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Lesson 6 Assignments
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6 Replies
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Madeleine’s Reveals!
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: What I learned, it was fun to come up with setups and reveals. The process is not finished yet, therefore I have not build them into the outline and they are not in complete order yet. They are happening at different levels of the story (small revelation, beginning and end revelations). It might sound strange, but sometimes I’m not sure, if it’s a setup or a reversal.
ACT 1
Setup: Alex reacts strangely to Mirai’s critic.
Reveal: Students notice that maybe it’s because of Alex’s birthday.
Setup: Corrie selects a garden house as gift.
Reveal: Corrie and Eve notice that Alex has changed.
Setup: Alex hates his birthday party.
Reveal: Alex is traumatized because his father died on his birthday.
Setup: Luke witnesses, Mirai crashing Alex’s party and Alex wanting to quit teaching.
Reveal: Luke promises Alex to get his position because he plans to retire.
ACT 2
Setup: Alex wants to work more.
Reveal: Corrie offers Alex a garden house because she thinks it helps him.
Setup: Corrie orders a health check.
Reveal: The doc reveals that Alex is menopausal and should take it easy.
Setup: Corrie secretly talks to Luke about Alex’s health condition.
Reveal: Alex discovers that Flavia plans to apply as well – and participates at marathon.
Setup: Luke tells Alex to talk to Mirai how to get their support.
Reveal: Alex can’t fulfill Mirai’s demands, which are based on her parents’ experience.
Setup: Alex gets illegal substances mailed to him.
Reveal: Corrie discovers them and thinks that Alex has an affair.
Setup: Corrie changes the pills.
Reveal: Alex suffers a heart attack.
Setup: Flavia becomes interim dean.
Reveal: Luke passed away.
ACT 3
Setup: Flavia reduces Alex’s hours and has him stay home.
Reveal: Corrie looks for work to generate income.
Setup: Eve shares Alex’s new and strange life.
Reveal: Mirai gets interested and shows up.
Setup: Alex starts a self-sufficient life.
Reveal: Corrie starts an affair.
Setup: Alex destroys parts of the home to force the family into the garden.
Reveal: Corrie and Eve move out.
Setup: Mirai visits Alex to ask what he will present and promise support.
Reveal: Alex has not been invited.
ACT 4
Setup: Flavia sabotages Alex’s lecture.
Reveal: Luke was terminally ill and asked Flavia to prevent Alex to become dean.
Setup: Luke last gift to Alex was his bonsai to take care of.
Reveal: When Alex discovers Eve’s garden house (we must cultivate our garden 2.0), he realizes that he just got one planet, one family, one life.
Setup: Although Alex invites to his birthday party, nobody shows up.
Reveal: They wait until his birthday is over, because they know that he hates birthdays.
Setup: Celebration of birthday, full circle: realizing that everybody is at a different station.
Reveal: Nobody knows how it ends with Corrie (acceptance of life cycle).
Setup first – scene: Somebody spitting it out seeds (story beginning: enigma).
Reveal final – scene: Eve, has to spit it out (story end: solution – it’s all about nature, life and everything).
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This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by Madeleind Gentinetta.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 4 months ago by
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Vision: To write touching family stories that educate and entertain.
What I learned doing this assignment is the below:
Surface Layer: Tina is desperate for love and adoration from the opposite sex.
Deeper Layer: Tina has abandonment issues from her youth and continuously wants to fill a void, so she won’t be alone and unloved. She grew up seeing her mother live off of men and has followed her footsteps. She once bonded with a boyfriend of her mother’s that was like a father to her, but when he left, she felt dismissed and betrayed. She’s been looking for false love ever since.
Major Reveal: Tina realizes she picked the wrong man when she discovers that he’s a pedophile.
Act 1
Setup: Tina thinks her current live-in boyfriend is getting a promotion and she plans a celebration dinner for him.
Reveal: Tina learns that her boyfriend has never had a job yet has been mooching off of her and another woman across town. She kicks him out.
Setup: Tina looks for a new man.
Reveal: On a date, the new man senses a “desperation” with her and feels they won’t be a match. She continues her search despite him pointing out her flaw.
Act 2
Setup: Tina’s friends tell her to only try “good” men, especially the ones in the church. Tina refuses.
Reveal: Tina meets Barry, who claims to be an assistant pastor, that has all the qualities she is looking for in a man, but he’s actually checking out the little girls at the church.
Setup: Barry asks Tina out when he sees how pretty her little girl is. Barry gets close to Tina and her children.
Reveal: Barry is really trying to gain the trust of Tina’s daughter and groom her for abuse. He overly spends time with her and soon puts hidden cameras in her bedroom.
Act 3
Set up: Tina discovers the hidden cameras in her daughter’s room. She confronts Barry. He never admits to doing it and makes it seem like a friend of hers did it during a gathering they had.
Reveal: Barry plays Tina’s accusations by accusing her of hating him and making him out to be a false bad guy. He uses his title as assistant pastor to prove he’s a good man.
Set up: Barry plays the “everyone’s against me” game to Tina’s daughter.
Reveal: Tina’s daughter feels sorry for Barry and runs away to be with him, thinking he’s like a father to her (unaware that he’s an abuser). Barry is glad his plan worked.
Act 4
Setup: Tina goes to her mother and church for help in getting her daughter back.
Reveal: Tina must forgive her mother for the past. It is revealed that Tina was abused as a kid by one of her mother’s former boyfriends whom she thought was her father figure. Tina prays that her daughter will be protected and that history won’t repeat itself.
Setup: Barry meets with Tina’s daughter, and they go to a hotel room.
Reveal: Tina’s daughter asks Barry deep questions about love, the church and parenthood to the point he leaves her alone in the hotel room and doesn’t touch her. She calls Tina to pick her up. Tina is overjoyed that her daughter is safe and untouched of Barry. Tina vows to change her life around.
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Paul’s Reveals!
5. Vision of success from this program: I want to write scripts that become movies that change people’s lives.
6. What I learned from this assignment is that I think I already have some interesting reveals. But this paradigm helps me as I build my story, since I will be on the lookout for more reveals.
3.
Question 1 What will you reveal?
a. Lilia’s father, Tino, is a former Cartel member.
b. Lilia is the former lover of a DEA agent who was forced to flee Culiacán when his identity was revealed to the Cartel.
c. The drug-taking college boy who causes the death of Lilia’s daughter, Marisol, is the son of a Senator who has a hawkish stand on the drug war.
d. Senator Sandoval is that former DEA agent.
e. It was Lilia’s father, Tino, who revealed the identity of his daughter’s lover to the Cartel, which caused him to leave Culiacán and abandon Lilia.
Question 2 When will the reveal show up in the story?
a. In Act 1, after the death of his grand-daughter, when he contacts the Cartel to arranged the kidnapping of the college student responsible for her death.
b. Not till late in Act 2 when the Senator arrives in Culiacán and recognizes his former lover.
c. As soon as the journalists turn up at the Senator’s home and want to know how a girl died of a drugs overdose in his house.
d. In Act 2 when Tino is informed by a mole in the DEA that the Senator is planning to return to Culiacán to search for his son.
e. In Act 3 when there is a tense scene between Lilia and her father Tino and lets the secret out of the bag.
Question 3: What setups need to be in place for the reveal to work?
a. The way Tino talks about the drugs war and the DEA, suggests that he understands the Cartel and why it exists.
b. Lilia talks to her daughter, Marisol, in a very negative way about American men as her daughter prepares to take up her college scholarship there. This suggests she has had her own bad, personal experience.
c. This comes as a surprise, with little if any setup. He just looks and behaves like a spoilt college kid. The lack of a setup adds to the surprise when we suddenly learn, from the journalists, that this drug-taking kid is the son of a Senator who takes a tough stance on drugs.
d. As he plans his semi-secret trip to Culiacán he makes hints at why he left and who he left behind. But the audience does not put 2 and 2 together until he actually recognizes Lilia.
e. As with Reveals c. and d. this should come as a surprise to the audience in order to enhance its impact. There are therefore no setups.
Question 4: Where in the story do those setups belong?
a. When Tino first speaks in the early scenes of Act 1, it is to criticize the DEA and drugs war.
b. In the early scenes since suspicion of men is a defining feature of Lilia and one that determines her action later in the story.
c. No setups. A sudden, surprising reveal towards the end of Act 1. And it is this reveal that provides the premise for the rest of the movie.
d. As with 4.c., there are few setups, making it a big surprise for the audience.
e. Same as 4c. and 4d
END
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Brandyn Cross’ Reveals!
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 the elusive secrets to the timing of reveals and their accompanying setups.
Module 2
Lesson 4: What’s Beneath the Surface?
1) Alex has been dead throughout the story, but isn’t aware of it.
2) Alex can communicate with ghosts. Specifically the ghost of a young boy named Sandy.
3) Sandy introduces Alex to the ghosts of other children.
4) Alex needs to write the ghost children’s stories to bring their families closure.
5) The books are from the ghost childrens’ perspectives, and designed to comfort their families, while helping the ghost children to cross over as well.
6) Alex can connect with Sandy because Sandy is the ghost of Alex’s own son.
7) Alex can connect with the three other ghost children because they are connected to him as well, as Alex is indirectly responsible for these childrens’ deaths.
8) The entire exercise Sandy takes Alex on is primarily for Alex’s benefit, as he needs to undergo a redemption before he can enter heaven. He has to learn empathy, and earn the forgiveness of the ghost children for the role he played in their deaths. Then, he has to learn to forgive himself.
9) As Sandy connects Alex to the ghosts of other children, Alex is initially bitter that he isn’t allowed to connect with his own son, not realizing that Sandy is, in fact, his son.
10) Alex’s memory of his son is clouded to where he can’t recognize Sandy. Yet, he doesn’t consider that strange, and doesn’t question why he can’t remember any details about his son.
11) As Alex goes on the journey, he remembers more about his life as he learns selflessness.
12) Ultimately, Alex remembers his own suicide, the deaths of the ghost children it caused, and that Sandy is his son.
13) What Sandy has been doing all along is preparing Alex to come to terms with the decisions of his life, and become ready to enter heaven.
Lesson 5: 4-Act Structure / Turning Points:
1) Alex initially wants to connect with his departed son, but his new psychic abilities won’t allow that.
2) Alex doesn’t care about Rorie’s family’s dismissal of him. He doesn’t care about the results, just about making a token effort. Then he discovers that in writing Rorie’s story, he remembers more about his son. With their rejection, that newfound recollection starts to disappear. Now he has a vested interest in succeeding in bringing the ghost children and their families together.
3) Rose commits suicide. Alex feels responsible and refuses to write any more stories.
4) Angel shows Sandy and Alex that Rose’s suicide was inevitable and, without Beth’s book, would have been far more devastating and destructive, as it would have been a murder/suicide. Alex agrees to resume his work.
Module 3
Lesson 3: Characters for Subtext:
1) Alex is single-minded in reviving his career, but is inconveniently interrupted by psychic abilities connecting him to ghosts following his accident.
2) The ghosts seek Alex’s help, but he is not interested. At the same time, he senses there are aspects of his life that he has no memory of, and engaging with the ghosts helps unveil these secrets, so he can’t help but interact with them.
3) Over time, Alex develops more and more empathy for these ghost children, while also tormented by the nature of his re-emerging memories.
4) Sandy knows all the truths Alex is struggling to remember, but isn’t allowed to reveal them.
5) Sandy has to navigate Alex along his own journey to discover his own secrets.
6) On the surface, the relationships Sandy helps Alex forge with the ghost children and their families appear to be their own goal but, in reality, they are Sandy’s means of helping Alex complete his own eternal journey.
Lesson 4: Character Intrigue:
1) Alex has some deep secrets, but he’s not the one who’s keeping the secrets. Rather, they’re being kept from him, and it’s Sandy who knows the truth.
2) Alex is deceiving himself by denying the realities of his life- and death. Also by trying to deny the psychic abilities he has developed since his accident/death.
3) Alex doesn’t remember anything about his personal life; he’s consumed with his work. Yet, the scars from his personal life eat at him, even though he doesn’t recognize what’s at the heart of the problem.
4) Sandy has a hidden agenda to get Alex to remember his family, and his death and its collateral consequences, to prepare him to cross over to heaven.
5) Sandy is commissioned by God, through an angel named Angel, to help Alex face the realities of who he is, and his actions. But, since he has to arrive at these realizations by himself, neither Sandy nor the other ghost children are allowed to reveal to Alex the connection they have to him.
6) Sandy is Alex’s son, though Alex doesn’t know it.
7) Alex is indirectly responsible for the deaths of the child ghosts he is introduced to.
8) Sandy leads Alex to believe he has simply developed psychic abilities, but doesn’t tell him the significance of it. Alex has to figure that out on his own.
9) Sandy feels a resentment toward Alex for both his own death, and for Alex having committed suicide. Yet, until he is assigned to prepare Alex for entry into heaven, he hadn’t fully realized that. So, it’s no accident that God assigned Sandy to work with Alex, because it’s also intended to help Sandy come to terms with his feelings toward his father.
10) Sandy is harboring a secret identity, as he is the ghost of Alex’s son, but can’t tell Alex that. It’s something Alex has to realize on his own.
Lesson 6: Character Profiles:
1) Alex is a struggling children’s book author who develops the ability to communicate with dead children following a disabling accident.
2) On the surface, we experience the character’s transformation from self-absorbed to selfless. Additionally, his ability to communicate with ghosts is very unique. Below the surface, neither the character nor the viewer is aware that he, in fact, died in the accident, and his transformation is a necessary evolution to prepare him for entrance to heaven.
3) Alex is a struggling writer who has let the frustration over his flailing career overtake every other aspect of his life. After a disabling accident, he develops psychic abilities that allow him to connect the ghosts of dead children with their surviving families. Over time, he becomes selfless as he engages himself in service to these families, rather than being obsessed with his own problems.
4) Alex is Bitter and career-obsessed. He doesn’t recall specific details of his life prior to his accident.
5) Alex’s wants and needs: Want: To revive his career. Need: To come to terms with the traumas in his life.
6) Alex’s wound: His son died, which his mind has blocked.
7) Alex’s likability: Alex isn’t an antagonist in the sense of hurting others. Rather, he has a self-loathing that keeps him from helping himself, or accepting help from others such as Sandy. We can see he is a good person at heart, but is simply struggling against his own failings. Against his desire to distance himself from others, we can see that he really wants to help the ghost children.
8) Alex’s relatability: He is dedicated to his dream, and his work, which gets in the way of his other relationships, such as with his family. Slowly, he reassesses his priorities, and rediscovers the importance of family.
9) Alex’s empathy: He begins to bond with Sandy, which brings him out of his shell, and eases him into a more selfless perspective, where he starts putting the welfare of the ghost children and their families over his own insecurities and ambitions.
10) Sandy is the ghost of a young dead boy, who helps connect Alex to the ghosts of other dead children.
11) Sandy feels a resentment toward Alex for both his own death, and for Alex having committed suicide. Yet, until he is assigned to prepare Alex for entry into heaven, he hadn’t fully realized that. So, it’s no accident that God assigned Sandy to work with Alex, because it’s also intended to help Sandy come to terms with his feelings toward his father.
12) Sandy is an attractive character for an actor because he is a ghost. Additionally, he is a child character who is something of a mentor to an adult, giving him a position of authority over the adult.
13) Alex is kind of the triangle character. He is a child ghost who is assigned with preparing Alex to enter heaven. To do so, he must orchestrate Alex’s transformation from self-centered to selfless, but can’t reveal to Alex any of the truths Sandy knows about him. Rather, Alex must come to these realizations himself. This also makes him a bit of the antagonist.
14) Sandy is a 10-year-old child ghost. He is naturally angelic, with a nature that would melt anyone’s heart.
15) Sandy is kind and selfless, yet resentful of Alex’s failure to recognize him.
16) Sandy’s wants and needs: Want: To prepare Alex to enter heaven. Need: For Alex to recognize him and love him as a father to a son.
17) Sandy’s wound is that he feels rejected by his father because of his inability to remember him.
18) Sandy’s likability: He has a sense of duty. Even though Alex doesn’t yet know who Sandy is, Sandy is devoted to him, because he knows Alex is actually his father.
19) Sandy’s relatability: He is trying to help his dad. He is trying to bring his family together.
20) Sandy’s empathy: He genuinely wants to help the other ghost children. You can see his love for his dad, and how crushed he is when Alex rejects his attempts to help him.
Question 1: What Will You Reveal?
a) Alex has developed psychic abilities after his accident.
b) Sandy is a ghost.
c) Alex is connected to each of the ghost children because he is indirectly responsible for their deaths.
d) The ghost childrens’ parents are those who tried to rescue him at his accident
e) Angel is the ghost of Kody’s mother.
f) Alex has been dead since his accident, as his suicide attempt was successful.
g) The headstone Alex has been seeing belongs to his son, Sandy.
h) Sandy is the ghost of Alex’s dead son, and has been anxiously waiting to be reunited with his father.
i) The whole journey has been primarily for Alex’s benefit, because he needs to forgive himself to enter heaven. Sandy, Angel and the child ghosts, along with their families, are collateral beneficiaries of Alex’s journey.
j) Alex’s book helps Rorie’s family say goodbye to him, and receive closure, and helps Rorie cross over into heaven. So we see how the books help the ghost children and their families.
k) It is an eternal law that guilt creates its own prison.
Question 2: When Will the Reveal Show Up in the Story?
a) Act 1: Opening
b) Act 1: Inciting Incident
c) Act 4: Climax / Ultimate Expression of the Conflict
d) Act 4: Climax / Ultimate Expression of the Conflict
e) Act 4: Climax / Ultimate Expression of the Conflict
f) Act 4: Climax / Ultimate Expression of the Conflict
g) Act 4: Climax / Ultimate Expression of the Conflict
h) Act 4: Climax / Ultimate Expression of the Conflict
i) Act 4: Resolution
j) Act 2: Turning Point 2 / Midpoint
k) Act 3: Turning Point 3: Huge Failure / Major Shift
Question 3: What Setups Need to Be in Place to Have Each Reveal Work?
a) 1) Alex sees a nonexistent hospital roommate given CPR, and sees his ghost. 2) Patient and medical staff disappear.
b) 1) Sandy first meets Alex.
c) 1) Cars pull over to help at Alex’s accident. 2) A news report at the hospital reports the accident, and multiple fatalities. 3) Sandy tells Alex his powers can help other ghost children. 4) Alex can’t shake his connection to Rorie. 5) Alex’s connection to Rorie grows stronger. 6) Alex sees Kody get out of the car and run into the road. And throughout.
d) 1) Cars pull over to help at Alex’s accident. 2) Alex has an out-of-body vision of rescuers trying to save him. 3) Sandy meets Rorie.
e) 1) Angel explains to Sandy that Alex needs Rorie’s forgiveness. 2) Angel shows Alex the accident as Kody runs in front of the truck. 3) Angel reassures Sandy after Rose’s suicide. 4) Angel scolds Sandy and has Beth explain about Rose’s suicide. 5) Angel introduces Sandy and Alex to Kody.
f) 1) Alex intentionally crashes into an overpass. 2) Alex is allegedly left disabled. 3) A news report at the hospital reports the accident, and multiple fatalities. 4) Alex has an out-of-body vision of rescuers trying to save him. 5) Alex sees a nonexistent hospital roommate given CPR, and sees his ghost. 6) Sandy first meets Alex. And throughout.
g) 1) Alex drinks at Sandy’s grave. 2) Alex can’t stop thinking about the grave. 3) Alex sees more of the headstone, which connects him emotionally to Rorie’s family. 4) Sandy is affected by Alex’s connection to his grave. 5) Alex connects more with Sandy’s grave after writing Rorie’s story.
h) 1) Sandy first meets Alex. 2) Sandy is dejected by Alex’s rejection of him. 3) Angel reassures Sandy and reminds him entrance to heaven is based on forgiveness. 4) Alex refuses to work with Rorie instead of his son, which saddens Sandy because Alex doesn’t recognize him. 5) Alex again rejects Sandy, saddening him. 6) Alex takes his frustrations out on Sandy. And throughout.
i) 1) Angel reassures Sandy and reminds him entrance to heaven is based on forgiveness. 2) Sandy meets Rorie. 3) Alex begins to understand that all life is connected.
j) 1) Sandy introduces Alex to Rorie. 2) Alex senses the grief Rorie’s family feels over him. 3) Alex feels a greater need to help Rorie and his family. 4) Alex agrees to write Rorie’s book. 5) Rorie’s family completely rejects Alex, thinking he’s crazy.
k) 1) We see Alex as negative, depressed and self-centered. 2) Alex is introduced to Beth. 3) Alex is obsessed with writing Beth’s story. 4) Beth’s family readily accepts Beth’s book. 5) Rose commits suicide. 6) Alex is in jail.
Question 4: Where in the Story Do These Setups Belong?
a) 1) Act 1: Opening. 2) Act 1: Opening.
b) 1) Act 1: Opening.
c) 1) Act 1: Opening. 2) Act 1: Opening. 3) Act 1: Inciting Incident. 4) Act 1: Turning Point. 5: Act 2. 6) Act 2.
d) 1) Act 1: Opening. 2) Act 1: Opening. 3) Act 1: Turning Point.
e) 1) Act 1: Turning Point. 2) Act 2. 3) Act 3: Turning Point 3: Huge Failure / Major Shift. 4) Act 4. 5) Act 4.
f) 1) Act 1: Opening. 2) Act 1: Opening. 3) Act 1: Opening. 4) Act 1: Opening. 5) Act 1: Opening. 6) Act 1: Opening.
g) 1) Act 1: Opening. 2) Act 1: Turning Point. 3) Act 2: Turning Point 2 / Midpoint. 4) Act 2: Turning Point 2 / Midpoint. 5) Act 3.
h) 1) Act 1: Opening. 2) Act 1: Inciting Incident. 3) Act 1: Inciting Incident. 4) Act 1: Turning Point. 5) Act 1: Turning Point. 6) Act 1: Turning Point.
i) 1) Act 1: Inciting Incident. 2) Act 1: Turning Point. 3) Act 3.
j) 1) Act 1: Turning Point. 2) Act 1: Turning Point. 3) Act 2. 4) Act 2: Turning Point 2 / Midpoint. 5: Act 2: Turning Point 2 / Midpoint.
k) 1) Act 1: Opening. 2) Act 2: Turning Point 2 / Midpoint. 3) Act 3. 4) Act 3. 5) Act 3: Turning Point 3: Huge Failure / Major Shift. 6) Act 3: Turning Point 3: Huge Failure / Major Shift.
ACT 1
OPENING
(3g1)Alex drinks at a grave during a snow storm, shown from the side, so we don’t see a name on the headstone.
(3c1) (3d1) (3f1) Alex then drives in the snow. Despondent over his failing career, he intentionally crashes his car into an overpass pylon in a suicide attempt. A few cars pull over, the drivers rushing to help.
(3f2) We believe Alex survived the crash, but is left disabled. Yet, from this point onward, in The Sixth Sense fashion, Alex never directly interacts with anyone but ghosts and their families.
(3c2) (3f3) As Alex 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 oblivious to the report.
(3d2) (3f4) However, during the news report, Alex has a very brief out-of-body experience, where he sees the drivers fighting to rescue him, from the POV of an observer.
(3k1) Alex wants to get out of the hospital, is rebellious and pushes back against doctor’s orders. 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. He works at rehab to get out of the hospital, not over a genuine concern with the rehab.
(3a1) (3f5) Alex is awakened in the night by a commotion in his room. He sees medical staff giving a roommate we haven’t seen before CPR, and trying to revive them. They say they’re losing the patient and, right then, the patient is standing beside Alex. The patient bids Alex goodbye and disappears, at which point the doctor pronounces the patient dead.
(3a2) Alex looks back to the bed, but the patient and medical staff are gone. Alex shakes it off as imagination.
(1a) As he continues rehab, Alex has a couple more weird sightings. He comes to realize he has developed psychic abilities following the accident enabling him, among other things, to connect with ghosts. He fights against this, trying to deny his abilities, as he doesn’t want them.
(3b1) (3f6) (3h1) A 10-year-old boy named Sandy approaches Alex and tries to befriend him, but Alex isn’t interested, as he doesn’t want to waste his time with a bothersome little kid. Sandy keeps trying to engage with Alex, but Alex doesn’t want to at all.
INCITING INCIDENT
(1b) Sandy tells Alex that he’s a ghost but, of course, Alex doesn’t believe him. Sandy is then forced by circumstances to prove it. Alex then wants even less to do with Sandy.
(3c3) But Sandy is persistent, insisting that Alex has the power to help grieving parents, and help their departed children cross over to eternity. Alex intentionally ignores Sandy, not wanting to be bothered by distractions like ghosts haunting him.
(3h2) Sandy remains persistent, even with Alex refusing to so much as acknowledge him. Sandy is dejected by this, but still engages with Alex to no avail.
(3h3) (3i1) Sandy is despondent about Alex rejecting him. He complains to his mentor, an angel named Angel, that he wants to be reunited with his family. Angel reminds him that no one can enter heaven until they are ready, and have mastered forgiveness, especially forgiving oneself. Sandy says he knows that, but he misses his father and wants to be with him. Angel encourages Sandy, saying that sometime his father will be ready to experience heaven, and they can be reunited. In the meantime, Sandy can help some other families be together.
TURNING POINT
(3d3) (3e1) (3i2) (3j1) Angel introduces Sandy to a ghost child named Rorie. She explains that Alex needs Rorie’s forgiveness to bring about his own redemption. While Angel gives this information to Sandy, he is forbidden to reveal any of it to Alex. As Sandy is 10 years old, despite being a ghost, he is uncomfortable having to be duplicitous.
(3h4) Alex is initially not interested in having anything to do with Rorie. He is adamant that if he is going to connect with ghost children, he wants to connect with his own departed son, the details about whom he has very little recollection. Sandy seems a bit hurt by this, but we don’t know why.
Sandy tells Alex he can’t connect with his son, which pisses him off. He therefore refuses to help Sandy by connecting with Rorie. Alex is pretty short-tempered with Sandy about that, and tells Sandy he doesn’t want to have anything to do with him anymore either.
(3h5) Sandy is now even more hurt, and turns to Angel for comfort and support.
Meanwhile, Alex dedicates his efforts to reviving his career, ignoring his psychic connections. But, despite his resolve, he is haunted by his abilities and feels compelled to do something about them, even if he doesn’t want to feel that way.
(3g2) Alex’s hazy memories of the grave and his accident, and strange memories of his son and family, ‘haunt’ him continually. He wants to ignore them but can’t. On top of that, he can’t shake his paranormal connection to the ghosts of Sandy and Rorie.
(3c4) (3j2) As Sandy and Rorie weigh more heavily on him, Alex’s connection to Rorie gets stronger, to where he now also sees Rorie’s family, and feels the grief they feel for their little boy. As frustrated as Alex feels over the distraction of these ghostly hauntings, he also notices that the stronger his connection to Rorie and his family, the stronger his connection to his own son feels as well.
(3h6) As Alex notices this, in a sense his frustration would grow even stronger, since this would get in the way of his writing, and since he is still not able to use these growing powers to connect with his son. He would take some of this frustration out on Sandy, who would also feel growing frustration over Alex’s inability, or refusal, to connect with Sandy himself. And especially since Sandy is harboring a very monumental secret regarding himself and Alex.
ACT 2
Alex still has no interest in using his powers to assist any ghost children, and generally still tries to ignore these powers. Although now, Alex also has to deal with his ever-stronger psychic connection to Rorie as well as Sandy.
(3c5) (3j3) As Sandy tries to convince Alex to help Rorie, Alex discovers he is more and more unable to suppress his powers, and is unable to ignore a strange internal need to bring these dead children and their parents together to help them achieve closure. This realization makes Alex want to resist even more, yet he knows at the same time that resistance is futile.
Sandy is by this point almost desperate to convince Alex to do this, seemingly more invested in it than he should be. This builds a stronger sense that Sandy is hiding something important from Alex, and we build upon that suspense to determine whether Sandy is really what he claims to be, or if there’s something more to him. In reality, Sandy is hiding a secret from Alex because Sandy isn’t allowed to reveal his secret.
Yet, Alex still refuses, so Sandy pushes back even stronger and more desperately. At this, Alex gets so frustrated and pissed that he literally threatens to assault Sandy which, of course, wouldn’t be terribly effective on a ghost. But it nonetheless hurts Sandy emotionally.
Sandy pleads with Angel to be relieved of his assignment, feeling it futile but, even more so, being so hurt by Alex’s cruelty toward Sandy. Angel, however, encourages Sandy to press on.
(3c6) (3e2) Angel then intercedes and helps Alex see more of his accident. He sees a kid get out of one of the cars at the scene. He starts running across the highway, but stops cold, looking down the road, terrified. Alex doesn’t want to see this, but is also affected by it to some extent, softening his attitude toward Sandy.
TURNING POINT 2 / MIDPOINT
(3j4) After a lot of effort, and with Alex unable to suppress his psychic powers, Sandy convinces him to write the book for Rorie. Both Rorie and Sandy help him to write it, tutoring him on what parts of Rorie’s story would be most meaningful for his family. So Alex spends some quality time with Rorie, getting to know him better and building a caring relationship with him.
Yet, since Alex still doesn’t really want to do this, he is somewhat gruff with Rorie, as well as Sandy. But, at the same time, Alex realizes that, in making the effort to help Rorie, he is gaining some lost memory of his own son, which helps him relate to Rorie’s dilemma.
(3j5) Alex finishes Rorie’s story, and contacts his family to get the book to them, insisting their departed child compelled him to write it. They are of course skeptical and want nothing to do with Alex.
Alex is a bit like Whoopi in Ghost, making the obligatory contact, but not really caring if they accept it or not. From his perspective, success or failure isn’t the point. Rather, just making the effort is all he cares about. As far as he’s concerned, he can make a small effort, they can reject it, and he’s done his job, so all the ghosts can now leave him alone.
Alex shrugs off their dismissal of him, rationalizing that he did what he could and it’s not his fault if they won’t listen to him. Sandy is nearly desperate to get Alex to press them to accept the book and not accept ‘no’ for an answer. Alex is argumentative with Sandy, insisting that if the family won’t believe him, there’s nothing he can do about it. Plus, he doesn’t want to waste any more time with it.
Alex listens to Sandy at all only because he realizes that, in writing Rorie’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 Rorie and his family together. So Alex relents to Sandy’s insistence and pushes back to the family, but only because it benefits him.
With that, Alex comes across as even more crazy to Rorie’s family than he did initially. But this time, he takes their rejections personally, and pushes back even harder.
(3g3) Alex remembers being at the grave again, the view now a little more to the front. This connects him more strongly to the feelings Rorie’s family feels. This gives him his answer, leading him to the realization of what he needs to do go get them to believe him.
(3g4) Meanwhile, Sandy is emotionally affected by Alex’s connection to the grave, giving Sandy some real hope for the first time. Since we still don’t know the truth, that Sandy is Alex’s deceased son, and the grave is Sandy’s, this provides further mystery into Sandy, further emphasizing that there is more to Sandy than meets the eye.
(1j) These greater psychic insights into Rorie’s family are successful, and Alex convinces them to accept the book. In learning Rorie’s story, Alex brings Rorie and his family together. They are able to say a proper ‘goodbye’ to Rorie, and achieve closure, and Rorie is able to move on into heaven and await his eventual eternal reunion with his family.
At this point, Alex starts having a genuine change of heart, as he experiences the change he’s able to make for both the ghost Rorie and his family. He now genuinely wants to help the ghost children, and excitedly pushes Sandy to connect him to someone else so he can do it again.
Sandy is ecstatic, and is now very optimistic about the chance of success for the ghost children in need of Alex’s help, and for what that means for Sandy’s reunification with his own dad.
(3k2) At this point, Angel has Sandy introduce Alex to another ghost child, Beth, and shows them her family. Alex is now very excited to get started on her story.
ACT 3
(3i3) With the emotion of helping Rorie and his family gain closure, and his eagerness to provide that for Beth and her family, Alex’s longing to get that same closure with his own son grows even stronger. Yet, he can accept having to wait on that, as he begins to understand on some level that all life is connected, and that he must develop an honest empathy for others going through the grief process if he wants to experience that same sense of peace regarding his son.
Alex feels a sense of peace greater than he’s ever felt before, and is happier than he’s ever been. He’s pretty much become converted to the eternal process and, right now, it appears to Sandy that everything is finally on track. He believes that so strongly that he sets himself a little too strongly in the belief that they’ve all but succeeded at this point. Angel warns him to not set his hopes too high, but he won’t listen. He’s too happy and blinded by his optimism.
(3g5) With Alex’s conversion and success with Rorie’s story, Alex remembers a little more of the grave he sees in his visions. He can now see further, and see the front of the headstone, but is still unable to see the name. This begins a small nagging at Alex, leaving him with an uneasy feeling that maybe something is still wrong, although he can’t put his finger on it.
Things have flipped a bit as Sandy is now getting a little impatient and anxious to get this process all behind them, and get on to his own closure. Alex, on the other hand, is now more accepting of the situation, enjoying the process and no longer feeling impatient to get beyond it.
Alex is now dedicated to convincing other families to believe in his ability to connect them with their departed children, not knowing for sure, but suspecting, that his own salvation may lie in the balance. Sandy knows this is true, that Alex’s salvation is at stake as well as his own, but is frustrated with the time the process requires. Ghost or not, he is simply a 10-year-old little boy and wants the reward now, not later.
Alex is now unwilling to accept failure, and completely invested in helping other families move beyond their paralyzing grief. Though it doesn’t directly occur to him, in losing himself in the selfless service of others, he forgets entirely about reviving his career, as that no longer seems important. Alex is becoming overly zealous at this point, and Sandy is encouraging it because he needs so badly for Alex to succeed that he is blind to the potential problems.
(3k3) All Alex cares about now is writing Beth’s story. Sandy and Beth help Alex create her story, and Alex is super-confident in presenting the book to Beth’s family, including her mother, Rose, and her father, Tony. Alex is now as obsessed with writing Beth’s story, and getting her family to accept it, as he had been before about reviving his career.
(3k4) When Alex confronts Beth’s family with her book, Tony accepts Alex’s insistence of being in contact with the ghost of Beth without question. He encourages Rose to accept it as well, telling her it is a message from their daughter that she is safe in the arms of heaven.
In reality, it seems easier than it should have been to convince them, but Alex has become so overconfident and egotistical over his success that he pats himself on the back for it. And Sandy doesn’t help either, as he is so anxious for everything to work out that he is blind to any red flags. Angel tries to temper Sandy’s hope, but he still won’t listen to her.
TURNING POINT 3; HUGE FAILURE / MAJOR SHIFT
(3k5) Sandy’s hopes are dashed when Beth’s mother, Rose, commits suicide after Alex delivers Beth’s book to the family.
(3k6) Next thing we see is Sandy appearing to Alex in a jail cell, where Alex is completely despondent over their failure with Beth. Alex tells Sandy that he is charged with inciting Beth’s mom to kill herself. Yet, we didn’t see Alex arrested, or charged, nor do we see anyone else at the jail. Even though Sandy is as despondent over the situation as Alex, he is nonetheless a little confused about Alex being in jail, and his claims he was arrested.
(3e3) (1k) Angel takes Sandy aside and tries to reassure him that he and Alex can still make things right, and help those in need of their assistance. Sandy asks about Alex being in jail, and Angel cryptically tells him that Alex blames himself for what happened, and that guilt is its own prison. Sandy seems to understand.
With no explanation for having been in jail, or for now no longer being in jail, Sandy appears to Alex at his home office, where they usually connect with each other. Sandy tells Alex they need to get back to work because Beth and her family still need them. Alex can’t believe Sandy is even suggesting that.
Alex insists that he is doing more harm than good by meddling in the grief of these families, and that he’s done with it. He refuses to continue working on any other books, or to talk with Beth or her family again. Sandy tries to argue, but Alex becomes furious, and tells Sandy to leave him alone, saying he wants nothing more to do with Sandy or these other kids.
Sandy is brokenhearted but leaves. He is crushed over Alex’s rejection of him, and anger toward him. Angel encourages him to keep trying to convince Alex, but Sandy refuses. Not only has Alex become bitter and lost his confidence, but so has Sandy. And Sandy is pissed at Alex for being so cruel to him and tells Angel that he doesn’t care if he ever even sees Alex again. Angel tries to tell him he really doesn’t mean that, but Sandy gets pissed and yells at her, saying he does mean it, and he doesn’t want to do any of this anymore.
ACT 4
Beth comes to Sandy as he sits alone, brokenhearted and crying. Sandy doesn’t want to talk to her, both because he is so sad and angry, but also because he feels as guilty over Rose’s suicide as Alex does.
(3e4) Angel then appears and scolds Sandy, telling him to stop feeling sorry for himself and being so selfish. Sandy is half shamed by that, and half angry. But Angel doesn’t back down and tells Sandy to listen to Beth. Sandy is still pissed off, and pouting, but listens to Beth begrudgingly.
Beth, with Angel’s help, shows Sandy what Rose would have done without the intervention of Alex and Sandy. We don’t see what they show him but, when they’re finished, Sandy is shocked. He asks if that’s really true, and they both insist that it is.
Sandy then returns to Alex, who is as stubborn as Sandy had been, telling Sandy that he doesn’t want to talk to him, and ordering him to leave him alone. Sandy basically tells him ‘tough shit, I’m going to show you this, and you’re going to listen.’ Alex is too stunned at a 10-year-old little boy taking charge over him so forcefully like that, that he is too speechless to object.
Sandy then shows Alex what Beth and Angel showed him. As it turns out, Rose committed suicide over the hope of being reunited with Beth. Without Alex’s book, she would have still committed suicide but, in that case, would have done so out of hopelessness, feeling that Beth was gone from her forever. It would have been an act of despair rather than a misguided act of hope. In that state of mind, it would have been a murder/suicide, as she would have also taken Tony and their other kids with her. Either way, she was eternally destined to kill herself but, without Alex’s and Sandy’s help, it would have been far more devastating and tragic.
Sandy and Beth convince Alex to speak with Tony, who confirms that Rose’s suicide was probably unavoidable but that, before receiving Beth’s book, he had been unable to reach her at all. He thanks Alex for bringing Beth back to them for even just one more moment, and assures Alex that Beth’s book was the greatest gift they could ever have received.
(3e5) With Angel’s help, both Sandy and Alex agree to resume their work, and Angel introduces them to Kody, the next ghost child in need of help.
In further remembering his crash, Alex sees the child in the street, paralyzed in fear as a truck goes out of control as it approaches the crash scene. This time, though, he sees the face of the child, who looks a lot like Kody, although still a little too cloudy to be certain.
CLIMAX / ULTIMATE EXPRESSION OF THE CONFLICT
In fleshing out Kody’s story, Alex and Sandy realize that, unlike the other ghost children, Kody is the one in need of resolution and closure, rather than his earthbound family left behind, as had been the case with the other ghost children.
(1e) As they finish Kody’s book, Alex and Sandy realize that his book was necessary to help Kody come to terms with his own death, so he could cross over and be reunited with his mother, Angel, who had died earlier, and had been waiting for her eventual reunion with Kody. We learn that even Angel, Sandy’s heavenly mentor, had a stake of eternal proportions in this journey.
As Alex and Sandy see the heavenly reunion of Kody and Angel, they are struck with wonder at the magnitude of what they’ve actually been doing, without even knowing they were doing it. They realize how much farther this reaches that just the two of them, and that all life is far more connected that either of them imagined. Even as a ghost, this comes as a shock to Sandy.
Kody and Angel express their gratitude to Alex and Sandy, and tell Alex that they forgive him for Kody’s death.
Alex is confused and, at that moment, Rorie, Beth and Rose also appear and thank Sandy and Alex. They also tell Alex that they forgive him, and now he’s beyond confused.
Alex asks Sandy what they meant, and Sandy is in tears. Sandy tells Alex that’s what this was all about, that he forgives him too, and that now Alex just needs to forgive himself.
At that moment, with his redemption nearly complete, Alex recalls everything. Alex is in shock as all the missing elements of his life are revealed to him, and he realizes what this has all been about, and how it all connects back to him. This becomes stronger and stronger as each new piece of the puzzle is revealed.
Sandy also reacts as he knows the moment of his dad’s reclamation is at hand.
(1d) Alex sees the accident scene clearly. He sees himself in his car as the rescuers- the parents of the ghost children- realize that Alex is dead.
(1c) Just then, the truck plows through the cars that had stopped to help. Horrified, Alex watches in tears as he sees Beth and Rorie in two of the cars as the truck runs through them, and as it strikes Kody as he runs across the road, all of whom are instantly and grotesquely killed.
(1f) Alex is beyond consolable, not only realizing that he is dead, but that in killing himself, he also caused the deaths of Rorie, Beth and Kody. At this point, Alex is devastated.
Sandy tells him that the kids and their families have forgiven him, and that now he has to forgive himself. But he can’t. He tells Sandy that what he did is unforgivable, and that he deserves to burn in hell forever, and hopes he does.
Sandy tells him that this is part of the required process of his redemption. Everyone must go through their own purgatory before receiving forgiveness and moving on.
Sandy insists again that Alex has to forgive himself. Alex can’t do it, but Sandy is desperate. He insists that God has forgiven him, and that Rorie, Beth and Kody, along with their families, have as well, and that it’s imperative that he forgive himself.
Alex repeats that he deserves to burn in hell and that, at this point, he wants to. Sandy is in tears, begging Alex to accept everyone’s forgiveness, and forgive himself. He tells Alex he’s just beginning to learn of all the good he has done for others. Alex asks what’s the point, emotionally desperate and overcome with guilt and shame.
Sandy is in tears, desperate and dejected. He asks Alex, ‘don’t you still love me?’ Alex is stunned, and asks, ‘what are you talking about?’ Sandy says, ‘We can’t be together if you don’t. That’s the point.’
(1g) At that moment, Alex sees himself directly in front of the grave, where he now sees the name Alexander “Sandy” on the headstone.
(1h) Suddenly, flashes of memory run through Alex’s mind, moments with Sandy and him together before Sandy’s death. Alex is stunned and speechless.
Alex sees more memories, including Sandy’s death and how, afterward, he had lost interest in living and isolated himself from the world.
RESOLUTION
(1i) Alex completely realizes that he has been dead throughout the story and this whole journey has, in reality, been about his own reclamation and redemption, which he must undergo before being allowed to join his son, Sandy, in the eternities.
Right now, though Alex recognizes what he has to do, he isn’t sure he can emotionally go there. He still feels like he needs to pay an eternal price for what he’s done.
At this point, Angel brings Alex into direct mind-to-mind connection with Jesus. She tells him to lay his sins at the feet of Jesus. He does, and through the power of his sins being taken from him, he is able to accept forgiveness, and forgive himself.
Alex takes Sandy in his arms and asks Sandy if he can forgive him for the fool that he has been. Sandy just hugs him. With Sandy’s blessing, Alex is able to at least begin to forgive himself. He comes to terms with his suicide, and is able to recognize Sandy for who he is, at which point they are reunited in heaven. Alex feels at peace with himself for the first time, and Sandy is now finally happy.
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KZ’s Reveals!
Vision: To write quotable, memorable screenplays, like the ones I love, and help them get made into successful movies.
What I learned from doing this assignment is… that thinking about the reveals at the outline stage helps bring the story into focus.
Setup: Wendy participates in a one-minute dating event, where she negotiates too much
Reveal: In therapy, Wendy confesses she hasn’t had a real relationship… because she drives men away
Reveal: And then she drives the therapist crazy, too, with her cutthroat negotiations over small matters
Setup: Darwin’s mother tries to make an arranged marriage for him
Reveal: She’s trying to make sure she will be taken care of in her old age
Setup: A panelist suggests that the goal of negotiation is to reach the win/win
Reveal: Wendy and Darwin laugh heartily at such a ridiculous notion
Setup: The moderator asks Wendy and Darwin to demonstrate how they psych out an opponent
Reveal: Wendy greets him with Namaste, Darwin asks her to fetch some coffee, each trying to diminish the other (through cultural appropriation and misogyny)
Setup: Darwin brags that he’s outsmarted his mother’s arranged marriage plans by telling her he’s gay
Reveal: He comes home to find the man, Gary, she’s found for him to marry
Setup: Darwin seems to be a formidable opponent
Reveal: His real name is Robert… he changed his name to Darwin to sound more fierce because he’s actually insecure
Setup: Myra turns Wendy down for meditation: the class is full
Reveal: She manipulates a workmate so she can take his place in the class
Setup: Wendy spends a bunch of money on a fancy new meditation cushion
Reveal: Myra instructs everyone to move over a notch and use their neighbor’s cushion, so that they don’t engage in spiritual materialism
Setup: Myra congratulates Darwin on his prowess in meditation
Reveal: Wendy ambushes Darwin’s mother in order to wrangle the secret to meditation
Setup: Wendy gets a technique for meditation from Darwin’s mother
Reveal: Her abilities land her on the train to Nirvana
Setup: When you’re in Lucid Dreaming you can’t read text
Reveal: On the train, they can read the signage, so they’re not dreaming
Reveal later: Wendy can’t read documents at the negotiation, realizes she’s dreaming
Setup: There’s a potential negative limbo state in meditation called Dark Night of the Soul
Reveal: For Wendy and Darwin, the train to Nirvana is that place
Setup: Wendy and Darwin make a plan to drive the monks crazy with a tuning fork so that they’ll let them off the train
Reveal: The tuning fork makes their own teeth hurt, only makes the monks even more tranquil
Setup: Darwin dreads telling his mother that he’s leaving her to be with Wendy
Reveal: The mother has already left to go on a cruise with Gary as her companion
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Raquel’s Reveals:
Vision: 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 the use of set-ups and reveals adds more tension and surprise moments to create a well-developed screenplay with excitement.
Act 1
P.J. Miri right before the war is a rising blues violinist. She cherishes her freedom. She has casual affairs with men. Her music career is above family and friends.
New Specific Beats:
Int. Nightclub-Warsaw
Miri plays violin to a young crowd. She is backed up by piano, drums.
<font face=”inherit”>At </font>the<font face=”inherit”> end of a tune-</font>
Miri begins to introduce the other band members to the audience. She is commanding in her profession.
Inciting incident: A.J. -2 anti-semitic thugs attack a patron at music club.
SET-UP:
The back door opens with a bang and 2 twenty-something men grab a patron up from his table and start to beat him<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>.
<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>REVEAL:
<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Miri ends her introductions and drops music she is holding onto the floor.
<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>(from commanding to losing her composure at the incident.)
Audience members grab the 2 men and throw them out the back and lock the door.
The MC urges the band to continue to perform.
Miri picks up sheet music in one hand a drink in the other- takes a gulp.
SET-UP:
Miri introduces the next song.
REVEAL:
She picks up her violin, starts to play, loses her place stops abruptly.
<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>The concert ends.
Miri and the others pack instruments.
Andre joins Miri.
Exterior: They walk quiet streets to her apartment.
SET-UP:
Andre speaks about the incident. Miri is silent.
Miri opens her apartment door.
<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>They kiss.
<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Andre proposes. He can “protect” her as he is Christian.
REVEAL:
Miri is Jewish. She declines marriage.
Deeper Layer Miri tries to maintain life as usual. Determined to live her free life.
Turning Point 1: P.J -Miri is now confined in the Jewish quarter of the Warsaw Ghetto.
Deeper Level: Miri faces her own death. She befriends other musicians for support to survive.
Miri sits at a communal table. She is served soup. Angie, seated on the other side calls her name. She recognizes Miri from performances.
Angie tells Miri that she is a pianist.
They walk together from the soup kitchen and pass hurriedly by a group of Nazi soldiers.
SET-UP:
One aims a rifle at their backs and shoots.
REVEAL:
He shot a tin can. The soldiers all laugh.
Miri makes a plan with Angie to join her to teach music to class of kids.
Next day:
Miri and Angie enter a room with a piano and chairs.
Angie sits at piano- plays Yiddish song.
Miri takes her violin from its case and joins in.
Fifteen kids enter the room with Claude, the head of the music programs.
They gather around the two women.
Next day:
<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Angie sits at the piano and plays.
Miri leads the kids in singing a popular children’s song.
After class ends Angie is very warm to the kids- hugs them. Miri is standoffish.
Act 2: P.J. Miri is teaching a song to the class of children.
Angie is at the piano.
The class ends and the children are escorted out by Claude.
SET-UP:
One boy (Jacob) remains behind and asks Miri for violin lessons as he already knows how to play from his father who is too busy to teach him now. Miri refuses him.
REVEAL:
Deeper Level: Miri confides in Angie: Miri delayed going home to play at a gig when her younger brother was ill. To her shock when she returned home he had died.
She avoids emotional/love relationships especially with a boy her brother’s age when he dies.
SET-UP:
She learns from Claude that Jacob is pretending that his father is still alive.
REVEAL:
The next class she has Jacob remain after and helps him play the violin.
Turning point 2: Midpoint: P.J. Miri practices classical music to tryout for the ghetto orchestra.
Deeper level: Miri’s main purpose to play in orchestra is for the greater access to food which she will bring to her young music students.
A.J. Officer Heinrich hears Miri practice and starts a conversation about the great German composers.
SET-UP:
He forces a kiss which she rebuffs.
REVEAL:
He is aware of her now close relationship with Jacob. She will be his mistress or he will send Jacob to Treblinka.
Miri becomes his mistress.
Deeper level: He considers himself a cultured member of the Aryan race who has the right to control a Jewish prisoner.
SET-UP:
The children are given bread at the end of a music class. Jacob walks home with the bread under his coat but it sticks out at the top..
He passes a 20 yr old man (Avi) who grabs him by the shoulder and spins him around.
Avi tells Jacob he sees his “hidden bread.”
Jacob pleads for him not to take it away.
REVEAL:
Avi buttons Jacob’s coat over the bread so it is not seen.
Jacob walks away.
Act 3: P.J – Miri uses her time at her “rehearsals” at a Nazi officers club outside the ghetto to sneak over to the Aryan side – pass as a non-Jew and meet with resistance members in order to smuggle weapons into the ghetto.
I will add. more set-ups and reveals when I develop this part.
Deeper Level: Miri now uses her music skills to aid and save others while she puts her own life in jeopardy having changed from the time music was a selfish pursuit.
Turning pt. 3: A.J. Heinrich becomes suspicious of her absences and also hears she has a Jewish lover (Avi).
Deeper Level: He is enraged that Miri would dare not be under his thumb.
P.J.: Miri is worried for Jacob and helps hide him to escape from the ghetto. Her lover is killed aiding this escape.
Deeper Level: Miri is devastated that Avi died protecting Jacob. She stays alive to continue to smuggle weapons for the cause.
SET-UP:
His superior officer tells Heinrich his father, a WWI hero would be proud of his service to the Nazi cause.
REVEAL:
Heinrich knows better. His father was friends with Jews. HE downs a bottle of whiskey and is drunk.
Deeper level: He drinks to numb himself against the killing he is part of.
Act 4: Climax: A.J. Drunk Heinrich catches Miri with a potato sack filled with weapons. He lifts his weapon.
Climax: P.J. Miri raises a gun and kills Heinrich.
Deeper Level: It is the first time she has killed anyone.
SET-UP:
Miri runs away. She is being chased. Shots fired.
REVEAL:
She has escaped ghetto so she will not be killed in retribution. She is with Polish partisans.
Resolution: The war is over. P.J. Miri hears that Jacob is alive. She searches for him and finds him at a Jewish orphanage. They are reunited but she has to say goodbye. He is being sent to relatives in Palestine.
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