Lesson 6

[Beverley]

Beverley Wood’s Transformational Structure

What I learned doing this assignment is that I’m not sure I quite get the Gradients yet and should maybe take that lesson again.

Title: I Know You’re Out There Somewhere

Tell us your Transformational Logline.

An obsessive scientist learns to fully believe in and embrace something he cannot prove, opening his mind to a new way of thinking.

Change Agent: Kim and Lauren

Transformational Character(s): Matt

List your Mini-Movie structure (or whatever structure you’ve chosen) for your story.

Act 1 (MMM 1 & 2): After five years in Africa, Matt returns home to obsessively search for Lauren, his long-lost love. They promised they would get married when they were done chasing their dreams, her at art school in Paris, and he did research in the jungle. But she’s disappeared from the face of the earth.

He wakes up every morning and plays their song, and spends his day trying to find her. His new mail lady, Kim, keeps bringing him back the letters he sends, now marked: “not at this address.” She is sympathetic and is one of his change agents.

He finds Lauren’s sister with Kim’s help and she tells him that Lauren is already dead, she died in a car accident four years ago. The urn is in her sister’s closet. When the sister decides to surprise Matt with Lauren’s ashes, Lauren is delighted. She’s been trapped in this urn for four years, waiting to say goodbye to Matt. Her sister (surprise!) sends him the ashes and he has no idea what to do with them. Kim suggests he make a sacred corner for them in the greenhouse.

Lauren’s ghost appears to him in his greenhouse when he sets up the urn with his in-process monarch butterfly sanctuary (hatching ground). He doesn’t believe in ghosts and thinks she’s all in his mind. He talks to her on the advice of his shrink, believing he is speaking to his own subconscious mind. But when he speaks to Kim, she believes in ghosts and tells Lakota stories of the circle of life and spirit guides.

When Lauren uses empirical evidence to prove she’s real, he believes her. He’s delighted to have her back.

Act 2a (MMM 3&4): Lots of fun and games, including visits with the shrink, but now Matt’s reserved with him and listening more to Kim, who is advising him on ghosts and all things spiritual (and Native).

Lauren reveals that she must leave at the next new moon, but he ignores her. He speaks with Kim about the problem, and she takes him to observe a Lakota “Drying of the Tears” ceremony, where the spirit is set free. It starts to resonate with him. I clearly need more in here, which would correspond to segment 4.

At the midpoint, Matt and Lauren make love in the greenhouse.

Act 2b (MMM 5&^): Matt immediately wants things to be planned out and permanent – where do we go from here? She reminds him that she has to leave by the next full moon, and he doesn’t like that. He refuses to help her, then tries to convince her to stay by bringing her art supplies so she can paint again, cooking her gourmet meals, takes her to restaurants and the park. She still insists she must go.

Then, he says he’ll go with her, deciding to end his life if she can’t stay with him. She loses it, goes back into her urn and won’t come out. Matt has his dark night of the soul and sees God (the universe) through the magic of mushrooms (set up in act i). He comes around and understands why he must assist her transition.

Act 3 (MMM 7 & 8):

He convinces her to come out of the urn because he gets it now and they still have time, he doesn’t want to waste it. She does, and he makes a nice dinner in the greenhouse, and he is willing to let her go – and when she knows he truly gets it, she proposes to him.

He gets rings and groceries, and they each write their own vows. His shrink drops by unexpectedly before dinner, after Matt told him in Act II that he considering “assisted death”, but Matt convinces him that everything is fine. The very last thing Matt wants right now is for the shrink to see that Lauren is actually real. That would be another can of worms.

They get married among the bright flowers and chrysalis-stage monarchs (hundreds of them, whose metamorphosis we have followed throughout the story) and share a romantic dinner and night under the stars.

In the morning, fearing he won’t have the courage to say goodbye if he waits any longer, Matt goes to get the urn for Lauren, but when he turns around, she’s already gone, but it’s okay, because he will now be able to keep her alive in his heart forever He hesitates before moving to a colourful bed of flowers and almost-monarchs and spills her ashes. They sparkle in the sunlight. And as he does, hundreds of butterflies break out of their transparent cocoons, and fly out the door, with one remaining on his hand but eventually leaving.

Kim left his mail in the box for the first time she’d been his mail person. When he is reunited with Kim’s brother, his old best friend, the brother reveals that Kim died in the same car accident with Lauren. He realizes Kim was here to guide Lauren. And Matt. Two butterflies follow Matt and his friend to the pub.

[Diane Keranen]

Diane’s Transformational Structure

What I learned doing this assignment is to avoid rushing from the beginning to the end. Give the audience the “how I got from A to B” so they can not only watch the story but feel the story.

1. Tell us your Transformational Logline: A family struggling with generations of combat trauma welcomes home a soldier unsure of his future who must find a path from a war zone to a family home.

2. Tell us who the main character will be:
Change Agent: Stewart
Transformational Character: Matt

3. List out your Mini-Movie structure, (or whatever structure you’ve chosen) for your story.
MM #1 — Matt’s status quo is that he has been in the Army for multiple deployments to combat zones. This is a lifestyle he has grown accustomed to with the discipline of training and missions that gave even the toughest, most chaotic, and most traumatic days in combat a sense of predictability. Every time he completed a deployment, his return home was confusing and he felt somehow lost. He has re-deployed twice after failing to find his way back home. This time, he’s determined to make it work even though he doesn’t know how he will do it. — Stewart’s status quo is that he has managed to distance himself from the people he cares most about; Claire, his wife, and Matt, his son. Stewart is also a combat veteran. He lives alone in a cabin where he and Claire lived together until Matt was born. Stewart makes a meager living building wooden watercraft in his woodshop. His love for his family is expressed through his belief that they are better cared for by (protected from) him if he keeps them at a distance. — Matt and Stewart’s status quo is that they have been estranged due to dysfunctional family life rather than from direct conflict with each other. Matt has never lived with his father because the night he was born, Stewart, in a nightmare, war-trauma state, injured Claire which triggered the delivery of baby Matt. When Stewart picked Claire and baby Matt from the hospital, he returned them to the home of her parents out of concern that he could inadvertently hurt them. He promised they would be together again someday.

Turning Point: Call to Adventure — Matt plans to break through the barriers that Stewart has placed between them to learn from his father how to stick around this time.

MM #2 — Claire comes to Stewart to get him to help Matt. He resists because he doubts he do anything but cause harm. Claire persists and explains that Matt has a better understanding of why Stewart has been as distant as he has been and that Stewart is the only one who can help Matt find his way back to his wife and son. She believes that Stewart’s hindsight can help Matt avoid the distance with his son (Jake) that Stewart and Matt currently have (and have had) between them. Stewart thinks she is wrong. She ups the stakes by signing her house (passed down to her when her parents passed away) to Matt and Sara so they can have a home where they can raise Jake. She would then finally move back into the cabin with Stewart (the plan when he dropped her off).

Turning Point: Locked in — Hard pressed up against his reluctance but choosing to trust Claire’s judgment on matters related to Matt, Stewart agrees to try.

MM #3 — Matt, determined and with a plan to seek out his father’s advice drives for days to get back home. Once back to his hometown, he avoids going to see his wife and son. His nerves get the best of him and he gets drunk. A friend finds him and drops him off at Stewart’s cabin in the wee hours of the morning. He wakes up on a cot in Stewart’s woodshop while Stewart is working on a project.

Turning Point: Standard ways fail — Matt turns up at Stewart’s cabin ahead of when he chooses. He’s off his game and ill-prepared for this reunification and ashamed he arrived this way.

MM #4 — Stewart delivers a few harsh, yet fitting, “lessons” to survive a return to his home life. However, every “lesson” goes against every belief he has about returning and he believes his father is stuck in a dark place and doesn’t want to end up in that same place and discards his father’s insight. After leaving Stewart, Matt returns to his wife and son, he performs all of the expected behaviors his wife wants from him. He visits friends and does the same.

Turning Point: Plan backfires — Matt, although determined to change his ways, finds no footing with his wife and friends. He feels like a fake; like he’s pretending to be someone he’s not. He worries he’ll fail.

MM #5 —Matt takes his father’s advice to heart and tries again with his wife and friends and does and says what feels more genuine to how he had changed through his wartime experience. He goes at it with an “open book” approach. But he is treated as if he’s losing his mind and “will become a hermit like his dad” or is “stuck in the war” and should relax because “you’re home now, you can forget all of that.” The old way, the wife’s way, doesn’t feel right, but the new way, his father’s insight, is dismissed as irrelevant by his wife and friends. Both reactions to his war-changed self don’t feel right to him.

Turning Point: The decision to change — Matt is more confused and frustrated than ever. He returns to his father who imparts additional advice. Matt decides to try again. Try harder. His father’s insights on what failure could look like reinforces Matt’s determination. He shares with his wife, Sara, his need for her to recognize his changed self.

MM #6 —Stewart shares his failures and regrets. Matt sees a warning of what could go wrong by denying his war experiences as well as what could go wrong by being too open with those who have no frame of reference for how powerful his wartime experience is for him. Stewart includes the story of his friend who died in a car crash that Stewart believes was intentional.

Turning Point: The ultimate failure — Matt wonders if he can fit back into society or if he should bother trying. He visits the scene where his father’s friend died.

MM #7 — Matt reluctantly attends the welcome home party his wife planned for him, but Sara promises to make it okay for him and the guests who can’t wait to see him and celebrate his return. It takes place on the 4th of July holiday. The party is triggering for him. His combat trauma causes him distress. So many people. So much laughter. Why should he have a party celebrating him when his friends have lost limbs and lives? With every sparkly, bottle-rocket, and firecracker being shot off, his nerves frazzle more. It’s too much. He leaves the party. He drives to a place of quiet solitude. He understands why Stewart lived in the cabin in the woods. Solitude. He’s not a burden way out there. He is not burdened out there. He calls his wife. He needs her to listen.

Turning Point: Apparent Victory — Sara recognizes that the party was poorly executed. She agrees to learn about how he has been changed by combat trauma.

MM #8— He returns to his home (formerly Claire’s house) to build, however challenging, a life in society with his family as his center.

Turning Point: New status quo — Sara recognizes that the party was poorly executed. She agrees to learn about how he has been changed by combat trauma. Matt and Sara live in Claire’s house, the house where Matt grew up, to raise their family. Claire moves back to the cabin with Stewart (and their own set of challenges) and while it’s not a “happily ever after,” it’s a family reunification.

This could be an end for the “Apparent Victory” ending. The “Apparent Failure” ending would be Matt not surviving the return home.

Turning Point: Apparent failure — Sara recognizes that Matt believes the party was too much but believes he is wrong. She refuses to learn about how he has been changed by combat trauma and demands that he leave the war behind him, “this is home not war,” and he should simply return to family and be a good father and husband.

MM #8 — In this place of quiet solitude. Strewn about in his pickup are various awards for his service. There’s also the pistol (it’s introduced in an earlier scene). A post-war life? Or an escape of death? He calls his wife. He needs her to listen. She demands he come home. Sara finds it too difficult to challenge the beliefs of her friends and the community (She’s also a Betrayal Character). “All of this celebration of you being a hero is good for everyone including Jake” and “he’ll grow up with the values of respect for fighting for one’s country.” Matt must conform to the Old Ways or not. He chooses “not” and takes his own life.

Turning Point: New status quo — Sara is the grieving widow of a war hero. She accepts the role and is determined to raise Jake in the Old ways. Stewart, feeling betrayed by both Claire and himself for not getting Matt home safely, distances himself even more from Claire. He becomes even more “invisible” to society than he was before.

[Angela Booth]

Angela Booth – Transformational Structure:

What I learned by doing this assignment is that I had not articulated the call to action in my first few drafts of the Pilot episode for my comedy-drama TV series, which left it drifting without purpose.

There are 4 main transformational characters who must each act as transformational change agents for the other people in their lives.

I am only posting the assignment for the Pilot episode here.

Transformational logline: Four working mothers must face some uncomfortable home truths to change their worlds and discover their true selves.

Pilot episode: Status Quo and Call to Adventure

We cold open with text messages finalising arrangements to meet that evening. Each woman’s response tells us something about her before we meet them.

Titles.

The four women meet at a restaurant where Georgia describes an incident from half an hour before – one of the kids destroying the kitchen lights and an iPad, typifying the chaos at home. Anne struggles to choose what to eat and gives out handmade gifts while mentioning her father’s upcoming 80th birthday in the UK. We learn there is family tension with her sister and that her husband is unpredictably grumpy at home, taking it out on her and the kids.

Tiff describes an unusual event on night shift and explains that she’s working extra hours to make ends meet while her husband is out of work. Jodie describes all the running around she’s been doing while her husband is away on a conference, leaving her to single-parent for a week (again).

Anne shares her core belief in service to others, while hiding how selfish her own kids are, and Georgia recounts an incident at school involving her middle child that reminds them all of a harrowing event Georgia’s husband lived through some years before.

They collectively decide that enough is enough, and agree to support each other to make changes that will have a positive impact in their lives. They each commit to reporting back in a couple of months when they see each other again.
They always finish their dinners with a discussion on who’s watching what on TV, though we always cut to titles and never hear the answers.

Georgia: Stuck managing the kids all the time. Needs to get Mart to take the kids more consistently.
Change agent: Jodie, Tiff, Anne
Transformational character: Georgia
Old ways: Doing everything, organising the whole family, taking ownership for all aspects of their lives.
The Vision: You need time for yourself, have your own hobby, have help.
Challenge: Martin (husband) is inconsistent in being available to help out. He’s unreliable and doesn’t share the load.
Weaknesses: Afraid that if she doesn’t do it, no one will.

THEREFORE:
Change agent: Georgia
Transformational Characters: Martin, the kids, her Father-in-Law
Old ways: Letting Georgia remember schedules, organise medical appointments, pay for school camps etc.
The Vision: I need to share the load and feel supported
Challenge: The status quo has been that way for so long, no one knows any different. Martin injures leg. Father-in-law comes to stay, adding to Martin’s stress.
Weaknesses: Lack of confidence. No role model to look to.

Jodie: Privileged life as full time mum. Appointment with the accountant next week. Graham seems worried but she’s sure it’s nothing.
Change agent: Georgia, Tiff, Anne
Transformational character: Jodie
Old ways: Doing everything for the family, taking ownership for all aspects of their lives, prioritising beauty, health, meeting friends. Gave up career. Has no external validation for all the hard work. No pay, holidays, pension fund. Totally reliant on husband. No real mental stimulation or satisfaction.
The Vision: You need something for yourself. What about studying? The kids will grow up and leave home – then what?
Challenge: Husband is entrepreneur who is either away at conference or studying and who doesn’t share the load. Graham is so motivated to pursue his own passions, there is no time for her to pursue hers.
Weaknesses: Afraid to challenge status quo as it is currently giving her time for herself, although not mentally stimulated.

THEREFORE:
Change agent: Jodie
Transformational Characters: Graham, the kids
Old ways: Jodie being a single parent a lot of the time, doing all the running around for medical appointments, school pick ups , staying home when kids are sick, etc.
The Vision: I’m OK with this for now but I don’t like single parenting. I want more in the future.
Challenge: Graham feels he has to be better and bigger, constantly moving forwards. Isn’t considering other people so long as he is succeeding and providing for the family.
Weaknesses: Worried he can’t provide for their ever-expensive lifestyle.

 
Tiff: Call to action: Paul has a job interview – she’s praying he’ll get it as she’s been working 5 or 6 nights a week for ages. She needs the extra cash…. Kids braces? Kids camp? Botox?
Change agent: Georgia, Jodie, Anne
Transformational character: Tiff
Old ways: Working hard and taking extra shifts to support the family. Takes on financial burden.
The Vision: You can’t keep working that way. You need the boys and Paul to step up.
Challenge: Husband and kids have been allowed to sit back while Tiff works which means they feel no responsibility or urgency to help out financially.
Weaknesses: She knows she is capable and strong, and that the boys are weak, so she keeps picking up their slack. She doesn’t want to be a nag.

THEREFORE:
Change agent: Tiff
Transformational Characters: Paul, the kids
Old ways: Tiff working long night shifts and picking up extra day shifts while Paul and the older boys don’t work.
The Vision: You have to get jobs and pay your share. I can’t be the only one working.
Challenge: The older boys were affected by Covid, in that their confidence is low. Paul feels like a outsider and doesn’t truly believe he’s worth the wage and commission he’s paid when he’s working.
Weaknesses: Personal insecurity all round preventing the boys and Paul from being successful at finding work.

Anne: Call to action: got to sort out flights to the UK and deal with tension with sister and gift for dad – the man who asks for nothing and is grateful for even less. Also new job at work – has to apply last minute so pressure is on. Chris being grumpy and unpredictable, so walking on eggshells around him.
Change agent: Georgia, Jodie, Tiff
Transformational character: Anne
Old ways: Insecure and damaged by childhood trauma. Just wants to be loved and will do anything to be accepted and valued. Doesn’t make decisions or stand up for herself.
The Vision: You have to stand up for what you want. Don’t let them treat you that way.
Challenge: She has to face up to family and employer who clearly demonstrate lack of belief in her.
Weaknesses: Doesn’t believe she has the strength to vocalise who she is in the face of a lifetime of experience telling her she’s worthless.
‘

THEREFORE:
Change agent: Anne
Transformational Characters: Chris, Dad, manager
Old ways: People expect her to blend in and not cause a fuss. Chris takes out his frustration on her and the kids.
The Vision: I am enough. I can be myself. I don’t need to accept this behaviour from others.
Challenge: Family and manager dismiss her as unimportant and without agency. The real Anne has been hidden for so long it will come as a shock to people when she reveals herself.
Weaknesses: Her father, husband and manager will have to accept their own responsibility for the situation and face their own limitations.

[Mitch Haraguchi]

What I learned doing this assignment is placing your story in the Mini-Movie structure may help you create new story lines that you did not even imagine.

1. Tell us your Transformational Logline.
A local sheriff, ultraconservative, redneck and authoritative, living in a remote town in the Midwest, is forced to deal with a young Asian man who was found in the middle of nowhere and changes gradually as his 14-year-old daughter blindly falls in love with the Asian man.

2. Tell us who the main character will be: Change Agent: Transformational Character(s):
Change Agent: Asina man
Transformational Characters: Russell, 45 (local sherif), Katie, 14 (his daughter)
Oppression: Exclusive community, Amnesia

3. List out your Mini-Movie structure, (or whatever structure you’ve chosen) for your story.

MM#1 Status Quo and Call to Adventure: The peaceful life of a local sheriff, Russell Davidson, is disrupted when a young Asian man was found in the middle of nowhere. To make things worse, the Asian man lost his memory, and nobody knows if he is a tourist, illegal immigrant, or even terrorist.

MM#2 Denial or Conflict: Russell faces the first challenge: identifying the Asian man who barely speaks. In the meantime, Russell’s routine is also disturbed, e.g., missing a Mass in the church for the first time in 30 years.

MM#3 First attempt to solve problem that fails: Russell attempts to solve this incident on his own but every attempt fails and he soon runs into a wall. He simply does not have resources and knowledge to handle this incident.

MM#4 New/Bigger plan: Now Russell gives up solving himself and starts looking for help. Russell transfers the Asian man to the hospital in the city. During this process, Russell, who is a solo law-enforcement in town, asks his daughter Kaite to help take care of the man. Russell is having an issue with this typical teenage girl. Katie, who is a rabid Japanese anime fan, is also having her own issue; few friends due to her shyness and nerdy persona.

MM#5 Hero needs to change: Russell discovers that while he has taken a good care of his local people (and they like him), he has not paid enough attention to his daughter, which formed an emotional gap between him and Katie. Now Russell has to change his overbearing attitude in order to get a cooperation from Katie.

MM#6 New plan and ultimate failure: During the process of taking care of the Asian man in the hospital, Katie begins to be emotionally connected to him, who reminds her of one of her anime heroes. Although he is still unable to speak any language and to recall any memories, the Asian man’s physical condition is getting better. He also seems to enjoy spending time with Katie. Russell does not want her to be close to this mysterious man.

MM#7 Crisis & Climax: One night, the Asian man disappears from the hospital. Katie goes nuts and rushes out of the hospital, while ignoring Russell’s warning: “You stay here, I will take care of it.” For Katie, the Asian man is the first and only friend to whom she is truly connected from the bottom of her heart. Russell gets upset when he learns that Katie was out searching for the man. In the meantime, Katie finds the Asian man being in trouble with local punks. Katie bravely tries to break it up but she becomes the new target of the punks. When Katie is almost about to be raped, the Asian man charges and beats the crap out of the punks using some martial arts technique.

MM#8 New status quo: The Asian man recovers his lost memory. He is a Japanese man who was travelling alone in the US by hitch-hiking. The fact that he has a fiancé in Japan breaks Katie’s heart. Russell consoles her, feeling that his emotional distance from her has shortened a little bit.

• This reply was modified 10 months ago by  Mitch Haraguchi.
• This reply was modified 10 months ago by  Mitch Haraguchi.

[Mark napier]

Napier Transformational Structure

***FYI, content I am posting has been registered (as a Treatment) with the Screenwriters Guild and copyrighted through the Library of Congress. When I am done with the script too will be registered and copyrighted. I understand what we post here is to be treated as such in the same manner.

What I learned doing this assignment is…?” (place at top of your work). I basically learned to use my sub loglines for the Four Act Structure to serve as the foundation for creating my Mini Movies.

1. Tell us your Transformational Logline. When a CIA Whistleblower becomes a victim of injustice–and an abandonment of self to survive–he must “Keep Standing” to restore honor, influence change and pursue accountability.
2. Tell us who the main character will be: Change Agent: Transformational Character(s): The Change Agent is a powerful CIA executive who is considered to be a God like deity at the Agency. The Transformational Character is a CIA officer who exposes the CIA’s hidden cultural norm.
3. List out your Mini-Movie structure, (or whatever structure you’ve chosen) for your story.
–MM #1 – Pages 1 – 15 – As many as 325,000 children are at risk of sexual exploitation in the U.S. annually, despite efforts by the U.S. government. However, one agency stood out choosing not to prosecute predators —– the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). A CIA officer in Baghdad, Iraq encounters a dilemma after a midnight mission in a hostile combat environment unveils a twist to the misleading scenario, he is originally provided by Station leadership. He will soon discover he is left holding the bag as he uncovers a custom whereby violators of child pornography are not held accountable. Standing by his values, he reports the Station’s shortcomings to Washington gambling his actions will be supported, only to provoke additional backlash from a powerful adversary who is already upset with the Officer’s liaison teams embedded with military commands who expressed concerns with CIA support—a repeat of the conditions reported during Operation Desert Storm in 1990. [Opening Scene and ACT 1]

*Turning Point: Call to Adventure.

–MM #2 – Pages 15 – 30 – The CIA officer has experienced his fair share of hostile work environments that exist at the CIA Station for the past 3 months – mostly because of his home office foul ups – and decides not to stick around any further to be the whipping boy following his report in official channels. His unfavorable report exposes a ‘repeat’ offender engaged in the downloading of Child Pornography on two CIA Top Secret computers. So rather than put up with further hostilities or bother to confront senior Station executives, he chooses to depart Iraq on his own terms refusing to believe his own gut instincts that his career is about to take a change for the worse for the doing right thing with no recourse, if his decision backfires. [ACT 1]

*Turning Point: Locked in.

–MM #3 – Pages 30 – 45 – The CIA officer seeks assistance from his home office in Washington and the Agency’s Office of Security overseeing the investigation as cover to prevent the initial barrage of retaliations as he redeploys to Afghanistan. At first, this action proves successful for the short term, despite multiple attempts. Nonetheless, his adversary will eventually cross paths again and exert greater influence over his destiny than they could before. Meanwhile, the CIA officer goes on to experience several high-profile operational successes exposing a counterintelligence failure, defection of 14 Taliban leaders, two suicide bombers and 120 fighting age males, disrupted an Al Qaida facilitator while cleaning up a failed Navy S.E.A.L. mission, destroyed terrorists’ supply lines, undermined support from the local populace and created a division with recruitment efforts; and ultimately disrupt enemy efforts that save American soldiers’ lives. All under the guise of trying (hoping) to maintain his own ‘low profile,’ while carrying on with his mission. Unfortunately, he is unaware his efforts are being monitored by one of the Antagonist’s henchmen. [ACT 2A]

*Turning Point: Standard ways fail.

–MM #4 – Pages 45 — 60 – Unbeknownst to our hero the Station leadership have assumed new leadership positions at the CIA that will have a direct impact on his future. Both abuse their titles, positions and authorities as a weapon to destroy using Agency resources to carry out their revenge. So, when the CIA officer is surprised to learn he is being sent home as a ruse he grows uncomfortable as his instincts tell him he is in danger, particularly when he is asked to turn over his credentials and diplomatic passport. Despite the inner alarm, he takes still takes no action to challenge the actions of his office. After returning home he learns too that his luggage containing four years of tax information is stolen from the check in counter where the CIA has a collocated facility. He becomes even more disheartened when the CIA officer learns he is being Blacklisted. He begins contesting the Agency’s decision only to learn he has been betrayed by his own boss. He must walk a tight rope when seeking outside help as risk exposing sources and methods could carry significant prison time. Unfortunately, when it rains it pours as he is struck down with an illness that turns out to be life changing event leaving him chronically homeless on the streets with his dog for the next five years. He is left penniless with the IRS takes his last $600 as he joins the ranks of the 675,000 ‘walking dead’ who were left homeless too, following the Great Recession in 2009. [ACT 2A]

*Turning Point: Plan backfires.

–MM #5 – Pages 60 — 75 – Four years pass, and our hero is not just bankrupted financially, but bankrupted physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. He has tried to commit suicide four times, but in each case, it seems Devine intervention prevents his death. He has become an abandonment of self and turns to drugs his fourth year on the streets to escape reality. He has survived 110 degrees in the shade of a car to minus 22 degrees below zero living for an entire month off the land. However, it is not until his dog faces death that leaves him panic stricken begging for her to live that he decides he must improve his situation than drag his baby down with him. He decides it is time to pull himself together, pursue justice and restore his honor as his driving force. By the end of the 5th year, he pulls himself off the streets. [ACT 2B]

*Turning Point: The decision to change.

–MM #6– Pages 75 – 90 – Our hero begins to crawl from the ashes like the Phoenix symbolizing renewal and resurrection. His motto: “Keep Standing” is what inspires him to move forward, but he is still unstable in turning his weaknesses into opportunities for success. After landing a small studio he outlines his plan of attack to continue contesting the CIA’s actions and identifying what leverage is best to use against the CIA for its ignoring of child sex offenders in their midst. He decides the best offense is to flag the CIA’s hidden secret to the ‘powers that be in Washington. Then consider drawing more attention to his cause, he begins looking into running for U.S. Congressional office. Meanwhile, he continues to fight to restore his self-confidence, while battling his inner demons of flashbacks from the combat zones, PTSD, insomnia and episodes of severe depression. [ACT 2B]

*Turning Point: The ultimate failure.

–MM #7 – Pages 90 – 105 – Our hero is determined to expose the CIA’s hidden ‘cultural norm.’ He first begins a letter writing campaign exposing the journey he has had to overcome as a result of the CIA’s retaliation. He targets over 100 members of the U.S. House and Senate, all the Congressional Committees, the Director of National Intelligence, the White House Special Counsel and the CIA. His intentions are to force institutional change within the Agency. His nemesis is untouched as he retired from the CIA a few years earlier. His initiative, however, raises eyebrows and forces the Agency to begin upholding the law.

After consulting with the Federal Elections Commission who was intrigued by the notion, our hero becomes the first low budgeted federal candidate in the U.S. to use “In-Kind” contributions to qualify for office. He runs his entire campaign by himself and demonstrates that the low income and impoverish can pursue federal office. He uses his campaign to draw attention to his cause as he dispatches press releases directly into Washington, DC that catches the eye of an independent reporter.

The reporter sues the CIA in federal court who in turn orders the release of their reports (10 in all) that indicate the ‘Spector’ has not prosecuted individuals engaged in child sex trafficking or porn due to their access to classified material and covert programs. Oddly enough, the hero’s reported incident revealing the practice was not among the reports ordered released. Though our hero fails to win the congressional seat he sought; he succeeds in forcing change in the Agency’s policy. The following year the CIA publicly announces its prosecution of one of its own for possession of child pornography. At this point our hero feels most of his honor is restored and the CIA has been held answerable for their actions. [ACT 3]

*Turning Point: Apparent victory.

MM #8 – Pages 105 – 120 – After a year passes and the dust settles, the nemesis is found in the front yard of his place of residence. He is found partly seated in midair suspended by a long pole with the base cemented into the ground. The pole has been inserted as a vertical impalement that was commonly used during the Crusades era. It is inserted through his ass and protrudes out of his mouth as he is found looking skyward. On the body a CIA logo with the words… “Don’t create an enemy unless you intend to destroy them to the core!” As words spreads of his identity, Agency leadership is left cringing and looking over their shoulders. [ACT 3]

*Turning Point: New status quo.

4. Go back through and make sure you’ve covered each the following:
– The Transformational Journey listed in your logline.
– The Three Gradients.
– It is sequenced in Escalating Challenges.
5. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” (place at top of your work). I basically learned to use my sub loglines for the Four Act Structure to serve as the foundation for creating my Mini Movies.

• This reply was modified 9 months, 4 weeks ago by  Mark napier.