Lesson 7

[Karen Christine Angermayer]

Karen Christine Angermayer´s Assignment 1: Big Litte Lies

What I learned doing this assignment is how much undeserved misfortune and moral dilemmas cause us to feel connected to these characters and identify with them.

Renata:

A. Undeserved misfortune: her son was attacked physically at school, her husband lost their fortune

B. External Character conflicts: feels like the most of the full-time moms don´t accept her, can´t find out who attacked Ziggy

C. Plot intruding on life: her daughter is a victim of mobbing

D. Moral dilemmas: to keep silent on Perry´s dead

E. Forced decisions they’d never make: to leave Monterey, take Amabelle from school and sell their beautiful home, remain silent on a murder

Madeline:

A. Undeserved misfortune: the production of her play at the theatre is being threatened, her daughter Abigail seems to be friends with the new wife of Madeline´s ex Nate, Nate is the winner of the divorce in her eyes

B. External Character conflicts: can´t stand to see Nate and Bonnie, doesn´t like career-moms like Renata

C. Plot intruding on life: her play is being forbidden by the mayor, she develops feelings for Joseph, the director of the play

D. Moral dilemmas: loves her husband, but wants to have sex with Joseph, wishes her daughters to be happy, but cannot stand Abigail moving out to Nate and Bonnie

E. Forced decisions they’d never make: because of the injustice against Ziggy she invites all of Amabelle´s guests to another party

Celeste:

A. Undeserved misfortune: victim of the cruelty of her husband

B. External Character conflicts: wants to see her boys grow up happily, has to stand the physical attacks and the control of Perry, has given up her job as lawyer, though she loved it and is brilliant at it.

C. Plot intruding on life: Perry´s violence and control are increasing.

D. Moral dilemmas: Staying with Perry and not leaving him for the good of the kids, though it´s not good for her.

E. Forced decisions they’d never make: taking actions against Perry´s mother when being accused by her. Remaining silent on Perry´s death.

Jane:

A. Undeserved misfortune: Was raped and got pregnant.

B. External Character conflicts: can´t forget the rape, cannot trust other men. Cannot tell her son who is father was. Cannot return home to her family and friends.

C. Plot intruding on life: Ziggy is being accused of having attacked another girl on the first day at his new school. Ziggy´s father coming back into her life.

D. Moral dilemmas: loving her son and believing him, which makes her an outsider

E. Forced decisions they’d never make: remaining silent on Perry´s death.

Bonnie:

A. Undeserved misfortune: Madeline hates Nate – and therefore Bonnie as well.

B. External Character conflicts: Likes Abigail, knowing that this friendship will increase Madeline´s anger on her.

C. Plot intruding on life: she is responsible for Perry´s death, and is not able to live with it

D. Moral dilemmas: protect herself and her girlfriends while cannot standing the increasing pressure any longer

E. Forced decisions they’d never make: pushing Perry down the stairs, remaining silent, marrying Nate.

[Karen Christine Angermayer]

Karen Christine Angermayer´s Assignment 2: My own project – THE BANKER

What I learned doing this assignment is that it added valuable emotional layers and conflicts to the characters that I didn´t think of before.

Assignment 2:

Wolf-Dieter:

A. Undeserved misfortune: Lost all his money and that of his clients by assuming doing the right thing<div>

B. External Character conflicts: Trying hardly to keep his image, cannot talk to his family (wife and kids) and his co-workers/principals in his office about what happened, instead fighting his way through the crypto world to get it all back, before anyone notices

C. Plot intruding on life: A team of 3 young people lead by Jonas scams him brutally, taking not only his money but his freedom and all he created in his life for himself and his family. Later on his wife will have an affair with a colleague that always competed against him.

D. Moral dilemmas: I discovered 3 dilemmas.

Dilemma 1: He takes all sorts of illegal actions to get the money back, before anyone notices. Even after everything blew up he is still acting illegally (even to a much higher degree) – because he will do whatever is necessary to get the money and his life back. If he doesn´t act illegal – the money is gone. If he acts illegal – he will go to prison.

Dilemma 2: If he would tell his wife what happened (and that he lost HER money as well), she would turn away from him. If he doesn´t tell it – she turns away either. Same with his kids (he assumes).

Dilemma 3: If he doesn´t kill Jonas, he will kill him, Emma and her baby. (should he get to know before or after that Jonas is his son? Does this even increase the dilemma or is it too much? Have to think about this.)

E. Forced decisions they’d never make: Transfer huge amounts of money, without his wife/family and his clients/co-workers knowing. Killing somebody. Becoming the leader of his own big scam.

Emma:

A. Undeserved misfortune: Was not allowed starting to study her favorite program, because her application got lost at the university office, and all other application dates were expired.

B. External Character conflicts: got pregnant, wants the child, but his father doesn´t support her wish. Has to stand his coolness and cruelty, because she´s dependent on him.

C. Plot intruding on life: only job where she seems to make a sufficient amount of money is in Jonas´ team. She doesn´t know from the beginning that he started scamming, it was a crazy idea that came up at a party night …

D. Moral dilemmas: If she leaves Jonas he will take all her money, and her baby will have no father. If she stays with him she will suffer emotionally and physically.

E. Forced decisions they’d never make: Steal money. Helping WD to kill Jonas.

Jonas:

A. Undeserved misfortune: He is not the son of the man he believes to be his Dad. His father chose his sister to become CEO of his company.

B. External Character conflicts: Does not want to have kids at his young age. Prefers to be free. Always has/had the perception he has to fight for the love of his Dad. Nothing was/is enough.

C. Plot intruding on life: Someone told him about a scam that worked out perfectly. He wanted to try it out. It worked – and he got drawn into this, like an addict, wanting more and more money, taking higher and higher risks …

D. Moral dilemmas: If he kills Emma, he kills the mother of his child. If he doesn´t kill her and WD, they will bring him to trial.

E. Forced decisions they’d never make: Taking the guns from his fathers safe, and threatening his own mother.

[Kristina Zill]

KZ’s Empathy / Distress for my own show, MURDER MY DARLINGS

What I learned doing this assignment is…a new technique for adding depth to the characters’ actions.

“Knowing the concept, what are the big picture Empathy / Distress situations that could occur?”

A. Undeserved Misfortune

• Oliver has amnesia caused by Covid, and everyone seems to know more about him than he does

B. External Character Conflicts

Intentional:

• Tony and Michelle want each other dead.
• Tony’s recent crush turned up dead and a detective is investigating
• Michelle wants the detective for herself, tries to throw Oliver under the bus.
• Nolan is insanely jealous of anyone who flirts with Tony

Unintentional:

• Oliver has fallen in love with Tony, not sure if the feeling is returned

C. Plot Intruding on Life

• Oliver is trying to make inroads with Tony when he becomes a suspect in Raymond’s murder.

D. Moral Dilemma

• Should Oliver force the issue and let Nolan know that he’s involved with Tony, possibly leading to his own or Tony’s death? Or allow Tony to proceed on his own time, which means it will never come to pass?
• Should Oliver hide evidence that Tony was the killer, even if it means he becomes a suspect himself?

E. Forced Decisions They’d Never Make

• Oliver hides evidence that implicates Tony in the killing.

[Jan Fantl]

<div>Jan’s </div>

WIL: Focus on the big picture and extract which misfortune and moral dilemmas will create another layer of depth and therefore deepen the longing of spectators to follow and co-live every ep and every second

A. Undeserved misfortune.
Oliver’s parents are found dead, seemingly the victims of a meticulously planned killing.

B. External Character conflicts.
With Homicide refusing to investigate and his family tribe offering little help in arranging a mutual funeral, Oliver finds himself in a difficult situation. To make matters worse, the city is entangled in a web of cronyism and conspiracy, making it challenging for him to find justice and closure.

C. Plot intruding on life.
Oliver is on a mission to uncover the identity of his parents’ killer(s), and he knows that there is no turning back. Despite not planning to return, he finds himself drawn back into the city’s cobweb of corruption. In order to clean up the mess and achieve his goals, he may have to resort to unscrupulous methods, such as selling out the people’s right to potable water. (a task previously assigned to Hercules)

D. Moral dilemmas. Oliver has endured nightmarish experiences of war, having both witnessed and committed killings in service to his country. Now, as he plans to take matters into his own hands and kill without permission, he will become a vigilante. However, there is a complication: the possibility that he may have to take the life of someone from Marie’s tribe – the very woman he is growing more and more deeply in love with.

E. Forced decisions they’d never make. Although he has learned the reason for the threat against his life, Oliver remains unaware of the identity of his would-be assassin. In order to survive, he is compelled to kill, despite the fact that it falls outside the realm of his professional expertise.

[Cat Miggs]

What I learned doing this assignment is building worry, which I used to think was a bad thing but now see how great it is to worry for the character, and by doing so it makes the audience care more about my characters.

Assignment 1: Walking Dead

Undeserved misfortune- cared ones die, get lost or turned into walkers on Rick’s watch

External Character conflicts- Rick and Shane’s love for Lori

Plot intruding on life- Keeping everyone safe and alive when they constantly are facing walkers every turn they take

Moral dilemmas- Lori choosing Rick over Shane

Forced decisions they’d never make- Rick making the executive decision to get everyone to go on the road to find other survivors and/or the cure

Assignment 2: Tree Whisperer

Undeserved misfortune- Susan losing custody of her children to her ex husband and how to move on from that

External Character conflicts- Mystery Forest Ranger is assigned to be Susan’s spirit guide but they can never agree on many things, his thinking and her thinking don’t match up, they see the situation from two different points of view.

Plot intruding on life- Susan constantly facing dangers of the forest, examples: bears, fire, escaped dangerous convicts, evil shadow

Moral dilemmas- Susan to do or not to do a favor for the evil shadow in order to save the forest

Forced decisions they’d never make- Susan taking illegal actions in order to save the forest

[Bobby Sacher]

Bobby’s Empathy/Distress: What I learned doing this assignment is… I need to beef up my plot points for my second lead, AMP. This is a great way to think about plot twists – how they impact the lead characters

EMPATHY/DISTRESS

MR ROBOT

1. Elliot suffers from crushing loneliness and social anxiety
UNDESERVED MISFORTUNE

2. Elliot works for a company whose biggest client is the company responsible for his father’s death
MORAL DILEMMA

3. Elliot can bring down Evil Corp – but that would take jobs away from his kind boss, his best (only) friend Angela, and everyone else at Allsafe
MORAL DILEMMA

4. Elliot’s drug-dealer girlfriend Shayla was raped by her supplier: if he sends Vera to prison, he’ll lose HIS supply of morphine, and Shayla will lose her “job”
PLOT INTRUDING ON LIFE; MORAL DILEMMA

5. Elliot has to help Vera escape from prison, or he’ll kill Shayla
EXTERNAL CHARACTER CONFLICT; FORCED DECISION THEY’D NEVER MAKE

6. Elliot does everything Vera asks, plays it right – and Shayla’s dead anyway
UNDESERVED MISFORTUNE

7. Elliot is finally honest with his therapist – telling her how he’s hacked her life, and everyone else’s…
EXTERNAL CHARACTER CONFLICT

MY EMPATHY/DISTRESS

AMP

FRANK

1. Frank’s partner was killed when Frank was too drunk to go with him on stake-out (Frank self-medicating after wife Natalie left him)
EXTERNAL CHARACTER CONFLICT

2. Frank is forced to partner with a robot – laughing stock of the force
UNDESERVED MISFORTUNE

3. Frank is hated by DANI – teenage daughter – “One thing you’ve taught me, Dad: when in doubt, shut it out. Well, I’ve got no doubt about you.” And she slams door in his face.
EXTERNAL CHARACTER CONFLICT

4. Frank’s ex-lover (reason wife left him) is now his police chief
UNDESERVED MISFORTUNE

5. Frank discovers his partner was killed by cops, because he was on to the corruption in the precinct
MORAL DILEMMA

6. Frank has to choose whether to turn AMP in, when he realizes AMP may be the killer
MORAL DILEMMA

AMP

1. AMP is forced to accept an “inhibitor chip” – which makes it impossible for AMP to harm a human, or allow one to be harmed, or lie – basically, removing parts of his free will
UNDESERVED MISFORTUNE

2. AMP is set free by Ailene – going against orders of Genesis
MORAL DILEMMA

3. AMP discovers a robot may have killed an engineer at Genesis
PLOT INTRUDING ON LIFE

4. AMP discovers HE may be the robot who killed the engineer
MORAL DILEMMA

AILENE

1. Sees AMP as sentient – worthy of equal treatment; and has to put in “inhibitor chip” – like a strait-jacket
FORCED DECISION SHE’D NEVER MAKE

2. Seen as a “techie” – not worthy of attention – by cops
EXTERNAL CHARACTER CONFLICTS

3. Chooses NOT to put in new “inhibitor chip” when old one is damaged – betraying Genesis, who pays her salary
MORAL DILEMMA

4. Attacked by AMP’s hidden protocol robot – AMP “wakes up” and saves her; now she has to go into hiding, or turn AMP in
PLOT INTRUDING ON LIFE; MORAL DILEMMA; UNDESERVED MISFORTUNE

[Michael Lipoma]

What I learned doing this assignment is making stuff up is at the same time fun and kinda horrible. I’m leaning into the process, allowing myself to move forward knowing these are just building blocks. Some will stay, some will change, and some will go away.

ASSIGNMENT 1:

EXAMPLE SERIES: THE MORNING SHOW

BIG PICTURE EMPATHY DISTRESS

Alex discovers her long-time on-air partner is a sexual predator w/a long history—this could potentially ruin The Morning Show and cause damage to the network.

Note: ALL of the misfortune for every character is a result of a single event/action: Mitch Kessler, “America’s Dad” is revealed to be a serial sexual predator, turning the network upside-down.

DETAILED EMPATHY DISTRESS

Bradley’s brother is a well-meaning addict whose disease is out of control and it hurts her to see him this way.

Because of Mitch, Chip’s job and career are on the line.

UNDESERVED MISFORTUNE

Alex discovers her long-time on-air partner is a sexual predator w/a long history—this could potentially ruin The Morning Show and cause damage to the network.

Bradley’s brother is a well-meaning addict whose disease is out of control and it hurts her to see him this way.

Because of Mitch, Chip’s job and career are on the line.

EXTERNAL CHARACTER CONFLICTS

Fred and Cory both want the other gone.

A producer’s improper accusation of Mia causes Chip to fire him, creating a shitstorm for Chip and Mia.

Alex and her daughter have a huge fight over Alex getting divorced. Instead of capitulating, Alex lashes out in a big way.

Mitch approaches Hannah, and says, “You got something out of me, now it’s time to repay the favor.”

PLOT INTRUDING ON LIFE

The fire in LA, and the remote broadcast along with the news that her husband is filing for divorce causes Alex to melt down on camera.

MORAL DILEMAS

Chip is toying with the idea of a coup against Fred.

Mitch secretly approaches Bradly, offers that Alex knew what was going on all the time in exchange for the interview that could make her career.

FORCED DECISIONS THEY’D NEVER MAKE

Alex publicly hires Bradley to be her co-host for TMS.

Chip impulsively fires a producer, after which Mia makes a studio-wide announcement that she’s tired of being blamed for stuff she didn’t do or cause.

ASSIGNMENT 2:

1. Make a list of BIG PICTURE difficult situations and decisions your characters could make because of the main conflict of this series.

LOVE SPRINGS:

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>BIG PICTURE EMPATHY DISTRESS SITUATIONS:

Undeserved Misfortune

Holly Glass is framed for a crime she didn’t commit. She’s sent to prison, and disgraced in the industry in which she was a respected leader.

External Character Conflicts

Donna Swiftwater: suspicious. Not happy about an ex-con moving to town

Holly’s ex conspires with Holly’s former boss to keep her down

Former boss tries to pile on, recruits FDA asshole to open investigation

Plot Intruding On Life

Word gets out that Holly has something special. Connie Lin (local drug entrepreneur) wants in or she’ll cause trouble

Moral Dilemmas

Holly grapples with whether it’s ok to distribute a drug that has not passed FDA review?

Forced decisions they’d never make.

Holly moves to tiny town.

Holly violates every rule of pharmaceutical best practices to make her drug

[Chanda Haynes]

EMPIRE: EMPATHY/DISTRESS

Lucious

A. Undeserved misfortune – Lucious being diagnosed with ASL.

B. External Character conflicts – Cookie and Aneka fighting over Lucious; infighting at Empire Records while he’s dealing with his medical treatment

C. Plot intruding on life – Andre discovering that Lucious’ mother is still alive. Cookie’s life being threatened by Frank, and Lucious needing to protect her.

D. Moral dilemmas – Letting his family believe his mother was dead so he didn’t have to see her suffer from mental illness. Killing Bunky because he was bad for business, knowing his family would be deeply hurt. Marrying Aneka although he is still in love with Cookie.

E. Forced decisions they’d never make – Telling his family the truth about his mother, father and brother. Telling the truth about his daughter.

Cookie

A. Undeserved misfortune – Served time for Lucious’ crime.

B. External Character conflicts – Her sons feuding over who will take over the company. Lucious’ maltreatment of their sons.

C. Plot intruding on life – Lucious’ relationship with Aneka. Frank Gathers still wanting revenge on her. Feds wanting her to testify.

D. Moral dilemmas – Helping Lucious although he has betrayed her many times.

E. Forced decisions they’d never make – Giving her son drugs so he can perform.

Hakeem

A. Undeserved misfortune – Mother was in prison his entire childhood. Raised by his drug dealing father.

B. External Character conflicts – Cookie attacking his older girlfriend. His father turning he and his brothers against each other.

C. Plot intruding on life – His father putting him in position to be CEO before he was ready, then exposing him.

D. Moral dilemmas – Going against his brothers to please his father.

E. Forced decisions they’d never make – Leaving Empire and signing with their competition.

[Chanda Haynes]

“What I learned doing this assignment is this is putting pieces of the story together. Like the framework for the story. These will be some of the beats in the story.

LIKE THE JONESES – EMPATHY/DISTRESS

TONY JONES

A. Undeserved misfortune – Lost his wife and child due to his alcoholism. Overlooked in the family business.

B. External Character conflicts – Pete and Willie’s ongoing beef affects his role in both companies.

C. Plot intruding on life – Willie puts Henry in a position, and Tony has to report to him.

D. Moral dilemmas – Putting his dreams on hold to stay loyal to the family business.

E. Forced decisions they’d never make – Going to work for the family’s competitor.

WILLIE JONES

A. Undeserved misfortune – Had to turn down his scholarship to work on the family farm.

B. External Character conflicts – Elaine wants him to retire now. His children wanting to make changes within the business.

C. Plot intruding on life – Tony goes to work for his competitor.

D. Moral dilemmas – Believing that his son has changed, but leery of turning the business over to him.

E. Forced decisions they’d never make. – Cross his son to save his family’s business.

HENRY JONES

A. Undeserved misfortune – Lost his mother in military combat. His father abandoned him and his sister.

B. External Character conflicts – Pete and Willie’s conflict interferes with his potential business partnerships. Heather is in contact with their estranged father.

C. Plot intruding on life – He’s running the family business. His cousin has become his opponent.

D. Moral dilemmas – Whether or not he should forgive his father.

E. Forced decisions they’d never make – Being in business with his father.

PETE ROBERTS

A. Undeserved misfortune – Betrayed by Willie and Elaine.

B. External Character conflicts – Willie and Tony’s feud spills over into his company. Hasn’t forgiven Elaine or Willie, but is forced to do business with them.

C. Plot intruding on life – Tony is using him as a stepping stone. He doesn’t really want to work for him.

D. Moral dilemmas – Whether or not to forgive Willie.

E. Forced decisions they’d never make – To sell his company.