MODULE 1 – LESSON 8: INVITING OBSESSION THROUGH MYSTERY
Moses Quainoo
“What I learned doing this assignment is…?”
ASSIGNMENT 1:
Watch the next episode of your Example Show and focus on the Mysteries that have been created in that show. Also, notice the difference between the big picture mysteries that are a big part of the plot across the entire season versus the smaller mysteries.
Example Show; Hijack
Episodes 1 – 7 only
Mysteries
The released prisoner is shot dead in the farmhouse. Who shot him? Why?
A female passenger suddenly stands up, opens the headroom locker, and pulls a handgun. She loads bullets, walks to the first class, unhindered, and shoots the captain dead. She enters the cockpit, slams the door, and locks herself. She takes over the aircraft manually. Who is she?
Tell us about the Mysteries from this show.
ASSIGNMENT 2:
Create two mysteries for your show — one that shows up strong in the Pilot and the other that is revealed over time.
Mystery Type 1 = What stringed SKYY LAR’S legs? And why couldn’t SKYY LAR free itself or move?
Mystery Type 2 = The Beauty Industry has been experimenting with new synthetic compounds that have had catastrophic effects on wildlife, and birds, disrupting their navigational and reproductive abilities.
1. Create your Shocking Event Mystery and tell us the WWWWW and H, along with the part withheld.
- A. Shocking
Event: SKYY LAR’S legs are stringed together at
the Shopping Mall. It cannot walk, or free itself to peck for food. Every
effort to free self-worsens its plight. It is the worst nightmare of every
feral pigeon. EMMA comes to the rescue and together with her mother tries to de-string SKYY LAR who loses its left leg.
- B. Secret: The manufacturer of the synthetic hair and its intended purpose are kept secret.
- C.
Investigation: EMMA investigates.
- Who: = SKYY LAR.
- Where: = At the big Shopping Mall.
- What: = SKYY is stringed
- When: = While pecking about for food/ looking for grain drops.
- Why: = Lying/Floating about.
- and How: Entangled
- Part
Withheld: The manufacturer of the synthetic hair.
- A. Cover-up: The Beauty Industry has been experimenting with new synthetic compounds that have had catastrophic effects on wildlife, and birds, disrupting their navigational and reproductive abilities.
- B. Secret: The population of one-legged pigeons, environmental destruction, and compounds used, are withheld.
- C. Reveals: EMMA traces the synthetic hair back to the nearest Hairdressing shop, linked to a beauty company product,
- Who = The Beauty Industry
- Where = The World
- What = New synthetic compounds
- When = Experimenting
- Why = Eco-friendly
- and How =
- Part Withheld: =The one-legged pigeon population, extent of destruction.
2. Create the Over Time Mystery and tell us the WWWWW and H, along with the part withheld.
3. Use these two prompts to generate a list of possible mysteries and then design the main components of the Shocking Event mystery and Over Time mystery.
PROMPT 1:
With this TV [Concept] in [Format/Genre], and these [Lead Characters], give me a list of possible Mysteries that could be created for Season 1.
Mystery Definition: The intriguing secret, question, or puzzle that must be solved by the hero, often connected to high stakes and consequences for the Main Characters.
Format/Genre = 1 hour Drama/Family/Animation
Concept = SKYY LAR, a pigeon injured by human negligence, collaborates with a compassionate girl EMMA, in London to ignite a worldwide bird rebellion against environmental destruction, focusing on the beauty industry’s influence.
Lead Characters =
1. SKYY LAR – The Unpredictable Leader
2. EMMA – The Conscientious Ally
3. DR. AVA GREEN – The Innovative Scientist.
4. RAPHAEL(English
Trumpeter Pigeon) – The Doubtful Participant.
5. RAVEN – SKYY LAR’s Mentor.
List of possible Mysteries:
-
The Origin of the Synthetic Threat: Unraveling the true source of the synthetic material that injured SKYY LAR, leading to a broader investigation into illegal waste disposal practices by the beauty industry.
-
The Disappearing Avians: Investigating the mysterious disappearance of several urban bird populations, which leads to uncovering a secret chemical testing site affecting avian navigation and health.
-
Dr. Ava Green’s Secret Past: Delving into Dr. Ava Green’s hidden history with the beauty industry, revealing his involvement in developing a now-banned compound and his reasons for switching sides.
-
The Underground Lab: Discovering an underground laboratory where the beauty industry conducts experiments on wildlife, including avians, to test the environmental impact of their products.
-
The Whistleblower: A beauty industry insider ready to expose dangerous practices disappears under mysterious circumstances, prompting a risky mission to find and protect them.
-
The Corporate Spy: Identifying a spy within the rebellion, planted by the beauty industry to sabotage their efforts and gather intelligence on their plans.
-
Raphael’s Double Life: Uncovering the full extent of Raphael’s covert activities and true loyalties, including his connections to a rival faction within the beauty industry aiming to take down the consortium from within.
-
The Poisoned Sanctuary: Investigating a sudden ecological disaster in a key urban wildlife sanctuary, later revealed to be caused by runoff from a beauty product manufacturing plant.
-
Raven’s Ancient Secret: Unlocking the ancient wisdom or technology Raven possesses that could either save or doom the urban bird populations, depending on who gains control over it.
-
The Environmental Hacker: Tracing the source of a series of cyber-attacks on environmental databases and activist networks, leading back to a tech genius funded by the beauty industry to discredit and disrupt environmental movements.
-
Emma’s Dilemma: Emma discovers her family’s investment in a controversial beauty industry project threatening local ecosystems, forcing her to choose between family loyalty and her environmental convictions.
-
The Synthetic Organism: The revelation that the beauty industry has been funding the development of synthetic organisms designed to replace natural pollinators, with unforeseen and potentially catastrophic effects on global ecosystems.
-
The Coalition Collapse: Addressing fractures within the rebellion as diverging strategies and visions for the future create conflict, leading to a mystery of who or what is intentionally stirring dissent.
-
The Forbidden Partnership: Exploring a forbidden partnership between avian species and a group of renegade scientists, aiming to develop a countermeasure to the beauty industry’s synthetic compounds.
-
The Secret of the City’s Birds: Solving the mystery of why urban birds in London are exhibiting unusual behavior patterns, eventually linking it to a new, untested beauty product that affects animals’ sensory functions.
====
PROMPT 2
I’m going to provide [Mystery 1] and [Mystery 2] for my TV series about [Concept] in [Format/Genre], and these [Lead Characters]. Please create them through [Mystery Strategy 1] and [Mystery Strategy 2].
Mystery Definition: The intriguing secret, question, or puzzle that must be solved by the hero, often connected to high stakes and consequences for the main characters.
Mystery strategy 1 = For the opening Shocking Event Mystery, please include:
A. Shocking Event:
B. Secret:
C. Investigation:
Mystery strategy 2 = For ongoing Over-Time Mystery please include:
A. Cover up:
B. Secret:
C. Reveals:
Format/Genre = 1 hour Drama/Family/Animation
Concept = SKYY LAR, a pigeon injured by human negligence, collaborates
with a compassionate girl EMMA, in London to ignite a worldwide bird
rebellion against environmental destruction, focusing on the beauty
industry’s influence.
Lead Characters =
1. SKYY LAR – The Unpredictable Leader
2. EMMA – The Conscientious Ally
3. DR. AVA GREEN – The Innovative Scientist.
4. RAPHAEL(English Trumpeter Pigeon) – The Doubtful Participant.
5. RAVEN – SKYY LAR’s Mentor.
Mystery 1 = What stringed SKYY LAR’S legs? And why couldn’t SKYY LAR free itself or move?
Mystery 2 = The Beauty Industry has been experimenting with new synthetic compounds that have had catastrophic effects on wildlife, and birds, disrupting their navigational and reproductive abilities.
Mystery Strategy 1: Opening Shocking Event Mystery
A. Shocking Event: SKYY LAR is found trapped and immobile in an urban park, its legs entangled in an unusually resilient, synthetic material that doesn’t resemble any known waste product typically found in the bird’s urban environment.
B. Secret: The synthetic material is a prototype for a new, eco-friendly beauty product that has been illegally dumped during secretive field tests. The true nature and origin of the material are obscured, with the beauty industry denying any knowledge of its existence.
C. Investigation: EMMA begins a grassroots investigation into the mysterious substance, enlisting the help of DR. AVA GREEN for his scientific expertise. Their search leads them through a maze of corporate deceit, requiring them to break through layers of bureaucracy and corporate espionage. They face challenges from both the industry and secretive elements within the city that benefit from keeping the beauty industry’s new developments under wraps.
Mystery Strategy 2: Ongoing Over-Time Mystery
A. Cover-up: The beauty industry has been conducting secret experiments to develop synthetic compounds aimed at creating a new line of “eco-friendly” products. However, these compounds have unforeseen toxic effects on wildlife, particularly avian species, causing disruptions in their navigational and reproductive abilities. The industry has gone to great lengths to hide these experiments, manipulating data and silencing whistleblowers.
B. Secret: A hidden research facility exists where the most hazardous experiments are conducted, far from prying eyes. The location and existence of this facility are closely guarded secrets, known only to a select few within the industry’s upper echelon. There, they’ve developed a compound that, while harmless to humans, is lethal to avian DNA structures.
C. Reveals:
- Start: The initial discovery of the synthetic material around SKYY LAR’s legs leads to the first hints that the beauty industry’s waste management practices are not as transparent as claimed.
- Next: Through their investigation, EMMA and DR. AVA GREEN uncovered documentation of missing shipments of experimental compounds, pointing to the existence of unauthorized testing sites.
- Middle: An insider comes forward, providing them with the location of the hidden facility and evidence of the catastrophic environmental impact of the compounds being tested.
- End: The season climaxes with a daring expose of the beauty industry’s practices, leading to public outrage and a legal battle to shut down the facility and hold those responsible accountable. Meanwhile, RAPHAEL and RAVEN work from within to mobilize the avian community, using their unique positions to gather evidence and protect affected bird populations.