Lesson 8

[Ira Drower]

Ira Drower’s Likeability/Empathy/Distress/Justification

I learned that creating empathy for a character, even one who has done or is doing illegal actions can provide a means for an audience to embrace the character and actually root for them.

LIKABILITY/LOVABILITY

A. The local townspeople of Crystal Flats trust Frank more than the authorities.

B. Frank was engaged to a woman in Beirut when he was stationed there.

C. He is tasked with capturing a lethal Alien Predator before it kills again.

D. He has a pack of wolves he cares for like family.

E. He cares for his current girlfriend but struggles to show it.

F. The death of his fiance haunts him since he fired the tank blast that killed her.

EMPATHY / DISTRESS

A. His fiance was killed by his actions.

C. Forced to serve as a prisoner transporter at a secret Alien prison.

D. Set up by the Prison Warden he is forced to track and capture a lethal Alien Predator.

E. Ambushed by an Alien Bounty hunter in search of the same Predator.

F. He is forced to resort to his military training becoming the brutal fighter he was trained to become in the military.

JUSTIFICATION

A. Frank is offered a pardon if he catches the Predator.

B. There are others in search of the Predator who beat him up and try to breach the prison.

C. Frank must engage the other Aliens in search of this Predator before they kill it.

D. The Alien Predator harms his wolves as they track it.

E. The Warden wants the Alien Predator dead and will kill anyone who tries to stop him.

[Beth Zurkowski]

Beth Zurkowski Likability/Empathy/Justification What I learned doing this assignment is how to better make main character we care about.

1. Brainstorm answers to Likability/Empathy / Distress/Justified for your Hero.

LIKABILITY/LOVABILITY

A. Other people like or respect the character. At the
dojo where Velda teaches martial arts the students really like her. Also
she has friends that she socializes with at bars.
B. The character shows love for something. She shows
love to her girlfriends.
C. They’re trying to do something good. They help
doctor people.
D. Save the cat — rescue or do something good for
someone else. Come to Naya’s rescue.
E. Funny, humorous, witty. Velda cracks jokes all over
the script.
F. Kindness. Velda and her doctor husband help people
where ever they can.

JUSTIFICATION

E. The Villain or their representatives have
trespassed. Naya’s family came to Velda’s house and proceed to beat her
up.

EMPATHY / DISTRESS

A. Undeserved misfortune. Her credit and reputation is
damaged.
E. Forced decisions they’d never make. Get Naya out of
the area into a safe house.

2. Organize them into a sequence that happens in the first Act of your script and tell us the story in a concise form (like I did for John Wick and Salt above).

1. Opening: We see two in a forbidden relationship. Naya announces she’s pregnant to Darsh, her boyfriend.

At Velda’s Dojo she is well liked by her students. After teaching and day is over. Velda and her husband go out to eat at a bar with friends.

Naya and Darsh find out neighbor is a doctor while mowing the lawn. Darsh has a bloated tick on his scalp and the doctor over-hears their concern. Velda and her husband help them remove the insect.

(A-1)Naya’s father tells her she is promised to an older man in an arraigned marriage. Naya argues she won’t marry him that she loves someone else.(A-2)(V-1) Older man forces his way on her and finds out she’s not a virgin like Father said she was.

(M-1)Naya and Darsh decide to elope.(V-2)(A-3) But Naya gets into fight with father, mother and two older brothers. It’s an honor killing.

(M-2)(A-4)Naya is left for dead, but she crawls to the neighbors house for help and safety.(M-3)(A-5) Velda and her doctor husband help her, but she loses the baby.

2.Inciting incident:(A-6) Velda is debating helping Naya and her boyfriend, Darsh.(V-3) Meanwhile, Naya’s family noticed her body was not on the garage floor and went out looking for her.

3.First Turning Point at end of Act 1:(M-4)(A-7) Flash back on Velda’s military career as a Marine and we show she is cautious in helping because she was raped while overseas.(M-5) Velda soon excepts the challenge.(A-8) Chase scene.(A-9)(M-5) Velda works with police and gets Naya and Darsh to safety.(A-10)(M-6) Velda fights Naya’s tresspassing relatives and wins.

4.Mid-Point:(A-11) (V-4)Father gets away and puts a bounty on Velda’s head at son’s gym. (A-12)(V-5) He hires street fighters from the gym to take on Velda.(V-6)(A-13) She gets captured, tortured and escapes. (A-14) (V-7)Father gets Velda’s wallet and begins to ruin her credit and reputation.

5.Second Turning Point: at end of Act 2 (M-7) Velda stops at a MMA and talks to the sword fighters there.

6.Crisis: (V-8) Father finds Naya and holds her hostage.(V-9) He lets Velda know Naya’s death is on Velda’s hands. (M-8) Velda searches for Nata’s family.

7.Climax: (A-15) (M-9)Velda tries to take on every family member and street fighter.(A-16)(M-10) But just when she’s about to collapse from exhaustion the MMA fighters find her and help her out.(A-17)(M-11) She gets up her final reserves and fights on. (A-18) (M-12) Velda wins and gets Naya back.(A-19)(M-13) Velda chops off the father’s head with a sword.

8.Resolution: (M-14)Velda and her husband are invited to Naya’s and Darsh’s wedding. Naya carries a brand new baby.

3. Decide which ideas you’d like to keep and add them to your structure/plot/outline.

[Bob Rowen]

Bob Rowen’s Likability/Empathy/Justification

What I learned doing this assignment is the need to include certain attributes of the Hero that will connect the audience to him and his mission.

1. BRAINSTORMING VIRGIL PRATER (HERO)

LIKABILITY/LOVABILITY – (All in Act 1)

A. Puts a stop to an out-of-control police officer.

B. Has concern for the Native American victim.

C. Seeks names and badge numbers of all three officers.

D. Reports the police brutality incident to the D.A.

E. Is willing to testify against the police officer.

F. Prater and his wife, Kathryn, are continuously harassed by the police department.

G. The victim becomes a defendant and is exonerated of all major charges because of Prater’s testimony according to the judge.

EMPATHY/DISTRESS

A. Prater is targeted by company’s security department that coordinates with the police department.

B. A false confidential police report is sent to the FBI.

C. He is labeled a “confirmed cop hater”, accused of advocating violence, and a whole lot worse.

D. The “confidential” police report is “leaked”.

E. Prater is told he has been blacklisted from local teaching jobs.

F. The intent of the police report is to make Prater a “national security risk”.

JUSTIFICATION

A. Prater’s family receives threatening and harassing phone calls.

B. Kathryn is the teller during a “strange” bank robbery.

C. During what Kathryn thought was an interview by a FBI agent at the police station, a reporter interviewed her about the robbery and stated her name during a news broadcast.

D. The police department refused to provide the family protection from the robber who was still at large.

2. VIRGIL PRATER – WHY WE CARE

In a scene following the opening horrendous nuclear accident scene, Prater witnesses three police officers manhandling in clear view a 19-year old Native American boy who is drunk and using coarse language. One of the officers loses control and starts clubbing the boy with his baton.

Prater pushes past several bystanders and puts a stop to the clubbing by the out-of-control officer. The boy collapses. Prater tells the officer he is not the “judge, jury, and executioner”. The crowd loudly cheers drowning out the one member who was yelling “he got what he deserved”.

Prater goes to the police station to get the names and badge numbers of the officers involved and then complains to the D.A. about the incident.

Prater’s family is continuously harassed by the police.

Prater testifies at the boy’s trial and the boy is found “not guilty” on all major charges except being drunk and disorderly in public because of Prater’s testimony according to the boy’s attorney from the Berkeley Office of the California Indian Legal Services who stated that’s what the judge told him.

The police chief, Cedric Omstead, retaliates in Acts 2 and 3.

[Frances Williams]

Frances Williams Likability/Empathy/Justification,

Likability/Lovability

Loved her day and Husband,

She is a retired Assassin,

She rescues stray Cats and Animals,.She helps aide and rescue girls who have been kidnapped.

Empathy/Distress,

Her Husband is wounded, and is helpless to save her.,

She had tremendous emotional Loss,

She was attacked in her own home,

She was Beaten up and kicked down, left for dead.

She is still in the grieving process.,

Justification.

She is Beaten and her daughter is taken.,

The Head Boss of the Russian Syndicate thinks he can get away with anything.,

She is identified as a Russian operative is sentence d to jail.

On her way to her confinement she grabs the gun of one of her captors, she shoots him and escapes by jumping onto on coming traffic.

What I Learned doing this Assignment is How to make the audience care about the Hero.