Lesson 6

[Adam Wright]

What I learned doing this assignment is there were a few things I had to rearrange to make the character deaths makes sense. I think there will still be more tweaking needed but I think it’s making more sense now. Also, I really enjoyed figuring out which character will die when.

ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR

Atmosphere of Evil established: Dylan is on a movie set and he is pushing the boundaries of Amanda, an actress who has had a recent scandal, telling her to do things that cross ethical lines and putting her in physical danger. When she pushes back he reminds her of the paycheck she has waiting for her.

Horror situation: Dylan has a frank meeting with the actors at the beginning to tell them he wants everyone to be in method, and react to what they hear but understand that everything is fiction. Only, it is not fiction.

Reaction: Denial. The actors understand they will be challenged but also believe they are in a safe situation.

Connect with the characters: The actors are shown rehearsing dialogue, practicing their screams, putting makeup on etc.

Horror situation: There are some actors who are more famous than others and the more famous ones look down on the newcomers.

Reaction: Try to solve it. The peacemakers among the group, Chuck, Alessandra and Virgina try to cool down the tension.

The characters are warned not to do it.: Amanda tells the other actors how difficult Dylan is being and says they should all walk out in protest. But these are young actors who want stardom and fame and know they are working with a legendary director so they decide to stay, even though there will be no car service for the remainder of the night.

Horror situation: It gets dark, the roads get blocked by downed trees, and rain is constant.

Reaction: Escape. Some of the actors look for ways to leave, just in case.

Denial of Horror: Ravi who has worked with Dylan talks about how ultimately it was a good experience for Dylan to push him to his limits and that Dylan knows what the rules are.

Horror situation: Dylan purposely injures an actor to elevate their performance to make it more believable.

Reaction: Hide. Several actors disperse and try to get their thoughts together.

Safety taken away: Union workers leave due to regulations, the car service that takes actors to the woods leaves, and Dylan says he will take over camera and directing duties.

Horror situation: Chuck is warned away from Dylan as a director by union workers and/or drivers. He wants to stay to further his career.

Reaction: Denial. Chuck is sure things will work out.

Monster: The nature of the beast.: After Virginia goes to shoot a scene, she doesn’t come back. Dylan insists she just went somewhere to be alone but there is blood on Dylan’s clothes. He says it’s just makeup.

Horror situation: Virginia is taken by Dylan to do a scene and locked away.

Reaction: Try to solve it. The remaining actors try to look for Virginia.

Character Death 1: Virginia, the innocent one is stabbed over and over but the other actors think she’s just acting and they only hear her screams.

Why? It starts the horror.

How? Surprised/blindsided

ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN

Isolated / Trapped / Abducted: The actors are told the rest of the scenes will be filmed inside the house and so they all need to go in to get ready for their scenes. But once inside, the doors and windows automatically lock.

Horror situation: Dylan gets an actor locked into a bear trap and refuses to let them out. He keeps rolling the camera and takes a knife and stabs into the actor.

Reaction: Escape. The actors attempt to find ways out of the house but the house is trapped.

Character Death 2: Amanda – The obnoxious one dies off screen when Dylan takes her to do a scene and stabs her to death

Why? She is overconfident in her acting abilities because of her fame but Dylan knows she’s a terrible actress.

How? Betrayed by Dylan

One of us killed: While looking for ways out of the house, an actor stumbles upon the dead body of Virginia from the first death, her throat slit.

Horror situation: Dylan isolates pairs of actors but tells the others what doom is in store for each set of actors.

Reaction: Try to solve it/fight. Some actors try to figure ways out of the trap while others decide to look for weapons.

MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!

Full pursuit by the killer: Ravi sets off a trap in a room and instead of helping, Dylan just keeps encouraging him to act like someone in the situation would.

Horror situation: Dylan gets an actor locked into a bear trap and refuses to let them out. He keeps rolling the camera and takes a knife and stabs into the actor. Alessandra has to watch.

Reaction: Hide/fight. Some hide while others fight.

Terrorized: Dylan takes glee in chasing actors around, setting off traps, and stabbing whoever he can corner.

Horror situation: Dylan cuts the throat of an actor right in front of the others. There is no denying he is actually killing people at this point.

Reaction: Denial. The remaining actors can’t believe this is real and think Ravi is just pulling off some major acting.

Character death 3: Ravi – The rule breaker dies when his throat is slit in front of the other actors.

Why? It increases the horror and shows Dylan willing to go to extremes in front of everyone.

How? Charge blindly into action

ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR

Fight to the death: The remaining male actors decide they can take Dylan down if they team up. Dylan cuts them down in the attempt but they survive, injured and weakened.

Horror situation: Dylan has the lovers trapped. Their only escape is to sacrifice the other or die.

Reaction: Fight/Escape. Some fight Dylan and lose, while others try to get out but die in traps.

Character death 4: Carrie – One of the lovers dies when her boyfriend chooses to stab her rather than die himself.

Why? She’s confident James loves her and will not kill her.

How? Sacrificed/Betrayed

Character death 5: James – Is killed by Dylan with a knife immediately after he kills Carrie.

Why? Dylan punishes James for not acting how a hero in a movie would act.

How? Surprised/Blindsided

Hysteria: Dylan is telling the remaining characters what a wonderful film they are making as he cuts into them.

Horror situation: As the actors are quietly whispering to one another, trying to figure out what to do, Dylan pumps extremely loud music through the house, making it impossible to communicate verbally.

Reaction: Try to solve it. Chuck figures out how to cut the sound to the speakers.

The thrilling escape from death: The actors who are left try to flee only to find more trapped rooms. But, they maneuver around so Dylan himself falls into the trap.

Horror situation: Alessandra and Chuck are the only ones left. Chuck goes to pray at a cross when the floor gives way. Alessandra tries to save him but is hit from behind by Dylan.

Reaction: Escape. Chuck dives through the hole in the floor to get away from Dylan.

Death returns to take one or more.: Chuck figures out how to open the doors to the house but when he presses the button to release the doors, a fatal electric shock is delivered.

Character death 6: Chuck – The moral one dies when he is electrocuted trying to escape instead of helping Alessandra.

Why? To show Dylan has power even after he is dead.

How? Escape attempt takes them into it

Horror situation: Alessandra is the last one remaining after Dylan has killed everyone else.

Reaction: Escape/Fight. Chuck dies in the attempt to escape but Alessandra, who Dylan thought was dead, regains consciousness. She stabs Dylan to death.

Character death 7: Dylan, the monster is defeated by Alessandra who catches him in a moment he is distracted.

Why? To kill the monster and resolve the conflict.

How? Surprised

Resolution: The last surviving member is in hysterics as she leaves the house to find the union workers and car service have returned and she is given treatment and asked to tell what happened.

Horror situation: We see some found footage of the film Dylan was making.

Reaction: Denial. Alessandra is in shocked disbelief over what happened.

[Susannah Farrow]

Susannah’s Character Death Track

3. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.
What I learned doing this assignment is how important character deaths are to the structure of the plot and how they are more than just gruesome death scenes.

1. Give us the order your characters die in.
• Character Death 1: Town Drunk (off screen)
• Why: Sets up the horror that is to come
• How: Stabbed and slashed dozens of times

• Character Death 2: Lead cop/sheriff
• Why: He is the town’s authority figure and beacon of safety and stability – he needs to go in order to stir chaos
• How: Surprise attack, decapitation with strange-looking knife

• Character Death 3: Random townspeople
• Why: The killer’s time to shine is now, they must all die
• How: The killer uses his knife to slash and stab those within reach

• Character Death 4: Horace
• Why: The others count on his strength and size to help them
• How: He is beaten and then the killer slams a sledgehammer down onto his face

• Character Death 5: Zoe
• Why: She leaves the group in an attempt to survive alone -she feels she doesn’t need help
• How: The killer knocks her unconscious, ties her to a wall, arms and legs spread out, and he throws knives as he juggles them, the first knives terrorise while the last few kill

• Character Death 6: Elijah
• Why: His wisdom has gone unheeded and he feels like a failure, in this moment of weakness he is killed
• How: He is lifted into the air and his spine is bent backwards in a U shape like a metal rod

• Character Death 7: Waylon (first death – he survives this encounter)
• Why: He decides to fight the killer
• How: The killer cuts Waylon to ribbons using a bullwhip and then strangles him with it

• Character Death 8: Waylon (second, actual death)
• Why: He fights the killer once more, trying to save any survivors from him
• How: The killer uses his fire breathing skills to set him alight

2. Build the answers into your outline:
ACT 1 — SET UP FOR HORROR
• Atmosphere of Evil established:
The film opens with a silhouetted scene of carnage – there is a fire, there are screams, there are gunshots. The image is only brief before we cut to our main character, staring off into the swamp. She is obviously upset.
Horror Situation: The memory shows things aren’t as peaceful as they seem.
Reaction: The main character is uncomfortable being in town.
• Connect with the characters:
The main social group of characters have gathered with other members of the community to search for a missing person – a town drunk who they think fell into the swamp during a drunken stupor. Though not a very productive member of the community, the drunk is one of their own and is therefore valuable.
Horror Situation: One of their people is missing.
Reaction: They deny anything more serious has happened.
• The characters are warned not to do it:
One of the townspeople suggests they should all leave the town and abandon it – it has nothing but woe to offer and is a remnant of the past. The main characters argue against this, saying it is their home.
Horror Situation: An ominous cloud befalls the town; there is something in the air.
Reaction: More denial about anything worse going on than just bad vibes.
• Denial of Horror:
The local cop/sheriff suggests the drunk could be dead and search efforts could become retrieval efforts after finding his one of his belongings shredded and covered in blood.
Horror Situation: The prospect of death becomes real.
Reaction: The main characters are worried and afraid they’ll come across a dead body.
• Safety taken away:
The drunk is found – murdered. The kill is deliberate and violent. Some of the townspeople think one of their own must have done it.
Horror Situation: The main characters find the body.
Reaction: They are sickened by the man’s remains.
• Character Death 1: Town Drunk (off screen)
• Why: Sets up the horror that is to come
• How: Stabbed and slashed dozens of times

• Monster: The nature of the beast:
The killer murders the local cop, destroying the town’s beacon of authority and safety.
Horror Situation: They witness the murder firsthand.
Reaction: They run.
• Character Death 2: Lead cop/sheriff
• Why: He is the town’s authority figure and beacon of safety and stability – he needs to go in order to stir chaos
• How: Surprise attack, decapitation with strange-looking knife

ACT 2 — THE POINT OF NO RETURN
• Isolated / Trapped / Abducted:
The road out of the town and all of the town’s boats are blown up, trapping the townspeople.
Horror Situation: Explosions. Flames. People screaming and running.
• Reaction: They panic – there’s too much going on at once.
• Character Death 3: Random townspeople
• Why: The killer’s time to shine is now, they must all die
• How: The killer uses his knife to slash and stab those within reach

• One of us killed:
One of the main characters, along with several townspeople, are killed in a surprise attack.
Horror Situation: In the confusion, one of the main characters is killed.
Reaction: The others, witnesses to his death, make a narrow escape.
• Character Death 4: Horace
• Why: The others count on his strength and size to help them
• How: He is beaten and then the killer slams a sledgehammer down onto his face

MIDPOINT: The monster is worse than we thought!
• Full pursuit by the killer:
The killer attacks any and all, breaking into people’s homes or killing them outside. No one knows how to handle it and even a group of gun-toting vigilantes can’t stop him.
Horror Situation: Gunshots ring out, enhancing anxieties.
Reaction: Hope is damaged when the vigilantes are killed.
• Terrorized:
The main characters attempt to hide and find another way out of town – but it seems like everyone is dying. Throughout their efforts, they are killed one by one.
Horror Situation: Screams fill the air and bodies litter the streets.
Reaction: They are forced to think outside the box in order to hide and figure a way out of town.
• Character Death 5: Zoe
• Why: She leaves the group in an attempt to survive alone -she feels she doesn’t need help
• How: The killer knocks her unconscious, ties her to a wall, arms and legs spread out, and he throws knives as he juggles them, the first knives terrorise while the last few kill
• Character Death 6: Elijah
• Why: His wisdom has gone unheeded and he feels like a failure, in this moment of weakness he is killed
• How: He is lifted into the air and his spine is bent backwards in a U shape like a metal rod

ACT 3 — FULL OUT HORROR
• Fight to the death:
The remaining main characters, namely a young man who is one of the main social group, decides to take the fight to the killer.
Horror Situation: The killer seems determined to kill this group of individuals.
Reaction: In response, one of them takes the fight to the killer.
• Character Death 7: Waylon (first death – he survives this encounter)
• Why: He decides to fight the killer
• How: The killer cuts Waylon to ribbons using a bullwhip and then strangles him with it

• Hysteria:
They lose the fight, the young man is killed, and all hope is lost.
Horror Situation: They are alone, their friend is dead, and they are separated from any other townspeople.
Reaction: They run. All hope is lost.
• The thrilling escape from death:
The remaining heroes escape the killer a couple of times as they struggle to put distance between them and him.
Horror Situation: The killer is right on their heels.
Reaction: They run. Death hasn’t been closer.
• Death returns to take one or more.
The young man makes a surprise return, teaming up with the last two survivors to battle the killer one last time. They are about to be successful when the main character reveals herself to be in league with the killer.
Horror Situation: They are forced to fight the killer.
Reaction: It’s all or nothing.
• Character Death 8: Waylon (second, actual death)
• Why: He fights the killer once more, trying to save any survivors from him
• How: The killer uses his fire breathing skills to set him alight

• Resolution:
The young man dies his final death, the main character and the killer leave. However, one of the other main characters survives and crawls out of the swamp – alive but traumatised.
Horror Situation: The lose the fight, the bad guys win.
Reaction: The last survivor is barely alive. She crawls away.

[Carole Avila]

Subject line: Carole Avila – Character Death Track
What I learned doing this assignment is the importance a death can serve in a horror script.
*Note: My characters don’t die in the film. They are spoken about within the script so the other characters can see the how the demon got its start and how it lured Adley’s family to it.

• Character Death 1: Thomas Riley, owner of huge parcel of land above Grandma Aggie.
Why: To show how the curse had been patiently waiting as Adley’s birthday drew near. It knew her father would go to the property if his mother passed.
How: Riley “accidentally” fell down a well.

• Character Death 1: Adley’s grandmother, Grandma Aggie
Why: Her empty house is what gets her son and his family out to the secluded mansion.
How: She is pushed down the stairs and dies later from her injuries.

• Character Death 2: Victor’s father, Frank Trumillo
Why: He was going to Aggie’s for something she wanted to show him—the gypsy manuscript with the counter-curse, but he died before he could help. She hid it after that.
How: The skeletal rope hooked around the leg of Frank’s horse and threw him. He hit his head on a rock and bled out.

[j T]

Jessica Tremblay’s Character Death Track

Jessica Tremblay’s Character Death Track

“What I learned doing this assignment is my first character should die from the hands of the monster (instead of collapsing of a heart attack) to make the opening scarier and stronger. It was interestesting to determine WHY certain characters must die. I had never considered this question before. For example, Mrs Larsen must die because she’s not as innocent as we thought: she’s the reason the monster is in storage.

Character Death 1: John, Joanna’s father, is attacked by monster.
Why? The audience needs to see how vicious the monster. John is the first one to die.
How? John breaks in a locker, thinking he’s rescuing an animal, but get savagely attacked by a monster.

Character Death 2: Bunny, her childhood toy, is destroyed by Monster
Why? The toy represents the past she needs to let go of.
How? Beast eats it. Bunny if full of lavender and makes the beast sleepy (Lavender is the Beast weakness and acts like catnip)

Character Death 3: Mrs Larsen, her father’s neighbour.
Why? She has committed a sin by bringing the monster in storage to serve as a pet. She stopped feeding it after it bit her.
How? She’s not physically able to follow Joanna to safety by climbing a wall, so she gets eaten by beast.

Character Death 4: Building Manager
Why? He’s a thief (stealing deceased resident’s pension cheques) and wants to kill Joanna who knows his secret.
How? Joanna turns the monster against him
 
OUTLINE WITH CHARACTER DEATH ADDED:
ACT 1
Atmosphere of Evil established: a CREATURE attacks a MAN (60) in a storage area (in the basement of an apartment building)
Character Death 1: John, Joanna’s father, is attacked by monster.
Why? The audience needs to see how vicious the monster. John is the first one to die.
How? John breaks in a locker, thinking he’s rescuing an animal, but get savagely attacked by a monster.

Connect with the characters: JOANNA (20s), the man’s daughter, is a shoplifter who discovers her one night stand is a cop. When his dog accidentally dies in her kitchen, he blames her. Few days later, when she gets news her father died, she has one goal: rescue her father’s dog and redeem herself.
The characters are warned not to do it: In her father’s apartment, she can’t find any trace of the dog. Her father’s neighbour MRS LARSEN warned her to get out as soon as she can.
Horror Situation: She finds BUILDING MANAGER going through her father’s stuff. He demands she goes to storage to empty her father’s locker in basement otherwise he’ll charge her one month’s rent.
Reaction: She has no choice but to go. Also, earlier she found a message written by her father (STOR-) and wonders “What’s in storage?”
Denial of Horror: After emptying the locker, she sees an opportunity to make money by stealing valuables from surrounding lockers.
Horror Situation: As she tries to leave, the pile of boxes and stolen goods collapse outside, blocking the exit. Joanna is trapped in storage.
Reaction: She tries the door several times. Tries to find another exit and finds none.
She’s stuck in a creepy dark basement. When manager comes, he’ll know she’s a thief and call the police. Her life is over.
Horror Situation: Lights turn off, except emergency lights. It’s dark.
Reaction: She plugs in Christmas lights.
She finds a locker with a door ajar, creaking, and closes it.
Monster: First signs of the beast: claw marks on the floor. Then, a lapping sound, a bucket of water spills, then scampering noises, grunting.
The beast rummages inside a locker and comes out, puling sleeping bag out. Stuff spilling everywhere.
Horror Situation: Her childhood toy, Bunny, is alone in the hallway
Reaction: She picks up Bunny and takes shelter inside locker.

ACT 2
Isolated / Trapped / Abducted. She creates a barricade and hides inside a locker.
Horror Situation: Monster roams in storage. She hears noises.
Reaction: She hides in locker, creates a barricade.
Horror Situation: The monster breaches barricade and comes closer. It can smell her. Attacks. Monster tries to enter locker, ramming it with its body.
Reaction: She crawls over wall of adjacent locker.

MIDPOINT

Full pursuit by the killer: the creature rams into the door of the locker to break in and get to her.
Terrorized: she must flee from locker to locker, crawling over the shared wall between lockers in the small space between pipes and top of lockers, using a short ladder to cross to the other side of the hallway. She falls in the hallway. Close encounter with the creature.

One of us killed: She throws Bunny, her favorite childhood toy, and creature eats and destroys it.
Character Death 2: Bunny, her childhood toy, is destroyed by Monster
Why? The toy represents the past she needs to let go of.
How? Beast eats it. Bunny if full of lavender and makes the beast sleepy (Lavender is the Beast weakness and acts like catnip)

ACT 3
Fight to the death: She is being chased, trapped, attacked, and wounded.
Horror Situation: Beast chases her
Reaction: she escapes and hides to a locker.
Horror Situation: chased by beast in hallway, she used phone flash to blind beast
Reaction: and ends up taking weird selfies with beast
Hysteria: she straps a doll to herself and talks to it. She loses doll.
The thrilling escape from death.
Horror situation: Mrs. Larsen arrives to check on her, creating a diversion. The door is now open.
Reaction: She could leave, but she decides to stay to help Mrs. Larsen.
Horror situation: Mrs. Larsen can’t climb over the wall. Monster eats Mrs. Larsen
Reaction: Joanna escapes.
Character Death 3: Mrs Larsen, her father’s neighbour.
Why? She has committed a sin by bringing the monster in storage to serve as a pet. She stopped feeding it after it bit her.
How? She’s not physically able to follow Joanna to safety by climbing a wall, so she gets eaten by beast.

Horror situation: She has a giant wooden splinter
Reaction: Removes splinter. She’s bleeding heavily.
Horror situation: Seriously injured by beast, she crawls in to a locker,
Reaction : She sows her wound.
Horror situation: The sound of beast feasting on Mrs. Larsen is disturbing.
Reaction: She puts on noise cancelling headphones to block the noise.
Horror situation: The beast kidnaps the doll. The sound of crying doll yelling Mamma awakens her maternal instincts.
Reaction: she goes to rescue the doll.
She uses the broken A/C unit to knock out the beast.
Death returns to take one or more. The creature is not dead and grabs her one more time. Final fight. Mano a mano.
Horror situation: The beast approaches her nail to her stomach. She punches it in the stomach. Finds a tit. The beast is female! Joanna is suddenly drenched in bloody mucus.
Reaction: Beast stops fighting and leaves, moaning.
Beast gives birth. She locks it up. She’s now free to leave, but faints before she can reach the exit.
The Manager arrives, sees the mess in storage. She tries to leave without being seen.
Horror situation: Manager wants to kill her to keep his secret (she discovered he steals pension cheques from deceased residents).
Reaction: she uses monster against manager.
Character Death 4: Building Manager
Why? He’s a thief (stealing deceased resident’s pension cheques) and wants to kill Joanna who knows his secret.
How? Joanna turns the monster against him

Horror situation: Manager chases her, blocks the exit.
Reaction: she has no choice but to crawl into the beast’s lair, not knowing what she’ll found at the end of the tunnel. Their final fight takes place in the creature’s lair.
Horror situation: Manager pretends to be hurt. She tries to help him, but he turns against her.
Reaction: They fight.
Resolution: Neighbour is dead. Manager is vanquished. She exits storage with the doll, having accepted her pregnancy. She frees the beast and puppies outside. She calls the cop she slept with. Tells him about pregnancy. She wants to make it work. She discovers a lost puppy on the back seat and decides to keep it. Drives to meet the cop. They can be a family.

• This reply was modified 11 months, 2 weeks ago by  j T.
• This reply was modified 11 months, 2 weeks ago by  j T.