Post Day 2 Assignment Here

[Brenda Clarke]

Brenda Clarke

Three Circles of Characters

What I learned is that by drawing up an actual graphic with the three circles, highlighted to me what was lacking. Which wasn’t obvious prior to this. The character of the Sailor, just sat there with no other connections other than the main protagonist (his lover). So where did he come from? Who are his friends? His family? Who does he hang out with when not with his “Gentleman Friend”. Something that I can now remedy. Extremely helpful!

Riverdale Series

A. Main Characters Circle, Archie, Betty, Veronica

B. Connected Circle: Jughead, Kevin, Cheryl, Geraldine

C. Environment Circle: other students, Moose/Jocks, Josie & Pussycats, Parents of main characters, Teachers, Principal, Sheriff, towns people, characters at Diner etc.

CONVICTS my show (don’t have names for any characters at this stage)

A. Main Characters: English Gentleman, Sailor his lover. Woman and her Maid (also her woman’s lover)

B. Connected Circle: Gents Father, Sister – her husband and son, Woman’s Mother the household Cook/Housekeeper and the Maid’s older Sister.

C. Environment Circle: High Society, Middle Class, Criminals/Poverty, Old Bailey: Judges/Juries

One Sentence for MAIN Characters:

Gentleman: immaculately groomed, comes from aristocracy/wealth, doesn’t care for his heritage/father or ancestral home, closeted homosexual.

Sailor: handsome/rugged/manly Strapping physique, one would never guess he was homosexual (lover to Gentleman)

Woman: Independent woman, mature, good head on her shoulders, trains/breaks horses in, despises anyone who is cruel to animals. Lesbian (closeted), lives with her mother.

Maid: working class, happy go lucky attractive. Open/honest/trustworthy, Mistresses’ lover.

[Lois Wickstrom]

Lois’ Three Circles of Characters

part one:LOST

A. Main Characters Circle: Jack, Kate,

B. Connected Circle: Charlie, Ruth lots of other passengers

C. Environment Circle: monster, dog, anything already on the island

Give us a quick list for each circle.

Deadline: 24 hours

What I learned doing this assignment is: The work I’ve done setting up this universe has characters in all three circles.

ASSIGNMENT 2:

1. Create the three circles of characters for your show.

Skunk Boy

A. Main Characters Circle: Meff, Howland Mann (villain), Kamali Parker (who buys Meff when he is a skunk), Rufus (Meff’s best friend who never sees him change into a skunk)

B. Connected Circle: Meff’s parents, aunt, classmates, Meff’s triplet sisters

C. Environment Circle: Meff’s skunk cousins, Skunk Farm customers, skunk beauty pageant competitors and judges, workers is Mann’s laboratory, mayor, city council

2. Give us a one sentence description of each of the Main Characters.

Meff is a wereskunk who turns into a skunk when he is sprayed by a skunk and turns back into a boy when he eats a rotten egg.

Howland Mann is a mad scientist who wants the meteorite that fell on Meff’s farm – at any cost except money.

Kamali Parker is new to Skunk Hollow, new to Mann’s lab, and loves skunks.

Rufus loyal friend to Meff, who is oblivious to Meff’s changes in form.

[Griffith Lambert]

Griff’s Three Circles of Characters

What I learned doing this assignment: The character circles are a good way of keeping the characters on task to build the story. For my series pitch about two adolescents dealing with the disappearance of their mother, putting the two main characters in that first circle helps to keep these unruly and unpredictable teens from bleeding random chaos into the storyline. Chaos is fine, it is the state from which ethos arises. I just want controlled chaos.

Assignment 1:

Stranger Things

Circle One – Main Characters: Schoolmates Mike, Dustin, Lucas, and Will (who goes missing.) Eleven, the mystery girl.

Circle Two – Connected Characters: Joyce (mom), Jonathan (Will’s brother), Hopper (Chief of Police), Nancy and Steve (adorable pubescent couple.)

Circle Three – Environmental Circle: Martin (evil scientist), Lonnie (estranged father), parents, police officers, scientists.

Having watched the first two seasons of Stranger Things, I’m tempted to put Martin and Lonnie in the second circle, but as of Season One Episode Two, they have not yet elevated to the second circle of characters. And…where do I slot in the Monster?

Assignment 2:

In my series pitch for The Last Straw:

Circle One – Randy and Todd, two brothers with a struggling single-parent mother. These two teenagers would be typical, except that Randy, the older brother, is much smaller and seems younger than Todd. For this reason, there is constant tension and competition between them.

Circle Two – Connected Characters: Stephanie, the struggling single mother, is a writer doing mercenary fluff work disguised as parenting advice for a video blog while she tries to be taken seriously as an investigative journalist. Also in this circle is her across-the-street neighbor, Brad, another single parent, who is trying to deal with a headstrong daughter, Marcey, who is prone to unexplained disappearances.

Circle Three – Environmental Characters: Stephanie’s editor, Brad’s music students, various teachers, a social services psychologist, Marcey’s friend Harmony, a mysterious law enforcement officer, a drug dealer, an undocumented migrant worker.

In the first episode, the boys will have a big argument with Stephanie. At the end of that episode, Stephanie goes missing.

During Season One the boys will deal with the disappearance of their mother, the eccentric next-door neighbor, police, school administrators, teachers, social workers, and well-meaning foster parents all trying to “help.” By the end of Season 1 they will no longer be teens acting out as they are re-united with their estranged father (a mixed blessing) and find the neighbor’s missing daughter (another mixed blessing,) all while being pursued by a mysterious gumshoe (think Inspector Javert.) They do not find Stephanie, but collect numerous clues as to what may have happened to her, and strong evidence that she is alive. Their journey: boys to young men, accelerated.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by  Griffith Lambert. Reason: Left out a main character in Stranger Things
• This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by  Griffith Lambert. Reason: Incorporating the rest of Assignment 2 for Lesson 2

[Heather Estay]

Assignment 1

My example show is Scandal.

A. Main Characters Circle: Olivia, Abby, Stephen, Harrison, Huck, Quinn

B. Connected Circle: President, President’s Chief of Staff, US Attorney David, President’s wife?, Reporter; Amanda?

C. Environment Circle: White House guards, staff, etc.; police;

Assignment 2

What I learned: I know that I need to have fewer “main characters” but I’m not sure where the cut-off is yet. I’ve got 8 folks in the bridge club, and they all participate in offing old white men in power. But I’m not sure which 4 or 5 should be the most important and which one should be the lead. Hoping this becomes clear as we move forward! I liked the 3 circle idea. I think it will help organize how “present” each character needs to be.

Create the three circles of characters for your show.

A. Main Characters Circle: Abigail,
Phyllis, Dottie, Jane, Margaret, Becky, Ellie, Leonard, Detective Wali
B. Connected Circle: Det. Carson, Susan
(obnoxious lobbyist), Leonard’s wife, William (hotel manager), Senators on
the hit list?, wives of Senators on hit list
C. Environment Circle: Senators and their
staffs; hotel staff and guests, police, guests at funerals

2. Give us a one sentence description of each of the Main Characters.

Abigail: (Christine Baranski; blunt, sarcastic, says whatever comes to mind; older than the rest (90’s?) and uses a walker; highly respected ;when Abigail talks, everyone listens; her husband’s been dead for decades

Phyllis: (Jane Fonda); widow of Senator from Texas; runs his oil company with a steel hand; (60s)

Dottie: (Mary Kay Place); Wife of Senator from Montana; conservatively dressed; soft-spoken, somewhat beaten-down, people pleaser but ferocious in defending her kids or friends; her husband is the first they off; (mid-70s)

Jane: (Jamie Lee Curtis); Widow of Senator from Virginia; professor of pathology; whip-smart, no-nonsense (late 60s)

Margaret: (Sally Fields) Widow of Senator from NY; terminally ill with cancer; wears a wig then discards it; somewhat embittered but sense of humor; (60s)

Becky: (Catherine O’Hara); Wife of Senator from Florida; flamboyant, sexy; dripping with Southern charm when she wants something (early 60s); tends to malapropisms that are true

Ellie (Goldie Hawn); wife of Senator from seems clueless but street smart; unenthusiastic grandma;

Leonard: the only man in the club; husband of long-time Senator from Maine; gentle and charming; humorous; well-dressed; his wife (a Senator) is dying; (70s)

Wali: female DC detective; Black muslim; smart and knows it; patronized by her male colleagues; suspicious of old ladies; impatient and argumentative; not afraid to stand up and step on toes; sleeps in her clothes; hates politics (30s)

[Catherine Cole]

Assignment 1/2: The Three Circles of Characters

November 17, 2021

What I learned during this assignment: Catching the similar traits each of the three sets of characters share with one another and how they create the pyramid foundation for the series, main characters at the top, then connected, then environment.

‘Empire’ Three Circles of Characters:

Watch the next episode of your Example Show to see how the characters fit into these three circles:

Main Circle:

Lucious Lyon- Street raised thug turned genius business entrepreneur
Cookie Lyon- Loyal, ambitious street thug, originally naive, now making up for lost time.

Connected Circle:

1) Andre Lyon- No soul of his own, trying to please everyone.

2) Jamaal Lyon- Fighting for his identity in his own fashion

3) Hakeem Lyon- Entitled second generation wealthy punk, confused by his talent.

Environment Circle:

Lucious Lyon’s physician- The bad news delivery mechanism for Lucious
Kid Fo-Fo – Artist who creates revenue and controversy simultaneously
Anika- Lucious loyal lover, tagging onto Lucious IPO journey.

4) Tiana- Up and comer star with mixed up morals

5) Becky- Loyal, empathetic, thick skinned, trust worthy assistant to Lucious Lyon

6) Vernon Turner – Male loyal, thick skinned, rational assistant to Lucious Lyon

7) Rhonda Lyon – Independently successful, loyal to husband Andre Lyon

8) Porsha- Loopy, do all assistant to Cookie Lyon

9) Dora- Latest boy toy lover to Jamaal Lyon

10) Bunkie- Life long alternatively loyal then backstabbing gofer for Lucious Lyon

11) Agent Carter- Law enforcement disrupter to Cookie Lyon’s goals

[Frank Kim]

What I learned doing this assignment is…

The characters in a binge worthy show must be given careful thought to understand which circle they fit into. I noticed that even the connected and environment characters can be vital to making a scene or an episode work well. While watching Jessica Jones, for example, I thought Hope Schlottman was a main character given the fact that her action at the end of the pilot is the powder keg ignited, which sets off the main journey of Jessica Jones for the rest of the season. But in reality, Hope only appears in a few key scenes and is a connected character. This opens my mind to the possibility that a connected character can trigger vital plot points and events, but need not be given a tremendous amount of screen time. And even environment characters like the members of the rugby team that go with their friend to beat up Luke Cage in episode 2 are vital to fleshing out a vital plot point – in their specific case, they are what allow Luke Cage to see Jessica Jones’ super-strength ability, thereby cementing their relationship for the rest of the journey. Overall, it’s important to understand that every character is a tool that can be used tactically throughout a script to enhance the story and move it in the right direction.

Assignment 1: Identifying the three circles in JESSICA JONES

A. The Main Characters Circle includes: Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Killgrave

B. The Connected Characters Circle includes: Hope Schlottman, Jeri Hogarth, Jeri’s secretary, Jeri’s wife, Bob and Barbara Schlottman, Trish Walker, Det. Oscar Clemons, Gina, Gina’s husband, Maureen Denton, Jack Denton, Reva Connors, Dr. David Kurata

C. The Environment Characters Circle includes: Luke Cage’s bartender Roy Healy, Gregory Spheeris, noisy upstairs neighbors, Polish mechanic, Rugby team, Door Repair Guy, Mind-controlled family

Assignment 2: Create the three circles of characters for my show, THE WEST MOON CHRONICLE

A. The Main Characters Circle:

1. Jae-Sun Baek – an embittered Korean-American man who’s deep fear of being trapped in life causes him to abandon his infant daughter as a teenager, leading to a life of regret until he is given a 2^nd chance at fatherhood upon the discovery that she was abducted to another realm of existence where time runs slowly, and where she has aged only 7 months in the intervening 18 years.
2. Joon-Ho Rhee – Jae-Sun’s maternal grandfather and sole guardian after Jae-Sun’s parents die in a car accident when Jae-Sun is 11 years old; Joon-Ho is a Vietnam war veteran who was accused of committing a war crime at one point, causing a schism in his relationship to Jae-Sun.
3. Madison Green – a Caucasian woman raised in a strict Baptist household by her minister-dad, she grows up experiencing the WASPy world of east Texas while also learning about Korean martial arts and culture from her intimate relationship with Jae-Sun and a granddaughter-like relationship to Joon-Ho.
4. Derek Jones – an African-American cowboy and rodeo champion who becomes Jae-Sun’s best friend as children going to school together.
5. Dor – an elemental being of mud and wood, granted life through blood magic, who befriends young Jae-Sun and guides him through adolescence until Jae-Sun’s betrayal of his family, at which point Dor becomes Jae-Sun’s enemy.

B. The Connected Characters Circle: Carlos Vasquez, Vanessa Holguin, Trina Tyler, Mrs. Carson, The Fableist, Alberta Reeves, Pastor Alvin Green, Beth Green, Jake Green, Bradley Donovan, Conway Burbank, Sunny Rojas, Armando Carrillo the Bouncer, Eddie Wilson, Luis Holguin the barback and nephew of Vanessa, Dowager Empress, Ivan Miller, Pamela Baek, Hae-Soo Baek, Sara Koenig

C. The Environment Characters Circle: Jimmy the Mailman, fifth grade students at Vane Elementary, Mrs. McPherson the Christian Outrage Woman, bar patrons, fifth grade bullies, ensorcelled children, Baptist church attendees

[Kitty Hopper]

BIG LITTLE LIES:S-1 E-2

What I learned from this assignment: There may be 3 ‘circles’ but they all circles go back (and sometimes quickly) to the main character, and support the structure of the ‘streamer’ and as a viewer, you want that.

A) Main Character Circle:

Madeline-This is her story. While the other mothers may have high level jobs…or have ‘retired’ from one, Madeline is proud she is ‘a mother only’, but fears becoming an ’empty nester’ and is in constant motion to ‘stay on top’ as well as not afraid to win arguments or ‘get even’.

Jane- Just moved her with her troubled? son Ziggy but isn’t revealing ‘why’ the move, her past, or her present life.

Celeste- Beautiful wife of a much younger husband, adores her twin boys and ‘retired’ from the law and in a physical abuse relationship that she feeds on.

Renata- Power house working mother who feels she ‘isn’t liked’ but works to remain on top of everything-including ‘besting’ Madeline.

B) Connected Circle: their children, their husbands (except for Jane),Bonnie and Nathan (Madeline’s x-husband and his 2nd wife), school principal, director of Little Theater only Madeline is involved in.

C) Their homes, school, the ocean they see from their windows (except Jane), driving in their cars on the way to school, coffee shop, and Little Theater

Thank you for letting me post.

[Kitty Hopper]

Assignment Two Big Little Lies S1-E2

What I learned from doing this assignment is:

While the ‘pilot’ episode centers primarily around the main character , but shows the Main Character Circle, little is know about the other characters in the main character circle..and this is a good beginning to develop them more and also use this episode as an additional ‘hook’ while keeping ‘in touch’ with our main character.

One sentence description of each of the Main Characters:

Madeline: This is primarily her story and we are watching her dealing with trying to stay ‘top mom’, while experiencing doubt about her life choices.

Jane: Mysterious newcomer mom Madeline has befriended and brought into the group.

Celeste: Beautiful wife married to much younger man with escalating physical abuse situation.

Renata: Corporate working mom with jealous issue of Madeline and problems with herself.

3 Circles of characters:

A. Main Character Circle: 4 Moms

B: Connected Circle: Their children, Madeline’s x-husband and next wife, Nannies, school personnel, Little Theater director

C. Environmental Circle: School, Coffee shop, driving cars

[Jon Carlson]

“What I learned doing this assignment is that I had never thought of the characters as being in circles, but after looking at “Invasion” again, it was quite obvious. It’s really changed the way I think about creating characters.

DISCLAIMER WARNING: I’m just throwing out ideas for my sci-fi idea “The Triangle” and I’m hoping it will evolve into something unique and utterly intriguing as a we move through the class.

Circles of Characters: INVASION (Apple +)

Season 1, episodes 1 & 2

Main Character Circle: Aneesha Malik, Mitsuki Yomato, Sheriff John Bell Tyson,

Trevante Ward, Caspar Morrow

Connected Circle: Sarah Malik, Hinata, Jamila Huston, Luke Malik

Kaito Kawaguchi, Akira Hashimoto, Montgomery.

Environment Circle: Darwin Charles, Alfie Ademura, Togo Igowa, Learah Hall, Poppy Rees, Fara Aminah, Liam Davies, Lucy Spencer, Rupert Bailey, Tupac, Goatherd, David Barton, Patrick Mitchell, Kelly Mitchell, Mr. Edwards, Satoshi, Chavez, Ryusei, Japanese News Anchor, Takuya, National Guardsmen, Japanese Translator, Japanese Official, Afghani Father & Mother, Julian, Amanda Hornsby, Jason, Afghani Son/Daughter, Vice Minister Fukui, Kuching, Deputy Grady, Doctor Lockhart, etc., etc.

1. Create the three circles of characters for your show.” THE TRIANGLE”

A. Main Characters Circle: DR. MEGAN WRIGLEY PHD- First year OWSA Astronaut, assigned to MARS BASE GAMMA II’s geological/mining team. An Engineer who job is to assist in looking for precious metals on and below the Martian Surface. COLONEL MARTIN LAMB, 30 year OWSA Astronaut assigned MOON-BASE WEIGH STATION THETA LANGSTON. Commands company of soldiers who’s mission is to defend the base from any and all threats. Also in assisting scientists with their hyper detailed mapping of the Moon’s dark side. GEMSEY DANIELS, OWSA Mission Control technician. Always wanted to be an Astronaut, but couldn’t make the cut physically. She’s still involved as close as she possibly can be without suiting up. COMMANDER RAYMOND BEECHAM –12 year OWSA Astronaut andVeteran Triangle Shuttle Commander and SPY. Was one of the first Pilots to complete the first nonstop Earth-Moon-Mars circuits. Unknown to most, shutting passengers all these years has made him the eyes and ears of OWSA (in the field). ,MAJOR “KILLER” KELLY WILLIAMS, OWA Marine, Lunar Tank Driver. Veteran of the “Last War” on Earth. Not wanting to retire, she made the transition to low gravity better than most. DR. MERTAN MEEKS PHD, OWSA Triangular Archeologist and former college professor. Author of many books on Ancient Martian Artifact interpretation and is currently on a major dig in the Cydonia Region. DR. ALEXI GORBACHEV, OWSA Triangular Archeological, Associate of Dr Meeks with completely different theories. COLONEL JUN SONG YUN, OWA (Asia) Officer & Spy – looking for any bit of technological information he can get his hands on and pass along. Dreams of retiring a Billionaire. JAMES GOTTWELL (Director OWSA- Off World Space Administration) Uber intelligent and runs a tight ship. Been running OWSA for the past ten years. Good at putting out any political fires before they get out of control.B. Connected Circle: HIRAM BENJAMIN, OWPC (Off World Press Corps)GENERAL THEODORE CASEY OWA Earthbound.KIT “KITTEN CABOODLE” Supply Chief Moon-base Theta Langston SHEN YAN WANG, BOROSKINOV, DR. MARGARITA ROSARIO, DR HINTA JUNDEEP, MURRAY RHOADES, SAMSON LOCKHART, NANCY ANDERS, KIMBERLY LEVY, DEVLIN MCGREGOR, PAUL KENDALL C. Environment Circle: MISSION TRAINING OFFICERS, LIFT CREW, STATION RESIDENTS, DRILLING TEAM “ROUGHNECKS”, SOLDIERS, MAINTENANCE CREW, SCIENCE STAFF, INTELLIGENCE, ARCHEOLOGY TEAM, ANTHROPOLOGY TEAM, OWSA EMPLOYEES, MARS BASE CREW, EARTH BASE CREW<div>

</div>

[Michael Greco]

Asst. 1 – American Horror Story:

A. Main:

– Vivien: wife and mother trying to hold family together and find the self she lost while dealing with escalating horrors within and around Murder House.

– Ben: mediocre psychiatrist trying to rebuild trust in his marriage and maintain private practice with increasing difficulties posed by psychotic patients, his clinging former mistress and an ax-murderer stalker warning him of his imminent doom.

– Violet: emotionally imbalance daughter cuts herself, flirts with Ben’s angry young homicidal patient Tate and courts mystery and disaster brooding in the Basement.

– Adelaide: neighbor mongoloid girl installs herself as a fixture in the Murder House, constantly turning up inside it, causing anxiety to Vivien and Ben but also interceding and warning of imminent danger.

B. Connected Circle:

– Constance: mother of Adelaide, tormentor of Harmons and of Moira the Maid;

– Moira: maid and shape-shifting seductress;

– Tate: Ben’s [impostor] patient, a scheming psychopath who devises terror and murder plots in the basement of the Murder House, fantasizes about committing mass murders; romantic suitor / pursuer of Ben’s daughter Violet;

– Burn victim Guy who burned his wife and children to death, stalks Ben to warn him of the dangers he is courting;

– Ben’s ex-mistress in Boston.

C. Environment Circle

– Twin teenage vandal boys;

– Impostor patient woman / Trio that tries to reproduce Manson / Sharon Tate murders;

– Mean Girl at Violet’s school;

– Real estate agent who sells Harmons the Murder House (immediately finds Ben sexist, selfish, distasteful).

– Violet’s teachers.

– Ms. Harmon’s gyn. physician.

– Ben’s professional colleagues.

– Tour guides, gapers and gawkers

[Luc Pagès]

Module 1 – Lesson 2: Three Circles of Characters
What I learned from this assignment is that it’s not always easy to figure out in which circle a character belongs. Also I realized that the characters I find mostly interesting at the start of Prison Break are in the connected circle. That being said, I find that sorting my characters according to those three circles makes it easier to concentrate on their purpose for the main character’s journey.
ASSIGNMENT 1:
Prison Break
A. Main Characters Circle: Michael Scofield – Lincoln (his Brother) – Veronika (lifelong friend of both – lawyer)
They are the ones we see the most at the beginning of the season. I think it is needed to start the story going, but from what I remember when I saw the whole series, there will be a switch at some point where characters from the connected circle will come into the main circle. Those are the most interesting characters.
B. Connected Circle: Sucre (Michael’s cell mate) – Abbruzzi (mafia leader) – T Bag (narcissistic pervert) – Sarah Tancredi (prison doctor) – C-Note (substance provider) – Brad Bellik (Chief of prison wardens) – Westmoreland (longest serving inmate)
C. Environment Circle: Kellerman (Secret agent) – Lincoln’s son – Lincoln’s wife – Prison Principal – Veronika’s husband

ASSIGNMENT 2:
Limbo (my show)
Show Concept: Life and death in an Intensive care unit, from the point of view of patients going through a near death experience collectively, which means they can interact with each other. They can see the livings around them, but they can’t be seen or heard by them.
A. Main Characters Circle: Emma, Ruby, Alicia, Kacper, Veronica, Dr Le Bel
Emma, in her eighties, starting Alzheimer. She tried to commit suicide because she didn’t want to be a burden for her relatives. But now, the longer she can stay in limbo, the better. Here, she has the body she had when she was fourteen and her journey is about trying to have a final love story, with Ruby.
Ruby, in his thirties. Aneurysm ruptured ten years ago. For an obscure reason, he is now hidden in the basement of the hospital. He still thinks he can make it as a rock star and never stops writing new songs.
Alicia, almost twenty. Emma’s sidekick. Her EEG indicates no possibility of recovery and doctors want to unplug her. But in limbo she feels great and doesn’t want to die.
Kacper, Ukrainian medical student. Clumsy and lacking self confidence, he is ignored by the rest of the staff. When people in limbo realise he can hear them, they ask him to deliver messages to the living world. Of course, when he tries, he’s not taken seriously and it worsens his image as a student. He’s not sure he can cope with this unexpected dilemma.
Veronica is a young nurse with an art and literature higher education. She’s brillant and no one knows how she ended up being a nurse. Over efficient, she doesn’t expect less from anyone.
Dr Le Bel is the head doctor of the intensive care unit. Playing God fits his narcissistic personality.

B. Connected Circle: Alicia’s father – Emma’s husband – Emma’s grand-daughter – they are the ones I can think off at this time.
C. Environment circle: Other doctors, other nurses, other students, other patient relatives, hospital administration.

[Kathleen Martin]

Kathleen’s Three Circle of Characters

What I learned doing this assignment is that characters need to have relationships.

The Young Pope

A. Main Characters Circle – Lenny/Pope Pius XIII, Sister Mary, Cardinals.

B. Connected Circle – Lenny was in an Orphanage and Sister Mary took care of him.

C. Environment Circle – Sister Mary flys in to become his personal assistant, various Cardinals, Nuns, and a Marketing Director.

My Show

A. Main Character Circle – Teacher/Journalist, Principal, Pope,

B. Connected Circle – Teacher, Principal at a school, Pope at the Vatcian.

C. Connected Circle – Working in a Catholic School, Teacher/Journalist reports to the Pope.

[Lisa Molenda]

What I learned doing this assignment is that people will not watch a show that doesn’t have a couple main characters who we care about more than anyone else, and all the other characters serve to move the main characters’ story along.

The Vampire Diaries

A. Main Characters Circle:

The vampire brothers, Alena

B. Connected Circle:

Caroline, elaina’s brother, Elana’s Aunt, the druggie girl at school and her boyfriend, The brothers’ nephew who lives with them

C. Environment Circle: Other kids at school, teachers

A. Main Characters Circle: Jane, Marc, Tabitha

B. Connected Circle:Jane’s dumb friend, Ammo, Orange county vampires, vampire hunter, Jane’s mom

C. Environment Circle: More orange county vampires, people at the people farm, homeless people, Jane’s school friends and teachers

Jane, a vegan activist, who is also a student working on her PHD is biochemistry, wants to make the world a better place, while caring for her sick mother.

Marc, a vampire, has been around since the 1800’s, and is intrigued by Jane, but also wants to protect her for some reason.

Tabitha is Jane’s mentor, who is also a vegan activist and professional at the school who mentors other students into going vegan.

[Gary Sheehan]

CIRCLE OF CHARACTERS

What I learned in this assignment is to organize your character world to support your main characters and never lose sight of the desire of the hero and the journey they are about to embark upon.

Assignment 1 – The Americans

A. Main Characters Circle:

Elizabeth Jennings, Phillip Jennings, Paige Jennings, Henry Jennings

Stan Beeman

B. Connected Circle:

Chris Amador, Nina Sergeevna Krilova, Sandra Beeman, Frank Gaad, Martha Hanson, Arkady Ivanovich Zotov, Oleg Igorevich Burov, Claudia

C. Environment Circle:

KGB agents and thugs, FBI agents, operatives and administrative staff, various community members.

Assignment 2 – Impossible Dream

What I learned in this assignment is to organize your character world to support your main characters and never lose sight of the journey they are about to embark upon.

1. Create the three circles of characters for your show.

A. Main Character Circle

Gabriel Lancer, Frank Mayer, Detective Gerry Lindley, Sister Joseta, Police Cadet Marlene Bausman, ATF Agent William Marsden (deceased), Johnny Randanella

B. Connected Circle

Anna Milligan, Officer Tom Milligan, Dick Lancer, Loretta Lancer, Tommy Milligan Jr., Jimmy Clark, Noodle Dog, Mrs. Mayer, Marty Scanlon, Mickey Scanlon, , Baxter Peoples, Leslie Peoples, Father Farry, Sadie Brandt, Lou Brandt, Little Bobby Brandt, Betty Sanchez, Jose Sanchez, Billy Storms, Little Johnny Randanella, Florence Randanella, Deputy Commissioner Martin, Sister Laucelatte, Sister Frances Veronica, Freida Vogel, Isaac Vogel

C. Environment Circle:

Coroner William Wishart, Officer Wayne Hopkins, Andrew Jardel, Ladies at Totchermann’s Bakery, Bartenders and Patrons, Officer Myers, Mr. Junker, Officer Joe Young, Officer Myers, various petty criminals, Students at Presentation BVM, Mother Superior, Nuns and Teachers, Philadelphia and Cheltenham Policemen and Policewomen, small time south Jersey mobsters (the Randanella family)

2. Give us a one sentence description of each of the Main Characters:

Gabriel Lancer – Almost orphan, insatiably curious bookmaker’s protege

Detective Gerry Lindley – Brilliantly nuanced and personally flawed detective

Officer Tom Milligan – Philandering corrupt cop, Gabriel’s grandfather

Frank Mayer – Two-bit bookie and secret stock mogul

Sister Joseta – Nun raised as an orphan in the convent

Marlene Bausman – Stunning first female police cadet

William Marsden – Deceased ATF agent, Gabriel’s uncle

Johnny Randanella – Small time authoritarian mob boss, Gabriel’s uncle