Module 2 -Lesson 6: Build In The Genre Conventions

[Carole Avila]

Carole Avila – Genre Conventions

My vision: My writing skills are in demand by the writing industry, because I provide exceptionally crafted, well-loved and inspirational stories enjoyed by all ages that compel professionals to produce my work onscreen and in print.

What I learned doing this assignment is how the elements of genre conventions are important to the success of a script.

• Title: Eve’s Amulet
• Concept: The story of Mandy, a young and irresponsible woman, who travels back in time to 1845 and assumes the identity of ranch owner, Carmena, and must take on her many responsibilities. She is blackmailed into selling stolen guns to a notorious dictator so he can win the Mexican War against the United States and permanently keep the southern states as Mexican territories. The outlaw dictator is holding the woman’s time travel device for ransom (which she needs to return to her own time.) But if she sells him the guns, he may win the Mexican war and doing so will change the course of American history.
• Genre: Action/Romance

PURPOSE: To excite the audience with an adrenaline stirring, fast-paced big event story.
DEMAND FOR ACTION: Carmena is blackmailed into selling stolen guns to a notorious dictator to get back her stolen time travel device, an ancient amulet.
MISSION: Carmena leads her men in stealing weapons from military storehouse.
ESCALATING ACTION: The captain guarding the storehouse is in love with Carmena and catches her after she flees from the scene with some of her men.
HERO: Carmena has to put her life at risk to save her men.
ANTAGONISTS: 1.) A corrupt lieutenant, stealing horses from Carmena’s ranch for the army but is really selling them for his own profit and is financially hurting her ranch and 2.) the Mexican dictator who steals Carmena’s amulet and wants guns for a coup that may change the course of history.

Act 1:
• Opening: A crooked army lieutenant wants to take livestock from rancher, Carmena Luebber, supposedly for the army, but he really uses the livestock for his own gain. Carmena fights him but his men disarm her, and the lieutenant injures her.
• Inciting Incident: Mandy finds a time travel amulet and is swept back in time, to Texas, 1845. Mandy, now as Carmena, sees through Carmena’s memories. She saw the attack by the lieutenant and how another man in uniform saves her, who turns out to be the captain. Mandy observes things that need changing on the ranch. Realizing she’s the boss, she learns to must make uncomfortable decisions, relying on the ranch manager, Carlos, to help her. Eventually, she decides to stop letting Carlos sway her decisions. She learns that Carlos is in love with her, but the real Carmena doesn’t feel the same and is interested in the captain who saved her from the lieutenant.
• Turning Point: Mandy learns that her employees sometime act as gunrunners. She is determined to find a way back to her own time, but first she feels compelled to find another way to make the ranch sustainable.
Act 2:
• New plan: Mandy makes decisions in the best interest of the employees and the ranch. She hires a new housekeeper in hopes that she’ll serve as a romantic interest for Carlos. She learns of a local woman reputed to be a witch who might be able to help Mandy return to her own time.
• Plan in action: She treats her employees more generously, hires more employees to lighten the work load and uses her knowledge of the future to make stock investments that will positively financially impact the ranch. By now, she has been in contact with the captain several times and is falling in love. She learns the new housekeeper is the lieutenant’s ex-wife.
• Midpoint Turning Point: Carlos confronts the new Carmena, and Mandy tells him she’s from the future, astounded that he believes her. Mandy visits the old woman and learns she has been chosen for a specific reason to time-travel. The old woman told Carlos that a new woman from the future would take Carmena’s place. After leaving the old woman, she comes across an injured man on her property, who is a notorious Mexican dictator. He’s the father of Mandy’s cook and housekeeper. She nurses him back to health out of obligation but wants nothing more to do with him when he leaves.
Act 3:
• Rethink everything: Mandy’s time travel device is missing. She learns the dictator has stolen it and wants guns in exchange. He wants to start a coup in Mexico.
• New plan: Mandy leads her employees on a mission to steal guns from the U. S. Army; the location of the weapons is under the command of the army captain she’s fallen in love with.
• Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift: The mission goes wrong and one of her men is killed in the ambush. The dictator gets his guns and Carmena gets her time travel device. She is caught by the captain and knocks him out, anxious to get back to her ranch. Although she has her device, she feels obligated to stay and make sure the captain is alright and that the ranch will be taken care of.
Act 4:
• Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict: The drunk lieutenant goes to the ranch to get back his wife, and shoots Carlos in the leg. The ex-wife shoots and kills her ex-husband. After waiting it out, Carmena and her employees learn that they were not identified in the ambush. They find the captain, who has been court marshalled, drunk and passed out in town. Her men bring him to the ranch, Mandy helps him regain his stability after being court marshalled. They fall in love with each other. She doesn’t want to return home, but the old woman warned her if she doesn’t, Carmena may change the course of history.

Resolution: Mandy gets back her time travel device. She lets go of the captain, says good-bye to Carlos and returns to her own time. The amulet is transferred to her cousin, who disappears in a mist.

[Susan]

I posted responses for both Carole and Michael on Lesson 1.

[Susan]

My Assignment Module 2 Lesson 6 Build In Genre

My Vision: I am an amazing writer who has fun every day, is recognized by the industry for my ability to take audiences who love me through surprising experiences, and who has multiple successful movies produced while being highly paid.

What I learned from doing this assignment is:

I already put in a lot of the Thriller conventions while doing the initial 4-Act structure, but there is so much more to add, I’ve barely skimmed the surface.

Like you saw in the example above, build the genre conventions into your 4-Act structure.

Start this assignment by empowering yourself using our State-To-Activity empowerment process.

State: I’m completely confident…

Activity: …building genre conventions into my structure.

Tell us the following:

Title: Circus Of Spies

Concept: A Russian Trapeze Artist Spy must decide if she should trust an American Sleeper Agent whose country’s exploits magnify the ever increasing existential threat to her people.

Genre: Spy Thriller

Make a list of the conventions for your chosen genre, like this:

CONVENTIONS OF THRILLERS

PURPOSE: To thrill your audience with high stakes, plot twists, and
suspense that never lets up until the adrenalin packed climax.

LIFE AND DEATH SITUATIONS. They face danger at every step – either
physically, emotionally, or mentally. The hero needs to either be in danger
or there is the implication of future danger.

MYSTERY/INTRIGUE/SUSPENSE: There's a mystery that must be solved in
order to survive. Intrigue is the underhanded and covert Villain’s plan.
Suspense comes from the danger the Hero faces.

HERO: Unknowing, unwitting, but resourceful hero

VILLAIN: Dangerous, devious, and unrelenting. Committed to destroy
anyone who gets in their way.

MAIN EMOTIONS: Suspense, intrigue, mystery, tension, anticipation,
uncertainty, and surprise.

Brainstorm ways to deliver the conventions more effectively and build those parts into your 4-Act Structure.

Open with high stakes and suspense. BRENDI is in danger on the Trapeze and from FILIPP.

Suspense plot twists as her Trapeze partner turns her into the Russian police.

Plot twist as he is found out to be an undercover Ukrainian agent.

Suspense and Plot twist and reveal as he is meeting with his handler who is another embedded Ukrainian terrorist agent previously unknown to the FSO.

Even with a net, falling from the Trapeze incorrectly or missing the net could be life ending.

Questioning FILIPP is suspenseful, and he keeps telling her she is the only woman he has ever loved, but the Russians murdered his brother.

BRENDI is tasked with killing FILIPP, but BRENDI disobeys she believes she can get more information out of FILIPP.

Meeting her FSO partner and following Filipp’s HANDLER after their meeting is suspenseful and filled with danger for BRENDI and her FSO partner.

FSO partner gets shot and BRENDI has to quickly disappear, it is also a plot twist since she is now alone. She calls for backup to continue to monitor Filipp’s HANDLER.

Going back to question FILIPP again and finding the Circus clown there interrogating him and trying to untie him is a plot twist and suspenseful and her life is in danger as well.

Mystery who is the HANDLER?, why is the Circus clown with Filipp?, Who is behind the terrorist plan and what exactly is it? How can it be stopped?

Fast car race to get to the place where the Monstr’s underling is.

List your structure from Lesson 6 along with the improvements that come from the Genre Conventions, like I did above.

Act 1:

Opening:

BRENDI and her Trapeze partner are at the Russian Circus. He almost drops her into the net during the performance (which could still be life ending if she falls incorrectly or misses the net altogether) – he is trying to start a big fight with her so he can disappear. It is only due to her strength and agility that she manages to stay up and then finishes this shortened performance. She tells the ringmaster Filipp must have injured his arm and the doctor should take a look at it. Filipp overhears this and worried, tells the Ringmaster he is fine, no doctor. While back in their dressing room fighting about Filipp’s weird behavior lately, the Russian police show up and BRENDI is arrested. Fillip has made up lies about her, he is just trying to get rid of her so he can go to a meeting with his Ukrainian handler without anyone knowing and she has been too nosey lately about his many disappearances from their apartment. BRENDI is in danger.

Inciting Incident:

BRENDI is suspicious of what happened with Filipp, and is he really an imbedded spy in the Circus. She watches from the Police car as Filipp runs from the circus in his costume in the snow and they follow him to the meeting. Using technology they listen to his conversation which turns out to be a previously unknown plan to destroy Russia. REVEAL: BRENDI realizes Filipp is a Ukrainian undercover spy.

Turning Point:

BRENDI calls her handler from the car during the meeting to let him know there is a plan to destroy Russia by the Ukrainians, he contacts his superiors and BRENDI is put on the case all in a matter of minutes. She must now use her newly acquired intelligence training to get to the bottom of it. She is told to follow Filipp’s handler. Others are watching Filipp to see what he will do next. She does but he goes home and not to another meeting. At least she now knows where he lives. She gets more agents to watch and follow him.

Act 2:

New plan:

Suspense, plot twist BRENDI is tasked with killing FILIPP, but BRENDI disobeys she believes she can get more information out of FILIPP. BRENDI drugs and kidnaps Filipp and questions him in a secluded underground lair. When he awakes he tries to get his weapon and he tries to get free. He doesn’t know much, except who his handler is and that the top guy is out to destroy Russia which he is delirious about, he is out for revenge for the death of his brother in the Ukraine/Russia war. BRENDI uses scary techniques (she pulls out hairs from his mustache, etc.) to get information out of FILIPP. He keeps telling BRENDI she is the only woman he has ever loved. She should let him go. She laughs and spits on him.

Plan in action:

BRENDI gets news on Filipp’s handler and she and a comrade continue to follow and listen to Filipp’s handler. She now has another connection, but it is still not the main perpetrator. She calls in for backup to spy on the next link in the chain. There is a shootout outside the building and her spy partner is shot, so she is now alone. She waits for back up and then rushes back to where she is holding Filipp. Meeting her FSO partner and following Filipp’s HANDLER after their meeting is suspenseful and filled with danger for BRENDI and her FSO partner. Plot twist, Suspense, Life and Death: FSO partner gets shot and BRENDI has to quickly disappear, it is also a plot twist since she is now alone. She calls for backup to continue to monitor Filipp’s HANDLER.

Midpoint Turning Point:

REVEAL to BRENDI’s state of mind. When BRENDI arrives back to where Filipp is being held, she is incredibly shaken by the death of her colleague. Mystery, suspense, plot twist: Another man is in the room questioning Filipp and trying to untie him. DANGER! Suspense! She pulls her weapon on him. He turns around slowly. He is one of the Clowns from the Circus – REVEAL: an American who was sent to interfere with Russia stopping the terror attack. The American CIA has embedded him. She waits to shoot. What are you doing here? He explains he had no idea of the existential threat to Russia, the US just thought it was a simple terror attack – like blowing up the President’s car (BRENDI horrified another character reveal… is that a small thing?). CHAZ is supposed to let Filipp go though. BRENDI is supposed to kill Filipp. Suspense: She will not let Filipp go – will there be a fight? A shootout? CHAZ must accept he cannot free FIlipp. CHAZ offers to help BRENDI even though it goes against his countries wishes.

REVEAL, BRENDI wants to know why CHAZ is helping her? CHAZ cannot abide the death millions of innocent people. He has Russian ancestry and complicated feelings about Russia. They leave Filipp there. He can be put on trial later. SUSPENSE, MYSTERY: BRENDI doesn’t know if she can trust the American or if he will work against her and the innocent Russian people.

Act 3:

Rethink everything:

Every person they find is only a link in the chain. The true perpetrator is hidden behind a wall of deception. How do they find out exactly what he is up to and who he is to put him out of action and stop the existential threat? They are both frustrated and spill their guts to each other which leads to an almost sexual encounter which both stop in time deciding it would interfere with the mission.

New plan:

They follow the next person in the chain. He hides in a warehouse and has a phone conversation with his handler who is in touch with the main guy in which they discuss blowing up a major city in Russia with a nuclear weapon. BRENDI and CHAZ triangulate the calls and find the right hand man to the main perpetrator, but he was given his walking orders – he is no longer needed. He smashes his phone BRENDI has comrades follow the warehouse guy anyway.

Fast car race to get to the place where the Ukrainian agent is. She and CHAZ rush by vehicle high speed, dodging traffic as they go causing accidents and almost killing pedestrians, to the spot where the handler is supposed to be.

Turning Point: Huge failure / Major shift:

When they arrive it is in the middle of a busy street with many restaurants and all kinds of stores and hundreds of people. They cannot locate the underling of the Monstr who is the next in line guy no matter how much they try.

Then suddenly the phone they were zoomed in on is active again. They follow the Ukrainian spy to his meeting with the main perpetrator – the Monstr.

Act 4:

Climax/Ultimate expression of the conflict:

BRENDI and CHAZ find the Monstr, figure out his complete plan, fight him and his henchmen, and stop the nuclear devastation just in time.

Resolution:

BRENDI is a top agent. She has prevented the extermination of millions of innocent Russian lives which would have also destroyed Russia as a country. She receives Russia’s highest honors (privately/secretly of course).

She is embedded in Cirque du Soleil in the US to continue to work with Chaz Kofman who will work at one of the hotels, to search out and destroy Chinese spies who are working to destroy both Russia and the United States.

(Note to self: Possible … another story? and go to banquets etc. as much valued performers. Are the Chinese spies in league with the Mafia in Las Vegas? What about the Russian Mafia in NYC? – where else have they settled?)

ANOTHER NOTE TO SELF! Set up a deep subtext need for BRENDI and the other main characters that begins to get fulfilled during the film and is finally fulfilled at the end!

• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by  Susan McClaryu. Reason: formatting