this assignment is daily persistence of writing moves the ball down the field. If I only do 1% of the goal per day, that’s 365% by the end of the year. And it does not have to be perfect yet. It will be in a few months but not yet.
1. List Concept, Main Conflict, Old Ways, and New Ways
What if two judges fed up with crime, implement their own private court (star chamber) to punish a Russian gang that is deliberately causing subversion on the streets of LA.
Two physically fit judges kick ass and take names in order to protect their city.
Judge Ken’s Old Ways:
-Afraid to join Judge Jason’s star chamber
-Ignorant of the star chamber’s effectiveness
-Accepted the dominance of the “weak current system” (as these characters see it, it’s fiction, it should not be taken as non-fiction!).
Judge Ken’s New Ways:
-Fight Kirill and Burlyman for the cause of cleaning up their hometown and avenging the loss of their family members.
-Courage over fear of losing job and status.
-Counter the subversive Russians.
2. Act 1: 25 to 30 pages — Set up and see Old Ways.
Opening: Morning workout in Judge Ken’s and Judge Jason’s gym/dojo room that is in a large office between their chambers. They are pummeling each other pretty good in kendo gear.
After their sparring, Judge Ken tunes out as he tunes into a memory of a Maui vacation where his wife paints a beautiful watercolor of the beach; and then recalls the scene of a texting driver t-boning her. He’s in the passenger seat and watches her die.
Inciting Incident: Burlyman causing a traffic accident that injures a mother and her son with flying pallets as they exit a Numok Learning Center on a busy avenue.
He watches Judge Jason give a defendant 364 days in county jail for texting and driving. His 10th arrest for it.
Judge Ken gives a year sentence on a Rotary Cell Phone to the defendant and her crew because they became so unruly in his court room.
Notice how strong that Turning Point is. He’s angry and doing something about it. The journey down the path of fighting evil of Kirill and Burlyman is on.
Judge Ken gives a texting-while-driving defendant one year of rotary cell phone. Her unruly friends in the gallery also get rotary cell phones (or they could take a contempt of court charge and go to jail because they are so out of control).
Turning Point One: The Pallet Kid dies
3. Act 2- Challenge the Old Ways.
They go to the hospital to comfort the mom. Yes it is out of line for them to get involved in a case but it’s personal because he witnessed it. (It’s odd because he did not stop his car when he witnesses it earlier but chased Burlyman down, he needed to confront Burlyman. After they comfort the mom.
“Can I join your club now, Sir Jason?” He asks Judge Jason. Some of Kirill’s guys have been hanging around the waiting room and hear them talking.
“I want to be effective and rotary phones just is not enough for what we need to do” Ken says. “I don’t think you are quite there yet because you still give a shit what people will think if you get caught.”
They go down the hall to see the mom and the boy has just passed away. Ken is visibly angry. She asks them to avenge his death. As they are leaving, Judge Ken asks Judge Jason again, “Can I join your effectiveness club now?”
Judge Jason: “Welcome aboard.”
One of Kirill’s men kill the mom because she is a witness to the car wreck, she saw Burlyman release the drones and cut off the pallet truck.
The next day Judge Jason calls and sends Ken a video of guy totaling his sports car in a traffic jam at high speed. Judge Ken watches it a stop light. A little farther down the road a car is turning left in a turn around and then changes their mind at the last minute and cuts him off. He’s angry pounds the dashboard and breaks something and takes a Lisinopril pill to lower his blood pressure. “Come over to the dark side and get some results with us.”
Judge Jason says on the phone call. “We’ll talk later in person,” Judge Ken says.
4. Act 3: 20 to 30 pages — With Midpoint change, Profound moments that give us new ways.
Kirill calls Judge Jason and says his men overheard him at the hospital and that he has his daughter. Judge Jason and Judge Ken prepare to go after him and on the way to the meet, he calls his daughter to find out that she has not been kidnapped but that a picture of a double has been. WTF?
Judge Jason gets a call from his wife who has been kidnapped by Kirill. Kirill is toying with him and really does have his wife.
5. Act 4: 25 pages — Test the change in this character! Prove New Ways!
Judge Ken Goes after Kirill and Burlyman with Judge Jason.
Judge Jason fights Kirill and kills him.
Judge Ken fights Burlyman and gets tired of the fighting and just shoots him in the eye with his .22 caliber umbrella.
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Margaret’s Four Act Transformational Structure
Margaret’s Vision: To be the best screenwriter for faith-based movies
What I learned: You need to be clear about your major structure points, it is the framework of your story.
TITLE: Rock of Cashel
GENRE: Sci-Fi Drama
CONCEPT: (St.) Patrick fights the Queen of Ireland’s Otherworld to save the king and change the culture of a nation.
Major Story Hook: Impossible Goal/Unsolvable Problem: Will (St.) Patrick’s faith be strong enough to overcome the powers of Morrigan, Queen of the Otherworld?
Protagonist: Patrick, a boy running away from his father forcing him into the church, battles the Queen of the Otherworld to turn the hearts of the Irish to Christ.
Antagonist: Morrigan, the Queen of the Otherworld, battles Patrick for the allegiance of the Irish.
Arc beginning: Rebellious teen who hates the church
Arc ending: Catholic priest with established followers in Ireland
Internal Journey: Patrick goes from rebelling against the church to sacrificing his life to establish a church in Ireland.
External Journey: Patrick goes from trying to escape Ireland and return to England to building a church and defying the Catholic’s church mandate that he leave Ireland.
Old Ways:
· Runs away from his father who is forcing him to have a career in the church
· Looks for ways to escape Ireland where he is being held captive
New Ways:
· Trusts God to take care of him
· Knows he is called to bring the Irish to God
· Stands up against the Queen of the Otherworld to fulfill his calling from God
· Establishes a church in Ireland
· Defies the Catholic Church who wants him to leave his ministry in Ireland
Subtext plot: Hiding who they are, Superior Position
How this will play out: Morrigan is a shape shifter. She interacts with Patrick as different characters but Patrick does not realize the person he interacts with is not innocent, but the evil Morrigan with an agenda. We are in a superior position as we realize/suspect it is Morrigan, even if Patrick does not.
Opening: The goddess of Ireland’s Otherworld, MORRIGAN, confronts a Catholic bishop, PATRICK. He refuses to bow to her and show fear. In her anger, she blasts a piece of the mountain away, hurls it into the valley where it is eventually named the Rock of Cashel, vowing that he will never win the hearts of the Irish.
Inciting Incident: A boy (TEEN PATRICK), running away from his father’s plan to have him serve in the church, and his sister ALITA are kidnapped and taken to Ireland.
By page 10, you know what the movie is about: Patrick is confronted by a Morrigan, shape shifted into a savage wolf, but he cries out to God and the wolf whines and backs away. Patrick recognizes God’s power and commits his life to serve him.
First turning point at end of Act 1: Patrick, now an ordained priest, leaves for Ireland, against hiss parent’s pleas to not make them face losing their son again.
Mid-Point: Influenced by Morrigan, Patrick’s previous master commits suicide rather than be converted to Christianity. Patrick realizes the Irish will never accept Christianity unless it is the religion of their king, so he vows to go to the King and do whatever he can to convert him.
Second turning point at end of Act 2: The people fear both Patrick and Morrigan. Patrick realizes he must face the otherworld creatures of Ireland and defeat them or the king will never listen to him. He climbs mount Cruachan to pray and faces the onslaught of the otherworld.
Crisis: Patrick cannot overcome the otherworld creatures and is consumed by doubt and fear. He is faced with his own motivation for evangelizing and comes to understand that the Irish are enslaved by a religion based on fear and his own tactics have only increased their fear. He realizes that if he loves the Irish, he must show them the power of God’s love. He decides to return to the king and share the message of God’s love and forgiveness without relying on the powerful signs that evoke fear, even if it means his death.
Climax: As Patrick nears the castle, he is challenged by Morrigan and the underworld creatures, who fight to destroy him and the king’s army rather than see the Irish leave their paganism.
Resolution: When the king hears Patrick’s message of God’s love and promise of freedom from fear, he accepts Patrick’s God and banishes Morrigan and the druids.
Epilogue: Patrick ministers at a church set on the Rock of Cashel.
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Adrienne Watkins- Lesson 5 -Four-Act Transformational Structure
My Vision: I am going to work as hard as I reasonably am able to succeed at script writing to be recognized by multiple movie producers as a skilled script writer, and to have my scripts produced worldwide.
What I have learned from this assignment is the importance of an outline to organize my thoughts and build my story on paper.
Concept: Jazz Musician teaches deaf woman rhythm by touch, but his manager is secretly in love with him and schemes to break them up.
Main Conflict: Roy accidentally meets Fransie who is deaf, he teaches her rhythm by touch and falls in love with him, but his manager is secretly in love with him and schemes to break them up.
Old ways:
Roy: selfish, conceited, uncommitted to any relationship.
Fransie: reserved, shy, a homebody.
Flavia: sneaky, conniving, vain
New Ways
Roy: Kind, generous, wants commitment.
Fransie: outgoing, socializes,livley
Flavia: compassionate, thoughtful, considerate
Act 1
Opening: Roy and Fransie accidentally bump into each other on the street, he spills soda on her, she looks at him and walks away. He tries to apologize but she keeps walking.
Inciting Incident: He sees her in a restaurant and notices her signing.
Turning Point: Roy sees her again in a cosmetic store applying a client’s make-up and she’s moving to the music playing in the store, He’s intrigued that she moves with the beats of the music, he realizes she has body rhythm, but leaves the store.
Act 2
New Plan: He researches deaf people and vibrations plans to meet her again.
Plan in Action: Roy gets his manager to contact her and invite him to one of his concerts. Fransie attends and takes her out to dinner afterwards.
Midpoint Turning point: As Roy works on his jazz compositions, he invites Fransie, but she’ believes he’s only doing it out of pity for her.
Act 3
Rethink everything-Roy has fallen in love, but fights against his feelings, his rich parents are against their relationship.
New Plan: Roy’s business manager plans a concert tour.
Turning point: Roy goes on tour but unable to perform.
Act 4:
Flavia discovers Roy’s older brother is one of his lyrists, who is in love with Flavia.
Flavia’s scheme is exposed by Roy’s parents to Fransie.
Flavia’s secretly sends for Fransie during his tour. Fransie’s performs with Roy at his concert.
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Melissa Barreca’s Four-Act Transformational Structure
My vision: Melissa Barreca is one of the most sought after writers in the movie industry because of the artistry of her writing, professionalism and exceptional ability to tell important, entertaining, joyful, and heartbreaking stories that inspire audiences and become legendary classics.
What I learned…the story just flowed and I like the outline. There is a lot to do in a short amount of time/pages, but I think the outline will help tremendously in keeping the story on track.
Title: Torn Away
Concept: A soft spoken Irish immigrant in 1920s New York loses her husband and then her children who are sent away on an orphan train and adopted…but their mother will not stop looking for them until the family is brought back together.
Main Conflict: Her children are torn away from her by an abusive and controlling man, in secret and she must figure this out and find them.
Old Ways: Submissive, Does Not speak out for herself and children, Fearful, weak, Unable or unwilling to take action
New Ways: Confident. Advocates effectively for herself and her children. In control. Wise and savvy to the ways of the world and hidden motives.
Four Act Transformational Structure
Act 1:
Opening –
Bonus scene/foreshadowing: Children are being shown to prospective parents at orphan train stops. We meet the kindly grandfather figure, adoption agent and some of the children on the trains.
An immigrant family helps their daughter and son-in-law pack and depart for America. We meet Norah and Doyle, with two kids, a toddler girl and a five year old boy.
Arrival in America. We meet Michael, Doyle’s childhood best friend. Settling in a new land. Getting jobs. Getting a tenement apartment. We see the poor street children. Norah wants to help them.
Inciting Incident
Things are hard. The apartment life is dismal. Doyle works too much. There is not enough money.
Doyle is killed at the factory. Norah must find a job and find help with the children. Michael comes to her aid.
Turning Point
Michael offers help to Norah. He slowly takes the place of Doyle.
He (secretly) arranges for children to be taken on an orphan train while Norah is working and is “injured” on the job – an injury he also arranged in secret.
Act 2:
New plan
Norah discovers her children are missing.
Michael feigns concern and is helpful on the surface.
Norah will find them if it’s the last thing she does.
Plan in action
Norah asks questions and Michael does his best to throw her off the trail.
Norah tracks down several dead ends before finally meeting the adoption agent who knows about her children.
Midpoint Turning Point
Michael is discovered by Norah! She now knows that he is controlling, abusive and the reason her children were taken.
When she is just about to find the children, he threatens her life and flies of the handle in a drunken rage. He wants her to himself. He doesn’t want the children in their lives.
Norah sinks into submission – she dares not cross Michael for fear for her safety and the kids. She is at a new low and has no idea what to do.
Act 3:
Rethink everything
We see Norah live in fear. She doesn’t know what to do and is allowing Michael to lord over her.
A chance meeting with the kindly adoption agent changes her mind and reinvigorates her resolve.
New plan
Norah hatches a plan. She cannot support the kids. Her adoption agent has assured her that the kids are happy in a home of wealthy and loving parents.
Adoption agent reveals that the family is looking for a nanny and he can get her the job and keep her secret.
She decides to leave Michael in secret and go to the home of the children/new family and become their Nanny.
The plan succeeds. Norah is reunited with her children. Things seem to be working out.
Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift
Michael finds her.
He comes to her from the shadows when she is alone in the yard. He drags her away with the intent to kill her.
Act 4:
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict
Michael takes Norah to a barn at the edge of the yard. He beats her and abuses her. When he is about to rape her, a shot rings out.
The adoption agent is in the shadows. He had come to check on the family and saw the violent episode, snuck into the barn and took aim.
Resolution
The violent killing brings the whole family into the barn (adoptive parents, other servants, not the kids who are napping).
Norah’s identity is revealed. The family accepts this and a new, non-traditional family is born.
They agree to allow Norah and the kids to stay, and Norah can raise them as part of one big extended family. The adoption agent is a grandpa figure that visits often.
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Cassie’s Four-Act Transformational Structure
My vision: I am a dynamic, respected, constantly learning and growing writer with an ever-growing and improving library of A-list quality, genre-diverse scripts that present genuine stories that audiences love to watch and that producers love to sell, and boy, do I make that MONEY, y’all!
What I learned from doing this assignment is…I’ve actually been working at analyzing and teaching movie plot structure for my high school classes for a few years, but my technique is the three-act structure. It was fun to see how similar beats can play out with four acts, but I kept basically with my three act structure–it’s much easier for me to follow after working with it for a few years.
2. Give us the following:
Concept
A recent divorcé with nowhere else to go rents a one-bedroom apartment already occupied by a cranky ghost with no desire for a roommate.
Main ConflictDivorced character vs ghost (subplots, divorced character vs ex-wife, ghost vs other tenant)
Old Ways
Divorced character: Spineless, depressed, not assertive, values others over himself
Ghost: Actively tries to expel people from his apartment with creepy ghostly activities, won’t interact positively with people, super antisocialNew Ways
Divorced character: Assertive, fulfilled, optimistic, finds joy in creating and choosing his own life (MAYBE ghost helps him value his life?? Maybe he wanted to give up because of all the crap happening?)
Ghost: Spends time with his new friend and enjoys the new living situation3. Fill in each of these with the answers you have right now.
Act 1:
Opening: Guy is spineless at work, goes home, wife treats him terribly, but he doesn’t stand up for himself.
Apartment complex manager shows the ghost’s unit and the ghost does something super terrifying to keep the potential tenant from signing the lease. OR the obnoxious wannabe ghost hunter tenant scares them away from signing by telling them about the ghost…OR both…Inciting Incident: Guy finds wife cheating (? too extra? Maybe she just serves him?). I don’t think anything about the job. That’s too much.
Ghost overhears complex manager telling obnoxious tenant that he can move in when his lease is up…NEXT WEEK! Oh, this is the worst possible development for the ghost. He won’t be able to scare this tenant away and the tenant will never leave him alone. OR!!! We hear that, but the ghost doesn’t, so we know his actions to get rid of the guy are only shooting him in the foot.Turning Point (Plot Point 1): Guy signs lease with apartment. Ghost and the obnoxious tenant are furious.
Act 2:
New plan: Guy moves in (is he trying to move on or does he want to get his wife back?? What’s his goal that he’s working for here?). (Wife wants to destroy him in divorce?) Ghost tries to scare guy out of apartment. (Obnoxious tenant does the same? Is that too much happening??)
Plan in action: The fun and games of the ghost scaring the guy out of the apartment, guy dealing with the ghost
Midpoint Turning Point: Guy moves out of apartment, back with wife (false victory)
Act 3:
Rethink everything: The obnoxious tenant (ooh, maybe he’s an amateur ghost hunter and terrible at what he does? But that’s why he’s always wanted to live in that apartment? I LIKE!!) moves in with the ghost; guy realizes how much it sucks to live with his wife, has newfound respect for himself and not willing to go back to being treated like crap. (PHYSICAL LOSS/ALL IS LOST of a literal pleasant place to live)
New plan: Guy finds out wife was cheating and she only wants back with him because her lover dumped her, so he’s out-y? Ghost wants obnoxious tenant out and strangely misses his buddy. (EMOTIONAL LOSS/DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL of realizing they miss each other)
Turning Point (Plot Point 2): Huge failure / Major shift: Ghost and guy coordinate to get obnoxious tenant out and help guy in the divorce (spooking the wife? Making her look crazy? LOOK UP DIVORCE STUFF and see what if anything the ghost could do to help guy in the settlement…OR just drive her crazy so she just wants the whole thing over…scary “dreams,” etc)
Act 4:
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Divorced character signs final divorce papers with a nice settlement for himself; obnoxious tenant is evicted; guy moves back in with ghost
Resolution: They live like buddies–HOWEVER, something needs to introduced to give them a new buddy journey together where they work as a team…sassy little end of movie, give people a little “ohhhh okay!” to leave ‘em happy and thinking
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Concept: A talent agent auditions for a movie on a whim and unwittingly becomes an overnight sensation, at the expense of her star client making his come-back and looking to get even.
Main Conflict: The role Zadie snagged was Jasper’s big opportunity Therefore, he has nothing to lose in going after his former agent to get even.
Old Ways:
Full of self-doubt.
Feeling imposter syndrome.
Holding herself back.
A boisterous personality to mask fears.
New Ways:
Knowing deep down she’s good at what she does.
Genuine power player.
Realizing her potential.
Appearance of confidence is now real.
Act 1:
Opening:
Zadie zooms away from a cop car, who finally pulls her over and issues her with her 4<sup>th</sup> speeding ticket which sees her banned from driving. She attempts to wiggle out of it after suggesting the officer could be a potential star with her talent agency. On her return to the office, the cop’s card joins all the others in a basket on her assistant’s desk.
Inciting Incident:
Running late to an important client lunch, Zella gets into a confrontation with her Uber driver, former child-star Jasper Benjamin. He threatens to kick her off the app with a zero-star review unless she takes him on as a client and sends him to a casting in the next 7 days.
Turning Point:
She accompanies Jasper to a promising call-back, only to find herself being persuaded to audition and offered the same role.
Act 2:
New plan:
Having won the role, she returns to work and thinks nothing of it. Six months later the film debuts at an Indy Film Fest to smash reviews – Zadie is an overnight sensation.
Plan in action:
She’s the perfect antidote to the typical Hollywood ingenue. The film is a hit, everyone wants a piece of Zadie, including Jasper, who plots her downfall, for snagging the role of a lifetime from under him.
Midpoint Turning Point:
Having taken on a role meant for a man, Zadie is embraced by the LGBT community. After images of her kissing lesbian comic Ledicia, go viral on social media, due to drunken high jinks at a film festival, people assume she’s gay.
Act 3:
Rethink everything:
Zadie is fired from her agency since clients are leaving in droves due to Jasper’s social media campaign exposing the fact Zadie ‘stole’ his role from him. Including Jasper who’s star is on the rise again.
New plan:
She’s nominated for a major acting award.
Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift:
Thanks to Jasper, Zadie is “outed” as straight. His actions put her nomination and acting career in jeopardy.
Act 4:
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict:
She wins but at the podium turns down her award – stating that it should have gone to Jasper and announcing that she’ll be returning to her day job as an agent.
Resolution:
Zadie has a swanky office as an agent in a high-powered firm. Her new client is Jasper Benjamin. It’s revealed that Zadie and Jasper were actually lovers, who planned to leverage Zadie’s unexpected success to re-launch Jasper’s career, whilst allowing Zadie to return to what she actually loves doing at a much higher level as a power-player.
What I learnt: Keep this simple and fill in the gaps…
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Module 2 Lesson 5 Four-Act Transformational Structure
Marguerite Langstaff
Vision: I want to learn to write and market movie scripts.
What I learned doing this assignment is that I really do love my protagonist and antagonist.
State: I feel completely confident in traveling through his script with Grandmother and Pappy….and will work to give them, especially Grandmother, justice in the story. The hardest part is trying to POST it in forums…..because my computer skills are so limited.
Activity: Creating the structure of my stories hard because it forces me to state things which have happened only in my mind and imagination.
Concept: Grandmother moves into Shady Acres Retirement Facility, isn’t very happy, and when she runs short of funds and manages to make money by sharing her wisdom to the public she suddenly makes a ton of money which helps to bring her life into a happier mode with her friend Pappy.
Main Conflict: Grandmother moves to Shady Acres Retirement Facility and meets Pappy. When working together on a project Pappy’s daughter tries to sabotage the friendship while Grandmother’s son encourages it. Grandmother finds she is short of money so she organizes a group of people to form a business. All the residents want to participate in that. When the business fails she begins to write an advice column for newspapers with the help of her 10 year old grandson Sam. She and Pappy battle in competition to start more successful businesses, but when Grandmother sells her advice to a major news outlet and becomes famous as the Billionaire in 501, Pappy concedes that she wins and that indeed people do need people….and that he needs Grandmother. Love blossoms at Shady Acres.
Old Ways: Grandmother wears dull colored and plain styled clothes, is timid and gives tired greetings to others and is hesitant in participating in activities. She watches too much tv and eats alone with only a dog for company, refusing to learn or even use a cell phone.
New Ways: Grandmother greets friends right and left in the lobby of Shady Acres, speaks up and controls meetings in participation activities, cakes calls and participates in cell telephone participation, watches tv with Pappy AND the dog Bingo, dresses in spiffy clothes and is busy all the time.
ACT 1: Opening:
Grandmother, 72 years old, gets out of a taxi and drags her suitcase inside of Shady Acres Retirement Facility. She is dressed in tired, drab-looking clothes, old shoes and purse, and she looks tired and sad. She checks in with a cold unattractive concierge who gives her keys and a big heavy pushcart to carry her bag and tells her to take care of that room because she may not be at Shady Acres very long. Grandmother pushes the heavy cart through the large lobby past several men and women who sit in chairs, all very dull looking and who pay no attention to either Grandmother or each other. Another woman in the lobby is carrying a sack of groceries, spills them, and Grandmother stops to pick up her dozen oranges rolling around the lobby. Pappy, a 75 year old man dressed in golf clothes sits in a chair behind a newspaper…see Grandmother picking up the woman’s oranges and tells the woman to say “thank you” to Grandmother. That woman says, “Thank you,” to Grandmother and then walks away.
Inciting incident:
Grandmother’s son, Sonny, coms to Grandmother’s apartment where she is bent over and studying a checkbook. He tells her she cannot stay more than two months because she is already out of money and that, in fact, she never was good at money. She is undeterred and tells him that she’ll just start a business and then she’ll have a better income.
Turning Point:
Grandmother is in the restaurant at Shady Acres and is going from table to table trying to be friendly and telling people that she’s starting a business so that if they want to participate in it to come to her meeting that afternoon in the Community Room to help plan it. Nobody pays any attention to her, but she says to some of the tables, “We do need each other.’
ACT 2:
New Plan:
Grandmother is in her apartment feeding Sam, her 10 year old grandson, cereal, and he’s telling her that she can do it. He has $5.28 he’ll give her to start a business. He tells her to remember what she keeps telling him…that he can do anything he wants to do if he just tries hard enough. Grandmother meets with the people in the Community Room and lo! there’s a huge crowd of senior citizens there withPappy sitting in the front row. Grandmother greets them with an air of excitement and gives a little speech about starting a business, and does anybody have any ideas. There is silence. Then Pappy gives a little speech about what a good b business man he is that he knows that so many of them can’t start a business because they’re too old and that there are too many people among which to have to divide the money. Grandmother calls for a show of hands for a vote and all the residents vote for her ideas except Pappy . They vote to sell something but have to decide what to sell. Pappy is defeated and says sarcastically that Grandmother should be known as the Billionaire in 501. She ignores him. His daughter Sally stops by and sees that Pappy is captivated by Grandmother. She warns Pappy to stay away from her. She’s after your money, warns Sally. Sonny meets Sally in the lobby and they laugh about their respective parents. When Sally tells Sonny that Grandmother is chasing Pappy for his money, Sonny answers, I hope so. She sure needs it. Sally leaves in anger.
Plan in action:The residents sit around the lobby making things, stringing necklaces, knitting wool caps, cutting felt Christmas ornaments. A big booth outside Shady Acres invites the public to come shop at the new Shady Acres Market place.
Midpoint Turning Point: The residents’ business venture is a failure. They not only sell nothing much, but the spring rains fall and ruin their wares. They’re too slow to bring them inside. All is lost. Pappy goes around telling them, “I told you so.”…but when Grandmother walks by he simply hides behind his newspaper pretending to read. He does, however, pull his chair near to Grandmother’s, and make little moves toward her. Finally he says, “Would you like a glass of wine?” Grandmother loves wine. She tolerates Pappy. But that’s about as good as it gets for him.
ACT 3:
Rethink everything:
Grandmother is in her apartment with 10 year old Sam who tells her solutions to her money troubles. Grandmother sits at the computer typing away. Her best skills have always been typing and telling others what to do. Pappy knocks on the door and wants to come in to visit. Grandmother tells him he hasn’t carried his weight as a good business man, so he agrees reluctantly to think of a “better idea.”
New Plan:
Pappy is so impressed with Grandmother’s typing that he makes an elaborate business plan whereby she would give lessons to all the residents at Shady Acres and they can then work their computers. They’re too sheltered anyway and need to communicate with each other and with the outside world. Social media is about to come to Shady Acres. 10 year old Sam coaches Grandmother about things she needs to learn about the computer, and she spends time practicing in her apartment with Sam. They bring up problems to solve (like how to make friends….or how to make people smile…or how to save lots of money when you don’t have a very big income) and they come up with solutions to those problems. Grandmother works on the answers and learns social media and marketing from Sam and the computer. Grandmother makes her trips to the mailbox more and more frequent.
Turning Point:
The community room is full of residents…all talking to each other…and most of them with a computer in his/her lap. Grandmother welcomes them with the we’re-getting-to-know-each other speech …then Pappy gets up and, enacting his business plan, proceeds to collect funds from the residents for the computer lessons Grandmother has been giving them. Nobody pays. They’re all so appreciative, but they won’t pay money. Grandmother forgives Pappy for causing her to have to spend so much time teaching computer skills to the Shady Acres residents, and she invites him to her apartment for more wine. The business has failed and Grandmother will have to move out to a place which she can afford. They snuggle on the couch drinking wine and watching old movies. Occasionall the phone rings and occasionally Grandmother goes to the computer to “answer e-mails.” She looks up at Pappy from one of her moments on the computer and asks how to spell “bankruptcy.”
ACT 4:
Climax:
10 year old Sam comes to Grandmother’s apartment and together they go downstairs to the Community Room. Grandmother has a smile and Sam holds her hand with pride. She winks at him on the way downstairs. When they walk into the room all the residents are there waiting for them…and they greet her with hellos and smiles in direct contrast to the welcome she received just a couple of months ago when she arrived. Pappy stands and walks with Grandmother to the lectern. He gives her hand a squeeze. She winks at him too. Pappy stands at the lectern and gives a little farewell speech Grandmother. Then it’s her turn. She announces that she has a confession to make. She isn’t leaving. She and Sam have authored an advice column for the New York Times and the responses have been so positive and popular that newspapers around the world have subscribed to her advice column. Her income has become absolutely enormous. She’s not quite the Billionaire…yet….in 501 which Pappy predicted, but she’s well on her way. New subscriptions and new charities and chocolate sundaes for everybody, says Grandmother.
Resolution:
The lobby is full of residents wanting to greet each other and Grandmother. Grandmother and Pappy step out on a date with each other, arm in arm, both dressed to the nines, laughing and holding hands as they step into a waiting limo together. Life is good. They have each other, and love blossoms at Shady Acres.
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Francine’s 4 Act Transformational Structure
What I Learned: Is to get out of my head and just fill in the blanks. Stay empowered!
Concept: HORROR COMEDY: A grandma worships a demon to grow a money tree in her backyard and starts living the high life, only to have the tree stolen by her granddaughter!
Main Conflict: Suzie must hide the fact that she has stolen grandma’s money tree or else grandma will take it back, meaning Suzie loses her only chance at changing her life. The money tree is cursed with a Demon that wants to kill her for stealing the tree.
Old Ways
- Rebellious, breaks all the rules, impulsive
- Not driven, lacks direction in life
- Doesn’t follow through on her plans, gives up easily
- Looks for easy answers as solutions to her problems
- Materialistic
New Ways
- Empowered, solves her own problems, strategic
- Faces her fears, courageous
- Knows herself and what she wants, driven
- Evaluates, thinks things through
- Mature
Act 1:
Opening: It’s grandma’s 75<sup style=”font-family: inherit;”>th</sup> birthday party in her garden, but a section is taped off. Suzie sneaks into this area to have a cigarette/ vape/ smoke pot, and is caught by grandma and lectured till she storms off in a huff. At home, her mom cautions her to be nicer to grandma or she will be cut out of the will.
Inciting Incident: While grandma is away on vacation, Suzie breaks into her house to vandalize the garden and discovers the money tree Grandma’s been hiding. Impulsively, she steals it.
Turning Point: When Grandma returns and finds the tree gone, she calls the police and lies that something valued at $50,000 was stolen, and the police open an investigation. Grandma sets up security cameras all over the house, so when Suzie decides to return the money tree cuz of the heat (police), she can’t.
Act 2:
New plan: Suzie can’t return the money tree, so she might as well make use of it! The first thing she does Is lease a fancy condo by lying on the application.
Plan in action: The realtor is a friend of grandma and realizes Suzie is the granddaughter, she calls up grandma as a reference. Grandma is instantly suspicious about how Suzie can afford the lease. Suzie’s condo lease application gets rejected. Suzie gets rejected from all rental applications. She even tries a deposit on a house, but the bank runs a credit check on her and laughs her out of the building.
To console herself, she goes on a shopping spree. But the more she spends, the sicker she gets.
Midpoint Turning Point: Suzie discovers the tree is cursed and the demon in the tree is making her sick and miserable – nightmares and dark thoughts.
Act 3:
Rethink everything: Suzie tries to get rid of the tree, abandoning it but it shows up in her house, burning it but it doesn’t burn, burying it but it appears in her house again.
New plan: She creates an elaborate plan to break into grandma’s and put back the money tree. She will disable the cameras, distract grandma, etc. – all well-thought out and involving hard work and preparation. She even has to learn how to pick locks.
Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: Even after pulling off her elaborate plan and succeeding, Suzie returns home to find the money tree in her bedroom. And the doorbell rings, grandma is coming over for dinner. Her health now declining rapidly, she doesn’t know what to do and fears the worst, her life is ending.
Act 4:
New plan: Suzie brings the money tree to the living room and confesses to grandma. She is cut out of the will, with glee, by grandma.
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Suzie confronts grandma’s greedy ways and vows to not let herself be stopped, she will work hard and become a success in spite of grandma. Grandma laughs because she can see that Suzie is still sick from the money tree’s curse. Suzie’s mom questions grandma, this is news to her. While they argue, the demon begins to manifest itself. Grandma sees it and leaves. She sits on the porch bench reading a book, waiting for the demon to kill the family. Suzie and her mom battle the demon and kill it, thereby killing the money tree. Grandma returns to see it withering and curses. She’s poor now.
Resolution: Suzie bumps up her grades/SAT scores, applies to a specific program at a better college, and lands a scholarship. Grandma’s health fails her as she’s lost joy in life, and is all alone, no one visits her anymore.
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MODULE 2 LESSON 5
SUBJECT: Karyn Laitis —Four-Act Transformational Structure
VISION: To be a highly successful screenwriter, industry recognized and in-demand for writing lucrative movies that connect with huge audiences.
What I learned from doing this assignment: It’s a labor of love. The “filling in the blanks” is very helpful. It helped me get back on track. Sorry I’m late-I my emotional support fur-baby was diagnosed last month with lymphoma. It has been a strain of emotions, focus and time. He’s doing better, so am I.
Concept: Professor of Anthropology (Dr. Johona Digger) is targeted for murder and accused of the murder of her colleague. She must be exonerated, vindicate her colleague, and keep her project alive!
Main Conflict: Someone wants to shut down Dr. Digger’s project or neutralize her as she is getting too close to discover Doug Bennet’s multi-million-dollar covert operation. She’s a professional and not a quitter!
Old Ways:
· Workaholic, career driven.
· Aspires to be recognized and promoted.
· Loner, focused.
· Unaware of her surroundings.
New Ways:
· Survival strategist.
· Fight to stay alive.
· Community alliances.
· She manifests her inner and physical strength to survive.
External Journey:
From an intellectual researcher/professor to a survival strategist able to outwit a murderer and mastermind of a covert operation.
Internal Journey:
From a secure, living in a normal “publish or perish” academic world, to experiencing the strength of her cultural roots rising above the fear, threats, loss and grief to emerge strong.
ACT 1:
· Opening: Dr. Digger & colleague in the rustic lab being watched by someone in a truck on the phone. Dr. Digger leaves the lab in a rush-peels out in her jeep. The stalker enters the lab, murders the colleague, and sets fire to the lab.
· Inciting Incident: Detective Ty Wallace arrives at Dr. Digger’s rustic cottage; he sees the door ajar and slowly enters the dark room. He’s jumped and put into a headlock by Dr. Digger. He announces himself, then arrests her for assault and the murder of her colleague. Douglas Bennet, U.S. Federal Agent managing AUM Project, closing mines speaks to Det. Wallace.
· Turning Point: Lack of evidence, Dr. Digger is released and warned. Detective knows first-hand she has the physical strength to overpower and kill. Dr. Digger breaches the police barricade of the lab. She finds her colleague’s journal and a package, which she hides in the food locker. As she’s leaving, she’s attacked-knocked unconscious. There is an explosion in the lab.
ACT 2:
· New Plan: Arrest number 2 for breaching a secured area and evidence tampering—Doug Bennett posts bail, secures her release in his custody. He arranges for her to return her to the University but not before she retrieves the journal and package.
· Plan in action: At University Dr. Digger talks to her mentor. She tests package contents in the lab and discovers the bone fragments are human, not ancient burial remains and the bone tissue has high concentrations of toxicity. Her mentor shares the history of the area; surprised she didn’t know about her own roots.
· Midpoint Turning Point: Returning to her campus apartment, the door is ajar, it has been ransacked. She picked up the commendation medal for her heroics in the Middle East. She’s enraged and ready for a fight! That night, her mentor suddenly dies—a tragic accident?
ACT 3:
· Rethink everything: Dr. Digger returns to her project site with more questions than answers. She learns of the suspicious death of her mentor. She remembered that her Godmother told her about an elder (Gil Wallace). She needed to reach him.
· New Plan: Engage community to learn more about missing members. Uncle Gil speaks of “Curse” on her project site and that she needs to leave. She meets his son, Brad who’s working on the AUM Project for Doug Bennet. She’s more committed to discovering what is going on and half-heartedly works with her Project site volunteers.
· Turning Point: Huge failure/Major Shift: Back at her cottage, a sudden blackout, no power, lights, doors have been barricaded. She hears a rattle, then hears something slither across the wood floor. She hears a hiss—everywhere–snakes! She carefully climbs the ladder to the attic a sack is over her head, bound and taken to a mine shaft where she learns that two project volunteers are missing, and her site has been vandalized. Warned to leave. Quit or Full speed ahead?
ACT 4:
· Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Receives message from Gil to meet his son (Brad) at one of the mines. He has information to help her. Going down into the mine-the elevator is rigged to plummet-her fate sealed! She finds Brad, murdered. A passageway leads to finding a journal with drawings/petroglyphs and mining report-toxicity, water, safety violations. Linked missing people and murders to Brad. She must escape and bring the information to the police and UAM Project. The mine is flooding, there is no way out! She finds missing volunteers in the mine. Dr. Digger escapes with injured volunteers.
· Resolution: She turns over information to Ty Wallace and Doug Bennett. She is exonerated; Bennet says he knew there were issues but didn’t know Brad was pulling ore out of the mine obviously to make money. He now has a new foreman. Bennet asks Dr. Digger to dinner after his hike. As he is hiking, you see him reach for a rock to pull himself up—there is a nest of rattlesnakes in the crevice—waiting.
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My vision: I am going to be an empowered, wonderful writer that’s known for great dialogue and great characters that win audiences’ hearts. What I learned from this assignment is this is great prep for the pitch.
My Concept: What if your husband had to call his mom every time he had to make a big decision. Only she’s been dead for 30 years.
Main Conflict: Calvin Knightly seems to be living the dream, only it’s a complete nightmare. The only person he can turn to is his mother which he does …. Constantly by phone.
Calvin Knightly
Old Ways:
Suave: The guy who seemingly has it all. Great career. Wonderful wife. Money; but underneath it all sullen, angry, full of regret.Resigned to the unethical, duplicit people stealing credit for his workPlays the suttle game yet hates itHates himself for allowing and being taken advantage ofHeavy hearted Unsure of himselfCovers things up with his charm and witSeeks validation in material gain, career advancementWorks hard and is brilliant , never gets his due in a very competitive world. Credit and things are always taken from him. Another executive is always getting kudos and promoted for the work he’s doing.Always confided in his mom, the one person he could always truly trustDeep down yearned for approval by his mother, by others around himTormented by his mother’s death, unresolvedNever understood why his dad left
New Ways:<font face=”Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif” size=”2″>
</font>Becomes confident, courageous, strongFinds a compassion he didn’t know he had. No longer allows people to take advantage of himBreaks free of the duplicit business world Brings down the hypocritical, plagiarists who lack talentReleased from the torment of his mother’s deathBecomes wholeAppreciates life/ becomes truly happyThrives in his life like never before
Create a first draft of your 4 Act Transformational Structure.
<font size=”4″>Act 1:</font>
Opening: Kitchen early morning. Calvin on his cellphone in the kitchen pouring coffee, grabbing his briefcase, getting ready to go to work. Rebecca asks if he booked the caterers? He mouths “not yet.” while gesturing with his right hand talk-talk-talk. Rebecca says “deadline by today.” Calvin winks, gives her a kiss, and walks out still talking on the phone. For Homework, Opening: Early morning kitchen scene with Calvin and Rebecca getting ready to leave for work. Calvin on his cellphone pouring coffee and getting his suitcase. Rebecca asks Calvin something with which he responds by winking and making a talking hand gesture then giving her a kiss as he leaves. Or Another Possible Opening: At a very loud pro basketball game. Calvin mid call on his cell phone: saying yeah yeah that’s good. Let me call you later. Ok bye. Pull back to reveal Calvin Knightly (or Calvin Luque) and his wife, Rebecca 10th row front & center enjoying a game. Calvin’s POV of Jerry Brokmeir, another executive at the job, with his wife, Felicia, courtside. This is the set up: The audience and Rebecca don’t know who Calvin is talking to which will later circle back and be revealed that he’s talking to his Mom. Inciting Incident: For homework posting: Calvin in a huge meeting with two other executives, 4 board of directors, the CEO and COO. Jerry Brokmeir, a rival executive, gets all the credit for Calvin’s work and ideas on a major project for the company. CEO asks Calvin to do some shit work. Calvin pissed. Calls his mom. Calvin in a meeting with two other executives, 4 board of directors, the CEO and COO (high rise office with a spectacular view, big oval table) . Jerry Brokmeir, starts to brag and bogart the meeting pitch. CEO actually asks Calvin to do some grunt work to aid Jerry to complete the prep to close the deal/ or they ask Calvin to do grunt work on a lower deal. The room goes silent. Calvin says nothing for an instance. And then says: yeah, let me make a call and start working on that right away. Cut to him on the phone talking to mom. Turning Point: Calvin follows mom’s advice and it works like a charm.
<font size=”4″>Act 2:</font>
New plan: Jerry Brokmeir gets promoted for a position that should have been given to Calvin. Rebecca gets suspicious that Calvin could be cheating on her or something is wrong. Plan in action: Calvin and Jerry on the golf course or at a poker table have a bit of a showdown (Jerry tries to blackmail Calvin). Calvin meets with the CEO only to be shot down. Calvin shows up at a benefit hosted by Felicia Brokmeir and things really go south. Midpoint Turning Point: Nothing is working. Calvin can’t make even the most basic of decisions without calling his Mom. Nothing his mom says helps. Things start to implode and Calvin has a complete meltdown.
<font size=”4″>Act 3:</font>
Rethink: Calvin claims his triumph and comes up with a completely new business proposal. He goes out on his own to Italy to meet directly with the clients and make the deal on his own. Every time Calvin calls his mom it goes straight to voicemail or this number is “no longer in service” recording. New plan: Rebecca discovers 100 outbound calls labeled “Mom” on Calvin’s phone. We reveal that Calvin’s mother has been dead for 30 years. Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: Calvin ditches his phone and gets a new one. While in Italy, Calvin gets an incoming call labeled “Mom” on his brand new phone (Mom’s number was NOT programmed into his new phone.
<font size=”4″>Act 4:</font>
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Calvin faces his mom and disconnects the call forever and wins the Italian account. Resolution: Calvin realizes he never did anything wrong, has everything he needs to be happy, and never needs “to call” his mom ever again. Calvin opens his own company (or Calvin starts a winery. He and Rebecca move to Italy and live happily ever after.)
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Veronica Turowski’s 4-Act Transformational Structure
My Vision: I want to be a successful writer who writes several scripts yearly and then sells them to producers who create my vision for the big screen.
What I learned from doing this assignment is that I piece things together better when I know where I want to start and end. The rest of the pieces are arranged and rearranged until I think my outline works.
Title: Grave Justice
Genre: Thriller
Concept: While at a funeral, a professional mourner is haunted by a ghost who claims a serial killer murdered him, but when he won’t leave her alone, she decides to prove him wrong so he can pass over, only to discover she is a ghost and is the mother of the killer.
Main Conflict: Eppsa must find and stop a serial killer, only to discover she is a ghost, and the serial killer is her son.
Old Ways:
· Searches the newspaper for her son, Hayden, who ran away as a teenager.
· Uses mourning at funerals to help her cope with depression. She searches the obituaries for her son, Hayden, who ran away as a teenager.
· Allows self-pity to control her life after her husband died and her son ran away, who was a teenager.
· Timid and feels invisible.
New Ways:
· Hunts for the serial killer.
· People/ghosts go to her for help.
· She discovers she’s a ghost and is confident in doing the right thing.
· Torn that she must stop her serial killer son but knows she must, or he will keep killing. She kills for justice.
Opening: A man is murdered. Eppsa thinks it’s her son and rushes to the ER. There’s a code blue. Doctors and nurses run for a room. She sees the spirit of a man leave the room they just entered. He disappears. She flees the hospital.
Inciting Incident: While she and the other mourners surround an open grave, she notices a ghost, Lonnie, in the distance. It’s the same ghost from the hospital. He tells her a serial killer murdered him. He can’t rest until the killer is stopped and then tells her the next victim’s name.
Turning Point: She reads an obituary. The man in the obituary is the same one Lonnie told her would die.
Act 2:
Reaction: She is shocked Lonnie knew the next victim.
The Plan: She calls the police. They don’t seem to care, and they tell her to stop pranking them (it’s because they only hear static). She goes back to the cemetery to find Lonnie.
Turning Point 2: MIDPOINT: While waiting at the police station to report there is a serial killer on the loose, she overhears cops talking about a string of people dying from TikTok challenges. She sees her son at the police station. She runs after him, but he gets in a car and drives away.
Act 3:
Rethink: She talks to a counselor to get her medications changed.
Turning Point/Midpoint: Lonnie tells her another victim will die in two days. He thinks the serial killer knows his victims.
Eppsa puts a list of names together who have died. Some of them were her son’s friends in high school. She fears Hayden will be a victim, too. She needs to stop the killer before Hayden becomes a victim.
Act 4:
Climax: Eppsa does research for something. A headline about a murder-suicide catches her eye. It says, “Husband kills wife in a murder-suicide. The beloved husband was discovered to be a serial killer. Their teenage son was institutionalized because of the trauma.”
She goes to the cemetery. On the front of a headstone are the names of her and her husband with the same death date. She realizes she’s dead.
Eppsa knows where her son is located. She does something and lures him back to their old house, which is now revealed as abandoned and falling apart. Somehow, she kills Hayden to stop the killings.
In the final scene, Hayden’s wife, Neta, and son, Evren, await his arrival for his surprise birthday party. Something happens, and we find out Evren is following in Hayden’s footsteps.
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Bent’s 4 act transformational structure
what I learned doing this assignment is this……… as I write the arc for each character I am seeing where they are going to clash …. I am seeing the justification for their growth…
SANTA VS KRAMPUS
Concept – On Christmas Eve, Krampus is set to attack Santa and his sleighs of presents. A stow away elf with a fear of the outside world who is looking for his sister who has done the same might be the ones to stop the attack.
Main Conflict – The demon Krampus is a threat to the sleighs as they deliver presents. The General is not going to protect Santa although Santa thinks differently.
Old Ways – The sleighs are always protective of each other and on the defensive.
New Ways – They have brought the General to protect them in the area where they know Krampus is located. Which is North America.
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Act 1:
Opening – a Russian sub leaves the North Pole at night. A radio crew past that is contacting an elf who is in North America scouting an area. Krampus is there.
Inciting Incident – the demons attack the scouting elf.
Turning Point – the elf returns with some dead reindeer attached to the sleigh and it alarms all the elves. The General is angry on the outside but calculating on the inside.
Act 2:
New plan – General proposes to Santa they build up a military as the demons are increasing their strength. General wants to allow more oil drilling on the continent to pay for what he thinks is needed.
Plan in action – Santa refuses to build a military and Santa feels living simply is the way to go. The General walks away frustrated.
Midpoint – The sleighs are going out. Hazela a young elf stows away onto a sleigh.
Turning Point – Her brother chases after her and accidentally falls into a sleigh as it takes off. They all go to North America.
Act 3:
Rethink everything – They are attacked by Krampus. Hazela is kidnapped.
New plan – Break up so they can search for her. The General is called.
Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift – They encounter Krampus. The General sees the potential for killing off Santa. Everyone regroups.
Act 4:
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict – There is an end battle. Indigo gets his sister back. The General refuses to save Krampus when the demon is in the lead sleigh. Indigo goes into action as all the sleighs are going to North Pole.
Resolution – Krampus is cut in half. The General crashes and dies. Indigo’s father redeems himself by smashing the head of Krampus when it lands on the tarmac.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 10 months ago by Bent Hanlen.
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Adrienne Watkins Four-Act Transitional Structure – Module 2 Lesson 5-copy
My Vision: I am going to work as hard as I reasonably am able to succeed at script writing to be recognized by multiple movie producers as a skilled script writer, and to have my scripts produced worldwide.
What I have learned from this assignment script writing is like a puzzle to get a structured script.
Concept: A deaf woman teaches a jazz musician rhythm by touch when he falls in love with her his manager plots to break them up.
Main Conflict: Fransie a deaf woman has lost her beauty shop; she needs the money, so she teaches a moody divorced jazz musician rhythm by touch. His manager, Flavia has a crush on Roy when she realizes Fransie and Roy are falling she schedules Roy for a concert tour minus Fransie. Roy is unable to perform without Fransie. Finally, Flavia, discovers she and Fransie are sisters separated at birth.
Old ways: Fransie
Afraid on commitment
Little known of family background.
Nervous dancing in public
Unsure of her skills as a cosmetologist
New ways
Confidence in her dancing
Successful business owner
Able to commit.
Discovers her family background.
Act 1
Opening: Roy and Fransie accidentally bump into each other on the street, he spills soda on her, she looks at him and walks away. He tries to apologize but she keeps walking, she has one week to get out of her beauty shop.
Inciting Incident: He sees her in a restaurant and notices her signing.
Turning Point: Roy sees her again in a cosmetic store applying a client’s make-up and she’s moving to the music playing in the store, He’s intrigued that she moves with the beats of the music, he realizes she has body rhythm, but leaves the store.
Act 2
New Plan: Roy cannot get Fransie out of his mind.
Plan in Action: Roy decides to contact her through his manager and invite him to one of his concerts.
Midpoint Turning point: As Roy works on his jazz compositions, he invites Fransie, but she’ believes he’s only doing it out of pity for her, but she needs the money.
Act 3
Rethink everything-Roy has fallen in love but fights against his feelings. He had a messy divorce and only wants to focus on his music career.
New Plan: Roy’s business manager plans a concert tour.
Turning point: Roy goes on tour but unable to perform.
Act 4:
Flavia discovers Fransie is her sister, they were separated at birth.
Flavia tells Roy and sends for Fransie.
Flavia tells Fransie they are sisters.
Fransie’s performs with Roy at his concert.
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Shira Marin’s 4-Act Transformational Structure
WIM MOD 2 – L5: THE 4-ACT TRANSFORMATIONAL STRUCTURE
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MY VISION: I commit to doing everything from my strongest, most creative writer self to learn the course material as thoroughly as possible, then, revise and sell my screenplay to a producer who can’t wait to make it into an unforgettable film that everyone, everywhere can’t wait to see, be inspired by, and fulfill their best, most creative selves.
WHAT I LEARNED FROM THIS LESSON: What I learned from this activity is that the course is a gift that keeps on giving. These are high-yield, valuable methods for clarifying and honing my ideas.
Again, it’s a fascinating and ultimately satisfying process, and I am grateful for my persistence to complete every assignment as I catch up satisfactorily enough. I can see and feel the 4-act structure clarifying, and I will work to create an increasingly more powerful story as I progress.
Again, I’m appreciating the steps that work through each element, most of which I have known in a more general way over my previous studies in writing screenplays.
What is so different and fabulous about our course is that each of the processes is thoroughly unpacked, which I can now see is clearly critical to completing a successful screenplay! Foundationally, I feel stronger with each lesson.…YAY!
Concept: A discarded, forgotten goddess bent on saving humankind and planet Earth from self-destruction seeks out a grad student to do her bidding.
Main Conflict: The goddess Hekate sees humankind, out of ignorance, fear, and greed, is actively destroying itself and the planet. Hekate convinces Kara, a struggling grad student, to be her proxy in transforming the world with the promise to give Kara the life of her dreams.
Old Ways:
Overly invested in mannish ways and patriarchal society Accepts and trusts others’ authority over hers
Retiring, hesitant, and humble
Lacks self-confidence/belief in herself
Makes herself shyly inconspicuous
Doesn’t take her intellectual and creative gifts seriously enoughCan’t maintain an intimate relationship with a man; always jumps ship.
New Ways:
She, connected with her Divine Feminine Harmonic (Hekate), embodies
the “One.”Completes her doctorate and brings the beauty of Feminine the natural balance from the union of Feminine and Masculine energies to the world
Effective in a male-dominated world; men begin to experience the value of feminine energy in themselves and respect, appreciate, and embrace it.Kara is released from her childhood wound.
Kara and Oliver reunite in the end.
Hekate is restored to human consciousness as a guide: a vital, compassionate, and empathic thrust in both women and men.
Act 1:
Opening: The goddess Hekate standing on a Malibu bluff, looking out to sea, her brow deeply furrowed with a blaze lighting her eyes.<div>
. Inciting Incident: In a bookstore doing research, Kara is stunned, catapulted into a bookcase by a bolt of lightning that strikes a book related to Witches/Hekate. Kara shares this experience and a dream with her psychoanalyst, who confirms that Kara must include Hekate’s imperative to actively support in her dissertation Hekate’s agenda to save humankind from itself. Oliver, Kara’s boyfriend, and Jenn, Kara’s Jungian Analyst, become companions on the journey.
. Turning Point: Kara researches Hekate’s identity and discovers she is a triple goddess, 3 times more powerful than all of the other gods and goddesses, and she needs Kara to be her proxy. Kara needs to complete her doctorate or lose her academic position and her struggling sense of self. Grayson Benoit, the dept. Dean rails against Kara’s upstart attitude, her lagging behind, and her seeming lack of commitment. Calum Ross, Kara’s dissertation advisor, affirms Kara’s experience, though contrary to Grayson’s, and that her destiny is tied to Hekate.
Act 2:
. New plan: Kara finally agrees. Kara will change course and follow Hekate’s lead to develop her dissertation according to the Harmonic Feminine Principle. Oliver and Kara become estranged and split up.</div>
. Plan in action: Kara presents the proposal to the Dean/Grayson who vehemently declares, “No,” and Calum, who says “yes.”
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. Midpoint/Turning Point 2: Calum, works on changing Grayson’s mind about Kara’s dissertation proposal and discovers dark secrets that will cost Grayson his potential promotion and, ultimately, his academic career.
ACT 3:
· Rethink Everything: Grayson continues to keep Kara waiting for his acceptance of her proposal. Kara agrees to go Hekate’s way.
· New plan: Dean accepts Kara’s proposal. With Hekate’s inspiration, Kara executes the dissertation and turns it in. Hekate encourages Kara to trust herself about her dissertation, to keep working on herself and her childhood trauma that cause issues with both Kara’s mom and Oliver, her boyfriend. Hekate reassures Kara that the plan to stop human self-destruction and the planet is unfolding as she planned.
. Turning Point/Huge failure/Major Shift: Kara submits her dissertation, and Grayson keeps her on tenterhooks about the approval.
Act 4:
. Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: After all of Kara’s dissertation work with Hekate at her side, Grayson, bent on feeling Kara’s accomplishment, will only sign off if Kara first presents her work at a public venue where the world can decide it’s worth. Kara is beside herself</div>
.Resolution: Unbeknownst to Kara, Calum arranges for Kara to present her work at a TEDx gathering. Kara, who has slowly been embodying Hekate and the way of the Feminine Harmonic, finally, is joined by Hekate and presents her work, which goes viral. The talk launches a newly minted Ph.D., activist, international TED speaker, and global change agent who spawns a worldwide shift that sets a course of balancing masculine and feminine energies in men and women, creating a new paradigm for relationships at every level of society, setting Hekate’s agenda in full swing, resolving Kara’s relationship with her mother and reconciliation with Oliver. Grayson, who attended the event is transformed and claims his secret self, gets promoted to Chancellor, and Calum becomes the new department Dean.
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