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Don Thompson, Character Profiles, Part I
1. Type of role for Protagonist: Victim/Dreamer (Billy Budd) and Explorer (Captain Vere)
2. Type of role for Antagonist: Authority (Master of Arms Claggart)
3. Other roles necessary: supporting and background
4. Genre: Action-Drama
5. Main Characters (Billy Budd, Master of Arms Claggart, Captain Vere)
6. Timeframe: 1797
7. Location: HMS Avenger – Royal Navy
1. Billy Budd (Victim/Dreamer)
Age range and Description: 18
Internal Journey: Needs to find the best method of surviving and getting along with others.
External Journey: Needs to adjust to the new circumstances of work on the HMS ‘Avenger’ during wartime.
Motivation: Harmony with his fellow shipmates.
Wound: Is was born illegitimate and does not know who his parents are/or even his exact age.
Mission/Agenda: Create harmony among the crew.
Secret: He could have homosexual tendencies disguised as gentleness. Or, it could be that he arouses homosexual tendencies in others. This ambiguity is at the heart of what ends up torturing the conflicted Claggart into hating Billy.
What makes them special?
Extremely good-natured – to a fault, you might say.2. Master of Arms Claggart (Authority)
Age range and Description: 45
Internal Journey: Is escaping some sort of trouble at home and joined the Navy as a result. It could have been that he was involved in a homosexual relationship in the past, or that he murdered a homosexual man that he had relations with. No one is quite sure, but there are rumors.
External Journey: Needs control and authority.
Motivation: Creating a sense of fear in others gives him a sense of control and eases his inner suffering.
Wound: Suffered an abusive childhood.
Mission/Agenda: Make others suffer so they will be on the same level as him: miserable and suffering.
He is essentially a sadist.Secret: Detests God and curses him under his breath. Prays to Dark Forces to give him strength.
What makes them special? He is extremely disciplined, driven to channel his dark impulses and cruelty
into socially acceptable ways.3. Captain Vere (Explorer)
Age range and Description: 35
Internal Journey: Wants to fulfill his duty and continue the good name of his family.
External Journey: As an officer in the Navy he comes from a family of landed gentry near London and seeks
to fulfill his familial duties.Motivation: Perform his duties well.
Wound: Senses a tension between his morality and his duties.
Mission/Agenda: Whatever orders come his way, he will attempt to execute them regardless of the cost.
Secret: He is a pacifist at heart.
What makes them special? He is kind, even as he is externally extremely disciplined and ordered.
What I learned: I re-watched the 1962 version of Billy Budd and saw all kinds of sexual/spiritual (the two are ironically interwoven) subtext regarding the nature of the relationship between Claggart and Billy. None of this is mentioned in the standard write-ups. That said, some writers have delved into this homosexual tension and insist that Melville intended it (mostly lit crit types). When I saw the film as a young boy I was enthralled by it and found the story to be deeply moving. I always felt Billy was a Jesus-like character. Now that I am older, I find there is so much subtext to the film it is almost painful and it makes me understand why there hasn’t been a remake. This story is very raw in its depiction of human frailty. It is also accurate historically that there were homosexual relations on board ships of the era. (There were also people of African descent, but that is another topic — I will include African heritage people in this version of the story). The bottom line is that if this film can ever be done with more sensitivity and openness now is the time. I’m hopeful I can write a version of the script that is truer to Melville’s intentions and brings them more to the surface, yet at the same time preserves the narrative arc and taught action that makes it a classic. I want this film to be a tear-jerker and cathartic. I don’t want there to be a dry eye in the house when the credits roll.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by Don Thompson.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by Don Thompson.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by Don Thompson.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by
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Peter Birdsong Character Profiles – Part 1
Carly (Protagonist)
Type: Dreamer
“Mom” Name TBD (Antagonist)
Type: Change Agent
Other possible characters…
Background characters at Carly’s school and Employees at “Mom’s” company.
Genre: DRAMA
Carly
Roll: She’s a dreamer. Typical self-seeking teen who believes she’s figured out the world and doesn’t need anyone.
Age: 17
Internal Journey: From prideful and crass to humble and gentle.
External Journey: From a weak teen without a clear direction to a strong young lady with a goal.
Motivation: To become famous thereby feeling everyone loves her.
Wound: Father was killed in accident. Mom wasn’t present.
Mission/Agenda: To get back to her own life away from Mom.
Secret: She intends to drop out of school.
What makes her special: Being a cheerleader, she very athletic.
MOM (Name TBD)
Roll: A business woman who’s desperate to reconnect with her daughter after tragically losing her husband.
Age: Late 40s
Internal Journey: From guilt to forgiving herself
External Journey: From career focused to family focused.
Motivation: Feel a connection with her late husband
Wound: Husband is dead. Daughter’s relationship is destroyed
Mission/Agenda: To deliver her husbands boat to a potential buyer.
Secret: She’s been asked to take over the company.
What makes her special: She’s a problem solver able to analyze situations and learn to change them or adapt.
What I learned today: I can already see how these exercises in getting to know my characters is affecting the story that was in my head — in a good way! It’s already evolved — and improved — quite a bit!
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I learned that going through this process first provides gold for story telling. Developing the characters in this way, makes me feel for lack of a better word, safe, and certain that I will finish, as opposed to wandering around in the story aimlessly with no finish line in sight. Thereby, giving up. Yay!!!
Lesson 2: Character Profiles Part 1
1. Type of role for Protagonist: Rachel, Daughter of Barb, (RUNNER/DREAMER)
2. Type of role for Antagonist: Mother (Barb for now), (VILLAIN/PREDATOR)
3. Other roles necessary: MINOR ROLES AND BACKGROUND
Rachel as a child, younger Mother, young Japanese Step Father, and supporting roles: young teens (13-20’s) and Dan, 24, musician, Dr. Kennis, 30’s, shrink/psychologist. Carol, (a Mom) 30-40 and Steve a teen (15-16) Trying to eliminate some characters by referencing that which already happened…
4. Genre: DRAMA
6. Timeframe: Present (2022) and past (1972-76ish)
. Location: Midwest – Evanston and somewhere else in the Midwest
1. Rachel – Daughter
Age range and Description: Middle aged (50’s) and Youngster (8-14), Half Caucasian, half Puerto Rican
Internal Journey: Needs to make amends with her past and have closure with Mother before she dies.
External Journey: Needs to take a road trip to find her Mother’s whereabouts.
Motivation: Peace of Mind. Curiosity.
Wound: Unloved by her Mother. Responsible for the kidnapping of her little brother. Has never felt good enough.
Mission/Agenda: To confront her Mother in person. Needs to see that her Mother cares about any of it, in spite of pretending nothing ever happened.
Secret: Deep remorse for having been incestuously abused sexually as a child and having committed the same offense believing that it was a show of love.
What makes her special? Extremely smart and talented in spite of not having the support in order to succeed. Quirky, funny and positive – even when the chips are down. Relentless and determined. Independent, survivor. Handy and resourceful. Resilient. Can rise to any occasion. Self sufficient.
2. Mother (Barb) – Authority Figure
Age range and Description: Younger Barb Mid 20’s-30’s, Older Barb mid 70’s
Internal Journey: Nomadic, Narcissistic, Pompous and judgmental, leaving a wake of destruction behind her where ever she goes. Not sure how humbled she becomes, if at all. Regrets.
External Journey: Nomadic. Cold. Moves from relationship to relationship and from place to place starting over once she’s done with her destruction. Numerous jobs and career moves. Winds up unconscious literally.
Motivation: Self serving. Escaping the depths of her pain and destruction.
Wound: Left her son behind, and eventually her daughter, as well. Empty. Alone. Not that likable. Her father died at the age of six. Selfish, militant Mother.
Mission/Agenda: To abandon anything or anyone who causes her any discomfort. To lead her life as she sees fit, in spite of who may get hurt along the way. Self serve. Live in peace where nobody gets to know her too well.
Secret: Is filled with self loathing and regrets past choices. Never stopped loving and hating my Dad. Resents Rachel for looking like her Dad. Hates Rachel for sabotaging the kidnapping of her son, Rachel’s younger brother.
What makes her special? Able to move on and not look back. Highly intelligent. A hidden emotional life that may never be revealed. Handy and resourceful. Resilient. Survivor. Self sufficient.
3. Nurse Eleanor – Mother’s Caretaker
Age range and Description: Present only, mid 70’s, Stocky and Stern, Jewish
Internal Journey: Stern and protective of Mother, defensive. Eventually opens up and softens.
External Journey: Protects and cares for Mother and tries to turn Rachel away until she can’t deny her access anymore. Eventually becomes understanding and caring of Rachel’s predicament.
Motivation: To care for Mother (Barb) and keep anyone who shows up away from her. She is a nurse in a convalescent home.
Wound: Perhaps also has estranged children who don’t come to visit her.
Mission/Agenda: To do a good job and obey her patient’s wishes.
Secret: Possibly in cahoots with Barb who may not really be unconscious.
What makes her special? I don’t know yet. It may be that she can knit and crochet and shares this with Rachel after some time passes. She’s a protector.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by Rebecca Jordan.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by Rebecca Jordan.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by
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Dana’s Character Profiles Part 1
What have I learned during this assignment?
Defining the characters and their motivations before scripting helps create the direction and conflict that moves the story. I can see the story unfolding as I develop my characters.
GENRE: THRILLER/ACTION
JACK DONOVAN
Role in the story: Protagonist / Hero / Victim. Ex-cop wrongfully convicted of manslaughter seeking redemption after being released from prison.
Age and description: Male. Mid-50’s. Physically defeated.
Internal journey: Angry and vengeful to peace and redemption.
External journey: From ex-con to respected police officer.
Motivation: Regain his old life back and relationship with daughter.
Wound: Imprisoned. Lost his family. Publicly hated.
Mission / agenda: Find the truth and bring down villains.
Secret: Has a daughter from first marriage being raised by another man.
What makes his special: Retains a sense of justice despite the injustice done to him.
FRANK VALENTINO
Role in the story: Protagonist / Hero / Victim. Ex-cop wrongfully convicted of manslaughter but has accepted his fate and wants to disappear and forget his past.
Age and description: Male. Mid-50’s. Emotionally and physically hard.
Internal journey: Hardened and defeated by prison to empowered and vengeful.
External journey: Ex-con not willing to dig up past to searching for his own brand of justice.
Motivation: Wants blood for everyone involved who sent him to prison.
Wound: Wrongly imprisoned.
Mission / agenda: To find and kill everyone involved who send him and Jack to prison.
Secret: Killed inmates in prison to survive.
What makes him special: Loyalty to his partner.
SIMON
Role in the story: Antagonist / Villain / Predator. Assassin assigned to kill Jack and Frank before they learn the truth.
Age range and description: Male. Mid 40’s. Immaculately dressed and groomed. Lean and fit. Smooth and very professional.
Internal journey: Cool sociopath to
External journey: Arrives in the city from aboard to solve problem but is eventually killed.
Motivation: Loyalty to bosses.
Wound: Unknown.
Mission / Agenda: To kill Jack and Frank and protect governor’s secret from being exposed.
Secret: Killed the student activist and framed Jack and Frank for the murder.
What makes him special? Highly intelligent. A professional obsessed with the precision of his job.
BRADFORD MILLS
Role in the story: Antagonist / Authority. Attorney General who prosecuted Jack and Frank. Current governor of the state. On short list for the vice presidency.
Age range and description: Male. Late 40’s. Handsome family man, wife and children.
Internal Journey: Strong and confident becoming nervous and frightened for his political future.
External journey: Candidate for vice president to embroiled in scandal/murder.
Motivation: Power. Fame.
Wound: Desperate for approval from dead father.
Mission / Agenda: To cover up his involvement in murder.
Secret: Fathered a child with a prostitute while in law school.
What makes him special? Charming and charismatic in public / weak and frightened in private.
SUPPORTING CHARACTERS / MINOR ROLES
Jack’s ex-wife who wants a new life with her new husband. Wants to protect her daughter – Jack’s daughter born while he was in prison – from him and his life.
Retired captain who supervised Jack and Frank and reluctantly helps with their investigation.
Lawyer who defended Jack and Frank at trial but withheld information.
Dirty cops that help Simon.
Family of murder victim.
Simon’s bosses that drive him forward. Never seen. But heard over phone calls.
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Robert Wood’s Character Profiles, Part 1
What I learned doing this assignment is that exploring the depths of character even further than I thought I needed to not only helps them become clearer in my mind, but also can lead to plot / story discoveries as well.
Protagonist: Matt (son) is a “Fighter” who will not only rise to the immediate goal / challenges but will rise to the occasion of dealing with his dad and everything they encounter when their day trip doesn’t go as planned.
Antagonist: Bert (father) is a “Change Agent” who will be a thorn in Matt’s side but ultimately leads Matt to his full potential and to a better understanding of his father.
Other Characters: Minor Roles / Background Characters only: Matt’s sister (VO on phone call only), and a boat rental lady.
Genre: DRAMA
Time: Present (2022)
Location: Kelowna, British Columbia / Okanagan Lake
MATT
Role: Son / protagonist who is feeling put-upon to have to go to his dad’s to take care of things.
Age: 50ish male, in decent shape and working on it. Somewhat tightly wound as story starts.
Internal Journey: He begins agitated / impatient with his dad specifically (and with everything in general) and grows to a place of peace and understanding.
External Journey: Going on one last quest with his dad what they’re searching for (the sea monster) becomes less important than what he finds: a better relationship /understanding of his father.
Motivation: Want: To get to his dad’s and deal with what needs to be done (which we assume is to help move the old man into a home). Need: To reconcile his relationship with his dad.
Wound: Never having the bond with his dad that he wanted / imagined.
Mission / Agenda: To go on a last quest for the sea monster Ogopogo, but in the process finds his purpose: to reconcile himself with his dad.
Secret: His dad’s already dead. Matt’s going to clear out the old family house for sale, but isn’t quite ready to cope with it.
What makes him special: His willingness to humour his dad one last time, even though he’s seemingly cold and impatient with the old man.
BERT
Role: Father / antagonist who’s a critical conscience-like voice to Matt, reminding him of what he should or shouldn’t be doing.
Age: mid-70s, wiry build but clearly weakened by age.
Internal Journey: His antagonistic criticisms are a cover / shield that will fall away in tandem with Matt’s.
External Journey: Prompting his son to go out one final time on a father-son quest for the sea monster brings them closer together.
Motivation: To get his son to feel at peace with their relationship.
Wound: The same / mirror image as Matt’s: not having had the relationship either of them really wanted.
Mission / Agenda: To get Matt to a place of peace about their relationship.
Secret: He’s dead. He’s just a memory that Matt’s conjured up to relive / spend a bit more time “with” his dad.
What makes him special: In the beginning it seems he brings out the worst in his son but by the end he brings out the best.
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TIM’S CHARACTER PROFILES – PART 1
1. Protagonist: DUKE the dog is a RUNNER type character. Having been hurt by his owner, he ran away, avoids humans, and lives on his own.
2. Antagonist: DOG CATCHER is an AUTHORITY type. He takes pride in keeping his town free of wild dogs and Duke as a frequent offender is enemy #1.
3. Other Characters:
SQUIRREL is Duke’s buddy. With no tail and a nut allergy, he has problems of his own, but he also has a goal – to find his family.
EMMA is an ornery, wheelchair-bound girl who chose Duke from the dog pound just to annoy her parents. She will be a bit of a CHANGE AGENT for Duke, and vice versa.
Others: Emma’s parents and Duke’s original owner.
4. Genre: Part COMEDY, part BUDDY FILM
CHARACTER PROFILES:
DUKE (Protagonist, Runner with a little Victim thrown in)
Age range and Description: Adult dog, but not old. He looks nicer than he acts.<div>
Internal Journey: From bitter and mistrusting to loving and trusting again.
External Journey: From self-imposed loner to part of a loving family.
Motivation: Avoid being hurt by humans again.
Wound: heart-broken by the perceived betrayal of his owner.
Mission/Agenda: live alone, without people
Secret: addicted to the words “Good boy”.
What makes them special? Beside his strong sense of smell – Empathy. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t just ignore others’ pain.
EMMA (Change Agent)
Age range and Description: 10 year old injured girl who is depressed and doesn’t want to do rehab. She only adopted Duke because he looked as sad and mean as her.
Internal Journey: From depressed, defeated to regaining her zest for life.
External Journey: From handicapped to handicapable, taking on new challenges and hobbies.
Motivation: to be like other kids, the way she was before her accident.
Wound: her accident, which zapped her ambition and cost her friendships.
Mission/Agenda: to feel normal again.
Secret: the accident that injured her was her fault.
What makes them special? very intelligent and manipulative.
SQUIRREL (Duke’s buddy)
Age range and Description: juvenile squirrel, very positive and happy despite having no tail, no family, and a nut allergy.
Internal Journey: not sure.
External Journey: From struggling to survive alone to rejoining his family.
Motivation: to not be alone, first befriending Duke, then looking for family.
Wound: afraid of heights, partly because he lost his tail.
Mission/Agenda: Find his family.
Secret: Not sure yet.
What makes them special? always optimistic, no matter how bad the situation.
What I learned doing this assignment is that I don’t have a true antagonist, so I amplified the Dog Catcher role, but I also now understand how Emma can take over the antagonist role as Duke’s change agent.
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Suzanne Begley Character Profiles Part 1
Protagonist/Dreamer: Molly Finn, American Irish goes on vacation to rural Ireland and falls in love with a farmer, they marry, and all is great until they struggle to raise their children in America during the video game revolution.
Antagonist/Dreamer turns to Authority: Seamus O’Connor, restless farmer, meets an American, falls in love and moves to America, but struggles to agree with his wife on how to raise his children with old fashion methods.
Supporting characters: Paul Tierney, Molly’s coworker who has been in love with her for years, Molly’s parents and siblings and friends, Seamus dad and brothers and friends. Molly’s boss. Their children: Liam (impulsive, class clown) and Fiona (straight A student that works not to disappoint her parents like her brother).
Minor roles: Molly’s boss (who urges her to go back to Ireland as he let his “random chance at love” get away). The couples’ neighbors, Seamus’ neighbors on the farm.
Background Characters: Wedding guests, funeral guests, soccer teams, vocal soccer moms
Genre: Drama
Molly:
Happy childhood, good career, always said she didn’t want a typical life, but as time passes does she start to have regrets, which are very destructive in her search for a fulfilling life.
Age Range: Late 20s – 60.
Internal Journey:
From single to married to motherhood and the ups and downs of a marriage that people whispered “would not last,” but they were determined to prove “them” wrong at all cost…was the cost too high?
External Journey:
Starts in mid 20s fit, tennis player, after children, gains weight, drinks Chardonnay, but then regroups and trains for a ½ marathon at age 60.
Motivation: Life the life you were meant to have, be happy.
Wound: She feels she has failed as a mother. “We are only as happy as our most unhappy child.” You worry about your kids until your last breath no matter how old you are and how old they are.
Mission/Agenda: Find a way to balance your happiness with or without your family.
Secret: Only the four of them know how bad it is, they are not a family, but the outside world thinks they are fine.
What makes them special? They took a risk that many people would be afraid to do and came up short, but you should still applaud them for trying.
Seamus:
Has no memory of his mother who died when he was three yrs. His father showed love to those who worked the hardest. Laziness is the enemy. He meets a fun spirited American, they fall in love and all goes well until they have a son that wants to play video games all day.
Age Range: Late 20s until 60.
Internal Journey:
He goes from living on a farm in Ireland and moves to NJ. He goes back to school, gets married, learns to drive on the other side of the road and becomes a father.
External Journey:
Ages, loses his hair, drinks IPAs and doesn’t laugh or smile as much
Motivation:
Raise hard working children that appreciate what they have been given
Wound:
Did not have a happy childhood, does not understand unconditional love, he can treat family like a neighbor that you have an argument with and stop talking to them
Mission/Agenda:
Convince Molly that we should abandon our son so he can grow up, ‘we gave him the best shot now he is on his own”
Secret:
He wishes his son was never born and he had two smart, well behaved daughters
What makes them special? He has so many good qualities, he is a hard worker, great to neighbors but he does not love his son and he thinks he doesn’t have to unless his son meets his expectations of success
What did I learn doing this assignment?
It is important to go on a journey with each of the characters on their own and not just push them into each other too soon. It is helping me really define the arc of the story.
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7. What I learned: Making them bad and getting characters in trouble is fun. No worries about getting them out of trouble.
PROTAGONIST: Nancy is fashion model beautiful, 30s, too smart, protagonist and love interest of Jimmy. At 15, she seduced her old minister with chaotic fallout, including causing her family to flee town. Promising to reform didn’t help her promiscuity.
She’s divorced three times, never admits it, yet lives like in a teenager’s fantasy in beach resort, luring men in her bikini, meeting them in her hostess bartender jobs, engaging in friendly pickup contests with waitresses.
She’s afraid of depth, of heartbreak, of love, yet skirts on edges addicted to the thrill and conquest but rarely now, ends up with a man.
Internal Journey: The character arc that shows a change of mind and emotions. Treating men as the weaker sex. Is losing its thrill. Always being on top loses its newness.
External Journey: The character arc that shows an action and experience change.
She dresses sexy, but now wears modest, button up outfits to hostess, no men’s business cards, loses job as not sexy enough.
Motivation: Nancy’s want is usually to achieve a goal: like a princess, to be admired, worshipped.
NEED: Their need is a base internal state that is missing for them: missing for her is love, belonging, recognition, being left out/ unworthy. Uses people as stepping stones to her importance. She’s a femme fatale to the weak and corruptible. Proves she’s worthy and then steps up to be better than others.
Wound: A deep seated emotional trauma that continues to haunt the character. Much of their life may be about somehow resolving this wound. Her parents were ;judgmental religious, ordained ministers. She was punished and repeatedly failed as a child.
Mission/Agenda: Turmoil internal and reflected in her social actions. She needs distraction and turmoil to cover her inner turmoil.
Secret: What are they hiding that affects the story in an important way? She hides her past. She pretends to be cheerful when she’s actually deeply troubled. She’s driven to create chaos petty theft, almost innocent kidnapping, arson or mayhem with easy explanations, e.g. Popping balloons outside police station like gunshots.
What makes them special? The one thing that completely separates this character from all others. Their uniqueness.
She is exciting, fun, unafraid and fully expressed and a powerful and free natural leader, brilliant at manipulating people to cover her wrongdoings.
ASSIGNMENT #2
2. Her role: RUNNER: She is plagued by unworthiness, cannot sit still, leaves quickly after sex, avoids feelings.
3. Antagonist role: Accused womanizer but important man about town. Change agent; preaches true love but toys with her because he can. She has met her match. Secretly, he wants marriage and family.
4. OTHER CHARACTERS: They both have confidants, maybe lovers, brothers mothers.
5. Genre: Rom-com.
6. Her/his role in story: She blasts ahead, stirs things up. 30, beautiful, powerful. He is 40, puts on brakes, talks sense, is loving but too hopeful about her, delusional.
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Type of role for Protagonist: Uncle Dave is the mother’s brother (steadfast, concrete, dependable, self-made wealthy, solid)
Type of role for Antagonist: Mother (intelligent, ‘caught’ in this household, barely able to handle the stress but won’t let it show)
Supporting characters: Father, Son, Daughter
Father (meek, quiet, any stress or excitement causes occasional seizures)
Son (constantly unsatisfied, seeks mother’s approval, overachiever, perfectionist and demands perfection from others around him, is disappointed at his own few failings)
Genre: Drama
Timeframe: Present day
Location: Any Midwest city
I’m having a tough time with this course. Should I be receiving daily emails describing the assignment? Please let me know where the assignment description is and if there are learning materials to read.
Thank you for anyone’s assistance.
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TERI MOORE – If you see this I hope it helps. You can see the assignments released each day by clicking on the “Your Screenwriting Classes” button at the top of the page – there you should see the 30 Day Screenplay course, click on that and see the daily courses. Today I started receiving the email assignments, but a day late and in the mid-afternoon Pacific time (instead of 9am as promised). Also the daily assignment in the class link on the website hasn’t been showing up for me until mid-afternoon Pacific time either, but at least it’s on the right day… Good luck!!
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(Patrick Downey) Transformational Journey
“What I learned doing this assignment is how to talk about my screenplay to a total stranger by putting it into several small categories (not that I would do that until it’s finished) but you get the idea. It helped me to structure out new screenplays moving forward without getting lost in the story first. I’m rabbling but maybe someone will understand??
Hero: Cayman Stingnelli, young hearing-impaired boy who has recently lost his mother and now lives in a different city with his grandfather.
Transformation: Cayman goes from innocent deaf kid to vengeful, resourceful teenager.
Internal Journey: Wants to live a life that honors his mother and desires to please his grandfather every chance he gets.
External Journey: Worships the ground his grandfather walks on until he finds out that his whole business and life is a lie.
Character Arc: This happens when young Caymen who is proficient at reading lips, a secret that died with his mother who was holding it back to surprise her father, Cayman’s grandfather upon their upcoming visit. A gift that now pays huge dividends as Cayman focuses on several men that work with his grandfather in what he thought was a charitable organization for children. Cayman deciphers that they are betting and rigging professional sporting events by manipulating owners, officials, and players. At this point he loses all respect for the man he idolized since he had no father and deep, resentful anger has set in. Cayman had every reason to shut out his grandfather and withdraw inside his shell, but his life really didn’t take a turn until Dardanos Alexandrite made his ultimate power play. Dardanos, the youngest of the partners had Ray Stingnelli killed to grab control of the organization and that was all the motivation Cayman needed to take them down from within.
Cayman’s Old Ways: Quiet, unassuming, background player, pleaser
Cayman’s New Ways: Conniving, highly motivated, mastermind, and brilliant
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Cathryn’s Character Profiles Part 1
What I learned doing this assignment is to be focused. and put it at the top of your work.
Protagonist
Victim –
Charley has been torn from his family, who have all been jailed, and forced to fight for survival in a boot polish factory.Antagonist
Predator –
Lamerte is Charley’s cousin by marriage, and who is a manager at the factory. He tell Charley’s parents he will care for the boy, but he instead uses Charley.What other characters might be necessary?
Supporting characters:
Fanny, Charley’s sister. The pianist who everyone things is the genius, the one who will save them.
The rest of Charley’s imprisoned family.
The other boys in the factory.Minor roles
The public who visit Charley
The music students at the Royal Academy of Music, especially Henry Burnett (the man Fanny marries)Background characters
LondonersPick your genre
Drama – Historical drama to be precise
CHARLEY
Role in the story: Protagonist.
Charley is a 12-year-old dreamer who is forced to face harsh realities of life when his family is jailed for debt, he is abused by the man asked to protect him, and his sister seems to be heading for a perfect life.
Age range and Description: Age 12, a skinny boy, smart and creative, an enormous sense of justice.Internal Journey: Charley seemingly loses everything and is broken and enraged, he must look outside of himself in order to recover his life and dreams. And he does this by saving his sister.
External Journey: He is crushed by being forced to be a factory worker and by losing his family. He fights for his right to have the life he wants, to leave the factory, to love his family, and to feel safe again.
Motivation: He wants to reunite his family and to leave the factory/He needs safety and love.
Wound: He has lost his family. He must get them back.
Mission/Agenda: **His Mission is to becomes the best factory boy in order to be too good for the factory/He wants to be the best storyteller, and to have that recognised.Secret: He is hiding his true self as he works to save himself. That he is abandoned, living in squalor.
What makes them special? He becomes one of the most famous writers in the world. This is a true story.
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BG’s Character Profiles Part 1
What I learned doing this assignment: Laying out my characters like this is helping me to figure out the story that I want to tell!!!
2. Pick the type of role your Protagonist will play and give us a few sentences on how they will fulfill that role.
Hero: He’s a foreign affairs reporter for a U.S. weekly, sent to investigate a tip about a plot to start a war in Eastern Europe. At first, he’s dealing with his broken heart by obsessing over getting the biggest major scoop ever. Then, the horror of starting a war for profit penetrates the fog of his pain, and he decides to do something about it. He fights the conspiracy and thwarts their plans.
3. Pick the type of role your Antagonist will play and give us a few sentences on how they will fulfill that role.
Villain: He’s an energy mogul, leading a group of other billionaires in a conspiracy. They meet at a posh club in London. Their objective is to stop Germany from buying cheap, piped natural gas, so that they can sell them expensive, liquefied natural gas, shipped across the ocean in tankers. Since Germans are naturally resisting this, a war in Ukraine is needed to convince the German public.
4. What other characters might be necessary?
Supporting characters: German agent working as maid at the Club, Hacker sidekick, Reporter’s Editor, Assassin hired by the Billionaire, CIA Deputy Director, CIA Safe House Chief, other Billionaires… (Didn’t pick names yet.)
5. Pick your genre.
Action
6. Fill in whatever answers come to you about your lead character profiles.
Role in the story: Reporter.
Age range and Description: Early thirties.
Internal Journey: From not caring that it is a WAR that is being planned (War is profitable for the media!) to wanting to do something to stop a war.
External Journey: From being an observer (mission: to get the scoop) to becoming a player (taking action to stop a war)
Motivation: Get scoop/stop a war.
Wound: He was dumped by the love of his life. So he dropped out of grad school (mechanical engineering), bummed around Europe, working odd jobs like night security guard, building manager, and bouncer, and finally got himself hired in the U.S. as a foreign affairs reporter (because he knows how to travel on the cheap).
Mission/Agenda: Get scoop/stop a war.
Secret: Pretends to work as a bouncer at a less posh club.
What makes him special? He knows how mechanical things work. He can climb.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by BG ERENGIL. Reason: Bold tag is still not working right
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This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by BG ERENGIL.
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Daniela Bolaños Character Profiles Part 1
What I learned doing this assignment is I need to flesh out the main characters more and choose minor and supporting characters for my story.
Name: Vegan Cowboy
Genre: Rom-Com
Protagonist: MichaelRunnerRole in the story: Protagonist. Cowboy on the run, who hides in a vegan commune.Age range and Description: 30-35. He is the kind of guy that color codes his apartment, and carefully combs his hair.Internal Journey: Selfish to caring and lovingExternal Journey: Cowboy to family manMotivation: to stay alive/make moneyWound: no real family/lonelyMission/Agenda: to survive/hideSecret: he lost his ranch on a betWhat makes them special?<div>
Antagonist: Violet
Change AgentRole in the story: Antagonist/Love interestAge range and Description: 30’s, wild, never intentionally combs her hair of choose her attireInternal Journey: impulsive to deliberateExternal Journey: animal rights activist living in vegan commune to life on the roadMotivation: keep her community safeWound: complicated childhoodMission/Agenda: to grow her communitySecret: she doesn’t completely believe in a vegan lifestyleWhat makes them special? She can be vulnerable even in complicated situations, momma bear to her chosen family</div>
Supporting characters:
Violet’s best friend
Michael’s business associate
Minor roles:
Kid that lives in the communeCowboy’s that are after Michael
Background characters:
People who work on Michael’s ranch
People who live in the commune
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Subject line: Daisy Khalifa’s Character Profiles Part 1
What I learned doing this assignment: There are different types of heroes/protagonists and antagonists. I also learned that my genre may be different than what I thought!
Protagonist: HERO/DREAMER
MIA PAULEY, 31, is consumed by memories of an encounter she had at the age of seven with an actor, Charles Laughton, who lived in her home in Los Angeles, but at a different point in time. She is convinced they met and that their encounter had lasting impacts on her life. She wants to prove this is true.
Antagonist: CHANGE AGENT
CHARLES LAUGHTON, the actor, is 47-years-old when he and Little Mia, age 7, meet in the garden of the home in which they both lived but at different points in time. Charles makes decisions that affect Mia’s life trajectory. Adult Mia (main character) must find Charles and convince him to do certain things in order to correct the time continuum.
Supporting Characters:
IAN Gardner, Adult Mia’s best friend
ELSA Lanchester, Charles Laughton’s wife
BRUCE Pauley, Mia’s father
KATRINA Pauley, Mia’s mother
BABS BUTTLE, Little Mia’s sitter
CARRIE PAULEY, Mia’s older sister
PAUL Gregory, Charles’ agent
DAVID SMITH, Charles’ protege and lover
BERTOLT BRECHT, writer, collaborator of Charles’
NORMAN CORWIN, writer/journalist, friend of Charles’
BURGESS MEREDITH, actor, friend of Charles’
ALBERY FINNEY, actor, “
ROBERT MITCHUM, actor, “
JOSEF von STERNBERG, film director
WILLIAM DIETERLE, film director
ALEXANDER KORDA, film director
TINA BARRIENTOS, Mia’s housekeeper and “second mother”
MICHAEL GARDNER, Ian’s father
MEYRL PRICE, geologist for Los Angeles/earthquake specialist
Genre: SCI FI
MIA PAULEY
Role in the story: Hero/Dreamer. Mia, 31, is aware that something is not right with the universe and it is because she encountered Charles Laughton when she was seven-years-old, as LITTLE MIA. Mia wants to set her life straight but it is notsmall task, given her unfathomable story that no one would believe.
Age Range and Description: Female, 31, attractive, witty, confident yet a little awkward, if wreckless.
Internal Journey: Wild, self-destructive and “blocked” to focused, clear and able to challenge time and the Cosmos using her mind and skill.
External Journey: She is living one life and must experience an interruption in the time continuum after which she will live a better life.
Motivation: To accept happiness, find love and to stop judging her family and herself.
Wound: A damaged, distant, tragic family-divorce; loss of Tina
Mission/Agenda: To confirm that she met Charles Laughton, who was from another time, and to understand what changed because of that meeting.
Secret: Chance encounters with people from another place and time: a meeting with Charles Laughton when she was seven.
What makes them special: Mia did meet Charles Laughton and Charles did meet Mia, though both were living in different times, Mia in 1972 and Charles in 1947. Both are at emotional turning points because they have to leave their beloved home, but for different reasons.
CHARLES LAUGHTON
Role in the story: Change Agent. Charles struggles with his own self-loathing —and his achievements as an actor — so much that he is slow to learn that the child he encountered was indeed from the future. When he does, he decides things that change his own life and hers.
Age Range and Description: Male, 47, unattractive, round, kind, aloof, self-absorbed, tortured, hard-working. Something of a dizzy professor.
Internal Journey: Disinterested to interested in the unfathomable; self-loathing to slightly more proud
External Journey: From a life of successful acting/directing to a different, more tragic professional life — and then back.
Motivation: To act well, classically; to stay in his beautiful ocean-front home in Los Angeles despite the threat of earthquakes (a decision that impacts everyones’ fates)
Wound: World War I injuries; his ugliness; closeted homosexuality
Mission/Agenda: To be a great director and actor
Secret: Chance encounters with people (MIA) from another place and time
What makes them special: Charles’ mind and his creative endeavors in 1940s Hollywood as one of its biggest stars. And, Charles has the power to change Mia’s fate, unbeknownst to him. Charles Laughton and Mia did meet, though both were living in different times, Mia in 1972 and Charles in 1947. Both are at emotional turning points because they have to leave their beloved oceanfront home, but for different reasons.
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What I learned from this assignment is that I’m developing this story and it reflects my comedic style. I can see certain elements of the story clearly. I can envision that from this, I can create a great, marketable movie.
– Pick the role the Protagonist will play and give us a few sentences on how they will fulfill that role:
Fighter: A capable warrior who can rise to the challenge of the conflict / Villain. The Protagonist, Emily, also has elements of the Explorer Role Type in that she’s always inventing contraptions to accomplish some purpose.<div>
<div>– Pick the type of role your Antagonist will play and give us a few sentences on how they will fulfill that role:
<div>
The Antagonist, Mitzi, is in the Antagonist role of Villain. She’s a drug crime kingpin who loves Chihuahuas, and considers the rarer of the breed, the greater the lucky charm. When Mitzi sees Emily’s Chihuahua on an Acapulco beach, she wants the dog. Emily’s Chihuahua has ice blue eyes, a rare trait. They are also the color of the swim trunks of Mitzi’s favorite romantic novel character Mario as seen on the book cover “Swimming for Your Love.”
– What other characters might be necessary?
Emily has 2 siblings. One is the oldest and he’s pragmatic and no-nonsense. In the story, this sibling is a Fighter. The youngest sibling is a Dreamer. He draws a lot and does a lot of staring out the window. He also will be a Helper.
Supporting characters: These will be Mitzi’s henchmen and women who are after the dog. Emily and her siblings’ mom is also a supporting character. She’s overworked and overwhelmed. She’s the principal of the elementary school where most of the story happens.Minor roles: A teacher, Joe, will be a helper to Emily’s Mom and her emerging love interest that culminates at the end of the movie.</div><div>
</div><div>Background characters: Mitzi’s mom, a character living inside the head of Mitzi, both in memory and in Mitzi’s self-criticism.</div>-Pick your genre. The genre is Family Holiday Comedy.
<div>
– Fill in whatever answers come to you about your lead character profiles.
Protagonist:
– Role in the story: Emily’s the Protagonist. She’s motivated to keep her dog from getting stolen. But she soon realizes that the bad guys intend to hold her school hostage to get the dog, so she becomes the Warrior Hero who also saves her school from the bad guys.</div>
– Age range and Description: Emily is a 9-year-old superkid whose DIY resourcefulness and Dennis the Menace luck are surpassed only by her dislike for Christmas, the day when her dad left the house and never came back.
– Internal Journey: Emily is a 9-year-old superkid whose DIY resourcefulness and Dennis the Menace luck are surpassed only by her dislike for Christmas, the day when her dad left the house and never came back. She’ll transform from a kid who doesn’t believe in what she can’t see to a kid who believes in both the power of love and Santa Claus.
– External Journey: Emily is a 9-year-old superkid whose DIY resourcefulness and Dennis the Menace luck are surpassed only by her dislike for Christmas, the day when her dad left the house and never came back. She’ll transform to a kid who uses her DIY resourcefulness to take down bad guys set out to lock down her school and steal her Chihuahua.
<div>– Motivation: Emily’s motivated to save her dog and to take down the bad guys.</div>
– Wound: Emily’s wound is that her Dad left on Christmas day and never came back.
<div>
– Mission/Agenda: To keep her dog safe and save her school.
– Secret: Her secret is that she wants the universe to show her that she can believe in what she can’t see. She wants a miracle.
– What makes her special? Emily’s special because she’s a skilled visionary and builder. She’s fearless when it comes to inventing and deploying her contraptions.
Antagonist:
– Role in the story: Mitzi is the Antagonist. She’s after Emily’s dog. She is the person who challenges Emily to grow and change to meet the challenges that Mitzi creates.</div><div>
</div><div>– Age range and Description: Mitzi’ is 37, still looking for Mr. Right, but going about it through being a thug. She’s insecure about her capability as a businesswoman and her ability to be in a romantic relationship. She’s a female Dr. Evil with a pre-occupation about luck, and an idealistic notion of love. She uses her authority to force others to conform and pledge loyalty.</div><div>
</div><div>– Internal Journey: Mitzi longs to be loved and she strives to dominate so she can ensure the loyalty that she believes brings love. She looks to secure her dominance by every means necessary, and by securing every advantage, including luck. Mitzi gets this approach from her mom who used this approach to demand love from Mitzi.</div><div>– External Journey: Mitzi operates as a crime kingpin and blows out all the stops to acquire lucky charms – a rare rock from Mars, an ancient Egyptian book about discount shopping, and Emily’s Chihuahua. She has an army of thugs who acquire what she wants.
– Motivation: Mitzi’s motivated to feel capable and good enough by surrounding herself with things that make her feel that way. This includes money, discounted luxury deals, and good luck charms.
– Wound: Mitzi’s wound is that she feels she isn’t good enough without other things to make up the difference.
– Mission/Agenda: To get Emily’s Chihuahua, a rare dog with a high luck factor.
– Secret: Her secret is that she wants to be loved just for herself.
– What makes her special? Mitzi’s special in that she has a soft side that shows itself when she’s faced with eating animals. She can’t do it. This gives a glimmer of hope that she can have empathy for others – that she is lovable and capable of love.
</div></div></div>
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Andrea Cabañas, Characters Profile Part 1
1. Firstly, I loved reading “don’t let the desire for perfection keep you from moving forward”. This is so true and helps me a lot to do this assignment (and for sure, future ones). Also, I learnt that my antagonist is someone else! It’s amazing how things change when you learn the transformational journey of your character.
2. Role of my protagonist: Victim.
Zoe had a rigorous education as her parents were devoted to the Christian Assemblies International, where women had to be submissive, have no career, no dreams. Her father was an abuser and used to hit her and her mother for no reason.
She leaves the church; her father kicks her out of the house. She moves to Sydney and lives with an uncle who was banned from the family because he’s gay.
Zoe wants to prove that she’s capable of being someone and having a career, but it doesn’t come easy.
Years later, after the death of her uncle, her prejudiced mother leaves the abusive husband and moves in with Zoe. Still, their relationship becomes a nightmare when she learns Zoe’s in love with another woman, who helps her gain confidence, finds a career and starts her own business. But Zoe dreams are shattered when she discovers her lover is a powerful drug dealer, and now, Zoe’s involved in a war between two drug lords.
3. My antagonist: a villain
Katrina Muller – Zoe’s mother
Katrina comes from a family with restricted education, so being a submissive housewife who takes care of the children, obeys her husband, and serves the church is not an issue.
Persuaded by Zoe, she runs away due to domestic violence, but it’s hard for her to accept it, as she still loves her husband. She blames Zoe for making her escape, and whenever she can, she will put Zoe down, making her feel miserable, trying to make Zoe see that she’s a woman and women can’t be successful in life. Whenever Zoe finds the strength to be someone and argues with her, Katrina always uses emotional blackmail to get what she gets and make Zoe feel guiltier.
4. What other characters might be necessary?
Supporting characters:
Georgia Terleckas (30’): Zoe’s best friend, Russian background, a trans woman
Paula Ortega (45): Spanish, Zoe’s lover, drug dealer
Pedro Estigarribia (50): Mexican drug dealer
Minor roles: police investigators, Zoe’s uncle, father, and brother.
Background characters: security guards, art students, customers in restaurants, cafes and in a nightclub.
5. Genre: Drama
6. My lead character profiles:
– Role in the story: Victim/Dreamer. Zoe is a victim who wants to prove to herself (and to her mother) that she can be successful being a woman
– Age range and Description: 35 years old but looks younger, German background. Ordinary body, not slim, not overweight. Funny around friends but a bit timid with men.
– Internal Journey: from being submissive to being a confident woman, able to accept that it’s okay not only to love another woman but also to succeed in life.
– External Journey: from being insecure, without focus and no professional ambition to becoming an independent business owner.
– Motivation: wants to be an independent and successful woman
– Wound: was sexually abused by her father
– Mission/Agenda: to prove to her mother she’s able to be successful as a woman
– Secret: failure to save her uncle from suicide
– What makes them special: she’s emotive, vulnerable – cries even seeing calves being rescued from milk farms. She has a good sense of humour and falls for gay men (she loves Ricky Martin and an Australian drag, Reuben Kaye).
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Charles Ferrell’s, Character Profiles 1
What I learned by doing this assignment is to look for the arc in all characters.
Genre Action / Drama
Duncan Smalls
Role in the story: Protagonist / Explorer / phd candidate, university teaching assistant
Age and description: 30, socially withdrawn and obsessed with history
Internal Journey: Withdrawn, loaner struggling for acceptance to center of public attention and potential leader.
External Journey: Mediocre history teacher a virtual unknown, to history maker who unearths what has been under everyone’s feet.
Motivation: Initially to quiet the voices, eventually to reveal the hidden tragic history.
Wound: painfully shy, abhors conflict and violence
Mission/Agenda: avenge the victims by revealing the tragedy
Secret: He was the little Asian girl
What makes them special? He is the only one who sees the ghosts and/or visions.
Ghost of the little girl
Role in the story: Protagonist / Change Agent
Age range and Description: 8 to 10, apparition of a small Japanese American girl
Internal Journey: from innocent believer in freedom, to victim of racial hatred
External Journey: American girl to unjustly imprisoned victim of medical experiments
Motivation: Vengeance
Wound: She was murdered in the camp along with her family
Mission/Agenda: to get the world to listen
Secret: her and her family’s deaths along with the camp were wiped from all records
What makes them special? As a ghost she can appear anywhere, even in the dreams of the living
The Old Sargent
Role in the story: Antagonist turns Protagonist
Age range and Description: 70’s, Old smoker, only living former internment camp guard
Internal Journey: Desperately struggling with the suppression of past deeds, finds peace in completing the missing pieces of the puzzle.
External Journey: Prison guard, witness to medical experiments in the secret camp, whistleblower
Motivation: to unburden his soul
Wound: He contributed to the death and cruelty as a foolish young man
Mission/Agenda: to connect the dots and confirm the facts as a witness
Secret: he knows where the secret camp was and how it was erased with the man made lake
What makes them special? The missing link and is murdered by the agent
The Agent
Role in the story: Antagonist / Villain
Age range and Description: 50’s / pock marked face, missing left earlobe burn scars creeping up out of his shirt.
Internal Journey: mildly dispassionate about the assignment, to hell bent on destruction
External Journey: situational monitor to direct personal violence
Motivation: to win
Wound: He was a POW and is very black and white about the ENEMY
Mission/Agenda: Disinformation
Secret: Is an addict
What makes them special? Access to the truth and resources to conceal it at all costs
Minor Roles:
Girls Father
The University Chancellor
News Broadcaster
Local Police Officers
Librarian
Background characters:
Prison Guards
Prison Physicians
Prisoners
Billy Bob Backhoe
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Benito Selim’s character profiles – Part 1
GENRE: Horror
Timeframe – Present day
Setting: College Campus and surrounding area
DARRYL CASE
Role in the story: Hero / Dreamer. Ambitious yet naïve college student who questions his illness as really being a gift.
Age range and Description: Male early 20’s into studying the unknown.
Internal Journey: Hides from people he is diagnosed with Schizophrenia and feels helpless that he cannot live a normal life nor have a career he enjoys.
External Journey: Trusts his guts instinct that he is not in fact sick but has the gift of being a medium. With this new aspect of life, he can find out who killed the victim is he haunted by.
Motivation: Clear his name and embrace his gift that is not an illness.
Wound: Confronting his past and getting clarification that he is not crazy and really can speak to the dead.
Mission/Agenda: To find out who killed Laura as well his friends.
Secret: His ability to communicate to the dead lead to a serial killer’s end of terror when he was a child.
What makes them special? He is very observant with the abilities he is given via his gift. He can also share it now as an adult with those close to him.
KAREN YOUNG
Role in the story: Change agent. The ghost of a murder victim has attached herself to Darryl and seeks his help.
Age range and Description: Female early 20’s college student in with the popular crowd.
Internal Journey: Stuck on earth as a lost soul.
External Journey: With Darryl’s help gets closure on her murder.
Motivation: Crossing over to the afterlife.
Wound: Not resting in peace.
Mission/Agenda: To escape purgatory
Secret: She knows her killer, but is unable to say it.
What makes them special? Through detailed clues, she can effectively communicate with Darryl.
OTHER CHARACTERS:
THE KILLER: Villain committing several murders that are linked to the past. The past that the college town has tried to suppress.
What I learned from this lesson is digging deep into your characters’ lives adds more layers to your story and makes it easier to map out.
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Lesson 2:
Who Are We Traveling With?
What I learned doing this assignment is that this helps me to gradually identify my characters, to place them in their backgrounds and their relationships, and gave me a new perspective on them. I was able to clarify their positions in the story. While Hannibal Lecter is the antagonist of Clarice’s inner change, Buffalo Bill is the antagonist of outer change. I identified both internal and external antagonists in my own story!
GENRE: PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER
PROTAGONIST: DR. OLIVIA THURMOND
Role: Dreamer / Explorer
Age range and Description: Female, early 30’s, physically fit, Ivy League self-discipline.
Internal Journey: From a guarded, disillusioned loner to a fully empowered woman who bravely faces her future.
External Journey: From a timid, formulaic therapist to a detective who faces and defeats a serial killer.
Motivation:
Want: Demonstrate that her hypnotherapy program is superior to conventional analysis.
Need: To overcome her fears of betrayal.
Wound: Her father was physically and emotionally abusive, and her mother shot him.
Mission/Agenda: To help the President recover from his wife’s death and his nightmares, and enable him to retake the reins of government.
Secret: Her former fiancé was cheating on her and she never suspected. He’s now working for the President. Her father was his political mentor.
What makes them special? She’s a brilliant psychiatrist who by nature remains detached and analytical.
FIRST ANTAGONIST:
CHIEF OF STAFF WILL DAVIS
Role in the story: Change Agent / Villain. A shrewd political mind and a manipulator.
Age range and Description: Male, late 30’s, outwardly ingenuous, inwardly a machine.
Internal Journey: From respecting Munson to undermining him.
External Journey: From using Olivia to protecting her.
Motivation:
Want: To take over the Presidency from Munson.
Need: To protect Olivia from Munson.
Wound: Olivia left him.
Mission/Agenda: To use Olivia’s techniques to pry a confession from Munson.
Secret: He murdered the First Lady.
What makes them special? He was Olivia’s psychology professor at Harvard, and uses his expertise like Vicomte de Valmont to influence people.
SECOND ANTAGONIST:
PRESIDENT MUNSON
Role in the story: Predator / Authority. A man who has risen to the apex of power and wields it like a rapier.
Age range and Description: Male, early 50’s, handsome, confident, oozes power.
Internal Journey: From accepting his crimes to burying them.
External Journey: From the East Wing to the morgue.
Motivation:
Want: Power over others, “because I could”.
Need: To pay for his crimes.
Wound: Actually adored his wife — and didn’t kill her.
Mission/Agenda: To win re-election.
Secret: He murdered three of his lovers at his wife’s request.
What makes them special? He’s born and bred to power and influence. He has spent a lifetime manipulating people to idolize him.
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Janeen’s Character Profiles Part 1
What I learned doing this assignment is that while I’d worked with these characters before in a couple of other classes (never wrote the screenplay, just scenes and plotting), I’m learning more about their motivations, journeys and worldview by doing this exercise.
Holiday Action/Comedy
Nick: Hero
Nick is a retired Army Ranger haunted by PTSD that leaves him unable to tell if what he’s experiencing is a flashback or reality. His teacup poodle tells him which it is. While working as a mall Santa — the only job he can hold onto — he rescues the president’s parents when he sees their kidnapping and the shooting of their secret service detail. He will do whatever it takes to keep them safe until the FBI agent working with the foreign national kidnappers can be ferreted out and brought down.
Role in the Story: Hero
Age Range/Description: late 30’s, fairly fit, fairly agile. Looks good in a Santa suit.
Internal Journey: Trusts only his PTSD dog, Grizzly, after an attack in the war, but learns to trust his senses again.
External Journey: Goes from mall Santa to top flight special ops type protector of the President’s parents, earning respect, self-respect and Ivy in the process.
Motivation: Longs to be the man he used to be — the strong (mentally and physically), self-assured, heroic guy he was before his PTSD set in.
Wound: His unit came under fire in the war, lost a number of people including his best buddy who died in his arms.
Mission/Agenda: Knows the president’s parents mall walk in his mall and when he sees them kidnapped, it’s his duty as a true American to rescue them and keep them safe until he can return them to the White House.
Secret: Dreams about a roll in the hay with the Secret Service agent even before he knew who she was.
What makes him special? He’s a broken man, doing the best that he can, but steps up and puts it all on the line when he’s needed. He’s still got it in hand to hand combat, mission planning and execution.
Agent Dasher: Dreamer/Villain
Agent Dasher has been a good FBI agent for many years, but he can’t see his pension or his retirement giving him the life he’s dreamed of and that some foreign nationals have promised if he can deliver the President’s parents to them. They’ll be hostages until the President delivers certain political prisoners and large sums of money, then they’ll be released and Dasher will be set for life and can give up the grind and start living the good life. Only political prisoners will be released, not terrorists, so where’s the harm in getting his lifelong dream?
Role in the story: Instigator of the kidnapping, responsible for rescuing the parents, but is really trying to find them so the kidnappers can hold them for ransom. He’s got the resources of the FBI and other government agencies at his beck and call to find the missing parents and the Santa that kidnapped them and he’s bold about using them.
Age range and Description: 50’s, fit, non-nonsense, commanding and always one step ahead.
Internal Journey: At first, he thinks the kidnapping will be bloodless, but when the mercenaries draw guns, he’s in for a very different fight than he signed up for. He rethinks his plan and must now fake his own death after he gets his money as well as disappearing out of the country. He can’t leave anyone alive who knows it was him behind the kidnapping. He becomes a killer.
External Journey: Humiliated by Nick’s rescue of the parents at the mall, he must use all the FBI and law enforcement resources at his disposal to find and dispose of Nick without being identifiable as the kidnapper. The more he’s foiled by Nick and the parents, the more willing he is to kill.
Motivation: At first, only money, but then, by faking his own death, he hopes to preserve his reputation with the FBI and still escape the country to retire.
Wound: He’s underpaid, overworked and jealous of his peers who went into private security or consulting and are making big bucks. He got left behind, holding down the fort for too long.
Mission/Agenda: At first, it’s to make a quick buck to retire with, but then it’s to keep the mercenaries from killing him when it’s over, keep people from finding out he was in on it and still get his money.
Secret: He feels like a failure — always an also ran — which is why he’s never gotten offers for the big bucks.
What makes them special? He wasn’t a killer, but his ethics become more situational and weaker with each failure.
Ivy: Hero
Ivy is the highly trained, stalwart Secret Service agent whose catastrophes (unfortunate events not of her own making, according to her) have stalled her career. Guarding a couple of 80 year olds is not that exciting, but they’re great people and she does a wonderful job of keeping them safe until takes a shot in her kevlar vest and is knocked out in the fall. Then she must find the parents, neutralize their kidnappers and deliver her charges safely to the White House for Christmas Eve. First, she has to find them. All she knows is that they were kidnapped by foreign mercenaries or possibly by Santa.
Role in the Story: Ivy accompanies the President’s parents all day, every day and has gotten to know them. She’s like a daughter to them, especially when it comes to keeping their impulses in check. She would lay down her life for them and works her way into Nick’s off the grid adventure while trying to decide if he’s a good guy or a bad guy. Her inside safe contacts allow her to figure out who the real villain is and find a way to capture the bad guys so they can be brought to justice.
Age range and Description: Late 30’s, extremely attractive, physically agile in a fight.
Internal Journey: She’s always felt she wasn’t enough, couldn’t trust men to love her and not use her as a stepping stone to better women, positions in the SS or access to the White House. She feels under appreciated and undervalued as an extremely intelligent and creative protector of VIPs, but her work to find and find out about Nick, rescuing the parents, makes her value felt by HQ.
External Journey: After being shot (in the kevlar vest), finding the parents gone and no one around, she uses the extra trackers she’s had to use to keep track of the childishly recalcitrant parents over the years she’s been their agent to find them, determine their status (safe? with a good/bad guy? pursued by the people who shot her or safe from them?), and get them back to the White House for Christmas Eve. She does it, finding love and her own professional value in the process.
Motivation: To see if anyone appreciates how hard it is to keep the president’s parents safe – they are tricky! – and to appreciate her skill, professionalism, self-sacrifice and value. She’s never felt it before. She’s always felt more like a VIP babysitter.
Wound: Because she’s attractive and has had several recalcitrant VIPs over the years, someone else always got credit for saving them and she got blamed for losing them even though it wasn’t her fault.
Mission/Agenda: She wants to get it right with the President’s parents, by far her most important VIPs to protect so far and her favorite people in the world.
Secret: She’s checked out Santa at the mall before and thinks he’s hot.
What makes her special? Technical skill, good instincts, creativity, ability to size people up and her love for the President’s parents. This is more than a job to her.
Rudy: Supporting Character
The President’s father, 80-ish, fussy, high blood pressure, poor hearing and madly in love with his wife. So madly in love, he’d like to help others find that kind of love — like maybe Ivy, their secret service agent. She could use a husband.
Holly: Supporting Character
The President’s mother, 80-ish, super positive, opinionated, matchmaking and constantly nudging and cajoling her husband out of his grumpiness. Quick witted, devious and practical, she has a lot more faith in Ivy than Ivy does. She has faith in Santa Nick, too.
Joy: Supporting Character
Ivy’s tech support and the only one she can trust at Secret Service headquarters. She’s a great spy, but knows her ability to help may not last long enough to help Ivy get the president’s parents back.
Grizzly: Supporting Character
Grizzly, the teacup poodle/PTSD dog is fussy about being fed every three hours, fragile, tiny and Nick’s savior. She licks his nose when he’s right, barks when he’s not and wakes him from nightmares. Her intuition can save Nick his nightmares and, it turns out, from foreign mercenaries provided she can survive the fight scenes.
Genre: Action/Comedy
Concept:
Hero Morally Right: Saves the President’s parents (his mall buddies) from being kidnapped — perhaps he’s a mall Santa instead of a mall cop. 🙂
Villain Morally Wrong: Wants to blackmail the President into signing a treaty that is bad for the US, but good for the villain’s country.Hero
A. Unique Skill Set — Former Army Ranger, has PTSD dog that can tell if someone is dangerous to him or not — the pup is good at reading people
B. Motivation — To be brave, to be somebody, to fight for his country again
C. Secret or Wound — Misjudged a woman during battle and she betrayed his team. He was the only survivor and no longer trusts his instincts about people – especially women.Villain
A. Unbeatable — Secret Service agent gone rogue, but a double agent so still able to use all of the government’s tracking/surveillance info to find the parents.
B. Plan/Goal — Hold the parents hostage until after the President has signed the deal and made it public
C. What they lose if Hero survives — Villain loses his life (he’ll fight to the death), his country loses the “deal” the President will sign — not sure what that is yet.Impossible Mission
A. Puts Hero in Action — The parents’ asst. is shot (presumably dead/injured) and the hero must rescue them and get the parents to safety
B. Demands They Go Beyond Their Best: Hero’s been “living undercover” in foreign countries before, but never with 70+ year olds and not in the US. He’s always had technology on his side, but now all of it is working against him.
C. Destroy the Villain — Figure out who the rogue agent is (everyone is looking for them so figuring out who the real bad guy is can be very tricky), what they want, how to lure them to somewhere they can be subdued/killed without endangering the President’s parents. -
(Casandra McCottrell) Character Profiles Part 1
“What I learned doing this assignment is…?” Profile questions need to be answered early on
Protagonist – Hero/ Runner
Zelda has been secretly dabbling in dark magic on and off for a while. But when she catches her father pretending to heal a disabled person at church, this adds to her unbelief until an actual demon shows up at her place of worship and calls her by name.
Pick the type of role your Antagonist will play and give us a few sentences on how they will fulfill that role.
Villain
PredatorWhat other characters might be necessary?
Supporting characters:
Genre. Thriller
Fill in whatever answers come to you about your lead character profiles.
Role in the story: Protagonist, undergrad, studying Christian Science
Age range andDescription: 20s, young adult, undergrad student on the verge of dropping out of classes, raised baptist, father a minister
Internal Journey: Full of doubt to Loyal Servant
External Journey: Raised baptist, passing as Christian, to “Anointed One” of The Pact
Motivation: Fear
Wound: Worthiness
Mission/Agenda: Deliverance
Secret: Unbeliever/Hypocrite
What makes them special? Called
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Steven Nikosey, Character Profiles, Part 1
1. What I learned doing this assignment is? How enjoyable character creation can be when you let go of the need for perfection…still a work in progress.
2. Type of role for Protagonist: Victim – Yannis Georgiou, Tech Savant, becomes a victim of blind chance. Was on top of the world but was laid low.
3. Type of role for Antagonist: Change Agent – Blind chance, although will seem like there is some supernatural agency causing these successive tidal waves of misfortune.
4. Other necessary characters:
Supporting
characters: – Daniel Weisman,
Yannis’s one true and wise friend who helps him figure things out and his fair-weather,
adulterous, bi-polar, and estranged wife, Jada Georgiou, a constant thorn
in his side.
Minor
roles: Wally Neighbors, James Strickland, and Rena Martinez, three
false friends who try to pin the
blame on Yannis for his incredible misfortune
Background
characters: His deceased father and
mother, Nikolas and Leona, deceased son and daughter, Tomas, and Milana5. Genre: Primarily Drama with some Sci-Fi elements.
6. Character Profiles of Main and Supporting Characters:
Yannis Georgiou
Role
in the story: Protagonist – Yannis was on top
of the world and had everything a man could want but then he loses it all
in the seeming blink of an eye.Age
range and Description: Yannis is 29 years old, tall, fit, healthy,
movie star good looks, charismatic, and brimming with self-confidence. A born leader.Internal
Journey: Yannis feels he has the world in his
hands and is in complete control but in the end sees that he has so little
controlExternal
Journey: He is the CEO of a Fortune 500
company possessing everything a man could possibly want, but then loses it
all.Motivation: He wants to
figure out what has happened and why his life was turned upside down, and
what is actually, finally real.Wound: Losing
everything he loved most of all his parents and childrenMission/Agenda: Figure out
the purpose to life and what is truly realSecret: He believes
in a Creator and an afterlife, although he presents himself as an avowed
atheist.What
makes him special? A Tech Savaant, Genius, and Pied
Piper of VR GamingJada Georgiou
Role in the story:
“Love interest” – Yannis’s fair-weather, adulterous, bi-polar, and
estranged wife, at thorn in his side.Age range and Description: Mid 20’s,
gorgeous, glamorous, brilliant novelist, bitter satirist and linguist. A cynical nihilist, communist, existentialist.Internal Journey: A
hopeful, optimistic, sweet and tender-hearted woman, enamored with her
husband into a disillusioned, embittered, and estranged, hypercritical
wife.External Journey: A successful novelist, and an optimist, who
sees world and envisions future with rose-colored glasses into a bitter, minimally
successful, obscure writer, and cynical satirist, nihilist and
misanthrope.Motivation:
She wants what they had, but she knows it’s forever gone with her husband,
so she is trying to find love, passion, success and happiness again on her
own or with someone else.Wound: Loss
of their children, youthful looks, and loss of wealth, successMission/Agenda: To recoup what she’s lost and punish her husband
Secret: She
has carried multiple adulterous affairs with men and women and is in the
midst of one now.What makes her special? She’s an exceptional ice sculptor
Daniel Weismann
Role
in the story: Best Friend – Loyal and most trusted
friend. Tells Yannis like it is,
but is a true supporter, admirer, who genuinely cares about him. A Dutch Uncle of sorts.Age
range and Description: 49 years old Corporate lawyer and venture
capitalist, father of three, stout, thick-bodied, florid, ruddy complected,
with reddish, and gray hair, avuncular, erudite, sophisticated, cosmopolitan,Internal
Journey: Once believed in the Law,
but has seen it abused and exploited and misapplied and now searches for
higher truth and meaningExternal
Journey: Achieved the pinnacle of success in
his profession and lost a great deal of his fortune but has found greater
meaning in his life.Motivation: Wants to save another soul in his close friend and
make amends for his sonWound: His adopted
son, Simon Weismann, died of fentanyl overdose.Mission/Agenda: Search for
truth and meaningSecret: He is a functional
alcoholic.What
makes him special? He has a photographic memory and
encyclopedic knowledge of the Law and is a voracious speed reader, who
reads a dozen books a week. He is
also a scratch golfer. -
Lori’s Character Profiles Part 1
What I learned doing this assignment is to think in terms of whole characters and how they might interact with each other.
Pastor Thomas
Role in the story: Hero/Runner, a pastor of a small-town church trying to avoid Christmas
Age range and Description: male, mid-sixties, affectionate, down-to-earth, dependable, self-sacrificing
Internal Journey: from hopelessness to hopeful
External Journey: from avoiding Christmas festivities since his wife is gone to taking part in community
Motivation: to be in control and not show his vulnerability
Wound: his wife was a gift from God, but she’s been taken away
Mission/Agenda: to avoid Christmas festivities while preparing his sermon, The Hope of Christmas
Secret: he’s harboring unforgiveness, misplaced anger
What makes them special? loved by the community
Miriam
Role in the story: change agent
Age range and Description: female, mid-sixties, classy, strong leader in the community, and long time widow
Internal Journey: pride to humility
External Journey: from trying to force change in others to stepping back
Motivation: helping others brings her joy
Wound: She doesn’t always feel appreciated.
Mission/Agenda: to look out for others
Secret: prideful at times, not good at accepting help from others
What makes them special? She loves to help others.
Deacon John
Role in the story: supporting character, friend, and associate of Thomas
Age range and Description: male, forties
Internal Journey: becoming bolder and claiming his place
External Journey: no real change
Motivation: wants to avoid conflict
Wound: He’s misunderstood.
Mission/Agenda: peacemaker
Secret: anxious
What makes them special? quiet, kind, and easy-going
Minor roles: a little girl in the Christmas play, live nativity, mourning family, impoverished family
Background characters: small town celebrating Christmas
Genre – Drama
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Bent's character profiles part one
what I learned doing this assignment is this….. all of my lead characters have their own characteristics and personality. This creates he confict in my scenes.
protagonist VICTIM current Santa
antagonist PREDATOR KrampusSupporting characters: he previous Santa Indigo, Hazela General, previous Ms Claus ,
Minor roles: previous Mrs Claus, current Mrs Claus
Background characters: elvesACTION
current Santa
Role in the story: he struggles to be the Santa that the world knows. He's not ready to be Santa.
Age range and Description: 50's an insecure Santa in his 70’s
Internal Journey: questioning if he is ready or not when out delivering, he wants to cancel christmas deliveries because it is too dangerous.
External Journey: showing his confusion in a rough situation.
Motivation: Get through the night and return back home.
Wound: internal fear of the demons killing everyone
Mission/Agenda: deliver presents. FIght the General from exerting too much power.
Secret: he is a reluctant santa
What makes them special? he is at a learning stage. this is his first year as Santa.-
This reply was modified 5 months ago by Bent Hanlen.
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