Lesson 7 Assignments

[Brigitte Timmerman]

Assignment #1

Handmaid’s Tale – Empathy/Distress

A. Undeserved misfortune. June is forced into slavery as a Handmaid.

B. External Character conflicts. Serena and June covertly at odds with each other. Intentional: June gets close to Serena’s husband Commander Waterford to use him to get intel. Unintentional: June’s actions unintentionally causes jealousy and distress the Serena.

C. Plot intruding on life. June pleads for help from the Mexican government. The government representative can not help her because they need Handmaids to bear children for Mexico who has not had a child born in their country for years.

D. Moral dilemmas. Now aware the Handmaids lives in slavery the Mexican government has to decide if they use the Handmaids for their breeding program.

E. Forced decisions they’d never make.the Mexican government goes through with the Handmaid trade deal in desperation to repopulate their country.

Assignment #2 Refuge Nation

What I learned doing this assignment is creating empathy for a character an audience can identify with their owns struggles which creates a intimate bond with the character. With this bond you have the viewer emotionally invested in the show which makes it binge worthy.

A. Undeserved misfortune. Irene’s community was raided and she and her family is forced on the road for survival.

B. External Character conflicts. Intentional: Irene and Jessie’s philosophy of survival. Jessie’s risky behavior that is looked down upon yet, is a necessary evil. Unintentional: Jessie undermine’s Irene’s leadership which questions her own ability.

C. Plot intruding on life. Yellowsmoke intention is to banish Irene and her family and keeps Isaac. He compromises and let’s Irene and Jessie stay however the banishments still applies to Mira.

D. Moral dilemmas. Irene and Jessie must decide if they stay with the Omaha community and let Mira takes her chances when she leaves.

E. Forced decisions they’d never make. Jessie leaves with Mira and Irene stays with the Omaha to watch over Isaac. They family is split up but at least they are safe.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by  Brigitte Timmerman.

[Kimberly Gore]

Secrets and Lies

A. Undeserved misfortune. Ben comes across a murdered boy’s body and is considered a murder suspect. He discovers through a DNA test that the boy is his son.

B. External Character conflicts. Ben’s affair with the neighbor. Ben trusts no one.

C. Plot intruding on life. Ben tries to solve his son’s murder, but goes about it in every wrong way, thereby turning friends into enemies.

D. Moral dilemmas. Getting rid of evidence. Hiding what he is doing from his wife.

E. Forced decisions they’d never make. Pushing family away.

Kim’s Show Empathy/Distress

What I learned from doing this assignment is that Big Picture distress can run through a multitude of episodes, even as the smaller events providing it can differ in structure and idea.

A. Undeserved misfortune. Natalie arrested for attempted murder. Danielle tries to keep Linnie from Eric based on the possible conviction and Eric’s certainty of Natalie’s innocence.

B. External Character conflicts. Natalie’s Dissociative Identity Disorder diagnosis which is actually her soul’s past lives coming through. Krystal’s desire to steer Eric’s interest from his wife to her.

C. Plot intruding on life. Eric weathering the storm of personalities that appear now that their current lives are in chaos.

D. Moral dilemmas. Does he turn on his wife so she will be put away in jail forever and thereby protect his rights to his child, or does he risk losing Linnie to his ex-wife in order to help Natalie? Does he give in to his desire for Krystal, or does he continue to be faithful to his wife, despite her possible downward spiral?

E. Forced decisions they’d never make. Eric comes clean about his past lives. Natalie denies hers and pleads guilty to attempted murder.

[Marcus Wolf]

Assignment 1

Big Picture Empathy/Distress in Game of Thrones:

Ned Stark – Forced by King Robert to take a job he doesn’t want. Faced with moral dilemmas concerning who to back when King Robert dies. Thrown into prison by King Joffrey.

Jon Snow – Rejected by his family because he’s a bastard.

Daenerys – The king in Westeros sends an assassin to kill her. She learns that the king will never stop trying to kill her.

Drogo – His anger at the attempt on Daenerys’ life makes him decide to invade Westeros, something which no Dothraki ever tried.

[Marcus Wolf]

Assignment 2

Subject line: Marcus Wolf’s Show Empathy/Distress

This assignment taught me how to draw in the audience using specific types of emotional situations and ideas on how to manufacture them. I can see how using this method will greatly help in manufacturing better, more engaging scenes for my characters.

A.
Undeserved misfortune.

-Harold Godwinson is constantly overlooked because
of the criminal behavior of his older brother. He is associated unfairly with
his father, who King Edward believes has wronged him as well as England.

-William is born a bastard and comes into his inheritance at too young an age to be taken seriously. Many powerful men have a legitimate claim to William’s Duchy.

B.
External Character conflicts.

-Robert of Jumieges hates Godwin and is King Edward’s closest advisor.

-Count Geoffrey Martel’s attempt to take over County Maine by military force causes William to have to fight him.

-William’s uncles both turn on him during a critical phase of this fight with Count Geoffrey Martel.

-Count Geoffrey Martel visits King Henry and successfully convinces him to turn on William. Until then, King Henry had sided with William against Geoffrey.

C.
Plot intruding on life.

-King Edward banishes Earl Godwin’s entire family
from England. All of them, including Harold, suffer a major disruption to
their way of life and their aspirations.

-William marries the daughter of Count Baldwin of Flanders to gain a powerful ally. But King Henry hates Baldwin and is now further angered by William.

D.
Moral dilemmas.

-Harold owes fealty to King Edward, but also loyalty to his
father, Godwin. When those two come to loggerheads, Harold must decide whom
to support.

-Godwin must decide whether to make war on his own king, thereby bringing grief and vulnerability to his own kingdom or to lose everything he can’t carry to escape what he feels will be a predetermined judgement in court.

-King Edward must decide whether to go along with Count Eustace’s plot to goad Godwin into a showdown. Edward is also egged on by his close advisor, Robert of Jumieges to do it. Yet, as a more subtle operator, Edward struggles with whether this is really the best way to achieve his goals.

-King Henry attacks Normandy on two different occasions. William has sworn an oath of fealty to this king, who also helped him when he needed it most. The dilemma is whether or not to fight his own king.

E.
Forced decisions they’d never make.

-Neither Harold nor William would
ordinarily go against their own respective king. Yet circumstances force
both of them to do so.

-When Godwin’s family returns to England with mercenary armies, as well as support of many English, King Edward must relent. Edward must also make the decision to banish his old friend and confidant, Robert of Jumieges, never to see him again.

[Phyllis Strong]

Lesson Seven: Empathy/Distress

Assignment 1: Sample Show is The Vampire Diaries

1. Empathy/Distress That Shows Up in Episode 7, “The Haunting”

Undeserved Misfortune

Vicky doesn’t deserve to be turned into a vampire.

Jeremy doesn’t deserve to witness his girlfriend try to feed on him and then get staked to death by Stefan.

Matt doesn’t deserve to have his sister taken from him.

External Character Conflicts

Elena’s efforts to protect Jeremy from Vicky drive her brother toward Vicky.

Damon and Stefan’s conflict spills over into how they deal with vampire Vicky.

Damon and Stefan’s involvement with vampire Vicky hurts Elena, Matt and Jeremy.

Plot Intruding On Life

Damon turns Vicky into a vampire, which is an obstacle for Stefan being with Elena. Stefan must keep Vicky from killing anyone (only drink animal blood like he does). Elena wants to keep her brother safe from Vicky.

Moral Dilemmas

If Stefan can’t keep Vicky from feeding on humans, how will he keep Elena and the people of Mystic Falls safe? Elena has to decide between letting Jeremy remember Vicky’s death or having Damon, who started this all, altering his memories so he won’t suffer as much.

Forced Decisions They’d Never Make

Stefan is forced to kill Vicky by staking her because Vicky was about to kill Elena.

2. Big Picture Empathy/Distress in The Vampire Diaries

Damon returning to make trouble for Stefan, who just wants to live a normal, human life, and be with Elena. Damon and Stefan are pitted against one another.

Elena has to deal with the grief of losing her parents, and try to protect her younger brother, too.

Stefan having to decide whether to weaken and entomb Damon (essentially killing him).

Damon nearly being “killed” by Stefan and just managing to save his own life.

Stefan lies to hide his secret but Elena finds out that he is a vampire.

Elena has to decide whether she can be with Stefan, the vampire, despite her love for him.

[Nadine Vaughan DArdenne]

Nadine’s Show Empathy/Distress

What I learned doing this assignment is the difference between a Big Picture or a detail-oriented cause of empathy/distress.

ASSIGNMENT 1: When I watched LOST for the Empathy/Distress that shows up in this episode, I saw a lot of empathy for the pregnant girl and for the woman whose husband had disappeared in the crash. I did not see much empathy for Charlie, Syed, Jack, or Kate even though they were otherwise likable characters.

I also noticed a difference between the Big Picture examples of empathy/distress and the detail-oriented Empathy/Distress. The Big Picture Empathy/Distress could be seen in Jack’s efforts to get people away from the beach and to a place with water and food and how the Big Picture issues had an impact across multiple episodes. Whereas, an example of a detail-oriented empathy/distress could be seen in the Japanese wife’s secret about knowing English.

ASSIGNMENT 2: I made a list of BIG PICTURE difficult situations and decisions the characters could make that led to the main conflicts of this series. They include Jack’s efforts to protect the others; Charlie’s use of narcotics that may be needed for others’ pain; Sawyer’s power grab on everything that shows up; Kate as a potential killer of people on the island, should a situation arise.

The following are examples of each of the following:

A. Undeserved misfortune: The pregnant girl is kidnapped and her baby stolen from her because “others” on the island are conducting an experiment.
B. External Character conflicts Jack and Sawyer; Sawyer and Syed; Walt’s dad and the Japanese husband. Unnecessary conflicts cause more stress.
C. Plot intruding on life: Discovering they are not alone on the island, that there is more than one group of others, and that the “others” are potentially lethal.
D. Moral dilemmas: Charlie must stop using but to do so will cause him pain; The bald guy is withholding his history of being in a wheelchair, even though he has become the main hunter for food. These omissions cause unnecessary risk to others.
E. Forced decisions they’d never make: After Syed tortured Sawyer, he left the group because he felt so much shame.

[Mary Andrews]

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DAY 7 Mary J. Andrews shows Empathy/Distress BIG PICTURE of The 100. ASSIGNMENT 1

What I learned doing this assignment is this entire series is nothing but empathy/distress situations. It is entirely Plot Intruding on Life. Every episode was peppered with moral dilemmas, forced decisions and Character Conflicts. Absolutely everyone has been traumatized. You can’t throw a rock without hitting Undeserved Misfortune.

BIG PICTURE EMPATHY / DISTRESS in The 100:

episode 1-7: MORAL DILEMMA; 100 under aged juvenile delinquents are secretly placed in a drop-ship without training or choice, to determine if the Earth has recovered enough for humans to survive yet a hundred years after a devastating war on Earth.

The Chancellor and the ruling committee eventually have to approve culling of another 320 citizens because oxygen-making equipment is failing and oxygen deprivation is affecting the citizens. Two days later, it is confirmed that the planet is survivable.

Anger of the citizens at suspecting they were lied to causes the ex-Chancellor to be placed on the Council to represent them. and first subject they discuss is that they have 2237 people and only escape pods for 700 people.

Will the human race survive? Who will the planet kill? How many of their own aboard the ship and in the landed party will survive each other, the planet, the grounders?

Every decision, big and small is a FORCED DECISION.

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[Mary Andrews]

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DAY 7 ASSIGNMENT 2:
Mary J. Andrews shows Empathy/Distress BIG PICTURE of THE FIREBORN CHRONICLES
What I learned doing this assignment is a better way to tell this story!

Universal Government Dark Ops team is sent to retrieve a Gov. Ambassador mind-jacked by a ring of paranormal terrorists.

Upon their arrival at a Pleasure Planet, Tanivol, they are immediately attacked by two planetary officers sent to return the incapacitated Ambassador restrained to a gurney to their ship. Before the attack, Rael Pointe (35), the Captain/Team Leader pacifies Laynald Lockheim’s questions about security s by telling Ira Haze (early 20’s) to don Wall Master garb to put fear into the guards. Later, after the attack Laynald dismisses Ira by telling him to roll the howling in pain ambassador to the sickbay. Mainly because of his age, they frequently do not treat him as an equal. EXTERNAL CHARACTER CONFLICT unintended (Ira)

The team’s Seeker, Ira Haze, (20ish) links minds with the ambassador to attempt to sever the attacker’s mental hold on the ambassador, only to discover the attacker still remains entrenched in the ambassador’s mind and is being tortured to inflict pain upon her captor. Through the mind link, Ira can do nothing. He barely breaks away, himself and collapses on the sickbay floor. PLOT INTRUDING ON LIFE (Ira)

Ira, having been enslaved in his childhood, is outraged and needs to help the abused kidnapper as well as free her victim, the ambassador. He recognizes the sound of disruptors (preferred method of slave training) from his childhood sessions. Laynald does not want to risk the Captain. Ira can find no other way to fix this other than to allow Rael to lead them to where he is being lured. FORCED DECISIONS THEY’D NEVER MAKE (?) (Laynald)

Ira recognizing the woman’s presence and shifting his senses, tracks her. He follows her to the Pleasure Palace, seeing everything Rael is seeing. Ira returns to report his findings to Rael and Laynald; she is attempting to mind-jack Rael as she had the ambassador.

The team seek out the woman, following Rael who is mind-jacked just as the ambassador had been. UNDESERVED MISFORTUNE (Rael)

They retrieve Rael from the clutches of a slave girl. When security guards start to head toward them, Laynald, with Tristen draped over his shoulder, unconscious, draws a gun to kill them. Ira steps ahead of him and raises his hands. “SLEEP,” he commands and they all drop where they are. The team takes her, unconscious away from the place after the encounter with security and the appearance of a man (antagonist Mallory Switt) who quietly and sadly wishes them well from the foyer. FORCED DECISIONS THEY’D NEVER MAKE (Mallory)

They take Tristen off planet. Ira watches Laynald examine her in sickbay. Rael is on the bridge, an emotional mess, totally under her control and barely able to not go to her. UNDESERVED MISFORTUNE (Rael)

Laynald calls him to sickbay. He is already shaking outside of the door. Laynald reports everything he can determine about her and recommends she be kept in stasis until she’s turned over authorities. Ira intercedes and tells them he will take care of it. He rewrites her mind, telling her she has been remanded to Rael’s custody. She is now his slave to save her life, for Gov law would have condemned her.

Upon meeting Rael, Tristen releases him and throws herself onto the floor and his mercy. Rael is freed. Despite Laynald’s suspicions, Rael chooses to keep her under lock and key to see what they can learn about the Psi-terrorists who had used her.

Can insert her past here: as she literally shows it to them as she saw it. UNDESERVED MISFORTUNE (Tristen)

Rael contrives a plan to link Tristen & Ira to the ambassador to be able to see for himself what the terrorist were doing and then to wipe the memory from the ambassador afterward. Ira fears for Tristen. Paranormal events do not travel the same planes as technology does. What Rael does, burns their senses. Ira points out the ambassador is a Gov agent

and this is the kind of thing that could endanger the team’s trustworthiness. Rael insists. FORCED DECISIONS THEY’D NEVER MAKE (Ira, Laynald) Moral dilemmas. (Ira, Laynald, Rael)

They go through with the meld and discover that the terrorists are looking for Rael but they have no idea why.

Tristen’s senses are scorched and Laynald calls for Ira. He soothes her and undoes the damage and erases her memories of the pain. Then he commands her to sleep. With every meeting, they are becoming in sync. Despite his resistance, he is enjoying having another Psi-born person around. He feels guilt for what he’s done to her and unworthy to even think of having more with her. MORAL DILEMMA (Ira)

On the Bridge, the ambassador is reporting in to his superiors and is routed to Dark Ops Control where he is ordered to put Rael on the line. He does and Rael is told that his adopted mother/Head of Dark Ops/ commanding officer, is dying. He must return before she dies. He immediately sets course for 5th Galactic Dark Ops Prime.PLOT INTRUDING ON LIFE (Rael).

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[Bob Onufer]

Bob’s Empathy/Distress

What I learned from doing this assignment was that empathy/distress is necessary to keep the characters compelling.

Assignment 1

“The Young Pope”

Underserved Misfortune: Lenny Belardo (Pius XIII) was abandoned by his parents.

External Character Conflicts:

· Intentional: Lenny and Cardinal Vioello engage in an adversarial dance over control of the Vatican.

· Unintentional: The impact of Lenny’s policies leads to his best friend’s (Andrew’s) despair, return to Honduras, and death.

Plot Intruding on Life: Lenny is distracted by the arrival of his “alleged” parents causing him to lose focus on his conflict with Vioello.

Moral Dilemmas: Lenny must decide to change his position on who is allowed to become a priest or let Andrew resign the position responsible for implementing Lenny’s mandate. The former is against Lenny’s beliefs; the latter harms his best friend.

Forced Decisions: In his battle for control of the Vatican, Lenny violates tenants of the Catholic Church which are considered sacrosanct such as the privacy of confession.

Assignment 1

“Mount Moriah”

Underserved Misfortune: Daniel Shay’s parents are killed in a terrorist attack when he is thirteen.

External Character Conflicts:

· Intentional: Daniel battles Najeh Tamra’s terrorist group.

· Unintentional: Daniel’s quest for vengeance for his parents’ murders interferes with his superior’s agenda for combating terrorism.

Plot Intruding on Life: Daniel has a plan of action when Christine Wade enters his life with an alternate plan making him reconsider the path his vengeance should take.

Moral Dilemmas: Daniel must hide his true agenda of revenge from his superiors. This will, at times, compromise the ability to keep terrorists at bay and may result in the death of innocents.

Forced Decisions: Against orders to the contrary, Daniel releases a terrorist, believing this to improve his chances of exacting vengeance.

[Phyllis Strong]

Assignment 2: Phyllis’ Untitled Show Empathy/Distress

I learned from this assignment that I can generate empathy a number of ways beyond undeserved misfortune, by ramping up obstacles and distressing choices for my lead characters.

Undeserved Misfortune: Sasha losing her job – and career – as part of the settlement with Delia’s company; Duncan losing his 16 year-old daughter.

External Character Conflicts: Sasha and Delia clash over Sasha losing her job; they also clash as environmentalist vs. CEO of oil conglomerate; Once close, Duncan and Delia are now at odds over Duncan betraying the family by embracing environmental activism; Duncan and Sasha unintentionally conflict with each other over their approach to investigating the monsters (idealistic and impetuous vs. cautious and practical); Sasha and her ex-Boyfriend over his betrayal; Sasha and her estranged father over not trusting why he’s come back into her life.

Plot Intruding On Life: Duncan’s trust fund is put at risk, threatening Sasha’s dream of having an environmental foundation; Delia is trying to have Duncan declared mentally ill so that she can control him, which would also threaten Sasha’s dream; Sasha debunking Duncan’s evidence of monsters obstructs his goal of proving they exist.

Moral Dilemmas: Sasha will have to choose between getting her EPA job back or sticking with Duncan; Sasha will have to choose whether to help Delia get Duncan committed to protect him from himself if he is mentally ill; Sasha will have to choose between helping her father or staying loyal to Duncan; Duncan will have to choose between betraying Sasha to obtain some persuasive evidence of monsters he knows is fake, or not.

Forced Decisions They’d Never Make: Sasha would never work with Delia unless she was convinced Duncan was a danger to himself or others. Duncan would never put Sasha in danger unless he believed he would obtain solid evidence of monsters.

[Eric Watterson]

ASSIGNMENT 1:

“What I learned doing this assignment is to look at empathy and distress on different levels.”

Sample Show: Stranger Things

Big Picture Empathy/Distress

– Hidden Government Agenda

– A tear in the two planes of reality

– A monster snatching people

– Mike going missing

Detail Oriented Empathy/Distress.

– Government Listening to phone lines

– Eleven not having a good relationship with her mom

– eleven being taken from her mom

– People going missing

– People being killed

– Sheriff missing his daughter

– marriage problems

– friendship fights

– bullying

[Eric Watterson]

ASSIGNMENT 2:

“What I learned doing this assignment is how to start planning Big Picture issues for characters”

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

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

A. Undeserved misfortune.

– A dark Society bent of world destruction

– A dark drug infecting people

– Anthony team killed

– Anthony Dad killed

– Anthony removed from military

– Anthony hidden potential

– Edwards banished from family

– Chris abusive father

– Omar reservation burned down

– Ro mother dies of common cold

– Francisco’s father and stepfather dies

– Military police hunting for Anthony

B. External Character conflicts.

– Anthony running from military police and forced into community service

– Edward pushes people away because of his self-righteous attitude

– Edward wants to be accepted by his family but hates them at the same time

– Chris doesn’t trust authority figures

– Chris competes with his cousin for respect and street cred

– Ro hates and steals from everyone he meets

– Omar searching for his heritage

– Francisco loves his mom but runs away

– Officer Tim plots against Anthony to get boys arrested

C. Plot intruding on life.

– Boys forced into a group home or face prison for their past crimes

– Anthony forced to look after the boys

– New brotherhood of honor which fights against their upbringing and neighborhood

D. Moral dilemmas.

– Killing gang members to protect family

– killing father who abuse mother

– turning your best friends and family in to police

– leaving family members in drug rehab

– taking an illegal drug for the strength it gives you to fight evil

– breaking into a home to rescue a child

– kidnaping a father and torturing him to keep him from beating his family

– making people believe your evil to learn their secrets

– Setting up your best friend for money

– Telling a family member their spouse is cheating on them

E. Forced decisions they’d never make.

– Setting fire to a house of drug dealers after locking them in

– stealing a car for a friend to get away

– forging documents to fit in with corrupt people

– injecting yourself with an evil drug to fight against evil

– Edward turns in his family member for the freedom of his friend

– Chris uses his computer skills to steal account info for gang

– Ro take hitman contract against another member of the group home

– Francisco breaks in to open a safe to pay for his brothers freedom

– Omar sells his only memory of his family to get money to pay off drug dealers abusing his friend

[Kristopher King]

I learned that this feels like the bones of a story. This exercise provides the space to add endless details related to the big picture topics.

Big picture Empathy/Distress

Undeserved Misfortune:

*John’s mother is an alcoholic

*John doesn’t know his father

* As a child John felt like he had to take care of his partying mom

*John suffered mild abuse from / had to fight mother’s many boyfriends

*John’s mother is diagnosed with a terminal illness

*Kate’s family is wealthy but absent

*Kate’s younger brother died of an overdose / no family dialog about it

*Captain T grew up with John’s mom, watching her let men destroy her and John

*John’s mother dies

*John finds his birth certificate and learns who his father is

*John learns his name has been changed and he is half Mexican

External Character Conflicts

*Kate pushes John to constantly up the anti

*Captain T tries to gently guid John

*Captain T is righteous

*Captain T is in recovery

*John’s peers harbor resentment towards self improvement

*John doesn’t execute to bad guys expectations

*Bad guys constantly move the goal post

*John’s mother constantly manipulates John to get what she wants

Plot Intruding on Life

*John grew up on the beach with little supervision

*John dropped out of high school despite being smart

*John meets Kate, who helps / encourages him to commit crime

*John’s mother is an alcoholic and resists John’s help

*John doesn’t execute to bad guys expectations

*Bad guys constantly move the goal post

Moral Dilemmas

*John believes “Do the right thing” Kate believes “Ask for forgiveness rather than permission/Alls fair in love and war and business”

*Captain T feels responsible for John

*Captain T loves John’s mom like a sister but is loyal to John

*John learns he is related to the underworld nemesis he is in deadly conflict with

*John plays small / fear of confrontation

Forced Decision They’d Never Make

*John feels like crime is the only way to raise the money to help mom with treatment / care

*Will John Lie

*Will John cheat

*Will John steal

*Will John Kill

[Anne James]

ANNE JAMES

LESSON 7 – EMPATHY/DISTRESS

“What I learned doing this assignment is…?”

That I have a lot of initial sources of empathy and distress for the pilot. These are unfolding well. I am still debating what era of the Roman Empire vs Republic I should place this. Once I lock that down, I can see how that will offer much more source material for these types of highly charged emotional situations moving forward with future episodes and series arcs.

ASSIGNMENT 2:

BIG PICTURE difficult situations and decisions my characters could make because of the main conflict of this series:

FORCED DECISION – Nerilla chosen to become Head Vestal and restore their credibility, even though she is restless, deeply unhappy in her life as a Vestal and grieving Livia’s death. Now she’s forced to be the convincing face of the brand.

MORAL DILEMMA – Nerilla privately doubts the gods exist, much less that she possesses the abilities to summon them, but Rome relies on and expects blessings from the Head Vestal to ensure their success. If they fail in their endeavors, they will come for her. So she fakes it. Hard.

MORAL DILEMMA – Privately Nerilla starts to believe Livia’s death and her heartbreak are the god’s punishment and curse for her doubt.

PLOT INTRUDING ON LIFE – The women agree to cover up Livia’s miscarriage and vow to secrecy, knowing if this ever got out it could result in all of their deaths. The secret gets leaked, unleashing scandal and shaking everyone’s trust in each other.

MORAL DILEMMA – Under intense political pressure to proceed without a trial or investigation, a reluctant Silvius calls for Livia’s immediate death, hoping this will bring him fame and respect.

MORAL DILEMMA – Silvius calls for Livia to be put to death, even though she has been incredibly kind to him.

UNDESERVED MISFORTUNE – Nerilla must restore the credibility of the Vestals or they all will be put to death and replaced.

UNDESERVED MISFORTUNE – Under the eye of Rome’s most powerful leaders and citizens, the Vestals must witness their Livia being buried alive and powerless to stop it. Publicly, they must agree she broke the covenant and this is the right thing to do.

FORCED DECISION – Nerilla secretly visits Livia’s grave. Livia is still alive. She can hear her. Nerilla chooses to not save her. She can’t. It would mean almost certain death for Livia, Nerilla and the rest of the Vestals.

EXTERNAL CHARACTER CONFLICT – Silvius, new to the job and completely ill-suited for the post, challenges Nerilla for control and respect of the House.

EXTERNAL CHARACTER CONFLICT – Silvius knows about Nerilla’s relationship with Livia. He turned a blind eye. But he could expose their “incest”, since the women are viewed as “sisters” in the eyes of Rome.

EXTERNAL CHARACTER CONFLICT – Aeliana, bitter she was passed over, grows increasingly more defiant of Nerilla and her plan to change the role of the Vestals.

MORAL CONFLICT – Aeliana, secretly not a virgin, professes her purity and plays the perfect chaste, demure Vestal for the public and political leaders.

[Chantria Tram]

Chantria’s Empathy/Distress Assignment

ASSIGNMENT 1:

Sample Show: Handmaid’s Tale

A. Undeserved misfortune. June is forced to become a handmaid and continues to be psychologically and physically abused.

B. External Character conflicts. June and Serena do not like one another and are in constant friction. Intentional: June manipulates the Commander in order to get information. Unintentional: June’s actions makes Serena jealous and more insecure.

C. Plot intruding on life. June has an opportunity to speak her truth when the Mexican government comes to visit and do business with Gilead. She pleads for help to the Mexican officials but they cannot help her as their population has come to a staff for years. They need Gileads Handmaids to help reproduce.

D. Moral dilemmas. The Mexican government must decide to either free the Handmaids or repopulate their country.

E. Forced decisions they’d never make. Desperate to repopulate their country, the Mexican government decide to take the deal with Gilead and trade for Handmaids.

<hr>ASSIGNMENT 2:

My Show: Beyond Temple Walls

What I learned from this assignment is that creating empathy/distress from various entry points and perspectives keeps the story fresh and audiences wanting more.

A. Undeserved misfortune. Dekhune Serey’s mentor and head monk of the temple has been mysteriously murdered in front of him. Sovannah lost her father as a young child and has been carrying the emotional load for her family since.

B. External Character conflicts. Dekhune Serey and Sovannah are at odds as they have very different world views.

C. Plot intruding on life. The new assigned head monk keeps Dekhune Serey busy with various temple tasks, keeping him confined to the temple and hindering his investigation.

D. Moral dilemmas. Dekhune Serey is constantly challenged to decide whether to sacrifice his moral values in order to continue with his investigation.

E. Forced decisions they’d never make. He gives up all of Sovannah’s secrets to the authorities in order to save his own life.

[Leslie DuFresne]

Lesson 7, Assignment 1

I’m fascinated by the differences in intentional and unintentional conflict. I had never broken down conflict into two different compartments.

Mr. Robot

Empathy/Distress

Undeserved Misfortune: Elliot’s trauma as a child experiencing his father’s death at the hands of Evil Corp, and his relationship with his cold, abusive mother.

External Character Conflicts: Intentional – Elliot turns Vera in to the authorities. Unintentional – his decision to do that puts Shayla’s life in jeopardy with Vera.

Plot intruding on life: Fsociety loses the Dark Army’s China support which in turn wastes Elliot’s successful maneuvering in getting Steel Mountain primed for the hack.

Moral Dilemma: Elliot needs to hack Vera out of prison. If he does NOT, Shayla dies, and most likely Elliot could die as well. If Elliot DOES hack Vera out of prison, both he and Shayla could die anyway.

Forced Decision: Elliot DOES hack Vera out of prison. Elliot also blackmails Vera – a dangerous killer – to make sure Vera does not kill him and Shayla.

Assignment 2

Undeserved Misfortune: Jill had to witness part of her father’s torture. She had to grow up without her mother or father much of her childhood. Had to scrounge to make a living, her stepmother and brothers were poor after her father’s death. Sexually abused by her uncle during the time that he looks after her.

External Character Conflicts: Intentional – Jimmy doesn’t want her with the crew, he tests her to her breaking point. Unintentional – Jill’s being with the crew forces Jimmy to face his regrets of killing her father. It brings up unwanted emotions (which he takes out on Jill), especially the reminder of the war he lost over her father.

Plot intruding on Life: Everything is going well after Jelly sanctions her earning money on the street. However, everything falls apart when she learns that it was never sanctioned by Jimmy. Jimmy puts a stop to her earning and wants her away from the crew entirely.

Moral Dilemma: Does she turn in Ray “Nines” to Jimmy or not? If she does, he’s dead. If she doesn’t, her nemesis, Charlie, reaps benefits.

Forced Decision: She partakes in Nines’ death. Does nothing to stop it. If she doesn’t, she wouldn’t be proving her loyalty to Jimmy.

[Ahnee Rikkel Broman]

ASSIGNMENT 2: Ahnee’s Show Empathy/Distress

“What I learned doing this assignment is how there is so much going on, yet we are barely scratching the surface of what Main Character Rikki will end up going through

A. Undeserved misfortune.

– Rikki, Gabbi, and Arthurs parents met in drug rehab, were pregnant & married 4 months later

_ Mom was being abused and cheated on by pregnancy #2

– Kids were left to feel as if they were a burden, always in someones’ way

– Kids were sent away by mom to live with dad in New York, so she could get back on her feet

– Kids never felt loved or safe at home, rather quite thee opposite

– Kids grew to rely solely on one another; against all odds

– Rikki sexually abused in the woods behind her home on Tinker St. in New York at age 6…only by God’s love did she survive

– They learned a solid love for one another that was very dysfunctional, yet oh so loyal

– Both girls sexually abused outside of home as kids

– All 3 grow angry, rebellious, confused and alone

– Mom remarries and starts a new family w/a drug addict; has 2 new babies

– Dad’s girlfriend is mentally abusive to all 3 for 11 years

– Mom hands kids over to dad in extensive custody battle, when Rikki is 9…Rikki questions mom on her decision to do so?

B. External Character conflicts.

– Rikki is timid, walks w/head down, but fights in an instant…shocking those around her.

– Gabbi is hot headed and talks a lot of shit, but cares deeply for those close to her

– Rikki gets hit on a lot by neighborhood boys (because she is always out running the streets) and gains a horrible reputation, even though she is still a virgin

– The 3 of them throw ditching parties at their home weekly as dad is away at work, inviting that street mentality into their home and lives

– Teens are woken up at 4, 5am when dad returns home some school nights to be dragged out of bed aggressively because the chores were not done, only to go to school and not be able to concentrate or even think straight

– Gabbi is living with her boyfriend at 14 and pregnant by 15

—Arthur is arrested on a few counts and sent to Juvenile camps at age 13

— Even though they don’t come from a family background in gangs, they lean toward them because that’s what the streets of Pomona have to offered for a sense of belonging

C. Plot intruding on life.

– Rikki is released from Juvenile halls and girls homes after 2 years, has memories of Venice and Santa Monica where she is originally from, and memories from living in Woodstock New York…yet falls victim to the 5 mile radius she was raised in

– Arthur goes from Juvenile camps to Youth Authority Teen Prison Facilities

— Arthur is involved in a shoot out at thee Indian Hill Mall on Mother’s day 1994 and is air lifted to an emergency room in Huntington Beach…Rikki is 7 months pregnant and waits with mom, aunts, sister and dad in the waiting room, and she is the one visitor he asks to see…where he asks her to get alcohol wipes to clean his hands and fingers from any gun powder.

– Gabbi slangs dope as she mothers her 2 babies in the hood of Pomona

D. Moral dilemmas.

– Rikki is afraid to speak up, but fights in an instant; always wishing people would take the time to get to know her (because she knows that she is super cool somewhere in there!)

– Rikki is arrested at 14 sent to Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall at 14 to serve the next year in Juvie and girls homes; but ends up doing 2 years and comes out very hopeful for a better life because she has spent time at church and learning a little bit about God.

– Gabbi gets welfare on top of slangin’ dope to care for her 2 kids at 16 years old

– Arthur violates his probation and gets deeper into gang life behind juvenile walls

– Rikki attends Nogales High School and quickly becomes a varsity track and cross country athlete

– Rikki graduates High School a year early and gets her 1st job at Pizza Hut in Pomona and gets pregnant from her boss within 3 months…Dad kicks Rikki out, so she moves in with guy she barely knows…becomes an instant stepmom of 2 boys (ages 2 & 3) and she is only 17 years old…Mmhhmm!!

– Rikki’s new boyfriend starts to show signs of jealousy of her siblings, which creates major drama for them. He treats her like a possession

– Arthur is released from his 2nd term of 3 years in Youth Authority only to return 30 days later, this time facing the death penalty on 4 counts of 1st degree murder

E. Forced decisions they’d never make.

– Rikki is in a relationship because she is having his baby, but her heart is far from him, yet this is the right thing to do…right?

– Arthur is arrested exactly one month from the day of his release, and his face is plastered on the front page of the LA Times, Local Newspapers, and all the local news BREAKING NEWS updates as the suspect in 4 murders

—Arthur is framed, yet lives by the street code and has this loyal heart about him where he will ride it out at any cost.

– Arthur asks his sisters the movie SET IT OFF at Blockbuster Video to come up with a plan, but Rikki shuts that idea down once she realizes it’s stupid

– Preliminary Trial begins and Arthur tells his sisters he ‘needs’ them to start stripping to pay for his lawyer

– Rikki begins to strip and gets physically sick the first time, but the day after her 21st Birthday she commits to stripping to help her brother pay for an attorney

– 6 months after Rikki begins stripping Gabbi joins in and starts dancing with her

[Marie Jordan]

Assignment 1 Lesson 7

EXAMPLE SHOW: INVENTING ANNA

A. Undeserved misfortune.

Being in jail for something she didn’t do.

B. External character conflict.

Intentional :

– Prosecutor accuses her of being a wannabe socialite and a scam artist but she earned her accomplishments, she worked for her success.

– manipulating Vivian (and everyone) knowing that she is a scam artist but making her believe she is honest.

Unintentional

– her lies hurt everyone involved with her.

C. Plot intruding on life

– Obstacles stopping her from getting the loan that would guarantee her success.

D. Moral dilemmas:

She sacrifices her friendship with Val to keep her plan of using Chase’s money

E. Forced decisions she would never make:

Betraying Chase for her own success.

Big Picture Empathy/Distress

– Acting distressed with Vivian will have an impact on Vivian believing she is honnest for nearly 3 episods

– Acting distressed when she can’t pay for the hotel with Val will have an impact on her relationship with Shase (she needs him) until she betrays him to get the reward = Nora’s attention and connections

– Acting distressed with Chase when he has gone to Germany but lied to her will make us believe she loves him until she betrays him

Detail orientated Empathy/Distress: example: she has to ask for Chase’s help to pay the hotel and everytime she fails at getting what she wants ‘-(from the famous architect, from the gallerist, from the property manager,)

[Marie Jordan]

Assignment 2 lesson 7

Marie’s Show Empathy/Distress

What I learned doing this assignment is to focus on Empathy/distress and observe how they are the key to binge worthy shows and then apply it to my own show.

List of BIG PICTURE difficult situations and decisions your characters could make because of the main conflict of this series.

Undeserved misfortune :

He/she is failing in his role of guardian angel to Rose.

The more he wants to become human and stand by her side for ever, the more she becomes out of control.

Despite everything he/she does, Rose dies.

External character conflicts :

Intentional:

Charlie, the fallen angel (demon) loves competing with him/her and wants to keep him/her in the world of angels.

Charlie, the fallen angel manipulates Rose to prevent Skyler to help her.

Skyler hurts Merrill because he hides his true agenda (becoming a human) but uses her help in his search.

C. Plot intruding on life

– obstacles preventing him to become a human being

– race to be loved by Rose before she falls in love with a real man.

D. Moral dilemmas

– acting as a good guardian angel or betraying his friends, his mentor and teachers to get out of the angel world?

E. Forced decision they’d never make.

– use forbidden fighting techniques to destroy all the fallen angels hidden in the world of angels.

[David Thome]

Dave’s Big Picture Empathy/Distress for Blank Slate

What I learned doing this assignment is… Well I wish that the delineation between “specific episode situations” and “big picture issues” was clearer. I restated the list from the Breaking Bad example to create a clearer dividing line (to my mind) by generalizing the issues raised by the one-time situations in the original list:

<div>
Finds
out he has cancer</div><div>

Is exposed
to drug dealer mentality

Has his
life threatened

Faces
issues such as whether to kill people to protect himself and his loved
ones

Associates’
lives are being threatened

<s>Walter
goes to the gang headquarters to confront the gang leader. Blows it up</s>.
(This one falls under No. 2 above).

Lies to
his wife and son

</div>

Empathy/Distress for Joshua Blank in Blank Slate

Undeserved misfortune

· Randomly moving between realities

· Being separated from his family

External Character conflicts

Salva’s
belief that Joshua is responsible for her death in the baseline reality
The Two
Agents mysterious agendas
Henna’s
radically different personalities in each reality

Plot intruding on life

· Salva wanting revenge

· Whatever the Two Agents want

Moral dilemmas

· If Salva has to get back to the baseline reality for Joshua to get there, too, she’ll be dead

Forced decisions they’d never make

· Lie to Henna and the kids

· Throw Salva under the bus

[Diana Ceres]

Diana’s Show Empathy/Distress

What I learned: It’s important to create big picture empathy/distress for the series. And you will also need detailed empathy/distress in each episode to work in tandem with the big picture empathy/distress built into the structure of the series.

Assignment 1

1. Watch the next episode of your Example Show and focus on the Empathy/Distress that shows up in this episode and throughout the season so far.

2. Notice the difference between Big Picture Empathy/Distress and detail oriented Empathy/Distress. Big Picture will have an impact across multiple episodes.

Mr. Robot:

Big Picture Empathy Distress: Help Mr. Robot or His Employer; pressure on Elliot to get into Stone Mountain’s server; pressure on him to change the world; dangerous/risky work of Fsociety; Elliot has depression and social anxiety; morpheine addict.

Detail-Oriented Empathy Distress: banging on door; other members of team suspicious of Elliot; detox for Elliot was difficult; Angela’s boyfriend is a douche/cheating on her. Elliot hallucinates while detoxing: Elliot goes to drug house and no morpheine and shoots up heroin with a used needle. Elliot shot. Tyrell in Elliot’s apratment when he comes home with a mysterious key. All a halllucination while detoxing. Angela inadvertently installs malware on employer’s server. Almost gets caught.

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.

Wife: Wants to join mafia. Cousin gives her a shot. She fucks things up royally and a hit is put on her. But she rats out her cousin to avoid getting killed and is given immunity/sent to another state for witness protection, which is where she meets a gullible man and gets him to marry her. She cheats on him. Their first kid is not his. Second kid is his but she seduced him to sleep with her so she could get pregnant and delay her prison sentence. Now husband has two kids and must take care of them while she holds him hostage as she is in prison with a lie that keeps him tied to her for decades.

Husband: Marries a criminal. Pays for it the rest of his life.

Kids: Choose to be with their mom. Become criminals, too.

Mother-in-law: The ringleader behind all the schemes. Husband forced by wife to give all his bonus money and earnings to her, so she can live comfortably.

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

A. Undeserved misfortune: Guy marries criminal who is
abusive.
B. External Character conflicts: Wife goes to prison.
Wants husband to take the fall for her and makes him pay for it for decades because he won’t.
Wants him to suffer.
C. Plot intruding on life: Guy depressed. Feels like a
failure. Can’t catch a break. Becomes morbidly obese. Congestive heart failure. Almost dies. D. Moral dilemmas: Wife a criminal: Divorce her or help
her out of her mess?
E. Forced decisions they’d never make: Wife leaves him
when she gets out of prison. She lied to him so he would keep her
comfortable in prison and not divorce her. He doesn’t divorce her, even
though they are separated, because he will have to pay alimony on top of
child support.

[MARK Lederkramer]

Mark Lederkramer Module 1 Lesson 7 Assignment #1

What I learned doing this assignment is creating empathy or distress for characters will cause the audience to care and identify with the characters. This will cause the viewers to form a real bond with the characters. The viewer becomes very invested in what happens to the characters and this will make the show Binge Worthy

Mr. Robot-Empathy/Distress

A. Undeserved misfortune. Shayla is murdered because of Elliot hacking Vera her drug dealer and putting him in jail

B. External Character conflicts. Intentional: Angela hates Colby and Evil Corp yet she is making a deal with him so he will testify that E Corp was responsible for the Washington Township waste scandal even though it means that Colby will go free.

Unintentional: Angela will put everybody at All Safe out of work and lose Gideon as a friend and mentor

C. Plot intruding on life: Tyrell Wellick kills his rival, Simon Knowles wife when he was just supposed to fuck her and take pictures to use for blackmail

D. Moral dilemmas. Elliot is dropped as a patient by Krista so he decides to come back and hurt her by telling her everything he knows about her because he has been hacking her all along.

E. Forced decisions they’d never make: Angela uses her friend email account to try and reach and set up a meeting with the Dark Army and their leader White Rose

Module 1 Lesson 7 Assignment #2

My Show-Empathy/Distress

A. Undeserved misfortune: Micky thought he was getting involved with people he knew who were in the marijuana and Hashish smuggling and dealing business. He ends up being involved with the real Mafia in the Torrio Crew

B. External Character conflicts: Matty is pissing off everybody because of his excessive drug use and partying especially Stuey. Unintentional: Matty’s behavior is making Micky frustrated and making his job harder and more dangerous

C. Plot intruding on life: When Stuey and Tony rip off and beat Matty it really starts the Big 3 Crew and changes all their lives.

D. Moral dilemmas: Stuey, Tony, and the Torrio crew all want Micky to report to them (spy) about Matty’s behavior but Micky is loyal to Matty. The problem is that they are right to be worried and Micky is even more worried than anybody.

E. Forced decisions they’d never make: Micky swore his whole life that he would never get involved with the Mafia, as he watched his father deal with being a Jew and working for the mob and never really having the chance to rise in the crew. He unfortunately is now involved with the most murderous Mafia crew in history