Lesson 8

[Madeleind Gentinetta]

Madeleine’s Writes Great Hope/Fear!

What did you learn doing this assignment?

It is a great tool to create non-stop excitement.

Act 1:

HOPE: The family gathers for Christmas and we hope they have good time.

FEAR: Nick is not yet here and can’t be reached.

HOPE: Nick finally arrives with an excuse.

TRIGGERING EACH OTHER: Robert blames his son for ruining Christmas.

Act 2:

TRAPPED: Robert and Anna are trapped together in the pied à Terre.

HOPE: Martha arrives as well.

INJURY: Anna suffers an abortion.

HOPE: Martha knows what to do and calls her husband Pierre for support.

Act 3:

PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES: Anna learns that Robert is not her father but Will.

HOPE: Pierre arrives to take care of Anna.

THREAT: Mega gangster Carlos arrives.

HOPE: The family can overwhelm him.

Act 4:

HOPE: Nick shows up and the family hopes he saves them.

OUT OF CONTROL: Nick is part of the drug dealer gang.

HOPE: Robert takes side for Nick and defends him.

HEART ATTACK: Robert suffers a heart attack.

[Adite Banerjie]

Adite writes great hope/fear

What I learned: This is a great way to ramp up emotional engagement with the characters.

Act 1
Restricting: Unlivable conditions, spooky, isolated.
Hope: Forest officer tells his wife it’s just a temporary arrangement.
Helpless: No way to get help for her sick child.
Hope: she finds some herbs with which she makes a soothing concoction for the child.
Fear: Unknown to her, the Poacher escapes.

[Cindi LeRoy]

Lesson 8

Cindi Writes Great Hope/Fear!

What I learned doing this assignment: Use the HOPE/FEAR process to create an emotional roller coaster for the audience.

Concept: A nurse working the night shift of a psych hospital must trust a serial killer, psycho janitor to take her through a secret escape route in the creepy hospital basement when the power goes out causing noxious fumes to spew from the vents.

Main conflict: the psycho janitor is a serial killer who plays mind games and tries to persuade the nurse to come with him into the secret hallways and rooms of an old hospital.

Reason for Containment: The nurse works the night shift of a psych hospital.

Characters:

The nurse. She’s there for her job.

The psycho janitor. He’s there for his job. He has the keys and knows the escape route out of the hospital.

Transformational Journey: The nurse and the psycho janitor discover they have some things in common. They must team up together to survive.

Act 1:

HOPE- A nurse works the overnight shift at the nurse’s station at a psych hospital.

FEAR/LEFT ALONE- She hears noises and gets jittery. She looks out the window. It’s getting windy and stormy, branches and stuff hitting the window.

HOPE- No big deal just a little storm. Besides, there’s probably other people working on her floor.

HOPE – She phones the other nurse station to check who’s there. She gets voicemails, so she assumes she’s alone.

FEAR/MIND GAMES- She realizes she’s not alone when someone tosses a crumbled paper on her desk. She looks around. Nobody’s there, then a series of other things happen. It gives her the creeps.

HOPE – She walks around, checks some of the rooms, hallways, nobody’s around.

FEAR/THREAT- Then she turns around and comes face-to-face with the psycho janitor who scares her, then laughs manically.

Act 1 /Turning Point: FEAR/HELPLESS – Who is this guy? She needs to get out of here.

Act 2:

HOPE- At least she’s not totally alone. There’s another human in the building.

FEAR/THREAT- She sees his name badge and looks him up in the files. She discovers he’s a serial killer/a patient given a menial job/part of a rehab program.

HOPE- She tries to gain his trust by making friendly, small talk. while she figures out a plan on how she can get away.

FEAR/PSYCHOLOGICAL ISSUES- She tries to talk to him, but he becomes defensive, paranoid and has explosive anger outbursts.

HOPE- Maybe she can drug him or somehow steal his keys and get herself out of there.

ACT 2/Turning Point /MIDPOINT: FEAR/OUT OF CONTROL SITATION – She’s desperate to come up with a plan get herself out of there.

Act 3:

FEAR/TRAPPED- The lights go out for a minute. Then when the dim backup generator lights come on, psycho janitor is leaning on the counter at the nurse station laughing manically.

HOPE- She decides she’ll just leave, quit the job and go home. She walks over to a door, but it’s locked.

Everything’s been automatically locked due to the power outage. Now she’s locked inside the nurse station with the psycho janitor. She sits at the desk trying to look busy, but really trying to figure out a plan to get away.

FEAR/FORCED TO DEAL WITH EACH OTHER- The janitor stares at her while he toys with his pocket knife, which he’s not even supposed to have.

HOPE- She pretends she doesn’t notice. She makes herself look busy working at the nurse’s station. She struggles to open a box of supplies.

Turning Point/all is lost:

FEAR/UNPREDICTABLE/COULD ATTACK AT ANY MOMENT- janitor sees her struggle opening the box. He comes over with his knife and stabs wildly and crazily at the box. The box and its contents are totally destroyed in his rage.

Act 4:

FEAR/DEATH- Something happened with the vents due to the power outage. Noxious fumes pour through the vents which cause them to choke and cough. They both need to get out of there.

FEAR/TICKING CLOCK- With his explosive anger outbursts, the psycho janitor tries to persuade the nurse to follow him through the secret hallways of the basement psych hospital to escape the fumes.

HOPE- The nurse has no other options. If she wants to survive, she can’t stay at the nurse station with the fumes.

HOPE- Together they run through secret, dark, winding hallways of the hospital basement. The air gets clearer. They open a door.

FEAR/IMPENDING DOOM – They enter a room that turns out to be a lab. The Director of the hospital is in the process of doing illegal experiments on the patients. The nurse and janitor turn and run. (Maybe she sees her name on a flip chart and realizes she was supposed to be the next experiment.)

HOPE- The nurse and the janitor run fast through another winding hallway.

FEAR/ATTACK- The hospital Director runs after them shooting.

HOPE- The nurse and janitor dodge bullets as they zigzag through the winding hallway. They come to a door, push it open and run outside onto the parking lot.

HOPE- The police and authorities are on the parking lot ready to arrest the hospital Director for performing illegal procedures at the hospital.

HOPE- It’s revealed that the nurse and the janitor are both working undercover with FBI to catch the hospital Director, who is performing illegal experiments/procedures on patients. The nurse and the janitor didn’t know that each other was working undercover.