Lesson 9

[Jack Young]

Jack Young’s Setting Up The Future

What I learned doing this assignment is that we need to setup in our pilot what the viewer can hopefully expect to be answered or can look forward to if they decide to continue watching after the pilot episode. The ones below become so important to the story that the viewer can expect complete episodes dedicated to filling in the viewer as to how the big story came about.

 Ocean of souls: We are exposed to the “Ocean of Souls” in the teaser that leads into the pilot episode. The Ocean of Souls is a recurring reality that souls find themselves while believing they have landed in Heaven, the Ocean of Souls in reality is just a landing pad/holding tank that souls are held before they are plucked out and put into a worker skin.

 Sacred stone seal: We are exposed to the stone sacred seals in the teaser leading into the pilot episode. The Sacred Seals are six seals found on the planet of seals where all of the souls are bound for. Michael will discover the seals in future episodes and will come to understand that the seals being removed is the real threat to mankind.

 Sorcerer: The Sorcerer is revealed initially in the teaser when Michael gets a peek into an ancient and evil world of a sorcerer. The Sorcerer’s story and origin appears in future episodes and becomes a major player in the kingdom of Cronus.

 No-birth riots: We are exposed to no-birth riots in the pilot in the course of Michael’s life. The no-birth riots reflect the chaos being caused by the stream stealing souls and are recurring throughout the series.

 Government experimenting: We are exposed to this concept in the pilot via a news broadcast reflecting the role of the government during the no-birth epidemic. We will see more involvement of the government in research and experimentation to solve the crisis and when they finally involve homeland security and send their own team into the Stream.

 Michael has terminal brain cancer: Michael’s brain cancer is discovered in later episodes but is hinted at when he continually fights very severe headaches in the pilot episode. It will become a contributing factor in his decision to die and enter the stream in later episodes.

 The Professor takes Michael and Diane into the astral plane: This is a major turning event where the audience is introduced to the potential cause of the no-birth epidemic. The Stream will play a major role in not only season one but will play a role for seasons to follow.

 Warrant for Michael’s arrest: Michael’s crime of insider training will complicate matters of his travel into the stream when the FBI conducts a manhunt for Michael at the very same time that his wife and the professor are busy trying to keep his body at the proper temperature that will hopefully allow his return to his body after his mission is complete.

 Michael’s relationship with his brother; Michael’s relationship with the brother who committed suicide begins in the pilot with Michael’s drowning and appears in later episodes as Michael relives his experiences (good and bad) of his life with his brother. Michael will also be reunited with his brother in the other world in future episodes.

[Madeleine Vessel]

Madeleine Vessel’s Setting Up The Future

What I learned doing this assignment is

List of Events/Characters Reveals/Under the surface info that COULD BE SET UP IN THE PILOT.

· Villain: Vitaly Burundukov (Oligarch; Art Thief)

· Villain: Grigoriy Petrov (FSB)

· Sophie’s mother Yelena Tebieva

· Wealthy Australian Logan Johnson (He’ll show up later in the first series as the owner of an old Russian estate called

· Sophie’s best friend, Olivia.

· Art thieves Aleksei Lukin and Kazimir Nasonov.

· Iosif Emin, Art thief

· Lucy, Bill’s daughter.

· Aimée La Roux, Vitaly’s girlfriend.

· San Francisco Police Detective David Sharp

· Koshechka, Zhora’s and Sophie’s cat.

· A key to a unit at Ocean Beach Self Storage

· The fact that Bill is a widower.

· On the back of the Aivazovsky painting is written, Rescue at Sea for Demyan Sazanov.

· Carved into the frame of the Aivazovsky are the words, Immortal Movement. This will later show up as the name of a resistance group trying to keep Russia’s art from being sold out of the country.

I ended up incorporating all set-ups and introductions in the pilot except mentioning that Bill is a widower.

OUTLINE VERSION 6 with set-ups and introductions incorporated

Opening

Ivan Aivazovsky on a Russian Navy Ship of the Line watching a rescue at sea.

Act 1

Essence: Opens with (S) cleaning an Ivan Aivazovsky painting that belongs to Falisa, her father’s fiancée. (S) is an art history professor and painter, who cleans paintings on the side.

Surface: Ivan is a passenger on a Russian Ship of The Line (1846), who witnesses a dramatic rescue of passengers from a sinking sailing ship.

Layer beneath: The painting Sophie is cleaning depicts the rescue at sea seen by Ivan.

How revealed: Underneath dirt and cracked varnish, the painting is signed by Ivan Aivazovsky, the official painter of the Imperial Russian Navy and the greatest seascape painter of all time.

Main Mystery: Was the painting S is cleaning painted by Ivan Aivazovsky?

Sub-Mysteries:

· Who is Ivan Aivazovsky?

· Who is Pasha?

· How did he come to have four Old Russian Masters?

· What other secrets did Pasha die with?

Main Open Loop: Will the Ivan Aivazovsky painting be safe in Sophie’s faculty office?

Sub-Open Loops

· What is Zhora’s relationship with Falisa?

· Why does Sophie trust no one?

· Who is Olivia Carr?

· What’s Sophie’s role in the Russian Art Exhibition?

Introduce Koshechka, Zhora’s and Sophie’s cat. Koshechka will show up later when the art thieves break into Zhora’s and Sophie’s apartment.

Set up Demyan Sazanov by showing this on the back of the Aivazovsky painting, Rescue at Sea for Demyan Sazanov. Later, Sophie will determine the painting was stolen from Demyan’s estate.

Set up: Carved into the frame of the Aivazovsky are the words, Immortal Movement. This will later show up as the name of a resistance group trying to keep Russia’s art from being sold out of the country.

Introduce: Sophie’s best friend, Olivia, who will later betray Sophie for the love of Vitaly.

Act 2

Essence: Sophie’s scholarship is the basis for the Russian Art Exhibition. Private donors around the world, such as Vitaly Burundukov and Logan Johnson, are making the exhibition possible.

Intrigue: At a lunch meeting with Olivia, when Sophie learns that Russian dignitaries from the consulate have been invited to the Russian Art Exhibition reception makes Sophie recoil.

Extreme Consequences: Sophie will have to be gracious to Russian dignitaries who are likely also FSB and who might recognize her as her mother’s daughter. She and her mother, Yalena, look so similar.

Surface: Sophie is the scholar behind the Russian Art Exhibition.

Layer Beneath: Sophie doesn’t want her major achievements and photograph published?

How Revealed: To satisfy Olivia, Sophie says, “Less is more.”

How Revealed: When we learn that Sophie and Zhora are in the U. S. Witness Protection Program.

Main Mystery: Who are Aleksei and Kazimir, the Russian shooters?

Sub-Mysteries:

· How did the shooters gain access to Falisa’s house?

· Why did they enter armed?

· What was the shooters motive for shooting Zhora and Falisa?

· Is Iosif Emin the calling the shots in the art thefts?

Main Open Loop: How did the Russian shooters know about Falisa’s paintings?

Sub-Open Loops:

· How did the shooters know there should be four paintings when there are only three?

· How far will they go to get their hands on the fourth painting?

Midpoint: Zhora and Falisa are shot in front of Falisa’s house.

Introduce wealthy Australian Logan Johnson (He’ll show up later in the first series as the owner of the old Russian estate from which Rescue at Sea was stolen.

Introduce the villain, Vitaly Burundukov (Oligarch; Art Thief)

Introduce the villain, Grigoriy Petrov (FSB)

Introduce: – Aleksei Lukin and Kazimir Nasonov, the Russian shooters who wounded Zhora and killed Falisa. They will show up later as the art thieves that break into Zhora’s and Sophie’s apartment.

Introduce: Iosif Emin, Art thief

Introduce: Lucy, Bill’s daughter.

Introduce: Aimée La Roux, Vitaly’s girlfriend.

Act 3

Essence: The art thieves need all four paintings. They believe Zhora has the fourth in his possession.

Intrigue: Iosef tells Aleksei and Kazimir to break into Zhora’s apartment and find the painting without any confronting or killing anyone else.

Surface: On the surface, Iosef is calling the shots.

Layer Beneath: Vitaly Burundukov is really the top dog.

Intrigue: Zhora tells San Francisco Police Department Detective Sergeant Dave Sharp he thinks the shooters are enemies from his past.

Secret: Zhora has been hiding the fact that he’s not just a Russian language translator, but he is also working as an FBI informant.

Betrayal: Zhora’s working with the FBI without her knowing is a betrayal. Sophie can’t help wondering about what else he’s been up to that might have exposed them to FSB.

Undeserved misfortune: Sophie doesn’t deserve the pain Zhora’s lie is causing her.

Zhora hurts Sophie whom he loves. It’s important to Zhora to work against the Russians no matter the consequences.

(S) meets (B) in (Z’s) hospital room. She learns that Bill is an FBI Agent and that (Z) is his informant. It shocks (S) to realize that (Z) hasn’t been living by the rules of witness protection.

Surface: Professor Sophie Wolf is a modest academic, whose scholarship informs the Russian Art Exhibit entitled, Russian Master Paintings, 1870-1925, and whose credits are minimal.

Layer beneath: Sophie does not advertise her credentials because she is trying to avoid being identified by Russia’s FSB.

How revealed: Sophie’s U. S. Witness Protection Status is revealed when she visits Zhora in the hospital and meets FBI Agent Bill Hillman, who tells her Zhora thinks the shooters were enemies from his past.

Turning Point: (S Turning Point 1) Sophie learns that (Z) believes the shooters were FSB. The ramifications of this are too terrible for (S) to contemplate. Either, they will be on the run from FSB, or they will be forced to reenter witness protection under new names and occupations.

Crucible: Sophie’s and Zhora’s crucible is the U. S. Witness Protection Program.

(B) promises to take care of (Z) and (S).

Main Mystery: Who are the Russian Shooters? Are they FSB? Are they art thieves? Or are they both?

Sub-Mysteries

· If the shooters are FSB, how did they find out Zhora’s and Sophie’s true identities?

· If the shooters are FSB, will Zhora and Sophie have to assume new identities and start over their lives again?

Main Open Loop: If the shooters are FSB, will Zhora and Sophie have to assume new identities and start over their lives again?

Sub-Open Loops:

· Will the shooters try to kill Zhora in the hospital?

· Will the shooters try to kill Sophie?

· Are the Russian shooters enemies from Zhora’s FSB past?

· If the shooters are FSB, will they stage another attack on Zhora and Sophie?

· Will Zhora and Sophie need to start over in the U. S. Witness Protection Program?

Introduce: San Francisco Police Detective David Sharp. Later, he will take over the art theft investigation.

Act 4

Essence: The art thieves enter Zhora’s and Sophie’s apartment to find the missing painting.

Intrigue: Russian thieves break into Zhora’s and Sophie’s apartment and turn off the burglar alarm.

Intrigue: They search the house but do not find the painting. Sophie comes home while the thieves still are in the apartment.

Intrigue: Sophie enters front door of her apartment and finds the burglar alarm off.

(S Midpoint) (S) returns home to find the alarm off. There’s an intruder in the house. She calls (B), but he doesn’t pick up. She investigates on her own and comes face-to-face with one of the intruders, who get away down the back stairs.

Exposed: Sophie coming face-to-face with one of the intruders exposes her to him and him to her. It must be terrifying for both of them. Maybe, Aleksei can become a more fleshed out person, one who suffers for Sophie and with her.

Betrayal: Bill, who has promised to protect Sophie, doesn’t answer his phone when she calls him for help.

Intrigue: Sophie collides with one of the intruders. Before she flees, his face is burned into her memory.

Turning Point: Sophie falls down the stairs and lands on Bill, who is arriving at the apartment.

Emotional Dilemma: Will Sophie trust Bill who is late showing up?

(S and B Turning Point) (B) and (S) find nothing in her apartment that would draw FSB. They do find that the intruders seem very interested in (S’s) paintings. This prompts (S) to think the Russians might be art thieves, not Russians.

(B) finds nothing that would draw FSB, but he does notice that the Russian intruders seemed very interested in (S’s) paintings.

Intrigue: Sophie and Bill search her apartment for what the Russians were after.

Intrigue: The only things they seemed interested in are Sophie’s paintings.

Intrigue: Sophie remembers she’s been cleaning one of Falisa’s paintings, likely an Old Russian Master.

Intrigue: Sophie tells Bill she thinks the Russians were art thieves, not FSB operatives.

Main Mystery: Will the Russians kill Sophie?

Sub-mysteries:

· Will the Russians find the missing fourth painting?

· Will Sophie run into the thieves?

· Will the thieves kill Sophie?

· Will Bill arrive in time to save Sophie?

· Why didn’t the intruder shoot Sophie?

· What were the intruders looking for?

· Why were the intruders interested in Sophie’s paintings?

· Were the intruders FSB or something else entirely?

Main Open Loop: The Russians don’t find the painting in Zhora’s and Sophie’s apartment. Will they keep looking for it?

Sub-Open Loops:

· Where will the Russians look next for the missing fourth painting?

· Will the Russian intruders return to Sophie’s and Zhora’s apartment?

· Is it safe for Sophie to stay in her apartment?

· Will the intruders return?

· Can Bill really be trusted to keep Sophie safe?

· Will the intruders turn out to be FSB or art thieves?

Act 5

Essence: (B) and (S) form an alliance to find out the real reason the Russians shot (Z) and Falisa. They determine the shooters were art thieves, not FSB. Bill takes Sophie with him to Falisa’s house to verify whether or not her Old Russian Masters have been stolen.

(S) reveals that she has been cleaning one of Falisa’s paintings in her faculty office and that the painting may well be an Old Russian Master. I could be that the Russians were after that painting.

Surface: Vitaly Burundukov is a wealthy Russian businessman and donor to Sophie’s Russian Art Exhibit.

Layer beneath: Vitaly Burundukov is the art thief bent on obtaining Falisa’s paintings.

How revealed: At the end of season 1, Sophie catches Vitaly trying to sell stolen Old Russian Masters worth millions.

(S and B midpoint) (S) and (B) find all Falisa’s paintings gone. The Russians are determined art thieves, not FSB.

Now, the pressure is on (B) to identify the Russians, so (S) and (Z) will not attract public attention and, by extension, FSB attention.

Surface: Zhora and Falisa are shot by Russians. Zhora thinks they are enemies from his FSB past.

Layer beneath: The Russians are really art thieves at Falisa’s house to steal her Old Russian Master.

How revealed: At night, Sophie and Bill sneak behind the crime scene tape at Falisa’s house and verify that her Old Russian Masters are gone.

Intrigue: Sophie and Bill sneak into Falisa’s cordoned off house and find her paintings missing.

Turning Point: All Falisa’s paintings are gone. The Russian shooters are art thieves, not FSB operatives.

Main Mystery: Are the Russians FSB, or are they art thieves.

Sub-Mysteries:

· How do the art thieves know where Zhora lives?

· How much does the art thief know about Sophie?

· Who’s pulling the art thieves’ strings?

Main Open Loop: Who is behind the theft of Falisa’s paintings?

Sub-Open Loops

· What will the art thief do with Falisa’s paintings?

· Will he come after Sophie to find the missing painting?

Introduce: Sophie’s mother Yelena Tebieva, whom Sophie remarkably resembles.

Set up: A key to a unit at Ocean Beach Self Storage, where Bill and Sophie will find an important diary in the next episode.

[Eric Humble]

Eric Humble’s Setting Up the Future!

What I learned doing this assignment is: how adding just a few setups can give even the pilot a sense that the story will be much broader. I was surprised by how much I was able to set up simply, including a subtle setup for what is now set to be the fifth season. I feel like I’ve added a future for the pilot and my entire show just by baking in a few simple setups.

Setups:

Catherine is an immortal.

Her delusion is an event from the seventeenth century, in England – a duel.

Catherine used to be the cabal’s head assassin.

She disarms the gunman before the police shoot him – damages the firing pin.

Jude is cowardly when it comes to physical violence… but he will become a fighter.

He’s called out on why he didn’t tackle the gunman. He admits he froze… and

incurs a look of disdain from the police.

Catherine and the Cabal Leader had a sexual history… until he betrayed her.

Dres is an immortal.

She takes him into a courtyard he didn’t know was here – and he knows this

neighborhood. She details the history of the area – before these buildings

blocked the light, this was a garden. He asks if she’s a historian – to which she

pulls a knife.

Dres’s mother was killed and she wants revenge.

Mystery – whose grave did he visit?

The mission: to retrieve something from it that will help dispose of the body – a

key to the chemical processing plant where they can get the barrels to dissolve

him in acid.

The cabal has existed throughout history to hunt and kill the immortals before they can cure all diseases.

Cover up: it doesn’t meet in a sinister place, but everyone wears masks. Marks

is fed up and about to remove his mask when the Leader cautions him: this

tradition is far older than cybersecurity – are you sure you want to be the first to

violate it?

The detective is going to catch Jude.

Already there.

Jude will establish a colony in Antarctica to prevent a pandemic.

While examining the ancient remains he discovers evidence it froze – comments

that they still contain disease with cold. The society this guy belonged to

understood a lot about modern science.

Jude takes a DNA sample from the sniper.

Jude asks the sniper why they want to stifle the cure for cancer. He sneers as

he’s dying: You are so naive.

[George Petersen]

George Petersen – SETTING UP THE FUTURE

What I learned doing this assignment is that knowing the future isn’t all that easy.

Big Picture Open Loops/Setups found in the outline:

Will Ferrandini be able to integrate the gangs with the KGC and pull the assassination plot together?

Will Kate be discovered for being a spy and hung on Pratt Street?

Will Pinkerton be able to find physical evidence to prove the existence of the plot to Lincoln’s handlers?

Will Lincoln ever take the existence of a plot to assassinate him seriously?

How will the complicated relationship between Kate and Ferrandini end?

Will Kate make it as a Union spy and, if so, will Kate and Pinkerton learn to work together? Or will they always be in conflict over how best to do things?