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Lesson 5 Assignments
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9 Replies
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KZ’s 4-Act Transformational Structure
Vision for my future: I am an empowered writer who is a master of structure and genre, and who can turn any idea into a salable script.
What I learned doing this assignment is: as I filled in the blanks that I knew, I got ideas for solutions elsewhere in the script.
Concept: A down-to-earth detective faces off with a supernatural opponent
Main Conflict: Honor Kalos wants to bring the murderer of 9 people to justice; Bella Farkas wants to remain free.
Old ways:
- Doesn’t believe in ghosts
- Dismissive of her mother’s philosophy
- Cautious
- Runs from her mother
New ways
- Believes in ghosts
- Shown the validity of her mother’s philosophy
- Bold
- Becomes her mother
(Since there are two intertwining story lines, I outlined the acts for both)
Act 1: (Detectives)
Opening: Honor Kalos assists two senior detectives as they go to the defunct women’s asylum on Roosevelt Island to investigate new evidence in the disappearance five years before of nine film crew members who were last seen leaving the asylum after a TV commercial shoot. They are assisted by the young woman managing the property, Alison Miller, who explains that the director had wanted to shoot a scene from his film in the lobotomy room, but she had denied his request. Alison tells Honor the legend of Bella Farkas, an asylum inmate who woke up on the lobotomy table in 1912, and escaped by smashing a hole in the wall.
Inciting Incident: The elevator doors are pried open: a cable had broken, causing the elevator car to crash to the floor below. One crew member is found dead inside. While the senior detectives work with a construction crew to gain access to the lower floor, Kalos tries to interview Pippa Drake, who with her twin Jenna, was a P.A. on the commercial, but who was dropped off by the crew before they disappeared. However, Pippa won’t talk to Kalos.
Turning point: The bodies of five dead crew members are discovered and Honor is given the task of transcribing the videos, which are on their iPhones.
Act 1: (Crew)
Opening: The crew shoot a TV commercial at the asylum. The Director, Merk Rasmussen, sees the room where lobotomies were performed and decides he must shoot a scene from his horror film there, which he believes will generate more genuine terror reactions from his actors, who have no real experience of horror in their personal lives. The crew leaves in a van and Alison Miller locks up, but Jenna Drake, one of the P.A.s, had made a copy of the keys, and the crew returns, gains access and goes to the lobotomy room to shoot. Jenna notices that there is no cell phone service this deep in the asylum. Certain that his film is going to be a hit, Merk instructs his crew to make videos to be assembled into a “Making Of” featurette on the DVD.
Inciting Incident: Merk smashes the plaster, which had been sealed up after Bella’s escape into the wall. He insists that his lead actress, Mara, climb into the hole during a scripted game of hide and seek. He instructs her to pretend that she has seen a ghost, but Mara really has felt something else in the wall, something evil, and rushes out, hysterical. She runs to the elevator, followed by her boyfriend, Josh, the production’s grip.
Turning point: The elevator cable breaks, killing Josh. Mara is pulled from the elevator by the other crew members. She seems to be alive, but Alvin, an actor, has EMT training and declares that she is technically dead. Yet she still follows the others with her eyes and moves her head. This sends a wave of terror rippling through the crew, who remember a part of the legend: Bella Farkas is looking for a living person who is weakened to inhabit. They believe that Bella has invaded Mara, but that if Mara is dead, Bella will try to jump into someone else. They panic.
Act 2: Crew
New plan:
The elevator was the only access to the room, and there doesn’t seem to be another way out. Merk tries to calm them, certain that they will be found. Jordan Peal, the Sound guy, reasons that no one knows they returned to the asylum, and that their van was well-hidden. By the time anyone finds them, it may be too late. This adds to the panic and the urgency: they must find a way out.
Plan in action:
The crew break up into two’s to attempt an escape. Clive Derringer, an actor, is the next to suffer an accident, when he falls through rotted flooring into the basement below. Moaning from a head injury and with a broken leg, he uses what voice he has to ask for help. Devorah Match, who was with him, calls to him and asks if he can see a way out. At first he says No, and Devorah tells him she’s going to find an exit and assures him they’ll come back for him. He’s terrified of being left alone, so he lies and says that there IS a way out. Clive passes out, though his phone continues to record video until the battery dies. Devorah enlists Alvin, and together they try to find a way into the basement.
Merk tries to convince the others that someone should climb into the wall since the upper floors have windows, but the space is very narrow, and no one is willing to risk it just yet. Merk has no power over the others now; if anything, his influence is reduced since he’s the one that got them into this mess. If he really wants to climb into the wall, he’s going to have to do it on his own. He decides that they will be found, and he’s just going to wait.
Midpoint turning point:
Mara shows signs of being inhabited by Bella’s spirit – mainly that she’s technically dead, but still showing some of the superficial signs of animation. Jordan’s video shows that there are two crew members sitting with Mara to watch her and report if Bella’s spirit leaves the body, and those two are Jenna and Pippa. When Mara finally deflates, definitively dead, the remaining crew are convinced that her spirit is loose once more and looking for a new host.
Act 2 – Detectives
New plan: Kalos realizes that Pippa lied to them, that she was there at the asylum, and somehow managed to escape the room. Detective Mateo Fuentes states his plan to make an arrest. Kalos reasons that aside from Pippa being the only verified survivor, they have no proof she had anything to do with the deaths. A good attorney might make the case that she was traumatized and has amnesia. With bail reform, they won’t be able to hold her, especially as there are still four missing people, and they don’t know whether any of those people escaped, including Pippa’s twin, Jenna. For now, Mateo should simply talk to Pippa.
Plan in action: Mateo goes to see Pippa, but finds that she has not been at her job since the day that Kalos spoke to her. He goes to Pippa’s apartment and finds that she has fled, obviously in haste.
Midpoint turning point: Kalos confesses that she told Pippa about the discovery of the van. Mateo is furious with her and accuses her of ruining the case. Kalos feels guilty and doubles down on watching the videos. Mateo returns to the asylum to try to find more victims.
Act 3 – Crew
Rethink everything:
The crew become suspicious of one another, looking for signs of invasion by Bella’s spirit. All except the D.P., George Dwyer, who says that the legend is hogwash and urges them to stick to facts.
New plan:
Jordan wants to try to climb the elevator cable, thinking he can force open the doors. But he falls and dies, captured on film by George.
Devorah tries to convince the others that there’s an exit through the basement. Merk casts doubt on that, but no one is listening to him anymore.
Merk climbs into the hole in the wall and inches his way along, filming himself in what he thinks will be a triumphant escape.
George is willing to try Devorah’s plan. He falls and dies, but Devorah lands on top of him and survives – all captured by the unconscious Clive’s camera. Devorah realizes there is no exit, and that Clive only said there was because he feared being abandoned. It was his final bit of acting.
Turning Point – huge failure, major shift.
Alvin is convinced that Jenna has been invaded by Bella. He attacks her, but Pippa hits him on the head, accidentally killing him. Pippa is horrified by what she’s done.
Act 3 – Detectives
Rethink everything:
Kalos’s mother, Tatiana, channels Bella who tells about how she had invaded Jenna, but when Pippa realized there was something wrong, Jenna attacked her. Pippa was stronger and accidentally chokes her sister to death. At the moment of death, Bella invaded Pippa. Kalos rejects the story, accuses her mother of reading her transcriptions and then making up stories, drives her mother to the airport and puts her on a plane. Tatiana warns her daughter that Bella is an angry spirit from all the harm that was done to her, and that Kalos is in danger.
The Director is the only one who hasn’t been found. Tom and Mateo formulate a theory that he escaped.
New plan:
Based on what Tatiana learned from channeling Bella, Kalos alerts Mateo that he should check inside the wall for the Director. In the same wall that Bella escaped into in 1912, Mateo does find what’s left of Merk, who became wedged between the pipes. The phone recorded the sound of him tapping the pipes, just like Bella used to do: Tap, Tap, Tap.
Turning point/ Huge failure / Major shift
Kalos goes to see Alison, who has admitted herself to Bellevue, the mental hospital. Alison confesses that she went back to the Asylum the night following the crew’s disappearance to see if they were there. As she peered through the windows on the empty ground floor, she heard Tap, Tap, Tap, and assumed it was the ghost of Bella, so she fled.
Act 4 – Detectives
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict/ Resolution
Kalos gets an anonymous tip giving away Pippa’s location. She and the two senior detectives tail her to a bridge, from which it becomes clear she intends to jump. Since Kalos is the one who has training in negotiations, she alone follows her onto the bridge and tries to save her. Pippa reveals that she is possessed by Bella, can’t live with knowing she killed her twin, and wants to end it. In the last moment before Pippa falls to her death, Kalos feels herself invaded by the spirit of Bella.
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Madeleine’s 4 Act Transformational Structure
Vision: I am going to do whatever it takes for me to be a writer of amazing stories with meaning who can move the audience and change the world resulting in financial, critical and audience success.
What I learned from doing this assignment is: I’ve learned that it’s ok to come up with a first idea and just put it down, without starting to doubt and rethink every step. Let the process do the work.
Title: Menopausal Dad
Concept: What if an aging professor of growth economics gets confronted with his limits?
Main Conflict: Alex wants to become the dean to cover up his life phase and risks to lose his family.
Old Ways:
• The only thing that counts is his career.
• Wasteful and disrespectful.
• Dogmatic believer in never ending growth.
• Finds happiness in consumption focused and sees himself outside a systemNew Ways:
• Cares about the needs of his wife and daughter.
• Conscious and caring.
• Embracing self-limiting life-style.
• Discovers his being part of a system discovers genuine happinessACT 1:
Opening: Alex teaches growth economics and looses it with the student Mirai when she asks a critical question.
Inciting Incident: Because the old dean Luke retires, he urges Alex to apply for his position, away from students.
Turning Point: Alex finds out that the much-appreciated Guy applies as well.
ACT 2:
New plan: Alex wants to know from Mirai what the students want from him, so they would favor him over Guy.
Plan in action: Alex physically tries to turn back the clock.
Midpoint Turning Point: Alex suffers a break down and has to stay home.
ACT 3:
Rethink everything: Alex works out a curriculum that pleases the students.
New plan: Alex starts to practice the new self-limiting lifestyle.
Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: Corrie and Eva move out, because they want their former life back.
ACT 4:
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Alex has to decide to either become the dean or keep his family.
Resolution: Alex and the family live in a new, open-minded family situation.
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Geoff Gwillim’s 4 Act Transformational Structure
VISION: I am a writer of popular and critically acclaimed films, enjoying and grateful for every aspect of my creative life. I am consistently writing whatever I want from wherever I choose to live in the world, loving the wonderful experiences my writing enables me to have.
WHAT I LEARNED FROM DOING THIS ASSIGNMENT IS:
This exercise was fun and stimulating .. again, having a structural and defined process to follow as a part of the overall process is invaluable .. I loved it!!
Concept: A former submariner turned fireman suffering PTSD is recruited for an exploratory mission when the earth’s crust is torn apart, only to discover the answer to some of life’s biggest questions
Main Conflict: As the world threatens to tear itself apart, a reclusive billionaire recruits Garrett to head an expedition to the depths of the ocean. To save themselves and humanity, Garrett and the crew have to overcome their own ultimate challenges
Garrett’s OLD Ways:
Unable to hold it together
Alone, isolated and hiding out
Preparing to
end it allNo longer believing in himself or the value of
his lifeConsumed by guilt for his past mistakes
Sees no future
Garrett’s New Ways:
Understanding the totality of life
Clear and certain re the future
Compassionate and empathetic with his
co-explorersA man with a mission larger than himself
Act 1:
Opening:
Garrett .. nightmares
and suffering torment and the guilt of his past .. fire, confined spaces,
the dead, the death of his best friend Rob .. isolated in a wilderness
cabin, Zoom connects with his estranged wife unsatisfyingly, argues re
child .. talks to his dead friend Rob, continues drinking and
contemplating his endInciting Incident: He is visited by a stranger who extends an
invitation from his employer for Garrett to join a mysterious mission ‘time
is short .. of enormous importance’ for which he is ‘uniquely qualified’ ..
Garrett refusesTurning Point: Drunk
and determined he staggers to a high bluff, is confronted and challenged by
Rob .. then .. the Earth movesAct 2:
New plan: News
of damage and deaths, rising public concern at continuing incidents .. Garrett travels to meet stranger and employer/reclusive
billionaire (RB) .. joins mission to investigate newly-exposed immense
depths as result of global shifts .. ‘the answer is down there’ .. arrives
at custom sub, meets international specialists recruited .. leaves
farewell message for wife and child .. mission departs including RBPlan in action: Mission underway as crew/specialists engage, undercurrent
tensions and conflicts due to nature of (suicide?) mission as well as
other unknowns/hidden agendas .. Garrett continuing nightmares ..
receiving transmissions from above of escalating disasters .. they encounter
extreme heat and energy pulses creating impassable barrier to descent and a
threat to subMidpoint
Turning Point: Revisiting nightmare state, Rob provides guidance, they adapt/
invert tech to traverse through the barrier and enable entry and decent into
extreme depthsAct 3:
Rethink everything: Realisation that collective energy, experience and
consciousness are essential if
mission is to progressNew plan: Commit to work together in
different way .. begin practising empathic connection and intention .. all
specialists begin having dream incidents pointing to expanded
consciousness and potential as well as abyss of limitless suffering .. they
are being tested by external probing energies .. challenging realisations
while sanity under strain as the sub descend towards the utmost depthTurning Point: Huge failure / Major shift As the sub approaches ultimate
depth resistance suddenly building towards catastrophic failure .. enormous fire walls flaring around them
.. energy pulses increasing exponentially .. sub compressing under
impossible pressure .. decision needs to be made .. abort or dieAct 4:
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Amid warping reality of immense
pressure, Garrett confers with Rob .. the Antagonist is within .. ‘I have met
the enemy, and he is us’ .. farewells his friend .. realises this is the ultimate
test of external / internal belief and capability .. he exits submarine into
impossible pressure / flame / energy .. passes safely through barrier into
ethereal space .. meets with The Elders, RB is with/one of them .. and
learns his/humanity’s futureResolution: Returns
to the sub and specialists, ascent to world now calm after massive upheaval,
wife and child and .. the future!-
This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by Geoff Gwillim.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by Geoff Gwillim.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 5 months ago by
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Mhmd’s 4 Act Transformational Structure
My Vision: I will keep creating constantly and effectively; in order to be the most demanded and influential glorified writer within the industry and with the audience.
What I learned from doing this assignment is..
– It’s not just about my story. It’s about me, my potential pitch and combining skills.
Title: conjoined twin 84
Concept: Shocking revolutionary actions escalate inside a labor colony of conjoined twins cut out of the will, underhandedly driven – with sudden and unexpected patterns- by a conjoined twin who has an impossible mutation.
Main Conflict: The head of the religious criminal cult inside the colony, orders the undercover agent (Spider) to target the conjoined twin 84, who refuses to obey; either recruits him or kills him. And because 84 could not bear the idea of being treachered, he hides and forms and leads a rebellion to completely change states within the colony.
Old Ways:
Introverted coexistence.
Without a clear goal.
without vision
He has nothing to lose.
Limited liability within the scope of the assigned work.
Order taker.
New Ways:
Openness to unprecedented levels.
Great goals beyond the colony.
He has a grand vision of his own existence and his model for changing the world.
He has a lot he must protect.
Responsibility for many lives and their future in this world.
Command Prompter.
External Journey: from a worker who is no one cares about to a great leader.
Internal Journey: From loneliness and ostracism to leadership worthiness.
Act 1:
Opening: (84) carries out the work orders he receives as any worker inside the colony, otherwise he is an introvert. And while all the other twins obey what is asked of them by anyone, he refuses to obey the orders of the followers of (3) to join their gang.
Inciting Incident: (3) orders (Spider) to target (84), who refuses to obey; either recruits him or kills him.
Turning Point: Spider is alone with (84) and puts him in front of two options: either he will obey and join them, or he will be killed now. Spider severely injuresh (84), who nonetheless manages to escape. The physical pain now is nothing besides his feeling treachered. They did a great mistake!
Act 2:
New plan: To be declared (84) forsake and wanted at the same time. He has no place or people he can trust but he can do a lot by moving undercover as a lone wolf who refuses to build up support from the utterly obedient workers who surround him everywhere he goes.
Plan in action: (84) begins to neutralize gang members randomly and vandalize some of their places. But every time he does this, they put procedures in place so that he cannot return to the scene again. He decides to target Spider. Spider, on the other hand, is busy carrying out (3)’s sporadic, incomprehensible orders. He considers each of them a good opportunity for (84) to target him, but he misses the opportunity after other, and he does not realize that his mistakes are very important to (3) and exploits them in a vague way that those around him do not understand.
Midpoint Turning Point: Finally (84) manages to catch Spider at an unexpected point, and Spider at that moment only cares about leaving in any way because there are much more serious matters and he has only one last chance to leave. And (84) cuts him off already. Spider reveals to him that he is an undercover agent and that his mission was to discover what is being schemed inside the colony, and that he thought that (84) was responsible for this, so he did not hesitate to carry out (3)’s orders regarding him. Whereas it appeared to him later that there was a massive escape plan that had already started with (3)’s planning . And that there is a role for (84) that he was supposed to play if he had accepted to join. And no one else can fulfill this role. Now Spider has to go back and improvise and pretend to complete his role in Scheme of (3) as the only security breach that will be done in the Scheme.
Act 3:
Rethink everything: (84) re-evaluates everything after the cognitive shock he received from Spider. He decides to devise new and rapid strategies to recruit an increasing number of conjoined twins and builds them into contiguous formations that can respond and move in surprising ways like never before.
New plan: Now he will move on a different scale to control the internal borders of the colony from the outskirts, in order to precede (3)’s plan, block the road for him and besiege him inside the colony.
Turning Point: As soon as (84) is able to achieve control, he is surprised that this is what (3) wanted him to do, and that the recognized conditions in the colony mean that he is now just a cog in the (3)’s sweeping machine. He’s back in more crushed than he ever was.
Act 4:
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Now there is no solution but for him to be in sole control of the colony before the security forces from outside can regain control of it. And he has to go into direct confrontation with (3). He will secretly ally himself with Spider to thwart (3)’s plan and unite the groups equipped to escape. He will direct those with him to implement a new and crazy strategy.
Resolution: (3) discovers that he and the security forces have become part of (84)’s last strategy, and that he now controls everyone. He unleashes his orders and tells them part of his vision, which has become open to unprecedented levels, and that he also has other goals that go beyond the colony. We will work to achieve it soon.
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Brandyn Cross’ 4 Act Transformational Structure
My vision for success in this program is to develop and hone my skills to the extent that my screenplays will be produced and widely viewed.
What I learned from this assignment is how to structure the inciting events / turning points to maintain escalating tension and forge the protagonist’s journey and transformation. I am getting really stoked on this. Honestly, I could stop the course at this point already, and my screenplays would be twice as strong as they have been. This is awesome! That said, I have no intention of doing that, and look forward to upcoming improvements to my writing as we proceed.
Concept: A struggling children’s book author mourning the loss of his son develops psychic abilities, enabling him to communicate with dead children, following a disabling accident in which his own son was killed.
Main Conflict: The author is self-absorbed and wants to use his newfound psychic powers to help himself, but reluctantly finds he is unable to do so, but is able to use these abilities to help other parents dealing with the loss of their own children, which he has no real interest in doing.
Old Ways: Self-centered, concerned only with his grief, and building his flailing career.
New Ways: Empathetic, embracing his psychic abilities to bring others the peace of mind he, himself, is unable to find in his own life.
ACT 1
Opening: Despondent over his failing career, Alex intentionally crashes his car in a suicide attempt. As the car crashes, we are given a hint that he has a child in the car with him. We are led to believe that Alex survived the crash, but is left disabled. As he awakens in hospital, a news report in the background reports on the crash, claiming it involved several vehicles and that there were multiple fatalities, but he is seemingly oblivious to the report. As Alex rehabilitates, we see him as depressed, despondent and self-absorbed, filled with negativity and concerned only with how his misfortunes have made him a perpetual victim.
Inciting Incident: Alex is visited by Sandy, a child ghost, who tells him he has the power to help other grieving parents, and help their departed children cross over to eternity.
Turning Point: Alex initially wants to connect with his own departed son, the details about whom he has very little recollection, but discovers his psychic abilities only allow him to connect with the ghosts of other departed children.
ACT 2
New Plan: Alex still has no interest in using his powers to assist others rather than himself, and tries to ignore these powers. But he discovers he is unable to suppress these powers, and is unable to ignore an internal need to bring these dead children and their parents together to help them achieve closure.
Plan in Action: Alex writes a book about the first child Sandy connected him with. He then contacts the child’s family to get the book to them, insisting their departed child compelled him to write it. They are skeptical and want nothing to do with Alex.
Midpoint Turning Point: Initially Alex doesn’t care about the family’s dismissal of him and his claims, feeling he can chalk it off to having done everything he can, and then forget about it. Then he discovers that, in writing the child’s story, he has gained a greater recollection of his own son. But, with the family’s rejection of him, he begins losing that newfound recollection and realizes that, for his own sake, he must succeed in bringing the family and their departed child together.
ACT 3
Rethink Everything: Alex realizes that his grief over the loss of his own son is connected to the grief of others who have lost their children. He begins to understand that all life is connected, and that for him to progress in dealing with the loss of his son, he must develop an honest empathy for others going through the same grief process.
New Plan: Alex now realizes he must succeed in getting these other families to believe in his ability to connect them with their departed children. He is now unwilling to accept failure, and becomes absorbed in helping these other families to move beyond their paralyzing grief.
Turning Point: Huge Failure / Major Shift: The mother of one of these other departed kids commits suicide, unable to continue in life without her child even with the assurance of gaining closure. Instead, she is resolute on joining her child in the afterlife. Devastated and now believing his is doing more harm than good in connecting these departed kids with their families, Alex tells Sandy he wants nothing more to do with these kids, and will no longer use his connection to these kids to do so.
ACT 4
Climax / Ultimate Expression of the Conflict: Sandy shows Alex that this woman’s suicide was unavoidable but, without Alex’s intervention in connecting her with her departed child, her suicide would have been an act of despair rather than a misguided act of hope, and would have taken the rest of her family with her. Alex is convinced to continue to bring the remaining departed kids together with their families to bring them all to a point of acceptance and closure.
Resolution: As Alex accomplishes the task, his recollections of his son and suicide attempt improve, and he realizes that Sandy is, in fact, his son, who died in the crash, and that
Alex himself had also died, and has been dead throughout the story. This whole journey has, in reality, been about his own reclamation and redemption, which he must undergo before being allowed to join his son in the eternities. He also discovers that the children he has connected with are kids who died as an indirect result of his own suicide attempt. Several cars had stopped to assist in the crash, and a truck had accidentally plowed through a few of the cars, killing 3 kids left in the cars as their parents tried to save Alex and Sandy. His redemption complete, he is allowed to cross over himself, and join Sandy in the afterlife. -
VISION – To write touching, entertaining family stories that have a message to teach and entertain audiences at the same time.
What I learned doing this assignment is putting together the journey of the protagonist.
Concept – a single mother, desperate for love, falls for the wrong man which causes her to look within to make a better change
Main conflict – Protagonist has a pattern of dysfunctional relationships and cannot see the damage it’s doing to herself and her children
Old ways – spiritually blinded, desperate, craving attention from the wrong men
New ways – confident, independent, spiritual growth, no longer needing a man to validate her worth
Act 1:
Opening: Protagonist sings in church and captivates everyone except an older woman who looks at her in disgust.
Inciting Incident: The older woman gives Protagonist a bitter prophecy about her lifestyle with various men and says that the next man will cause her to change her ways. Protagonist is offended.
Turning Point: Protagonist catches her boyfriend cheating and kicks him out of her home.
Act 2:
New Plan: Protagonist is on a mission to find a new man.
Plan in action: Protagonist vows to go on a dating site and give the first 5 guys a try.
Mid Turning Point: Protagonist meets a great guy, but he senses her desperation and doesn’t pursue a relationship. She meets Antagonist who seems to be a great guy and is looking to settle down.
Act 3:
Rethink Everything: Antagonist is secretive, manipulative and gives more attention to her daughter
New Plan: She notices that there’s hidden cameras in her daughter’s room that her new man has set up
Turning Point: Antagonist is attracted to Protagonist’s daughter. Protagonist kicks him out and her daughter (having a tight bond with Antagonist) runs away to be with him. Protagonist is fearful, worried and blames herself for picking this man.
Act 4:
Climax/Ultimate Expression of Conflict: Protagonist must look withing and learns what she needs to change while trying to get her daughter back. This is a test of her faith.
Resolution: Protagonist’s daughter returns unharmed as Protagonist continues to work on herself.
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KZ’s 4-Act Transformational Structure – ESCAPE FROM NIRVANA
Vision for my future: I am an empowered writer who is a master of structure and genre, and who can turn any idea into a salable script.
What I learned doing this assignment is: as I filled in the blanks that I knew, I got ideas for solutions elsewhere in the script.
Concept: Two rival cutthroat negotiators must work together to outwit their meditation instructor in order to escape Nirvana
Main Conflict: Wendy and Darwin meditated their way into Nirvana, and desperately want to leave. But their meditation guide, Myra, informs them that only one of them will be able to leave, putting them in competition. Myra tells them that the way out is through cooperation.
Wendy – Old ways:
- Collects information on opponents to use against them
- Never trusts anyone
- Only feels that she has succeeded when someone else loses
Wendy – New ways
- Values others
- Adopts a “trust but verify” approach, honest, and cooperation up to a point
- Looks for the “win-win”
Darwin – Old ways:
- Uses his superior knowledge against his opponents
- Never trusts anyone
- Only feels that he has succeeded when someone else loses
Darwin – New ways
- Values others
- Learns trust, honesty and cooperation
- Values Nirvana
Act 1:
Prelude: Warren Buffet touts the benefits of meditation for gaining an edge in business. Suddenly, Myra’s meditation class is full of business types looking for an advantage over competitors.
Opening: We see Wendy and Darwin winning negotiations, but in domestic or social settings, not at the negotiation table. They have different styles, but the same goals: to defeat their opponents, whether it’s manipulating Mom, or achieving victory over a street vendor selling hot dogs. Then we see them at a conference where they brush up on their skills. They are attracted to each other, but as they sit at a bar watching other attendees pairing off for the night, they are unable to come to terms and each wind up in their hotel room alone.
Inciting Incident: Wendy and Darwin sit at opposite sides of the meditation room, but because they ace everything, they quickly become standouts for how well they meditate. Wendy and Darvin are assigned by their respective Mergers & Acquisitions departments to face off against each other in the most important negotiation of their lives.
Turning point: During one of Myra’s guided meditations, all three – Myra, Wendy and Darwin – reach Nirvana, which turns out to be a train hurtling through space.
Act 2: En Route to Nirvana
New plan:
Wendy and Darwin must convince Myra that they don’t belong in Nirvana and should be sent back.
Plan in action:
The negotiators find that Myra is impervious to their techniques. She has a map that outlines the steps they must take for the train to deliver them to Nirvana. Without telling her the truth, Wendy and Darwin takes steps to manipulate Myra and sabotage the plan. They are desperate to make it back to the negotiating table.
Midpoint turning point:
Myra figures out what they’re up to and tells Wendy and Darwin that they must work together, but that there is only one place on the express train back to reality. Wendy double-crosses Darwin and imagines she’s back at the negotiation table facing off with his replacement, but it was an illusion, and she’s back on the train. Wendy realizes that her usual scorched earth negotiation tactics won’t get her anywhere, and she must try to adopt the techniques Myra recommended, but which she’s never used before: trust, honesty, cooperation.
Act 3
Rethink everything:
Wendy and Darwin go against years of ingrained training and try to be honest with each other.
New plan:
They decide their best bet is to reach Nirvana and try to negotiate with someone other than Myra.
Turning Point – huge failure, major shift.
(not sure what this will be yet)
Act 4
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict/ Resolution
In an act of supreme cooperation, Wendy tells Darwin he can take the only spot on the train, but to her surprise, he has changed course and realizes that Nirvana is what he wanted all along. She takes the train back to reality and winds up in the meditation room where the other students were just becoming aware that the three of them are unresponsive. Wendy wakes up and tells her classmate Jen that Darwin and Myra will not come out of their “coma.”
Wendy meets Darwin’s replacement at the negotiating table, determined to find a win-win solution that is in everybody’s best interest.
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Raquel Solomon’s 4 Act Transformational Structure
I want to go deeper into my writing to create screenplays where characters of depth are placed in compelling journeys with a fresh voice that Hollywood producers as well as independent film companies know they must make!
What I learned from doing this assignment is that to create and escalate the dramatic intensity of a screenplay the protagonist must go through a lot of trials to lead to the “new ways” while gradually abandoning the “old ways” to grow and change. With each turn the protagonist faces more extreme obstacles that will ultimately bring out the new strength of the character in the heroic journey.
Concept:
A young Jewish Warsaw Ghetto prisoner uses her violin skills to access guns and food for the uprising.
Main Conflict
Trying to survive in the world of genocide of the Warsaw Ghetto.
Old Ways
excuses anti-semitism before the war
puts musical career above all else (family, friends and relationships)
When in the ghetto -humiliation, weakness, fear, not being able to fight back
New Ways
uses music to initially help others (teaching children)
ultimately as a means to join in the resistance and smuggle guns food
Falls in love for the first time with fellow prisoner
puts other lives ahead of her own
attains strength and bravery
Act 1
Opening: Miri plays American blues with her band in a club in Warsaw to a mostly young exuberant audience.
Inciting Incident: Neo Nazis storm the club, beat up a Jewish audience member before they are thrown out.
Turning Point: The Nazis have invaded Poland and Miri is taken to live in the Jewish quarter of the Warsaw Ghetto.
Act 2
New Plan
Miri teaches music to children in the ghetto. She becomes close and caring to young violin student, Jacob.
Plan in Action:
Miri joins the ghetto orchestra where she has access to extra food which she brings to her
music students.
Midpoint turning point:
Miri is blackmailed into being a Nazi officer’s lover with a death threat against Jacob if she does not comply.
Act 3
Rethink Everything:
Miri is now entertaining Nazi officers at their club outside the ghetto. Her music has opened further opportunity to fight back.
New Plan:
Miri uses her freedom to access outside the ghetto to smuggle guns for the resistance.
Turning pt: Huge failure/major shift
Miri is in love for the first time with fellow prisoner Avi.
Avi is killed helping to smuggle Jacob outside the ghetto.
Act 4
Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict:
Miri is caught with weapons by Nazi Officer “lover.”
She kills him and escapes and joins the resistance outside the ghetto to continue to fight the Nazis.
Resolution: The end of the war. Miri has survived and searches for Jacob. She finds him in a Jewish orphanage.
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Paul’s 4-Act Transformational Structure.
5. I want to write scripts that become movies that change people’s lives.
6. What I learned from this assignment is that, while I don’t feel ready, it forced me to start thinking in more depth about my story. This structure will probably change before I start to write the script, but at least I know what sort of structure I must have.
2. Concept: A Mexican woman launches her own drugs war – against the DEA.
Main Conflict: Between Lilia, Protagonist, who is campaigning to end the drugs war against, Julio, who pretends to support her but is in fact a DEA agent.
Old Ways:
Narrow horizons, limited to getting her daughter out of poverty.
Fighting to survive.
Not question authority.
Unaware of the politics of the drug war.
New Ways:
She has a mission: avenge her daughter’s death.
Leading a fight with global implications.
Fearless.
Determined to show up the drugs war for what it is – a phony war.
Act 1:
· Opening: A fentanyl lab in a poor neighborhood in Culiacán is destroyed by Mexican soldiers in presence of DEA agents. One of the neighbors, Lilia (unaware of the lab’s existence) witnesses the raid and tries to shield her daughter from the violence.
· Inciting incident: Lilia’s daughter has made it to college in the US on a scholarship, but soon dies of a drug overdose in a party hosted by the son of a US senator, a hawk in the drug war.
· Turning point: Lilia watches US senator on TV condemn Mexicans for the US drug problem, accusing her daughter of supplying the drugs. Lilia decides on revenge.
Act 2:
· New plan: Lilia makes contact with the Sinaloa Cartel, to have the senator’s son kidnapped and brought to Culiacán.
· Plan in action: Lilia has to prostitute herself to raise the funds. One of her client’s turns out to be a DEA agent. He tells her secrets about DEA operations. This begins to open her eyes about how filthy the drug war is. She steals his wallet so as to investigate him as part of her Lilia pays the Cartel to have the senator’s on kidnapped and brought back to Culiacán.
· Midpoint turning point: Lilia gets convincing proof that the DEA is not her ally, but a big cog in the drug trade machinery. Narrowly escapes assassination, arranged by her DEA client.
Act 3
· Rethink everything: The DEA is the enemy, not an ally.
· New plan: Lilia starts to post clips on social media highlighting the hypocrisy of the drug war that punished the suppliers but not the consumers.
· Turning point (huge failure/major shift): She has made enemies of two major financial interests – thousands of jobs in the DEA and UN depend on the continued drugs war. They try to cancel her.
Act 4
· Climax (ultimate expression of the conflict): To make sure she’s listened to, she plots to make the DEA agent pull the trigger on the senator’s son. The video is published on social media with Lilia’s message: “The DEA finally gets it right – eliminate the consumer and there will be no supply.”
· Resolution: A media campaign to end the drugs war starts to gain traction and powerful voices are raised in favor of Lilia’s policy to end the drug war.
END
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