Lesson 8

[Caitlin Stryker]

ASSIGNMENT #8

Caitlin Stryker’s beat sheet draft 2:What I learned doing this assignment is the fun layers added when ensuring theme is present and that the antagonist has their own storyline.

INTERWEAVE THEME throughout your beat sheet.

The theme shows up in three stages:

1. It is introduced lightly near the beginning.

2. It is explored throughout the story.

3. It evolves into the message that is delivered at the END.

The theme of Harriet is learning to love all aspects of yourself, even your crazy.

Build your Antagonist into the beat sheet:

Harriet my antagonist: Has a plan in motion before the movie started. They were already in action on their plan and the Protagonist stepped into it, often without knowing. Harriet is back to help Carla learn to love herself again and be the dynamic woman she really is, instead of the sad depressed housewife/mom she has become. Harriet wants to be real, that is her big secret. SHe benefits if Carla keeps her around.Harriet loves the human world.

BEAT SHEET

ACT 1

INT. NIGHT Sam’s bedroom

OPENING: Carla reading “Where the Wild Things Are” to her son Sam for his bedtime story.

INT. NIGHT Carla and Mark’s bedroom

TE 1: Carla talks to her husband Mark on the phone. He is away for work. They talk about her needing to find a job to help with the bills. Theme moment: She talks about feeling unwanted.

INT. NIGHT Carla and Mark’s bedroom

INCITING INCIDENT: Carla cries in bed silently at 3 am. She rolls over and we see a flutter of a curtain like a presence was there… (this is Harriet)

SCENE getting Sam to school. We see the other Moms. Some say Hi to Carla and she shyly walks away.

EXT. DAY Abbott Kinney sidewalk

TE 2: Carla bumps into Harriet, her childhood best friend who moved away, on the sidewalk out front of the coffee shop. Let’s get you out girl and put some color back into your life. Carla says no, it’s a school night and Mark is away. Theme Moment: Harriet says to Carla “Look at you dressed all drab like you don’t matter to yourself.” Carla “Ha! Is that what I look like? I was going for stressed out mom trying to get her kid to school on time.” For Harriet’s storyline this is the moment when she can’t stay in the shadows any longer.

ACT 2

INT. DAY Carla’s Living Room

New plan: Carla gets home, looks around and decides yes, she’s gonna go out tonight! Theme Moment: what about me? What about making time for me to just have fun? What if Harriet calls Carla and the ringtone “girls just wanna have fun” starts playing because Harriet programmed her number into Carla’s phone on the sidewalk and when Carla picks up she’s like come out you know you want to!

INT. DAY Apt

TE 3: Carla has to find a sitter. (She texts for sitter ideas the “mom chain” she rarely interacts with bc they are cooler and more togethr than her.) Carla has to figure out what to wear, better not be drab.

SCENE Carla leaving for the night out with the sitter there.

EXT. NIGHT The Brig Club Exterior

Plan in action: Carla is out at night and in line for the club Harriet told her to meet at! It’s a long line and where is Harriet? Theme moment: Major what am I doing here self-talk. I mean this line is filled with young hot people in their early 20s.

EXT. NIGHT The Brig Club Exterior

TE 4: Harriet comes out of the club and yells to Carla to get to the front of the line and just come in! She knows the bouncer it’s no big deal. Carla hesitates and then says fuck it. SHe goes up to bouncer Ron and gets in using the “Myr friend is in there line” which never works but bouncer Ron is a gem he can read ppl. Harriet has already disappeared back into the club.

INT. NIGHT The Brig Club

Scene: Having a great time in the club. At the bar Harriet forces Carla to be bold and get the hot young bartender’s attn and order a drink.

INT. NIGHT The Brig Club at the bar

TE 5: Carla bumps into her old boss in the club. Carla’s old boss, Jennica, is an intimidating girl boss type who is 5 years younger than Carla and told Carla that she was screwing her career when she decided to leave to get married and have a child. Now that Carla needs to get back to work for real (being a part-time sub is not cutting it) she must reach out to Jennica and work on her portfolio and put herself out into the work world. Harriet motions that she is going to the bathroom when Jennica shows up to protect it from becoming known that she isn’t real.

SCENE Walking home from the bar. Carla talks to Harriet about seeing Jennica and her need for work.

INT. NIGHT Kitchen

Midpoint Turning Point: Harriet comes over for dinner. Carla finds out that Harriet is imaginary. Carla covers that Harriet is imaginary by making it look like she just didn’t show, but Mark senses something weird is up. This is not a good moment for Harriet because now the jig is up.

Act 3:

EXT. DAY Venice Beach Boardwalk

Rethink everything: Carla asks Harriet why she left in middle school. Carla wonders if she’s crazy, but decides she is not and that Harriet is her superpower. Theme Moment: Now that Carla knows Harriet is imaginary she wears earpods so it looks like she is talking on the phone. Harriet is all like “Girl what are you doing?” Carla “Making sure I don’t look like a crazy person talking to herself!” Harriet “First of all this is the Venice Beach boardwalk join the club. Second of all, people look ridiculous talking on earpods. Fuck it you’re a little crazy, you have an imaginary friend, own it!”

SCENE The Moms from school. Harriet pushes Carla to engage more with these interesting women at drop off. Networking is a big part of life especially a successful career life.

INT. DAY Carla’s Living Room

TE 6: Carla discovers incriminating evidence of cheating on Mark’s phone. She tells Harriet and Harriet insists she confront Mark.

INT. DAY Carla’s bedroom

Transformational Event E: Does Carla want to leave Mark? Does she even have that option? She realizes that she doesn’t even have a credit card in her own name. Theme moment: How did she let this happen?

EXT. DAY Abbott Kinney sidewalk

New plan: Use me to help you get unstuck. Everyone needs help and I can help you build your business and yourself. Theme moment: Harriet literally tells Carla that she will help build her self-esteem. Harriet can’t let Carla backslide into her depression and force Harriet to go away. She is fighting for Carla and herself.

SCENE Carla coming up with her business plan.

SCENE Carla talking to the MOMs about work at school pick up

INT. NIGHT Kitchen

TE 7: Carla confronts Mark and Mark suggests couples therapy. He’s been worried that Carla is depressed anyway.

INT. DAY Therapist Office

Scene: therapy session. Harriet is there but Carla tries to be cool. It’s an okay session, there is love between Mark and Carla. Theme moment: the therapist’s office is filled with signs about loving yourself and empowering yourself. Harriet is in the background like these signs are wack but their message is true.

SCENE Carla needs a girls night out and the MOMs are all in

INT. NIGHT The Brig Club
Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: Viral video of things too wild out on the town and Carla looking crazy talking to herself and winding up in the drunk tank. Harriet reveals to Carla that she wishes she were real and how lucky Carla is to be human.

• TE 8 (all part of the turning point/huge failure/major shift): Carla goes out again with the girls. This time the moms from school are there too. Carla drinks way to much, makes out with a 25yr old, gets thrown in the drunk tank and Mark has to bail her out. The next day there is a viral video of her coyote ugly bar top dancing and falling off with a nip slip. And Harriet is revealed to all to be imaginary–the reason the video is viral is partly because Carla is obviously talking to herself.

• SCENE Carla getting carted off to the drunk tank. The other MOMs look on. Harriet may have let this spiral out of control…

Act 4:

EXT. NIGHT Police Station

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: Mark wants to commit Carla, unless she gives up Harriet.

INT. DAY Therapist Office

TE 9: Now therapy takes a different turn. The therapist and Mark turn on Carla. Will she be able to talk them out of having her committed?
“You want to have me committed? Where? Didn’t they shut all those places down?” “We’ll start with medication.” “No! No. I do not need to be medicated. I’m leaving. You can’t force this on me.” Theme moment:Carla points out all the dumb “mickey mouse” love yourself signs in the office and is like “this is me loving myself–leaving this office!”

SCENE with the MOMs about what went down in therapy. They all admit to some form of alter ego at some point in their lives or to wanting one. Everyone loves Harriet she has clearly been good for Carla. Theme moment: wait you’re crazy too and you love my crazy?

EXT. DAY Sidewalk in front of therapist office

Mark and Carla have it out

TE 10: Carla can’t hide any part of herself anymore; she will have to own her “crazy” if she wants to fully love herself and bring her whole self to all aspects of her life. This means Harriet stays but as a part of Carla, as her “alter ego” and as a part of herself she brings to the forefront. Which means in a way Harriet gets to be real too! (Like Sasha Fierce and Beyonce. Like Elliot P Dowd and Harvey.)

SCENE the moms back Carla up in front of Mark. A mom comes through big with a work contract for Carla’s copywriting.

Resolution: Everyone realizes, especially Mark, that Harriet is an important part of Carla. Harriet is like, I’m gonna go, you’ve got this now and I gotta love myself too and be reall about the fact that I am not real. And Carla is like forget that you’re staying because you are a real part of me.

[Michael Montiel]

Dr. Robert’s Beat Sheet (Draft 2): on exploring theme and actions of my “Antagonist”:

*******What I learned from this assignment: To keep going. Some of my “beats” were clear in my mind, other’s i just placed “placeholders” to revisit. Other themes started to come , but i’ll have to figure that out later. This was difficult, and I could’ve written faster. With more practice I will stay consistent and move with rapidity. Again quantity NOT quality for now!

Theme: You must know who you are to be a here. 2. Not standing up for yourself leads to your demise. 3. ***our planet is a special place, we must protect it***(this is principle theme). This theme is explored throughout the story

ANTAGONIST: Dr. Peter Rosinski (celebrated Astrophysicist) has plan to Attack Dr. Robert’s work; There’s a plan beneath the “plan” to overtake Robert’s project: Something deeper going on beneath the surface as the Antagonist carries out a covert plan of attack!

ACT ONE:(THEME):WHERE IS HIS LIFE GOING? RESOLVES TO TAKE ACTION.

INT – NEW MEXICO STATE UNIVERSITY TELESCOPE-DAY

Opening: Robert is at celebration party for his protege SARAH (20s) who’s been hired by private corporation and will be making lots of money.

Transformational Event: Robert is naturally envious; his smile is forced. Someone makes a snide comment. (THEME):WHERE IS HIS LIFE GOING? RESOLVES TO TAKE ACTION.

INT – EX-WIFE’S HOUSE – NIGHT

TE: Arrives late and drunk. his daughter is already in Bed. His ex-wife tears him a new one for bringing left over cake for his daughters birthday. He “forgot” to get present: Ex-wife inflicts revives deep wounds: “for never making enough money, failing as a husband, husband,father, as a Man. He sees his daughter watching the fight. He runs out of the house humiliated even more. Daughter yells out for him to stay:”Daddy.”

I/E – GRANDPA’S HACIENDA – FRONT PORCH – DAY – FLASHBACK

PLACEHOLDER [Background on Robert: he was raised by his grandfather: He is loved and Grandfather tells him how smart he is, how good his english is: someday he’ll be best Astronomer]

PLACEHOLDER: WE LEARN OF MAYAN CALENDAR/CIVILIZATION AND MAYAN ASTRONOMERS?

INT. – NM STATE UNIVERSITY OBSERVATORY – LATER

Inciting Incident: ROBERT goes through boxes of his junk, finds article he published:

TE: Gets motivated (hears what his grandfather says like Obi Wan Kenobi) to present his paper on time travel/communicating with intelligent life in outer space. He’s a changed/motivated man.(THEME: Standing up for yourself).

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>INT. – COLORADO CONFERENCE – DAY

TE: sees colleagues from previous jobs/university, Robert corrects them on an overlooked detail that could mess up their calculations. Robert really knows his stuff he’s top of his game!(Theme: Taking courage).

– At Conference, he presents his paper but is booed and jeered by Dr. Peter Rosinski leading the chorus of dissatisfaction with Robert’s presentation. His colleagues, which he corrected earlier–and are now drunk–heckle him as well:”Who’s the asshole now Robert!”

– At the end of lecture, US military General Portman talks to humiliated Robert.

INT. – GENERAL PORTMAN’S HOME – NIGHT

– General invites him back to his house, OFFERS him top position for new job at secret government facility.

INT. – SECRET GOV FACILITY – DAY

Turning Point : Robert is taken aback when he encounters the very same Dr. Rosinski who was heckling him the previous day. Dr. Rosinski confesses that he had to shut him up as Robert was indeed on to something and risked endangering sharing Government info about “Aliens” in outer Space.

-Dr. Rosinski shows him new super quantum computer that can do trillions of calculations in seconds! Never before have scientists had a tool like this for Astronomy; this is a game changer!

ACT TWO PART ONE:

INT. – SECRET LABORATORY – DAY

NEW PLAN:

TE: ROBERT regains his confidence. he demonstrates he’s up for the job. Shows fellow scientists what he knows [VISUALS AND ROBERT’S LECTURE ARE BROUGHT TO LIFE EXPLAINING DETAILSOF DISCOVERY/MISSION IN COSMOS/ LIMITS OF OUR KNOWLEDGE/TIME SLOTS FOR USING CURRENT WEBB TELESCOPE IN OUTER SPACE]

INT. – WHITE HOUSE OVAL OFFICE – DAY

PLAN IN ACTION-Robert SPEAKS to US President with General Portman, to brief him about “Aliens” and why they need exclusive control of Webb Telescope.

TE: He demonstrates he’s the man for the job,[placeholder: Although he’s being set up to fail by Rosinski, He was just a tool to get US President to agree to exclusive use of telescope].

<u style=”font-weight: bold;”>ACT TWO PART TWO:

INT. – SECRET GOV FACILITY – DAY

MID-POINT/TURNING POINT:

-GENERAL PORTMAN demotes Rosinski from his post after an argument???[placeholder scene: Robert and Rosinski have major public fight] Re-assigns Robert to head the project:

TE: he insists Robert is THE right man and only man for the job! Robert is on top of the world ! finally a some respect rightfully deserved!

-Rosinski agrees to let Robert point satellite in direction he wants [secret sabotage by Rosinski?]

– Quantum computer is now connected to Webb Telescope

– At first, new images come in:Computer quickly does math and and works out “Fermi Paradox” and lists planets that are viable for intelligent life.

-Computer is overwhelmed: an explosion and fire follow. The billion dollar computer melts!

INT. – CONFERENCE ROOM – DAY

–Robert is blamed for meltdown

-enraged US president fires him on the spot.

-Project is shut down on orders of the president

INT. – ROBERT’S MOM’S HOUSE – DAY

TE: ??he’s humiliated ; setback re-opens old wounds??; he is transformed to NOT be so hard on himself?? And keep going

– HIS mother consoles him; tells him stuff about his father???[i’m grabbing at straws here]

[placeholder-flashback to mayans??][flashback to Grandpa?]

-Robert licks his wounds and decides to move forward; to not give up.

ACT THREE

INT. – SECRET GOV FACILITY – DAY

RETHINK EVERYTHING: DR. Rosinski consoles Robert, Blames him for disaster, Tells Robert that he will now lead the project, should they get a second chance.

-[They fix computer?]

-TE: Robert catches Rosinski in a lie. Robert is no longer so naive and gullible. Keeps his mouth shut about Rosinski’s connivance.

NEW PLAN: TO HIS SURPRISE: He sees his old colleague and old love interest??, Sarah, and she’s been hired to work directly with Rosinski.

INT. ROSINSKI’S HOME – NIGHT

– They[SARAH AND ROSINSKI] get private funding for project unbeknownst to US President–it’s no longer A department of defense project. General Portman has been let go.

INT. – SECRET GOV FACILITY – DAY

TURNING POINT: Huge failures/major shift: Robert notices there are huge mistakes in the calculations!

-Rosinski and Sarah have huge fight about calculations.

-Robert gets fired for good.

INT. – ROBERT’S EX-WIFE’S HOUSE – DAY

-TE: his daughter talks to him: has new insight! [mayan flashback again?] gets new insight: he’s the leader he was born to be: he doesn’t need quantum computer–he knows which way to point the satellite!

-Daughter tells him : He’s got fellow astronomy enthusiasts and crowdfunding to help him build his own computer!

INT. – SARAH’S HOUSE – NIGHT

-He runs to tell Sarah ABOUT CROWDFUNDING IDEA; HE CAN BUILD HIS OWN QUANTUM COMPUTER WITH GLOBAL USE OF IPHONES AND CONNECT TO SATELLITE; HE CAN GET IMAGES FROM ALL DIRECTIONS OF THE PLANET [his love interest] not to sell out!

– AT first she’s compassionate : romantic interlude goes south real quick: she tells him to fuck off! –the money is good! Profit over science, over people.They’re going to make profit by sharing knowledge with the Russians! Sarah tells him what a fool and failure he is:

TE: Robert’s deepest wound is ignited[sarah at first is understanding put she patronizes Robert]: failure as a man? What a bitch!

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>ACT FOUR: CLIMAX/ULTIMATE EXPRESSION OF THE CONFLICT:

INT. GENERAL PORTMAN’S HOME- NIGHT

TE: ROBERT takes the lead! He’s organized like never before:

-Robert Recruits Astronomers around the world; he sets up “lab” at the General’s home: Robert links iPhones – computers- And AI from research facilities around the World! [Connections to Chile hear??]

-He will hack the James Webb Telescope Satellite (JWST)

– Images are downloaded and shared all over the world: Times Square, Piccadilly Circus Billboards, in Tokyo and other great cities of the world!

-They assume Dr. Robert Amador is the leader of this species on this planet: they want to speak directly with him! let messages in somewhat sloppy grammar come in: “people if earth: we than you and you’re leader Robert Amador: by now we assume your language has progressed to a Subject-Verb-Object language for post of humanity!” the secret is that collective you can work together! that you must maximize the energy potential of your planet, sun, and solar system : little by little you will begin to colonize your galaxy and the rest of space !”

-“ALIEN Feed” is shut down

INT. – EX-WIFE’S HOME – DAY

FBI/CIA clamp down on home: “What have you done?”

-Rosinski blames him for another disaster! “You’re a fuck-up Robert! YOU’VE PUT NATIONAL SECURITY AT RISK

-General Portman comes to his rescue: NO ROBERT IS NOT A FUCK UP BUT A HERO OF THE NATION AND THE WORLD.

-General Portman Arrests Rosinski! “You’re the fuck up!”

-TVs resume broadcast: “Learn from us, if you’re getting this message, you are now in a dangerous position to destroy yourselves and civilization; you have under 200 years to fix your planet and make it green, in this way your species buys 200,000 years of time or 200 generations ; with this added time, you will colonize the rest of space ; for now we say goodbye as we’ve already crossed the event horizon and have moved beyond actual reachability and visibility; what you’ve seen are the lights of our star system just reaching you now. goodbye forever!”

RESOLUTION :

EXT. – WHITE HOUSE LAWN- DAY

TE: Dr. Robert Amador, Astrophysicist of the Century , receives medal of honor from the President!

-Robert is an international hero! NO LONGER AN UNCONFIDENT BOOKIS PROFESSOR BUT A SAVIOR OF HUMANITY: He is seen on tv around the world: his mother in Chile sees image of Professor picking up his daughter!

-Robert is appointed leader of the ENSURING FUTURE OF HUMANITY PROJECT!

EXT. EASTER ISLAND – DAY

–Close on Easter Island, Pacific ocean:

THEN

-SPACESHIP swirls by: it’s Planet Earth 200 YEARS LATER:

MONTAGE of all the worlds great cities! A utopian world at last! Theme of movie : to save our planet, as there is really nothing else out there in the universe. Nothing!

• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by  Michael Montiel. Reason: Copy for my own records

[mark.napier2022@gmail.com napier]

SUBJECT: Mark Napier’s Beat Sheet Draft 2

What I learned from this exercise? I learn to keep the Theme consistent throughout my story and expand on Antagonist Beat Sheet to provide additional dialogue materials and scenes.

–What is the story about? A true story of the mendacious injustice of how in the US government powerful figures abuse of title, position and authority–as a cultural norm–to wage war using “the system” they reside over to destroy the livelihood of another for sport; all because another did the right thing and was denied a debt of gratitude for their service to a nation.

–What is the real issue I want to explore? Abandonment of Self and Restoring Self.

–Theme: Injustice

3. Do Pass 1: (Beginning, Middle and End)

ACT 1:

–Injustice of a knee jerk reaction to an event without conducting a proper investigation.

–Injustice of evidence being disregarded by key CIA Station officials

–Injustice of expelling a CIA employee from a country without a hearing only to find out he did right.

ACT 2:

–Injustice to get the protagonist fired when he was serving in another assignment.

–Injustice of a fabricated ruse to charge the protagonist with a felony that could carry prison time.

–Injustice that every accomplishment the protagonist succeeded at, exposed threats, saving American lives was all flushed down the toilet and never recognized and theft of luggage containing 4 years of tax records that could not be filed.

ACT 3:

–Injustice of the way the US Army Reserves screamed over the phone that the protagonist contracted HIV, was being medically discharged and stigmatized in comparison to how they respected him before, despite medicine being available to treat and be deployable.

–Injustice of losing livelihood for standing up for what is right and applying military values.

–Injustice of being discarded and forgotten and forced down a journey to become an abandonment of self.

ACT 4:

–Injustice of the protagonist spending 5 years on the streets chronically homeless and lost all that he worked for, for 30 years.

–Injustice that the protagonist reached out to the CIA five times to contest their decision only to be continually ignored and ignored “on the surface” by 13 committees, 80 plus members of Congress, Senate, Director of National Intelligence and White House Special Counsel..

–Injustice that the CIA rarely prosecuted individuals engaged in child pornography and does not hold its leadership accountable for abuse, killing of civilians, and hostages as a result of failed operation.

4. Do Pass 2:

1. Attack/Counter-Attack: Antagonist is upset from the negative review from CIA Director’s office about lack of support to military and directs hostile work environment toward protagonist.

2. Plan Beneath the Plan: Antagonist goes nuclear after learning of protagonist’s report on Station’s mismanaged investigation and becomes so enraged and vengeful that he tries initially to use his influence to get the protagonist fired then when that did not work he orchestrates a plan where he fabricates a felony accusation against the protagonists.

3. Plan Beneath the Plan: Antagonist discovers protagonist whereabouts and orchestrates another hostile work environment.

4. Plan Beneath the Plan: Antagonist waits till about 1 month before protagonist finishes deployment and suddenly all assets and resources are not trustworthy in an effort to undermine the protagonists’s reliability to perform the function of PSYOP and credibility as an intelligence officer for the CIA..

5. Plan Beneath the Plan: Antagonist arranges for the theft of the protagonist luggage that he was being deployed with and a treasure trove of identity theft information on the protagonist that has never been exploited in 15 years since its theft from Washington-Dulles International Airport where the CIA has a facility to support the Global War on Terror.

6. Plan Beneath the Plan: Antagonist orchestrates the protagonist’s Blacklisting from the CIA to destroy the protagonist’s livelihood and chances of future employment with the US government.

[Trish]

Lesson 8: Trish’s Beat Sheet Draft 2

What I learned doing this assignment is that it is easier when I accept that I don’t know all the story beats just yet (and that’s okay).

ACT 1
INT. HOTEL LOBBY – DAY
Opening: Emma checks into the hotel. (add in everyone’s description, etc.)
She meets Sam, the aged bellhop and Richard, the hotel manager.
She meets Olivia (a doctor) in the lounge
They see Lucas (former journalist) across the room.
(T.E.) Olivia, an extroverted friendly person, pursues a friendship with Emma, even though Emma rebuffs her repeatedly.
INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT
Inciting Incident: Emma has a nightmare of a fight with her ex. She dismisses it as stress-induced.
INT. HOTEL SITTING AREA – MORNING
Turning Point: Emma tells Olivia about her dream and she says, she had one too about a former patient. They don’t get into details.
Emma brushes it all off.
EXT. LAKE PATH – DAY
Lucas and Emma pass each other. He starts up a conversation. She talks for a bit. He shares some about his past, but Emma doesn’t want to really get into details about anything.
INT. HOTEL – DAY
Through intercom system, Richard reminds everyone about the calming music/water sounds they offer to listen to as they fall asleep. The music is also in the hallways and throughout the hotel.
INT. HOTEL – DAY
Sam makes cryptic comments to Emma. She ignores him.
Placeholder: Emma keeps hearing that guests are having nightmares and they seems really disturbed by them. This goes on for a few days. She observes their suffering. She suffers too from her own nightmares.
Placeholder: Guests ask why their cell phones don’t work and why only some internet sites work. Richard and/or the staff explain it’s part of the ambience. Meant to help them disconnect and relax.
INT. HOTEL – DAY
(T.E.) Emma realizes that the nightmares are based on real events in the people’s lives, which means the people are being targeted and manipulated.
(As the nightmares become more personalized and the stakes escalate, hints and clues start to emerge, suggesting that someone within the hotel is orchestrating the guests’ torment. These subtle clues create a sense of paranoia and mistrust among the guests.)
INT. HOTEL – NIGHT
The messages are getting more intense – freaking out the guests.
ACT 2A
INT. HOTEL – DAY
Placeholder: Seeing the guests suffer, compels Emma to investigate. Emma suspects the hotel staff are behind the nightmares, but she doesn’t know who or how.
INT. HOTEL DINING AREA – DAY
She sees a therapy dog wincing where gentle music is playing. That leads her to consider the music. (should this happen later?)
INT. HOTEL – DAY
Placeholder: Emma questions people, both staff and guests. She’s gauging who she can trust.
(T.E.) Emma will have to get personal with the guests in her investigation into the dreams. This will make her and them uncomfortable. It builds empathy in her.
INT. RICHARD’S OFFICE – NIGHT
Placeholder: we learn that Richard is the bad guy. Richard’s view of his actions as being for the guests’ own good are revealed. This could be through a direct confrontation with a guest. Maybe he reveals their secret to them. They choose blackmail to get out of it.
Richard ups the intensity on Emma’s dreams, as he suspects she suspects something.
Placeholder: example of how Richard values honesty and integrity, though we know it’s ironic.
INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT
(T.E.) Emma’s own nightmares cause her anguish and grief and self-reflection. She journals about it.
INT. HOTEL – DAY
Lucas does his own investigation. He tries to loop Emma in, but she doesn’t trust him. (need reason for this – maybe he said something suspicious or there was a misunderstanding)
INT. HOTEL – DAY
The guests are dealing with their nightmares in various ways.
INT. HOTEL – DAY
Placeholder: Emma talks to one of the guests. A woman in her 30s with husband and 3 kids. She’s gay and Richard is threatening to tell the husband if she doesn’t. They talk about how this came to be, etc.
INT. HOTEL – DAY
Olivia is spiraling.
INT. HOTEL – DAY
Richard is very empathetic to the suffering guests, offering free spa treatments.
Placeholder: Richard provides a family member with a plausible but false explanation for the death of their family member at the hotel, such as pre-existing health condition, accident, or sudden illness. He ensures that the official cause of death aligns with the fabricated story to minimize suspicion. Richard is “cozy” with the local police.
INT. RICHARD’S OFFICE – NIGHT
We see/hear him suggesting suicide as a way out of the situation (into the computer program where the messages come from), but we don’t know who that message is for.
(his desire for control and power is gradually revealed, in case anyone doubted his pure intentions)
INT. HOTEL ROOM – DAY
Midpoint Turning Point and T.E.: Olivia tells Emma the truth about killing a patient.
INT. HOTEL ROOM – NIGHT
Olivia kills herself by overdosing on pills.
INT. HOTEL ROOM – MORNING
Olivia’s husband can’t wake her up. He calls the hotel doctor. They can’t revive her.
Placeholder: News spreads. Richard is pleased. Emma is now 100% committed to seeing this through.
ACT 2B
EXT. HOTEL ROOM – DAY
(T.E.) Desperation forces Emma to trust Lucas. She’s at his room to discuss partnering up. They have to trust each other and share info. They have to tread carefully but also work quickly.
INT. HOTEL – DAY
Richard spies on Lucas and Emma.
INT. RICHARD’S OFFICE – NIGHT
He digs up more dirt on them. (or messes with them somehow)
INT. HOTEL ROOM – NIGHT
Placeholder: Emma and Lucas discover Richard is exploiting the guests and manipulating them via subliminal messaging in the music. (She knew it was the music a while ago. Maybe she figures out what program he’s using or something.) They have to figure out how to stop him.
INT. HOTEL LOBBY – DAY
Turning Point – Huge failure: Olivia’s husband bribes Richard to keep Olivia’s secret and let him leave with her body. (How does he know her secret? Does Richard tell him?)
Placeholder: need more back and forth with Emma/Lucas and Richard. Emma/Lucas makes some headway, which causes Richard to get more and more desperate.
INT. HOTEL ROOM – NIGHT
A different guest tries to kill their partner (after learning their secret), but only maims them. (do they hit them over the head?)
The hotel doctor treats them. Richard offers blackmail as a way out.
Placeholder: more guests face death or blackmail. Richard uses psychological games on Emma and Lucas.
Placeholder: Emma and Lucas learn about Richard’s dad’s double life. Ponder that influence on Richard.
INT. HOTEL – DAY
Emma and Lucas have to work fast and maybe they don’t have time to do all the investigating that they’d like (before taking action).
Emma and Lucas confront Richard directly with what proof they have, thinking it’s enough. They know he’s blackmailing and manipulating the guests and they know how, but don’t know still how to stop him. (Can they take over the messages? Is it something they have to hack into? Does Sam know how it works?)
Richard doesn’t care about their proof, because he has dirt on them too and now they’re lives are in danger (more so than before). (Maybe the dirt on Emma is someone else in her life. Or maybe it’s just that he’ll kill them.)
ACT 3
INT. HOTEL ROOM – DAY
Placeholder: Climax and (T.E.): Emma and Lucas have to rectify their past situations so that the dirt Richard has on them doesn’t apply anymore. [need to keep working on this].
INT. HOTEL – DAY
Placeholder: large set piece with life or death hanging in the balance.
Emma and Lucas figure out that Richard was blocking access to the full internet and has a cell phone jammer. They remove whatever was blocking the whole internet and disable the jammer.
INT. HOTEL – NIGHT
Placeholder: (T.E.) Emma calls the authorities for help and somehow physically restrains Richard (maybe kills him in self-defense or tricks him to go into a room she can lock, to wait for the police. Maybe he kills himself, because he views himself as a martyr all along.
EXT. HOTEL – NIGHT
Police arrive. Richard is hauled away (dead or alive).
EXT. LAKE PATH – DAY
Resolution: Lucas releases his guilt over his work thing. (does this happen in the climax? Or did he have to literally do something?)
The other guests are relieved and free, like people shaken from a stupor.
INT. HOTEL ROOM – DAY
Emma forgives herself and her ex and she cries for all she’s lost (in life and Olivia dying). She realizes how helpful it was to partner with Lucas on this mission, but not in a romantic way. Maybe she reconsiders her job or career because of this.
Emma reconnects with her dad and makes plans to see him. She calls her ex and apologizes for her part in their breakup. Maybe they consider giving it another go.
Emma says something about people can change, if and when they want to.
Sam, the bellhop, is free to retire.
INT. HOTEL SITTING AREA – DAY
(T.E.) The gratitude from the remaining guests for what Emma did overwhelms her in a good way.
EXT. HOTEL – DAY
The hotel is shut down and everyone leaves, but a haunting lingers in the air, as if what happened there won’t be forgotten.

Things to add about Emma: her old ways of blaming others, being estranged from her dad and stepmom, divorce, working too much, why is she obsessed with her job?, driven to succeed, believes in the good of others though she keeps them away and doesn’t trust easily, important job but worried about being laid off, burnout, relationships aren’t worth it, has never been able to depend on anyone else, she’s lonely even though she’s rarely alone, she can be loud and put others off. She wears earplugs or headphones to block out the messages.
General things: race against time, Emma’s investigation, Richard thwarting her, climax set piece, more on the supporting characters – especially Lucas, need to keep audience guessing as to what’s real or not, hotel setting increases claustrophobia, add symbolic images in decor, maybe they have to deal with their thing before they check out, and reminder that some are fears not secrets.