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[PS80] BOB SMITH’S CHARACTER STRUCTURE
“What I learned doing this assignment is …? That character structure is the key to developing a character-driven story for the screen.
1. LIST THE CONCEPT:
Working Title: “’Moths Around a Flame:’ The Making of ‘The Blue Angel.’”
Amid the ‘decadence’ of Weimar Berlin, prominent film director Josef von Sternberg’s grooming of Marlene Dietrich for stardom becomes an affair that parallels the story of the erotic thriller they are filming (“The Blue Angel”) in which a professor’s infatuation with a cabaret showgirl leads to his ruin.
2. LIST THE CHARACTER STRUCTURE I CHOOSE FOR MY STORY:
Dramatic Triangle.
2. CHARACTERS IN ONE SENTENCE:
JOSEF von STERNBERG is a prominent film director whose obsessive enamorment of his discovery (then-unknown Marlene Dietrich) not only strains his marriage but alienates his long-time partner, the star of “The Blue Angel,” Emil Janning, an Oscar Winner.
MARLENE DIETRICH is the unknown actress that von Sternberg casts in the role of the cabaret showgirl (Lola Lola) who is the love interest of Professor Rath (Jannings), in the movie.
EMIL JANNINGS is the Oscar-winning actor cast in the role of Professor Rath in “The Blue Angel” who is stewing in resentment that even though he is the star of the film he has been upstaged by Dietrich at the direction of his long-time friend and partner, von Sternberg.
3. IN ONE OR TWO PARAGRAPHS, TELL US HOW YOU SEE THE CHARACTER STRUCTURE PLAYING OUT THE STORY.
In 1945, in the rubble of Berlin, EMIL JANNINGS, waving his Oscar at US Army soldiers, shouts, “Don’t shoot! I have won an Oscar.” He is taken into custody, and is recognized as the first actor to win Best Actor for his role in “The Last Command” under the direction of his friend and creative partner Josef von Sternberg. He is asked what happened to him that he faded from view and he tells the story, of how he had no future in American “talkies” because he had a German accent. So he returned to Germany with his friend von Sternberg to film Germany’s first “talkie” in German and English, namely, “The Blue Angel,” of which he was the star. (One soldier says, “I only remember Marlene Dietrich.” Jannings: “You mean, you only remember her legs!” The story unfolds from there.
It’s 1929, VON STERNBERG casts his friend, EMIL JANNINGS in the lead role in his next film, “The Blue Angel” as the professor whose infatuation with a cabaret showgirl leads to his ruin. However, against the wishes of studio executives and Jannings, von Sternberg discovers an unknown that he casts (MARLENE DIETRICH), as the professor’s showgirl love interest (Lola Lola). Von Sternberg’s grooming her for stardom grows into an affair and a creative partnership that rivals the von Sternberg-Jannings partnership which only angers Jannings, as he feels dethroned even though he is still the star of the film. Dietrich introduces von Sternberg to the sexual revolution taking place in the Blue Angel-type cabaret culture of Berlin. She introduces him to gay rights advocate Dr. MAGNUS HIRSCHFELD (“the Einstein of Sex”) at a Cabaret and in a scene later to be recreated in the von Sternberg-Dietrich film ‘Morocco” Dietrich kisses another woman. Von Sternberg finds Dietrich’s bi-sexuality attractive. Dietrich buys champagne for everyone in the cabaret to celebrate her being cast as Lola Lola. The cabaret is then vandalized by demonstrating Nazis in the street. Jannings anger at von Sternberg and Dietrich negatively impacts the production and the relations of Jannings with von Sternberg and Dietrich. Jannings complains to the pro-Nazi UFA studio chief (ALFRED HUGENBERG) who counsels Jannings to finish the film, then, stay in Germany where he will thrive as an actor under Nazi rule. After “The Blue Angel” wraps, Von Sternberg returns to Hollywood with Dietrich and they collaborate on several major acclaimed motion pictures. Dietrich refuses to return to Nazi Germany and becomes an American citizen while Jannings ends up a darling of the Nazis but then, like the Professor he portrayed in “The Blue Angel,” he is a ruined man facing de-nazification and disgrace. He would never act again..
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Super interesting story! I didn’t know any of that.
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For Erin Danly
So glad that you liked my Character Structure submission. I appreciate the encouragement and support.
Bob
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Erin’s Character Structure
What I learned doing today’s assignment is: Genre is strongly tied to character structure. It’s hard to commit to ideas so it’s very helpful to know that we can change anything we don’t like along the way. Also, I learned that A-list actors really like to be #1 and don’t want to share the limelight with others 😛
1. Concept: An uptight cop travels back in time to convince a fun-loving version of himself – who also travelled back in time – to return to his mission and prevent WW3
2. Character structure: #2, Buddy movie
3. Lead characters:
Tom1 is a cop from the future who travels back in time to 2025 to convince Tom2 to return to his mission to prevent WW3
Tom2 is another version of Tom1, who has also traveled back in time to 2025, and who is playing hooky in the past instead of saving the world
Cornelius is the eccentric billionaire entrepreneur with a plan to dominate space whom Tom2 and Tom1 must stop
4. In this buddy cop movie, the two characters at odds with each other are the same person – two cops sent back in time from the future, but a few years apart. (Tom2 was sent back in time to complete a mission and when that wasn’t happening, Tom1, who is 3 years younger than Tom2, was sent back to find him and get him back on track.) Tom1, our main protagonist, must convince the other version of himself to stop playing around and get back to his mission, which is to prevent billionaire entrepreneur Cornelius from dominating space and inadvertently setting up the conditions that lead to WW3 and devastating nuclear war in the future. Tom1 is simultaneously battling against Tom2 and Cornelius.
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Hi, Erin!
I enjoyed your submission also. It’s got action and psychological depth. We are all walking around with different forms of ourselves. People even speak that way, “So today are you stable self, funny-self, or depressed-self?
It has action and I see a story of great meaning on living the purposeful life. Hey, it reminds me of the Bhagavat Gita. Arjuna doesn’t want fight but Krishna shows him that it is his calling and his true self. (Of course, the Gita has Arjuna called to fight a war, Tom is called to prevent one.
Good Luck with writing Erin. You have really rich material here.
Bob
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Hi Bob, thanks for the input and encouragement! I’ve never read the Bhagavad Gita but this makes me want to. I’m going for the comedy angle with my concept but there’s always room for truth in comedy 🙂
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Yeah, go for the comedy angle and may you be inspired by the Bhagavad Gita.
All the Best
Bob
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Pablo Soriano Character Structure
What I learned doing this assignment: Well, for one. I learned how much I missed being creative and brainstorming. The tips were very helpful, but eventually I got eager to start developing the actual story. And secondly, I learned that my character structure might be challenging with the concept I chose. My antagonist is similar to Christof (Ed Harris) in The Truman Show and in this digital age that we live in, it’s not uncommon for friends as well as enemies to never actually meet in person. So I’m already thinking of how I will portray these characters and what ways they will interact with each other.
1. Concept: A Mexican family attempting to sneak across the border think they have a guardian angel when drones begin to drop off food and supplies, only to find out that they are being televised on the dark web as Americans place bets on their success and are simply trying to give them the advantage for their own gain.
Character Structure: Dramatic Triangle (Thriller)
A. Irma Escandon, Mexican mother of two young boys, is taking her family across the desert to the United States of America, determined to give them a better life.
B. Frank Kazakowski is a conservative radio show host on the internet that runs and produces a secret gambling ring that televises illegal immigrants attempting to cross the border.
C. Miguel is a tech-savvy gamer that has placed a substantial bet on the Escandon family to safely cross the border and finds a way to increase his chances by providing aid using a drone, essentially cheating in order to win.
Irma, a young mother and our protagonist, is attempting to take her small family through the hot and desolate Chihuahua Desert in order to start a new life in the United States. Little do they know, they are the contestants of a sick game show on the dark web. As they trek through treacherous terrain, they are filmed by drones and hidden cameras all for the sake of entertainment as Americans place bets on whether the family succeeds or fails to cross the border.
Our antagonist and the man calling the shots, is Frank, an alt-right conservative youtube pundit, who has a hidden website on the darknet where he livestreams the program and projects the odds as viewers buy in. A young Latino man in El Paso named Miguel tunes in and makes a wager that the family will “win” but does so with the intention of cheating by using his own drone to provide supplies and guide them to safe passage. However, when Frank’s team notices Miguel’s drone, they use the same method in the attempt to lead the family astray. This is when Irma realizes that they are being watched and must use clues left by Miguel to make the right decisions lest they get caught by the border patrol or worse.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by Pablo Soriano.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by
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Richard’s Character Structure
What I learnt doing this assignment is… just by doing this exercise I believe I have added a layer of depth to two of my characters and created extra scenes in my head that will lead, hopefully, to a stronger first draft. More conflict and emotions is always a good thing in a script.
Character Structure: Ensemble Cast
Characters:
Shane – A loyal, life-long fighter with the O’Doherty clan. The people’s champion. In sexual relationship with Ileana. Best friend of Malachi.
Ileana O’Doherty – Her father’s favorite child. Secretly pregnant with Shane’s child. More say over family matters than what women in the 17<sup>th</sup> century had. A warrior at heart.
Malachi O’Doherty – Heir apparent of the O’Doherty clan, Ulster’s prominent clan. Older brother to Ileana, Gavin, and Simon. Struggles to get the respect of his people. Best friend of Shane.
Pearse – Shane’s most trusted soldier. Student of the dark arts. Unbreakable loyalty to Shane.
Leif – A warrior’s warrior. People question his sanity. He’s Ireland’s most precious gift in his own mind. Another trusted soldier of Shane.
Gavin O’Doherty – Twin of Simon. Ferocious fighter. Sadistic. Will protect his clan’s position and chain-of-command at all costs.
Simon O’Doherty – Twin of Gavin. Ferocious fighter. Will protect his clan’s position and chain-of-command even if he doesn’t completely agree with it.
After losing a decisive battle against the invading English army our group of characters retreat to a castle on an island haven. Welcome at first, they then face a battle of survival as the English land and surround the castle.
They secure the castle by eliminating their fellow countrymen that wish to hand them over to the English.
With food and supplies running out, the English offer a pardon to only one of our group – they must eliminate themselves until there is only one person left standing.
The pardon triggers a reaction that sees family turn on one another, life-long relationships destroyed in seconds and personal sacrifices for the greater good and future of their country.
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Armand’s Character Structure
What I learned…
Outlines teach writers and decision makers if a story works without having to read 100 pages. Outlines are required by producers and studios.
Concept:
A ghost haunting the house where he was murdered is accidentally brought back to life by the teen girl who lives there, just as the killer who was never caught returns for a new spree. Now is up to the revived ghost to protect the living and find out why he died.
2.
1. Protagonist versus Antagonist.
4. Dramatic Triangle
2. Buddy Movie with Two Characters Owning the Story.
3.
My protagonist is a bored, cynical ghost who haunts the house where he was mysteriously murdered, amusing himself by spooking away any new residents that brave to move in.
My secondary protagonist is a teen girl who is not afraid of ghosts and who wants to communicate with the spirit of whatever entity is haunting her new home.
My antagonist is the never-caught killer of our protagonist who returns to the murder house for another spree.
4. My concept is a horror comedy and my protagonist is the ghost haunting the house, a character that has unfinished business but that is also comfortable in the avoidance allowed by his ghost status. He will have a secondary “buddy” relationship with the teen girl who brings him back to life accidentally. A brother-sister dynamic comes in play when the horror element of the serial killer returning puts their survival at stakes, but also: an opportunity for the revived ghost to learn why he was murdered and how all main characters may be surprisingly connected.
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Elizabeth’s Character Structure
What I learned: Yet, again, I’m humbled by how Hal’s structured approach helps bring into focus things that seem impossibly vague. I’m going to continue to just show up and follow the program. Thanks!
Concept:
Title: To Find What Freud Forgot
Genre: Family Comedy
When a retired, passively suicidal psychiatrist meets a feuding couple on a bus and discovers the woman is the daughter of the son his late wife gave up for adoption, he (and his nursing home friends) get sucked into the pandemonium of family’s dysfunction as the couple attempts, for the seventh time, to get married, during which he finally discovers what Freud forgot which lets him (again—and better) “love and work,” as he helps everyone around, from young to old, find pieces of the Living Well Trifecta that they, too, are missing.
Character Structure:
The (ever-challenging and I’m probably insane): ENSEMBLE
Ed (72) is a rigid, retired, childless, passively-suicidal psychiatrist with unresolved grief over his father and wife’s deaths, who finally works through his own issues when he gets caught up in the chaotic dysfunction of the family of his widow’s adopted-out son, where he not only remembers and improves how he loves and works, but learns how to play.
Grace (30’s) (Ed’s late wife’s biological granddaughter)is a brilliant actress and owner of a cash-strapped children’s theater who, after leaving her beloved fiancé “at the alter” six times, works through her daddy-related commitment (love) neurosis, when both her absentee father and the husband of his biological mother unexpectedly show up right before her wedding—and work through their own issues.
Mike (30’s) (Grace’s fiancé) is a lovable all-star computer gamer whose ADHD keeps getting him fired who, with a little treatment, is able to partner with a finance-wizard and other investors and advisors from Ed’s nursing home to launch an interactive video game startup (work) that will improve balance, cognition, and social interaction in seniors—and finally gets Grace to marry him.
Jewels (68) Grace’s (Change-agent) great aunt is a divorced hippy (and otherwise non-conventional) minister who helps Ed learn to let himself play, especially the Hendrix-inspired rock he’s forever loved (and hidden, after he concluded, at age 11 that it caused his dad’s fatal heart attack), which, when the hired musicians show up stoned , he does at the wedding—before Jewels gets him traveling with her (Mini Movie 8) around the world.
More Minor Characters:
Mark (52) Grace’s long-estranged dad, Linda’s Ex world-traveling travel video producer, shows up to meet Grace for the first time before the wedding, only to have a heart-attack and, after being absolved by Grace, and breaking a lock on a box Ed gives him to see all the book-photocopies of scenes from around the world his librarian bio-mom collected, and a note saying she hoped he (Mark) didn’t inherit her agoraphobia and took the trips she always wanted to—dies with a contented smile on his face.
Adam-Eve (11) Grace’s birth gender-assigned son learns to love herself and play as she’d like, when Ed helps her embrace who she is.
Christopher (25), Grace’s half-brother is a dysphoric, socially anxious computer engineer who finally emancipates from his mother’s basement when he falls in love with the activities coordinator at Ed’s nursing home and begins programming for the start-up (see above).
Linda 52, Grace’s narcissistic mother, is able, with the help of a bed-bound nun at the nursing home, learn to love others (as herself) just a little bit more.
Kristian (3) is Grace and Mike’s child who does the developmentally-appropriate (but delayed) work of potty-training and talking as he also does what he does best—loving and playing.
Pat (75) Rich Biker-chick who “builds shit,” nursing/retirement home neighbor of Ed, builds Adam-Eve a fashion-show stage for her dance-wear line, before playing harmonica at the wedding and funding the start-up (Work and love).
Mary (98) bed-bound nun at Ed’s nursing home who shows up to the wedding on Pat’s motorcycle to help Linda (who’s been coming to the nursing home to get narcissistic mirroring from her) be more generous in some yet TBD, important way that allows the wedding to go forward. (Work and love)
Wade (retired investment banker) & Judy (homemaker) (80’s) Leave It To Beaver-esque, re-ignite their own love as they help Mike and Grace with a few marriage basics, help with the wedding and partner in the start-up. (Work and Love).
Walt (80’s) former construction worker, wheelchair-bound nursing home friend of Ed who, over video, directs the emergency repair of a spewing water pipe in the church immediately before the ceremony, finances the start-up and runs (MM8) the “DIY Virtual Golden Handyman-Instructor” arm of the business work, directing similar fix-its in a series-of-shots for repair-clueless Millennials around the world.
Lauren (28) Activities coordinator at the nursing home, finds love with Christopher.
Summary Paragraph:
In a nursing home, surrounded by the variously-abled of his generation, Ed, a shy, physically-vibrant but rigid and passively-suicidal retired psychiatrist is squandering his days, obsessed with rejoining his beloved, deceased wife, Susan—when a train-trip to her gravesite (also Jimi Hendrix’s) interrupts his deathwatch. A girl he meets (Grace) looks just like his one-time bride! When Ed discovers Grace’s father is Susan’s illegitimate adopted-out son (and realizes he can fulfill his wife’s life-long wish of giving him a secret box), he gets lured into her large, chaotic family. As he tries to help with their quirky psychological needs, he realizes, “if you’re ‘still kicking,’ there’s love and work (a la Freud) to be done,” and inspires (as he once did in practice) his nursing home companions to overcome what’s in their way—so they, too, can help. But just as everyone (especially an eccentric great aunt with eyes for Ed) is re-awakening Ed’s long-dormant sense of play (What Freud, too, forgot), Grace’s newly resurfaced father unexpectedly dies, which forces Ed to finally work through his own dad’s untimely death (that led him to give up the rock-and-roll he thought killed him) as he helps Grace with her commitment issues. Finally, as Grace, after 6 failed attempts, is about to say “I do,” a myriad of wedding-day problems get managed by the various members of the “family” Ed’s finally forged for himself, punctuated by him playing a rousing Jimi Hendrix-style Wedding March after the musicians get stoned. Now that everyone is able to “love and work and play,” the resulting friendships and partnerships, between folks of all ages, lead to some unconventional ways in which Ed’s nursing home friends will again infuse everything they know, have and are, into a world that’s desperate for them.
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PS80 Amy’s Character Structure
1. A nationally known newscaster whose DNA was altered by time travel must battle her husband’s ex-girlfriend to retake her family and convince them she’s who she says she is.
2. Protagonist vs. Antagonist
3. -Andrea is a nationally known newscaster who has to battle her husband’s ex-girlfriend to win her family back and convince them she’s who she says she is.
-Meagan is Andrea’s husband’s ex-girlfriend who took Andrea’s place in her family when Andrea went missing.
4. I see the protagonist vs. antagonist character structure playing out between Andrea and Meagan by Andrea showing up a year later after her disappearance and disrupting the home that Meagan has built with Andrea’s family. I see Andrea becoming such a nuisance trying to convince her family that’s she’s really who she says she is, that Meagan gets a restraining order against her. I see Andrea resorting to secret ways of communicating with each of her family members while trying to go undetected by Meagan. I think there will be some sort of final showdown between the two of them where Andrea’s family starts to see Meagan for who she really is and they start to realize that Andrea is who she says she is.
5. What I learned from doing this assignment is how to look at each character as having their own story.
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PS80 Jim Peacock Character Structure
What I learned: I’ve never heard of character structure, so this was definitely a learning experience
1. Concept: A painfully shy geek stumbles upon a plot by a middle eastern militia general to awaken a sleeper cell embedded in the US military. He must then run from them as well as the FBI as he works to prevent the general’s evil plot, all while falling in love with his female doppelgänger.
2. Character Structure: Protagonist vs Antagonist
3. Lead Characters:
a. Skinny – Lives alone, shy overweight, no friends or family, can’t talk to others unless he’s on the computer. Then he comes alive. He’s been fired from every job he’s ever had and now earns his money by hacking small companies and holding them for small ransom amounts to stay below the FBI’s radar – or so he thinks! Abandoned by family.
b. The General – Evil personified, head of a middle eastern Iranian-backed militia who is driven to seek revenge on the US by awakening Iranian loyalists enlisted in the US military to help him in igniting an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) over the eastern half of the country.
c. Alicia – Skinny’s love interest, the geeky, overweight girl across the hall that’s been flirting with Skinny for years — all to no avail. Works night shift at Denny’s. Abandoned by family. Dark complexion.
d. Jean Luc – French Canadian, Skinny’s only friend on the dark web. A major conspiracy theorist, steals his mom’s car to drive to NYC to help the pair. Family from Morocco. Muslim. Dark complexion.
4. Character Structure – Our protagonist, Skinny experiences a strong arc from painfully shy geek to a man out to save his country and the woman he loves. The antagonist, the general, is a powerful, ruthless man who believes in his mission over his own life. While the interaction between these two characters plays out, the slow-evolving relationship between Skinny and Alicia will continue to grow from the first scene to the last – with a little angst along the way.
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What I learned is that our hard work nailing the concept must immediately be applied and glued to the main characters’ through lines or we will not have that seamless fusion of plot and character that satisfies everyone.
Dramatic Triangle
Satirical Noir Thriller or Drama with Suspense
As his testosterone wanes with age, a serial killer/rapist/arsonist becomes a hit man for a STEMGARCHS global network burning outdoor restaurants near rent stabilized apartments, poisoning food boxes destined for homebound seniors, and spraying sanitizer filled with condensed COVID in shelters, but when a fire he had to set accidentally kills his beloved fire fighter son he has a sex change, steals the company’s secret drugs to cure neurodegenerative and infectious diseases to give to his afflicted friends, and sacrifices his life as an old woman chef by eating a dinner with the CEO that he poisoned.
Dramatic Triangle
Bobby, a funeral director, moves upstate to become Leo in the hospitality business, secretly a serial killer/rapist/arsonist in the mountains until his testosterone wanes and his trail gets hot so he hides in NYC in homeless shelters as BB until COVID murders Manhattan and he becomes a hit man forIbrahim al Harbi, a Saudi billionaire brilliant engineer, former professor who becomes CEO of STEMGARCHS.
Jake La Roche has a long, complex history as al Harbi’s college student till he was thrown out for plagiarism and ironically became his sperm donor, babysitter, and personal trainer but because al Harbi is withholding life-saving drugs for him and his family, Jake must woo BB to get the precious drugs to save his mom from Alzheimer’s, his dad from ALS, his wife from pulmonary fibrosis, and him from Lewy Body dementia from his Parkinson’s, the crazy glue that is damaging their brains.
Through lines
Jake wants so badly for people to listen to him that he became a fitness star when he flunked out of college, transforming into an essential loving health care worker, surviving COVID and climate crises, marries the most desirable wives in sequence not simultaneously, and then is challenged by neurodegenerative diseases as he ages.
Ibrahim wants power and money so much that after teaching in college and running the EvergreenEnergy company, he is sucked into STEMGARCHS and forced to choose between horrible crimes, but when he loses his wife and son in Hurricane Ida, he screams out against nature and fate and becomes CEO of STEMGARCHS, a secret global organization that will do anything to save the planet.
BB wants so badly to erase his APD, miserable childhood, and necrophilia, that he keeps changing careers and identities, killing, raping cadavers, and cleaning until he is so devastated by his adopted son’s death in a fire that he had to set that he becomes a woman to ease more gracefully into old age, cooking poisonous meals on his beloved boats and sacrificing his life to help others, including Jake, his wife, and kids.
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[PS80] Emmanuel’s Character Structure
What I learned doing this assignment is the character structure is important to determine early in the writing process. I think it should be considered when creating the concept so that you’ll have an easier process of developing the main characters.
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PS80 – Janeen’s Character Structure
What I learned doing this assignment is that pulling characters out of the air is easier than I thought it would be. Unfortunately, the character structure morphed into an atrociously long logline.
A book club learns mind control techniques and uses them to empower other women to take action against their abusers. As the book club’s ability to empower the abused grows stronger, the actions taken against the abusers turn deadly.
2. Ensemble Cast — 4 women in the club and the antagonist, an abusive husband.
3. Lead Characters
1. An ER Nurse has seen so many battered women come in that she has to do something, even if it’s an intentional medicine technique.
2. A Librarian wants to find ways to guide kids in trouble to solutions through mind control.
3. A Wealthy Fashionista volunteers at a women’s shelter and finds ways to fund women’s flight from bad situations that don’t feel like charity.
4. A Female Cop, fed up with the lack of prosecution of abusers, asks the rest of the book club for help in making the abusers pay.
5. An Abusive Husband gets caught in the crosshairs of the group, but vows to make his wife pay if any member of the book club tries anything to stop him from exercising tyrannical control over his family.
4. Character Structure:
Fed up with repeated abuse calls where terrified wives can’t testify against their abusive husbands for fear of worse retaliation, a Female Cop asks her book club to help liberate the women and their kids. Using every parapsychology technique they can find, but without any direct contact with the abused women, the club counters every beating and isolation technique the husbands pull with empowerment, support, and enabling tools for the wives. As more wives escape their abusive situations, the book club hones their techniques, but then a particularly timid woman kills her husband. The Female Cop’s partner knows what the book club’s been doing and charges them with murder.
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Claudia’s Character Structure
What I learned… a new way of laying the ground-work for outlining a project. I had never heard the term character “structure.”
1) Concept: After a cynical agnostic FBI agent, who is assigned to investigate a popular televangelist for embezzlement, uncovers a plot by his own agency and a top politician to take down the man and his ministry, he enlists the minister’s help to expose the truth.
2) Character Structure – Buddy Movie
3) A) Daniel is an FBI agent who is put in charge of investigating a famous televangelist
B) Jake is a popular televangelist who is being investigated for fraud and embezzlement
4) Daniel is a cynical FBI Agent who has been assigned by is boss to investigate a very popular Televangelist. At first his approach is very straight forward and he relishes the thought of taking down someone he believes might be bilking the innocent… but the more he digs, the more he finds problems linking his own agency and powerful politicians might be using this as a distraction and a mission to shake the hearts and minds of people of faith. Jake, the Televangelist, is doing all he can to cooperate, until he learned that the investigation might indeed provide the proof that Daniel is seeking. At the same time, Jake is trying to minister to Daniel, who left the church long ago.
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[PS80] Rob Bertrand’s Character Structure
What I learned: I learned that it’s important to outline your screenplay before you write it because it can help save you time and drafts. I also learned the difference between the 5 Character Structures.
1. Danny Laplante – Two teenage sisters become convinced that their house is haunted, only to discover an obsessed teenage boy living in their walls, pretending to be their dead mother.
2. Character Structure: I have decided to go with Ensemble Cast.
3. Characters
Annie Andrews is a high school senior, dealing with the recent loss of her mother, who comes to believe that her house is haunted.
Jessica Andrews is a middle school student, also dealing with the death of her mother, whose obsession with horror movies casts doubt on the sister’s paranormal experiences.
Frank Andrews is a grieving father, who thinks his daughter’s stories of paranormal activity are just a way of seeking attention and wants them to stop.
Danny Laplante is a high school dropout, who’s obsession with Annie drives him to live inside her walls, while pretending to be the spirit of her deceased mother.
4. Character Structure
Annie will be our lead, with her younger sister Jessica along for the ride. Since the death of their mother, Annie has had to step up and run the house, while their father works to keep food on the table. Annie suffers from depression and loneliness, but perks up when a mysterious boy begins calling, showing interest in her. But when she realizes Danny is not being truthful, she cuts the relationship off.
Since the death of her mother, Jessica has become fascinated with horror movies, much to the dismay of her father. After experiencing paranormal activity, Jessica becomes convinced that the house is haunted by her mother. She enlists the help of her sister to investigate.
Danny is a deeply disturbed young man, on the verge of committing heinous violence. He’s taken a liking to Annie, but when she breaks it off with him, Danny breaks into her house and begins hiding in the walls. Over time, he begins a sick game of tormenting the girl’s, by pretending to be the spirit of their dead mother.
Frank lost the love of his life and is doing his best to keep it together for the sake of his two daughters. He’s forced to work two jobs, to make ends meet and doesn’t have the time or patience for ghost stories. He’s hurting just as much as the girls are, but he’s too proud to show it.
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PS80 Michelle Damis Character Structure
What I learned doing this assignment is that planning is essential to stay focused. I’m excited to do the program, have a great script, and then write more. For me being effective with my time is very important and I feel like it will be like paint by numbers in a way: Just take it step by step and you will eventually have a masterpiece.
1. Concept-Parents desperate to be empty-nesters unknowingly trade their soul-sucking 20-something daughter for a blood-sucking tenant.
2. Character Structure– Ensemble Cast (I know, I know….but that is what it is)
3. One sentence on lead characters–
The Dad: Jim is a recently retired grade school principle, beloved by all, and a heart of gold.
The Mom: Marin is a recently retired highly respected public defender that hasn’t gotten along with her daughter for years.
The Daughter: Nina couldn’t find an affordable apartment after graduating college and was forced to move back in with her parents.
The Vampire: Ted is a several hundred year old Vampire looking for a new place to live due to his abandoned building being torn down to make way for fancy condos.
4. In one or two paragraphs, tell us how you see the character structure playing out in your story.
Jim and Marin are at their wits end with their 22 year old daughter, who has had to move back home and is awful to both of them, but especially Marin. When they realize that anyone would be better than her they concoct a scheme to take in a renter and use the money to pay for her to move to the city and look for a job. After a series of odd happenings they eventually figure out their new tenant isn’t what he seems.
Ted the vampire can’t find a new dwelling in the city and resorts to answering “room for rent” ads in the suburbs figuring he will also find a new food source. He finds after he moves in that a vampire cannot kill their landlords (a really old vampire rule) and he becomes very fond of Jim and Marin feeling like he has a family for the first time in hundreds of years. After seeing how Nina treats her parents he decides to try to teach her a lesson and mend the relationship between Nina and Marin.
Nina is thrilled to be out of the house and on her own but soon becomes jealous of Ted the new tenant when she sees how much her parents like him. She sets out to sabotage him but gets an unexpected surprise when Ted confronts her about her parents. Nina also holds a painful secret that is at the root of her behavior towards her mother.
When
elder vampires learn of Teds new situation both Ted and his new “family are all
in grave danger. -
[PS80] Kelli Cooke Day 1
What I learned doing this assignment, is that I tend to over think even the simplest instructions. That realization is reoccurring. I am working on it!
My concept is “you can’t go home”. The idea that where you grew up is never as good or bad as
we remember in our memories.
Dramatic Triangle (Rom/com)
My protagonist is a recently divorced woman who is returning to her hometown to take care of aging parents. She stayed away
for the last 15 years because of the hurt caused to her from a dreadful prank that was played on her.
My antagonist is the former quarterback punk who cruelly pranked her in high school.
Secondary person of interest, childhood chum who always had a crush on main character, but he had
no confidence that she would be into him.
The main character had a nervous breakdown after the prank was played on her, spending summer after her senior year nearly catatonic.
Now she is returning to look after parents, following a nasty divorce. She finds the reasons she stayed away were valid, but seem
not so big of a deal now.
The former quarterback punk attempts to atone for the wrong he did. Seeing her as a object that he wishes to bestow
affection on now.
The chum reaches out to foster a new found friendship with main character, acknowledging the feelings of attraction
never went away.
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Quincy (Quinn)’s Character Structure
What I learned doing this assignment is the actual specifics of the “character structure”. Much of this I’ve done instinctually or throughout grad school, but there was never anything “structured” about it. Learning these specifics helps to dial it in faster.
Concept: The twin a woman absorbed in utero takes over her body while she sleeps in order to hunt for a body of her own.
Character Structure: Dramatic Triangle
Characters:
Cassandra (Cassie): Is a young woman who has been having nightmares that she has been killing people, only to discover the nightmares are real.Helen: The unborn twin who is inhabiting Cassie’s body at night and committing murders.Dr. Seth Bellerophon: The psychiatrist who is treating Cassie.
How the story plays out:
Cassie is having nightmares about killing people and wakes up exhausted every morning. She seeks the help of Dr. Seth Bellerophon who suggests methods to help stop them. The nightmares become worse, however, and Cassie begins to suspect the reflection she sees in the mirror isn’t her own. Bellerophon assures her the treatment is working, but Cassie isn’t sure.
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PS80 Budinscak Character Structure
What I learned doing this assignment:
o I appreciate the guidelines to help determine character structure.
o I realized doing an outline is one of my biggest weaknesses.
o I didn’t realize the importance of an outline relative to dealing with producers/agents. Etc.
o Again, I did not realize that an outline can potentially save you 2-5 drafts.
o Learn how to do an outline.
Assignment:
1. Concept – In 1986, two preteen male cousins learn about life and family during a trip with their uncle, a conniving chef who has to deliver a package from upstate NY to Burbank by 2:00 PM Monday or they’ll burn his family’s restaurant to the ground.
2. Character structure is #2 – Buddy Movie
3. Uncle Jack – Antagonist, shady, bit of a gambler, womanizer, whatever pops in his mind, that’s what he does. He doesn’t like being saddled with responsibility
Sal – Street smart, smart ass, a bit of a bully to Puck. Likes to lie and he’s sneaky.
Puck – book smart, naïve, honest, clingy, perceptive. Says what’s on his mind – no filter.
4. It’s a road trip story, coming of age for the two boys. While the two boys spar with one another, they gang up on Uncle Jack and take an opposing view. Jack doesn’t like kids, but ends up loving the boys by the end. Jack’s character doesn’t change over the course of the story, but the boys definitely grow.
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[PS80] Jennifer’s Character Structure
WHAT I LEARNED:
I don’t yet feel solid enough to give a full character structure description for the entire screenplay, but it was deeply useful to determine which characters will dominate the story as a whole and will help me get clearer more rapidly.
CONCEPT:
A high school overachiever will do literally anything to beat her rival and win and prestigious award guaranteed to get her into her dream college — even commit murder.
MAIN CHARACTERS:
Jessica is a Southern belle nightmare of a “perfect dream girl” high school senior who has always been focused on winning at any cost.
Ethan is a nerdy math geek from a nearby high school who rivals Jessica academically and secretly has a crush on her.
Amanda is a sharp-as-a-tack fellow senior with no patience for nonsense and Jessica’s main academic rival at their Southern high school.
Sarah Collins is a shrewd high school teacher at the students’ high school who runs the statewide scholarship competition that Jessica and the others will be competing for.
CHARACTER STRUCTURE:
Dramatic triangle (I mention 4 characters above because it will take a number of characters for the story to work out, but only the first 3 will be main characters)
HOW CHARACTER STRUCTURE WILL PLAY OUT:
Jessica is a cold-blooded Southern belle high school senior who desperately wants to win a prestigious statewide scholarship competition that will get her into her dream college and pay for her future, but first she needs to eliminate the competition. Her rivals from her own high school and others in the area — mainly Amanda and Ethan — are sharp enough to know she’s the cutthroat type. But when they set out to win themselves or, at a minimum, keep Jessica from winning, they put themselves in imminent danger.
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Janeen’s Character Structure
What I learned doing this assignment is that even though I picked a concept, it is morphing with each new decision. This time, I severely cut my cast of characters for an easier sale.
Concept: A wealthy fashionista learns mind control techniques and uses them to empower women at a shelter to take action against their abusers. As her ability to empower the abused grows stronger, the actions taken against the abusers turn deadly.
I’ve reduced the character structure to 1 — Protagonist vs. Antagonist (for easier sale). <div>My Characters:
My protagonist is a wealthy fashionista who learns mind control techniques to empower a woman who is being abused by her husband.
My Antagonist is a fashion designer who keeps his wife and kids isolated in his home and suspects the protagonist of being in contact with them and working against him, growing angrier and even getting a restraining order against the fashionista.
How this will play out.
The wealthy fashionista has met the designer’s wife and kids a few years before and the woman had bruises. When she works with the designer to prep for a show, she sees the woman and her kids huddled in a darkened room as she is led through the house. Each time she comes back, she tries to help, but the next time, the bruising is worse and the designer begins menacing her as he realizes she is the one trying to help his wife to leave him.
The fashionista has been studying mind control techniques to use in her own life and realizing that abused women often have had their self-esteem, self-confidence, and will stripped from them by their abusers, she sets out to use her mind control techniques to prop up the woman to the point where she can leave her husband.
As the wife grows bolder, so does the husband. In a climactic (midpoint) tussle that ensues, the designer is killed. The police believe the wife’s claims of innocence, but the husband had been to the police before expressing his fear that the fashionista was plotting to kill him. Her defense is that all she did was offer “thoughts and prayers” for the abused woman who claims she never asked for any help — which she didn’t. Can someone be indicted for offering “thoughts and prayers” if they are offered via powerful mind control techniques?
</div>
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ASSIGNMENT
1. High Concept
A struggling artist becomes a surrogate mother but when she finds out the couple she is carrying the baby for are child traffickers for a pedophile network she must run for her life and that of her unborn child.
2. Tell us the Character Structure you choose for your story.
Character structure Nr. 4
3. Give us one sentence on each of your lead characters.
My protagonist is an artist who becomes a surrogate mother to pay the rent.
My antagonist is a child trafficker for a pedophile network connected to a powerful billionaire.
4. In one or two paragraphs, tell us how you see the character structure playing out in your story.
The protagonist has just broken up with her boyfriend and is unable to support herself financially and decides to become a surrogate mother. She is blinded by the wealth of the couple she’s carrying the baby for and moves in with them. She is introduced to a very powerful billionaire but starts to suspect there is something not right and when she finds out that the couple is part of a pedophile network she asks her ex-boyfriend for help, but before she can reach out to him, the couple catches her and keep her as imprisoned. She manages to flee, pregnant 7 month’s and is scared to death they’ll find her. But when a former victim reaches out to her, she decides to turn things around and changes from victim to predator.
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Suya Lee Character Structure
Outlining & Your Character Structure Day 1
“What I learned doing this assignment is…?”
Outlining is very important. It saves time, frustration, etc. Better to look at 5 pages than a full script for any problems. When learning a skill, look quickly at your outline to see which scene requires that skill., e.g., suspense. The character info was eye-opening. Mine is an ensemble piece. But, I could make it to a buddy film, where two old time veterans win the mega lottery, & not a group of old time veterans. I can change it later if requested by a producer. I have no problems with that. My currents comps are CAPTAIN PHILLIPS meets COCOON.
Concept
When a group of old timers at a veteran’s retirement home win the mega lottery, they buy an old cruise ship to sail around the world with their extended families, but pirates attack their ship in South-East Asia & the veterans must face the last battle of their lives to save their families.
Tell us the Character Structure you choose for your story.
This is hard since now I know more about what producers want. I am on the fence at it being a buddy movie, with 2 old time veterans, or keep the ensemble cast of having 4 old time veterans.
It is an action thriller about a road trip on the high seas. From Hals’ guide about characters:
Action film — probably a 1., Road movie — probably a 2 or 5., Thriller — could be a 1 or 4.
Give us one sentence on each of your lead characters.
Give us one sentence on each lead.
Old time veterans:
None of them are the captains, because they make many mistakes (along with dementia). They group their intel together & fight off the pirates. All are single, since they lost their loved ones. Some may fall in love with a crew member, other veteran’s extended family members, etc.
#1.My protagonist is Harry Ford, male, Caucasian American, retired navy, has slight dementia.
#2.My protagonist is Melvin Freeman, male, African American, retired air force, is hard of hearing.
#3.My protagonist is Eddy Olmos, male, Latin American, retired army, lost an arm.
#4.My protagonist is Lucia Lu, female, Asian American, retired army, lost a leg, wears a prosthetic leg, sometimes uses crutches.
Pirates in South-East Asia:
#1.My antagonist is Kai (male) who controls/runs Pirate Boat #1 & its crew.
#2.My antagonist is Rak (male) who controls/runs Pirate Boat #2 & its crew.
4. In one or two paragraphs, tell us how you see the character structure playing out in your story.
The 4 old time veterans are of both sexes, and 4 different ethnicities. They win the lottery, bring their extended families. So, it’s totally multicultural, and their spouses will be other religious/ cultural identities, too, i.e., Muslins, South Asian Americans, Native Americans, Jewish, etc. Plus, include gender identity preferences. Totally inclusive and expansive.
The skeleton crew of the small cruise ship will be like the extended families, different ethnicities, male and female, different ages, gender identity preferences, etc. Maybe 6-10 crew members still available to help cross the Pacific Ocean.
The 2 pirate boats have about 5 pirates on each boat. So, 10 pirates.
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[PS80] James Salter Forum
Character Structure:
I learned the difference between a antagonist and a protagonist and the roles that they play in driving a screenplay forward
1. List your concept:
Jake has completed all kinds training and has 6 different Astro Physiological Degrees in planetary, space and galaxy exploration and is very upset because, NASA/Government has put an end to what Jake had worked his whole life for.
2. Tell us the Character Structure you choose for your story.
Drama — could be a 1, 4, or 5.
3. Give us one sentence on each of your lead characters.
Jake is and unemployed NASA employee who has trained most of his adult life to get into the NASA astronaut program.
William Long the head of the space program for NASA & Senator Paul Jones government is who Jake planned on working for, until last month when they stopped and shut down the entire NASA astronomical program.
4. In one or two paragraphs, tell us how you see the character structure playing out in your story.
Jake becomes angry at the entire system of government and NASA for stopping the space program so he sets out to prove that the world needs a space program if not NASA then he creates his own space exploration.
William is NASA & Paul is the government knows why the program was discontinue, it wasn’t because they wanted to discontinue it.
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Jodi’s Character Structure – Day 1
What I learned doing this assignment is how to start an outline and to not stress about the choices. That most of your major screenwriters use outlines as it can save you two to five drafts and it becomes a roadmap that you can refer to especially when you need to write a certain element. Managers and Producers require outlines to see if the script will be viable to be made. There is a certain order of marketability when we’re choosing the Character structure, what is most viable to what can be less marketable to make such as ensemble cast.
TIMELY: Texas creates bounty hunters and vigilantism against any woman who chooses to have an abortion, along with the nightmare this creates for anyone trying to help a pregnant woman it also creates a nightmare for the State Senator who is the culprit of this law as he learns his Daughter has been raped and was impregnated. The Senator begins to learn firsthand how this law tragically impacts all involved.
The character structure is a Dramatic Triangle:
Susan is an overworked and exhausted social-worker who finds herself bucking the new system of outlawing abortion.
Bradley is the State Senator, who authored the ‘Heartbeat bill’ SB 8, that legalizes abortion bounty hunters.
Madison is Bradley’s Daughter.
Seeing the state erode into a third world country with crazed bounty hunters stalking suspected pregnant women and state funded governmental programs going bankrupt within three months of their funding, a reluctant activist sets her sights and attacks on the white male who created this bill. The disillusioned and exhausted social worker makes a plan and organizes to fight back for female reproductive freedoms. She will do whatever is possible, be it legal or not. The author of this bill finds out that his Daughter is pregnant and without hesitation ignores his bill and attempts to find ways to help her abort the embryo.
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Jodi’s Character Structure – Day 1
post your assignment on the ProSeries 50 forums at http://Screenwriting…orums/index.php
What I learned doing this assignment is how to start an outline and to not stress about the choices. That most of your major screenwriters use outlines as it can save you two to five drafts and it becomes a roadmap that you can refer to especially when you need to write a certain element. Managers and Producers require outlines to see if the script will be viable to be made. There is a certain order of marketability when we’re choosing the Character structure, what is most viable to what can be less marketable to make such as ensemble cast.
TIMELY: Texas creates bounty hunters and vigilantism against any woman who chooses to have an abortion, along with the nightmare this creates for anyone trying to help a pregnant woman it also creates a nightmare for the State Senator who is the culprit of this law as he learns his Daughter has been raped and was impregnated. The Senator begins to learn firsthand how this law tragically impacts all involved.
The character structure is a Dramatic Triangle:
Susan is an overworked and exhausted social-worker who finds herself bucking the new system of outlawing abortion.
Bradley is the State Senator, who authored the ‘Heartbeat bill’ SB 8, that legalizes abortion bounty hunters.
Madison is Bradley’s Daughter.
Seeing the state erode into a third world country with crazed bounty hunters stalking suspected pregnant women and state funded governmental programs going bankrupt within three months of their funding, a reluctant activist sets her sights and attacks on the white male who created this bill. The disillusioned and exhausted social worker makes a plan and organizes to fight back for female reproductive freedoms. She will do whatever is possible, be it legal or not. The author of this bill finds out that his Daughter is pregnant and without hesitation ignores his bill and attempts to find ways to help her abort the embryo.
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What I learned doing this assignment is…the value of precision and brevity
Title: David Gollob characters – Day 1
A: Character Name: Fanny (Protagonist)
1. Basic character traits:
She is ashamed of her size, body shape, weight
She lets her Mother run her life
She is afraid to show her true feelings
She is a Loner, feels despised by everyone around her’
2. Want/Need
She wants to be loved by her MotherShe NEEDS acceptance, approval by her peers
3. Paradoxes
She values honesty and TRUTH but fears the consequences of discovering and uttering the TRUTH4. Secret:
Her step-father has been sexually abusing her for years, and has resumed his attacks on her
5. Flaw:
Fear of rejection6. Special:
She has the courage within herself to confront her TRUTH despite her fearsB: Character Name: Rosario (Antagonist)
1. Basic character traits:
Crafty
Power-mad
Fetishist (S&M)
2. Want/Need
She wants to hang on to power at all costsShe NEEDS to destroy anything in her way
3. Paradoxes
Normal maternal feelings towards her daughter
Need to protect her position and her husband from exposure
4. Secret
She had a relationship with Frito years ago; he is the REAL father of Fanny
5. Flaw
Normal feelings of maternal love
6. Special
She is the power behind the throne of a sick, perverted man, the Dictator
C: “Frito” – co-protagonist with Fanny
1. Basic character traits:
a. Resourceful
b. Intelligent
c. Fearless2. Wants a better world, and NEEDS to help Fanny to achieve that for herself, at minimum
3. Paradoxes
a. He loves his own adopted family
b. He needs to protect Fanny (his only real daughter) even at the risk of endangering them4. Secret
He is wanted by Interpol as a former Brigatte Rosse terrorist
5. Flaw
He let Rosario leverage his secret to assert power over him
6. Special
He loves his adopted country, his adopted family, almost as much as his REAL daughter
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