Lesson 7

[Beverley]

😀Beverley Wood’s connection with the Audience

What I learned doing this assignment is that my Obi-Wan character (helper), Kim, doesn’t have enough depth in these four things, and she needs them.

Tell us which characters you are going to INTENTIONALLY create a connection with the audience.

All three, hopefully, Matt, Lauren and Kim

1. With each character, tell us how you’ll use each of the four ways of connecting with the audience in the first 30 minutes of the movie. A. Relatability B. Intrigue C. Empathy D. Likability

Matt:

A: he is searching for his lost love, and when he finds her, he finds out that she is dead, and he is grief-stricken. Many of us have suffered the death of someone close, be it a parent, sibling, significant other, grandparent, or friend.

B: Will he finally believe she is real? We find out at the Act 1 turning point

C: He struggles to understand how she can be there when she’s dead; he searches out a shrink for advice. Many of us have been to a therapist, and many more of us have things we just don’t believe in.

D: He loves Lauren very much and has searched for her for a long time, he’s obviously devoted to her and would do anything for her… he’s curious about her, we can sense he wants to believe but is having a hard time taming his empirical mind.

Lauren:

A: For the first 30 minutes, she’s exasperated that things are out of her control and Matt won’t believe her. We’ve all been there.

B: Can she make Matt believe her? What will she do if he doesn’t?

C: We have all struggled to get someone to believe in us or believe our assertions. And she’s stuck between a rock and a hard place; we’ve all been there.

D: She’s funny, she’s flip, she doesn’t sit around whining, she takes action, but she’s also kind. I think she’s very likable.

I need to go back and establish all of this for the Kim (helper/Obi-Wan character)

[Diane Keranen]

Diane’s Connection with Audience

What I learned doing this assignment is that I’ve cut too many corners on what I’m “showing” in my screenplay and expect the audience to fill in the blanks. I need to fill in the blanks because they are there for the ride, not the work.

1. Tell us which characters you are going to INTENTIONALLY create a connection with the audience. I’m going to intentionally create a connection with the audience for the Matt, Stewart, Claire, and Jake characters.

2. With each character, tell us how you’ll use each of the four ways of connecting with the audience in the first 30 minutes of the movie.
Matt:
A. Relatability — He wants to come home to his family after serving his military duty. At the beginning of the story, he has arrived in the U.S. (Atlanta) and will be driving to the upper Midwest which will take a few days.
B. Intrigue — His phone call with Claire in Stewart’s presence, but he hangs up before talking to Stewart. His mother has just arrived at Stewart’s cabin when Matt calls her. She’s talking to him as she gets out of the car. Stewart reaches for the phone, but Matt disconnects before talking to his father.
C. Empathy — Because he’s returning from service, he needs time to decompress and the drive home gives him time to do that.
D. Likability — He’s served with honor. He has earned distinguishing medals. He is determined to stay home this time and be a husband and father.
Stewart:
A. Relatability — He’s in the process of selling a hand-crafted kayak. He’s a hard worker.
B. Intrigue — While he is rather stoic and disengaged with the buyer, he and Claire have “inside jokes” that they toss back and forth and that we “get.”
C. Empathy — We learn why he fears hurting his loved ones.
D. Likability — He wants to give Claire what she wants. He’ll do anything for her. We see that he loves her.
Claire:
A. Relatability — She’s kind-hearted and we see how she has become a “middle-man” between Matt and Stewart.
B. Intrigue — Why does she not live with her husband? She loves him as he loves her.
C. Empathy — She wants her husband and son to reunite and believes they have a good chance of doing so because they are both combat veterans. She also wants to remove the distance between her and Stewart and finally move back to the cabin.
D. Likability — She smiles easily and gets around Stewart’s distancing barriers in a friendly manner that they both enjoy.
Jake:
A. Relatability — He’s a kid excited that his dad is coming home. Jake can’t wait to play video games with Matt.
B. Intrigue — He’s young and lacks guidance on how to be with a father who has been so absent from his life so he ventures to figure that out for himself with the help of a friend.
C. Empathy — When he shoots the rabbit, he’s shocked that it didn’t die immediately. He’s stunned that he took the life of a mother in such a gory manner. He’s pressed to suppress his response to what he did by his elders.
D. Likability — His desire to get it right with his father keeps him moving from one strategy to another. He’s excited about the 4th of July celebrations and how he and his father can enjoy them together.

[Angela Booth]

Angela Booth – Day 7 – Creating a connection with the audience

What I learned from doing this assignment is that I have already included these aspects within my early drafts, which is comforting!

I have done this for the 4 main characters in the Pilot:

Georgia
A. Relatability – unruly kids, husband not around when you need him, waste of time and effort trying to provide healthy food
B. Intrigue – dark event in the past related to a massacre, hinted at and then not discussed
C. Empathy – Stuck doing all the thinking and emotional load for the family. Navigating 3 boys growing up.
D. Likability – great storyteller, copes with adversity with humour

Jodie
A. Relatability – coping as a single parent when husband is away, unable to walk after gym session,
B. Intrigue – Upcoming appointment with accountant
C. Empathy – not having enough dog poo bags in the park
D. Likability – picks up other people’s kids to help them out when they’re stuck at work. She understands that working mums have it even harder

Tiff
A. Relatability – secretly enjoying disgusting snack when no one is watching her
B. Intrigue –
C. Empathy – worries for the financials of the family, working extra shifts
D. Likability – tells funny stories and dishes the dirt on people from work

Anne
A. Relatability – trying to please people without upsetting anyone, spills on herself food all the time
B. Intrigue – mystery surrounding issue with sister
C. Empathy – feeling overlooked at work – not getting promoted when she works the hardest
D. Likability – tries to be nice to everyone – gives gifts, friendly to everyone

[Mitch Haraguchi]

What I learned doing this assignment is that considering the connection with the audiences provides the characters with depth and sometimes makes them more attractive.

1. Tell us which characters you are going to INTENTIONALLY create a connection with the audience.
Russell, a local sheriff
Katie, his teenage daughter
Taiki, a Japanese man who was found in the middle of nowhere

2. With each character, tell us how you’ll use each of the four ways of connecting with the audience in the first 30 minutes of the movie. A. Relatability B. Intrigue C. Empathy D. Likability

Russell
A. Relatability: He is a family man who values every day’s routine more than anything else. He does the same thing at the same time every day, which makes him comfortable. He loves his boring and yet peaceful rural life.
B. Intrigue: He has a very peculiar routine of drinking coffee sitting on the same stool in a café at the same time. People think that he is a little excentric man but he does not care.
C. Empathy: He has a communication issue with his teenage daughter Katie.
D. Likability: He cares for his local people and thus, he is loved by his community, which is conservative and exclusive.

Katie
A. Relatability: She is a shy, sensitive and a little nerdy girl. You can find at least one who looks like her in your class.
B. Intrigue: She is a rabid Japanese anime fan who daydreams the characters of an anime.
C. Empathy: Because of her nerdy persona, she is isolated and does not have many friends.
D. Likability: She is an artistic girl with very good drawing skills that are appreciated only by a10-year-old boy neighbor.

Taiki
A. Relatability: He is a change agent. His relatability is INTENTIONALLY sealed in the first 30 minutes and his identity/persona is not revealed until later part of the movie. Accordingly, the audience, unless he or she is Asian, may not be emotionally connected with this guy in the beginning.
B. Intrigue: He appears to be a foreigner, but his identity is unknown.
C. Empathy: He is attacked and loses his memory.
D. Likability: Just like “Relatability,” the audience may not be connected with him in the first 30 minutes.

[mark.napier2022@gmail.com napier]

Napier Connection with the Audience Lesson 7

***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…?” I believe that I learned to develop further subtext and subplots that add depth to the story.
1. Tell us which characters you are going to INTENTIONALLY create a connection with the audience. Transformational Character and the Change Agent are the two primary characters I will intentionally create a connection for the audience.
2. With each character, tell us how you’ll use each of the four ways of connecting with the audience in the first 30 minutes of the movie. A. Relatability B. Intrigue C. Empathy D. Likability
TC:
–Relatability: Honoring principles and values to do the right thing in reporting a crime, being falsely accused of wrongdoing; and change an institution’s cultural norm that it is above the law.
–Intrigue: Raising the question on why is a ‘repeat offender’ still employed, much less not prosecuted for engaging in Child Pornography? How are CIA senior executives’ record of “business as usual and cultural norms” allowed to:
–Get civilian, CIA personnel and hostages killed;
–Blunder overlooking counterintelligence issues;
–Lose track of one of the 9/11 hijackers;
–Create hostile work environments;
–Look the other way when knowing as many as 2,000 to 3,000 Taliban prisoners of war are stuffed into train box cars and dumped in the desert to die ( known as the “Convoy of Death” or “Dasht-i-Leili Massacre”);
–Not held accountable for abusing titles, positions and authorities to use Agency resources for personal vendettas.
–Yet, the hero reports wrongdoing and illegal activity, but he is the one Blacklisted.
–Empathy: Feeling gut instincts that something is wrong, but reluctance to act upon. confront or be assertive – stand your ground when it’s your ass (though you do it for others). Retaliation that results in chronic homelessness, a life-threatening diagnosis and stigma.
–Likability: When expelling a team member for an alleged offense, but discover the outcome to be wrong the hero points out the CIA Stations’ wrongdoing to save the victim’s reputation. The hero, even when homeless, helps others who seek his protection. The bond between the hero and his dog.
CH:
–Relatability: The antagonist has the typical chip on his shoulder as a Case Officer—arrogant. Being in the Directorate of Operations’ Special Activities Division along with serving in unique powerful positions of the CIA allows him to exert influence in US government policies.
–Intrigue: How could he have looked the other way when as many as 2,000 to 3,000 Taliban prisoners of war were massacre and laughed about it …”It’s a lucky thing I wrote that up!”
–Empathy: He thinks he is the untouchable and treated as a ‘god like deity.’ Recruited by the CIA after serving in the US Army Special Forces he rises quickly through the Agency ranks and abuses his position for personal interests.
–Likability: Take aggressive actions against anyone who bruises his ego or stands in his way as he moves to the top. He uses his position for his own personal vendetta and gains. Is selfish, self-centered, glory hunter and arrogant.
3. Answer the question “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” (place at top of your work). I believe that I learned to develop further subtext and subplots that add depth to the story.

• This reply was modified 9 months ago by  mark.napier2022@gmail.com napier.