Lesson 6

[Kenneth Johnson]

Kenneth Johnson – Transformational Events

What I learned from this assignment – A new approach to make the characters and their interactions more interesting and engaging.

OLD WAYS
Ignorant of his father’s real war experience and inner pain.
Failing writer.
Arrogant and self-centered.
Didn’t believe in himself.

NEW WAYS
Understands his father’s feelings.
Knows he can accomplish his writing goals.
Has learned to be humble and understanding of others.
Has found confidence in his abilities.

STEPS OR CHANGES
Michael realizes that getting the story will be harder than he thought.
He sees that there is more to Lee’s life than he ever knew.
He understands how similar he and Lee really are.
Michael learns that Lee is dying.
Michael admits to Lee that he has been a failure and needs this story.
Michael appreciates Lee for who he is and shows him respect.
He places his father’s needs before his own.
He gets Lee’s story, but successfully writes a sanitized version of it.

TRANSFORMATIONAL EVENTS
Lee drunkenly shares part of his Korean War experience with Michael.
In a desperate moment Michael pitches Lee’s story to a studio and they love it.
Michael tries to interview Lee about Korea, but Lee shuts him down with a story.
Michael gets his teenaged daughter to try to interview Lee for a school report.
A friend intervenes with an invitation to honor Lee with a visit South Korea.
Through the medical disclosure for travel, it is shown that Lee is dying.
A Korean documentary crew tries to interview Lee with disastrous results.
Lee talks with the General of U.S. forces in Korea and is moved.
Lee tells the hard parts of his story to Michael.
Michael writes the script.

[Jan Lloyd]

Jan Lloyd: ASSIGNMENT Transformational Events Lesson 6
What I learned in this assignment:
A lot of what we are doing is also honing our ability to let producers know whst the script is about. It is also making me re-think the steps involved in the four act play.
2. Start with the Character Arc and the list of Old Ways and New Ways.
Clay and Dolphyn: Both are very smart and they are good kids but very naïve. They have trusted the wrong people and land in Juvenile Court.
3. Make a list of 6 – 8 changes or steps that need to happen for that character to go from who they are in the beginning (Old Ways) to who they are in the ending (New Ways).
• They will start their new school in separate dorms, a first for the twins. They have to learn to communicate with each other without being in the same room. They use their newfound friends, Stinky and Frekles.
• They have to check out their new dorm mates. Can they trust them. They like them, but are going to keep a certain distance.
• They neglect to tell their dorm mates some things in their past, nameyly that they have been receiving secretive emails.
• They stand up for one of their study partners. Dolphyn is quicker to but Clay stands up too.
• They see something very strange happen when the frog they think has been squished, does not die after all.
• They begin to trust their new classmates when they have to band together to help each other out.
4. Sequence the steps from easiest to most difficult. This will imply the journey the character takes.
• The problems with the Bradford Bullies was nothing compared to the problems they encounter when they come to URU.
• At URU, they meet new classmates. Some seem nice, some seem nice, like at their old school.
• New weird messaages come up but still they don’t trust their new tribe (study mates).
• They name their new tribe the DOCTAW tribe from the acronym of their names.
• They have a run in with a rival gang and it causes some problems, but in the end, it makes them trust their new tribe.
• They try to find what is going on in the computer and try to find answers.
• They find a hidden cave with very serious repercussions.
5. Brainstorm dramatic events or tests that could cause those changes for the character.
• The frog getting squished.
• Strange creatures
• Unusual professors
• Crazy classes with new technologies
• New ways of feeding themselves
• The Creatures in the Cave
• Coming face-to-Face with JL
6. Add these transformational events to your four act structure.
Act 1:
• Opening: The twins are in their ordinary world on the beach and they find an octopus.
• Inciting Incident: The two help, what they thought was an FBI agent hack into files. This lands them in juvenile courts
• Turning Point :They find information at their new school on an old computer that leads them to knowledge of hidden caves
Act 2:
• New plan: They now want to find the cave that they have coordinates for, but they don’t want anyone knowing what they are doing as they don’t know who to trust.
• Plan in action: They find the cave and make plans to explore.
• Midpoint Turning Point They explore and find a whole new world.
Act 3:
• Rethink everything: They question all these strange animals. What are all these creatures in the cave. They are almost killed in the cave, yet they find they are helped by some of the creatures they have met at the new school.
• New plan: They decide they will tell Professor NERD all that they have found in the cave and trust her.
• Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: They break into a gallery when they see a man they think could be tied to some of the questions they have. They are brought in by security.
Act 4:
• Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Professore NERD introduces them to JL. They learn much about this alien world that is in the caves. They also learn they are part of this alien world.
• Resolution: They will continue with their study buddies and in the next book/movie will learn more about their background.