Lesson 7

[Nader Khaghani]

What I learned thank to maestro teacher Hal: Plough forward & don’t stop.
CREATING YOUR FOUR-ACT STRUCTURE
1. List Concept, Main Conflict, Old Ways, and New Ways
Concept: Bring light to dark night of soul. New Ways: Discovering the Light within without .
After a
Concept: In deep and dark bout of melancholy Eddy considers wakizashi (a short Japanese sword) as an answer, s instead he is sent on a journey of redeeming his soul and light.

Main Conflict: Light and dark sparing
Old ways: Dark Depression. New way: creative with 2 energies: light and dark
Knows his family history of depression. Suicide claimed his dad early on.
His art of painting was to deal with depression and get over it, but now catching up.
Act 1: 25 to 30 pages — Set up and see Old Ways.
Opening: Eddy’s creative flow hits the rock bottom and stops. Depressed uncreative sucideal.
Set us up for the journey that starts with the Inciting Incident.
Inciting Incident: This is the call to go on the journey comes from Justin.
Turning Point: Lock in the journey. There is no going back from here: take off from Chicago- LA-Rome-Pienza
Opening: Burning his work in the backyard, valuable works of art, and removes wakizashi sword to open his belly.
Inciting Incident: Justin calls to make him feel guilty and is forced to fly to LA
Turning Point:
Act 2: 20 to 30 pages — Challenge the Old Ways.
Reaction: They are now outside the box. It is uncomfortable, maybe unbearable. But the Hero can’t go back. They must move forward in some way. The burden of the studio is off not facing the blades
The Plan: They struggle, flail, and try the first plan sex with a lady outside the marriage…which will quickly fail.

Turning Point 2: MIDPOINT: The journey is still moving in the same direction, but the me……aning has changed in a big way that shifts reality. If anything can help him, it has to be an art element: color. They can redeem him for the on-going bout of melancholy.
Whatever shift you choose, it completely disrupts the Hero’s reality.
New plan: Rome to continue to the island of color that he discovers.
Turning Point/Midpoint: Instead the answer is to enter imaginarium due to Placeholder/.
Act 3: 20 to 30 pages — With Midpoint change, Profound moments that give us new ways.
This Midpoint changes everything.
This is an important part of the Hero’s transformation. Placeholder: Here comes the alchemical archetypal experience beginning of the transformation.
A. They have multiple insights into why things weren’t working.
B. They see that the Old Ways won’t cut it anymore.
C. They must up their game, which means they must change!
New Plan: Now, for the hero, though passive I need to go with the change agent plans. creates a new plan and pursues it. With that, they embrace the need to change.
This could involve training sequences, bringing on new partners, or taking actions they never would have taken during the first half of the movie.
Turning Point: Disappointed at the experience–The “All is lost” or “lowest of the lows” moment where everything has failed.
Turning Point 3: Goes unconsious
5. Act 4: 25 pages — Test the change in this character! Prove New Ways!
With Turning Point 3, the Protagonist embraces a new way, which gives them a fighting chance in Act 4. Must make friends with the dark but not the sole friend must invite in the light.
Climax: No fights but discovery of the universal light
The Test. This is the ultimate expression of the conflict. Face to face with the Antagonist for the ultimate fight! This is an impossible situation that the Hero can only win with the change they have made in their lives. It is the ultimate expression of the New Ways.
Resolution: The change has been made or tested. We now see the new status quo of the Hero.