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Post Day 3 Assignment Here
Post Day 3 Assignment Here
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41 Replies
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Meg Stout Engaging Characters (TLDR)
Assignment #1
The Americans
Elizabeth Jennings
A. Role in the show: Soviet “Illegal,” wife, and mother posing as a travel agent
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: Expert at espionage and seduction, suspicious of “husband” for wanting to defect.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? During pilot and early in the show, her secret was how she was raped (anal sex) by one of her trainers.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? Elizabeth uses sex and participates in lethal violence in pursuit of the goals of the Soviet Union.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? We just don’t know if Elizabeth will betray Phil to their handlers, if she will kill the defector who raped her, or what naked scene we will see her in next.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care? The more we learn about how Elizabeth sees America and the Soviet Union, we come to have sympathy for her point of view. Also, the way she was brutalized by her trainer shows us the pain she has endured for many years.
Phil Jennings
A. Role in the show: Soviet “Illegal,” husband, and father posing as a travel agent
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: Expert at espionage and spy muscle, concerned about danger to his family.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? Phil’s secret is the lover he left behind.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? Phil is seducing and killing and otherwise deceiving for assignments from their handler, though he is not as dedicated to the Soviet Union as Elizabeth.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? We are not certain of Phil’s devotion to the Soviet cause, but he is willing to do anything in pursuit of whatever his goals happen to be.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care? Phil truly loves Elizabeth and his children. For Americans watching, we like the fact that Phil is attracted by “the American dream,” even while actively working to thwart America. Later, we realize how lonely he is, and we realize the importance of the friendship with Stan Beeman, despite the danger of being close to a spy-hunting FBI agent.
Stan Beeman
A. Role in the show: FBI agent in the Soviet division, father, husband, and new neighbor to the Jennings family.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: Expert at hunting spies and turning operatives.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? Stan is in love with a Soviet operative he has turned, allowing his marriage to disintegrate.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? Stan is breaking FBI protocol and being unfaithful in pursuit of trying to find the illegals or their handler.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? We see Stan use coercion to turn the Soviet embassy worker, then sleep with her. He is not bounded by the rules that are supposed to govern federal workers.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care? Stan makes us care because he is ostensibly protecting America. His flaws, while making him less sympathetic, makes us empathize with him, because he is imperfect.
Assignment #2
The Norman Queen
Knútr
A. Role in the show: He is a prince who, because he has been exiled, is free to risk his life. He is the secret beloved of Emma, who he adores.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: Knútr’s love for Emma fundamentally puts him at odds with his older brother and future king, as well as causing his extreme hatred for King Æthelred. Knútr is a skilled merchant and warrior.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? Knútr’s love for Emma is something to which he can never admit.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? He loves his brother’s fiancée but ‘transgresses’ that love when his father requires him to marry one of the women of the Danelaw in pursuit of conquering the English lands. Knútr kills, but he actually pulls back from being as brutal as might have been expected, because he anticipates needing to rule this land once it is conquered.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? Knútr is willing to die to protect Emma. THroughout, he is driven by doing that which will free Emma from danger and her oppressive marriage to Ethelred.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care? Knútr is an outcast who loves a woman he believes can never be his. His culture forces him into exile.
Emma
A. Role in the show: Emma was supposed to be the bride of the Prince of Denmark. Her marriage to King Æthelred prevents the dynastic linkage between Denmark and Normandy. She is used as harmed by Æthelred to destroy others to gain his ends.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: Emma is talented at language and constantly works to protect the ones she loves, no matter what that requires.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? Once among the English, Emma hides her knowledge of Norse and Danish ways. And of course there is the secret that she loves Knútr.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? She is not emotionally faithful to her husband and king. When Knútr is confirmed King of the English, Emma negotiates to become his queen, even though that makes Knútr a bigamist and goes against the former engagement to Knútr’s brother.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? When Æthelred’s paranoia becomes unbearable, Emma threatens to become an Anchorite (“buried” in the walls of the Church) if he ever touches her again.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care? Emma is forced into political marriages that are not her choice. She maintains her dignity despite terrible treatment at the hands of those around her, particularly her husband, King Æthelred.
King Æthelred
A. Role in the show: He is King of England, dedicated to preventing foreigners from conquering and fulfilling the curse.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: Ethelred is a ruthless king, willing to kill an entire ethnic minority to retain power. But he is widely known as the Unrede or Ill-advised
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? Æthelred knows the curse against which he fights. He entrusts knowledge of the curse to some of his trusted thegns who are now his sons-in-law, hoping that if the curse is realized, one of these loyal and ruthless men will be strong enough to win the throne for their son.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? Ethelred betrays his immediate family members in his quest to retain the English throne for his future grandchild.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? We see his willingness to wage war and kill his own wife, if it serves his dynastic vision.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care? He has denied even himself in his quest to retain the English throne for the House of Wessex. Once discovering Emma had not cuckolded him, Æthelred becomes almost pitiably infatuated with her. His worst offenses are because of his love and hope to maintain the honor of Wessex.
Mr. Riley
Riley Zhang
A. Role in the show: Riley is the intelligent patriarch of a large family who becomes entangled with African scammers.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: Riley has been very successful in real estate and trusts his own judgement without question.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? His secret is that he has found love with a good woman who needs his assistance to secure her inheritance of a gold mine and hundreds of millions of dollars.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? Riley is willing to turn against everyone to protect his new “wife” from harm.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? As Riley’s cognitive processes slip, he becomes ever more impulsive.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care? We watch as Riley suffers decline many will suffer, defending his pride as his children inexplicably turn against him, after all he is doing for their future.
Sue (Zhang) Hill
A. Role in the show: Sue is a devoted daughter to her father, the only child who still lives nearby. She is the first to detect the scam, and warns her father.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: Sue is intensely rational, able to track all the details of Riley’s descent into willful delusion. Sue is willing to do whatever is required to protect Riley from himself.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? Riley’s abuse of Sue when she was a child has toughened Sue to pursue protection for Riley despite the consequences.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? Sue fails to honor her father in the manner in which he demands to be honored. Her pursuit of protection for Riley puts her own family and financial security at risk. In pursuit of her goals, Sue reads Riley’s e-mail and helps cut him off from his former phone number and e-mail address.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? Strategized with other family members to protect Riley, involving them in ways that turns Riley against them as well.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care? Sue is fighting to defend Riley, sacrificing herself to that end. We see that she is not doing this to “increase her inheritance,” as Riley claims, but to protect Riley from himself and try to turn his affection back to his own children and grandchildren.
Hunkin
A. Role in the show: Hunkin is Riley’s favorite daughter, warmer and less analytical than Sue.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: Hunkin is the daughter who, from the beginning, everyone agreed would be the best person to life with Riley, if he needed live-in assistance. She has a way of getting Riley to go along with what she says.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? Hunkin is not able to say no to caring for her father, even if the best thing for Riley and her family were to be placement elsewhere.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? In order to help Riley, Hunkin must betray his confidences and “spy” on his interactions with scammers.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? Can become very angry and cutting, threatening to break off contact with Sue and others. She often keeps Riley’s secrets unless they rise to a level where legal action is required.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care? She is suffering a range of challenges, a husband with a heart transplant, miscarriage, small children, and has given up her job and home to care for Riley, who now turns on her, claiming she is greedy.
Children of Heaven
Dr. John C. Bennett
A. Role in the show: Political operator who helps write and pass a strong city charter to protect the Mormons in Illinois. Mayor.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: Medical doctor specializing in the treatment of women’s illnesses (treating hysteria). Well-connected with important people in Springfield, such as Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? He is still married and his wife won’t grant him a divorce. He was sexually abused as a child, causing problems with self-regulation.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? Bennett continues to court a young woman even after learning his wife won’t grant a divorce. His medical treatments are sometimes harmful. When he loses hope of marrying his beloved, he commits rebound adultery, then sets out to pressure a widow into becoming his mistress. As his fornications are discovered, he lies to protect himself, spreading the notion that extramarital sexual contact is both permissible and even required.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? Tries to kill himself in response to initial discovery of his fornication. Participates in attempts to get rid of Joseph Smith as the adulteries are uncovered, either through extradition to Missouri where Joseph would be killed or through direct killing.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care? Bennett’s wife left because of a misunderstanding. We feel the pain and struggle he suffers because of the childhood sexual abuse. He honestly loves the woman he hoped to marry. The woman he presses into providing him sexual relief really is in need of the food and cash assistance he provides to her. When he is ultimately cast out of the Mormon community, he is assigned all blame for what has occurred, and not everything was actually directly his fault. We understand his rage at not seeing other culpable parties punished and his suspicion that there are secrets that are at least as bad as his sin.
Annie Cowles
A. Role in the show: Governess for the Smith children, friend to Emma Smith.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: She becomes Bennett’s love interest and is worthy of being loved by someone with statewide and even national political aspirations.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? She feels guilty for the gang-rape of a friend during the Missouri troubles. She becomes aware of the commandment Joseph and Emma believe Joseph is under to restore biblical marriage, specifically allowing for plurality of wives.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? Annie is the keeper of secrets, which increase steadily as the illicit intercourse scandal is uncovered. She continues to love Bennett even after learning he is married. At the end, she is willing to believe Joseph has approved a secret marriage between herself and Bennett, though ultimately asking for a chance to hear of this directly from Joseph.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? Annie has so many people to care for that it isn’t predictable who she will prioritize. When she learns Bennett is married, she leaves the community, abandoning all her charges to ostensibly care for a sister.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care? Annie is made of her love and concern for others. We see that her guilt for the gang-rape wasn’t her fault, that anything she thinks she could have done differently would have made her a victim and resulted in the death of her friend’s child. We want Annie to be happy in love, but this is denied to her through no fault of her own.
Jonathan Holmes
A. Role in the show: Cobbler. Trusted friend of the Smiths. Friend to Annie. Widower once his wife dies of illness and trauma because of the gang-rape.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: He is one others, particularly Emma Smith, know they can rely on.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? Jonathan becomes a main character when he is asked to become secret husband to one of Bennett’s pregnant victims. He knows this service will allow him to be reunited with his dead wife in eternity, at the time a solemn secret.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? He is marrying a woman he doesn’t love to provide for the child of a man he despises. When Eliza miscarries, Jonathan marries Annie to end Bennett’s enduring hopes of winning her back, but won’t consummate the marriage because he feels it would constitute infidelity to his dead wife.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? In times of crisis, it is unclear which “good” will win his support.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care? Jonathan is a thoroughly good man in extreme circumstances. He is one who protects. We respect his integrity, although the situation is so complex we don’t always know how his integrity will manifest.
Eliza Snow
A. Role in the show: Secretary in the Church’s women’s organization. Next door neighbor to Bennett. A spinster whose intellect has dissuaded suitors.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: Eliza Snow is a poetess and sees the world through a lens of epic drama. She is willing to believe Bennett’s claim that she has been given to him as a secret wife.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? When we first see her, her secret is about being Bennett’s secret wife. Once she learns of his perfidy, her secret is that she has become pregnant by a man she now regards as a vile wretch. Later still, she is keeping the secret of the eternal marriage covenants being taught by Joseph Smith.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? She is willing to go against legal norms because she believes Bennett’s claim of secret marriage being valid. When Eliza’s father leaves in protest over Bennett’s ouster, she chooses church over filial piety. When she suffers a miscarriage, she chooses to break with Jonathan rather than be trapped in a loveless marriage, even knowing the benefit Jonathan was promised for this marriage of service.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? She throws herself whole-heartedly into whatever she believes in. Her great error and regret is yielding to Bennett, which fuels a subsequent frigid righteousness.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care? Eliza tries to do good in every choice. She epitomizes those who erred but sought forgiveness. We feel sorry for her for the loss of her father and then the loss of the baby she wanted so badly, despite the illicit nature of the conception.
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Sherri D. Coffee Lesson 3 Assignment 2
1. Create three circles of characters for your show:
Main character circle:
Grace – 50 year old successful pretty woman who is in a relationship with a man 20 years older and dying of cancer. She is an avid tennis player, does pilates twice weekly, and is still slightly overweight. She struggles with romantic relationships and wants to know why.
Sam – 70 year old retired physician who is dying of cancer. He has a very privileged background from NYC and a very tenuous relationship with his 3 adult children. Is not good at being a patient.
Carlton – Sam’s 45 year old son who is a successful hedge fund manager and divorced. Smart, reserved and connected to the financial world in NYC.
Harmony – 30 year old hippie chick who is psychic. She is calm, peaceful and very into meditation trips, healing oils, and gardens.
Connected circle:
Abel and Lori w/2 children
Lacey w/2 children
Carlton w/3 children and ex-wife Catherine
Ellen, Tesse, and Alex
housekeeper
Environment circle:
Dr. Patel, office receptionist, nurse
Hospital staff
Apartment front desk attendants and guards
Grace work colleagues
Tennis league
theatre company
Guards
Detective
I learned to create a world by starting with the main characters and adding the layers of connected and environment characters. The process added structure to my creative thoughts.
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Assignment 1
Dean and Sam in Supernatural
A. Role in
the show:Dean: The wise-cracking, devil-may-care older brother with the drive to hunt down any monster in his path.
Sam: The straight-laced younger brother who wants to find the thing that killed his mother and his girlfriend, so that he can get closure and move on to a normal life.
B. Unique
Purpose / Expertise:Dean: To take on his dad’s mission to help protect other people from the evil in the world.
Sam: To lay his family’s demons to rest so that he can live a happy life.
C. Intrigue:
What is secret beneath the surface?Dean: The pain of his mother’s horrible death that has caused him to shy away from any kind of real connection.
Sam: The potential drive to delve deeper into the dark side of himself and the world he wishes didn’t exist.
D. Moral
Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?Dean: Dean constantly steps on other people’s boundaries in his crusade to hunt monsters.
Sam: Sam constantly undercuts his brother and dad’s mission, because he thinks it just leads to more madness.
E. Unpredictable:
What will they do next?Dean: Dean clearly has the desire to move past his dark family past, but it isn’t clear that he will achieve it.
Sam: Sam seems to develop more and more of a taste for the monster-hunting life he thought he left behind, which causes him to take on increasing dangers.
F.
Empathetic: Why do we care?Dean: Dean feels betrayed by his younger brother, who left him and his dad to take on the burden of protecting people from the things they convince themselves don’t exist after their mother died.
Sam: Sam has lost not only his and Dean’s mother, but his girlfriend as well, who was his main tie to a normal life without monsters.
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Lesson 3, Assignment 1:
Engaging Characters: Big Little Lies
A. Role in the show
Madeline: Affluent housewife/mother/bulldog, confident exterior masking self-doubt
Celeste: Affluent housewife/mother who gave up a successful career for an abusive husband
Jane: Unemployed single mother with trauma in her past
Renata: Powerful career woman and fierce mother
B. Unique purpose/expertise
Madeline: Brutal honesty, no fear of conflict
Celeste: Hiding her ugly truth
Jane: The only character in the group who doesn’t need to keep up the appearance of a perfect life. Her truth is much uglier than imperfection.
Renata: Ruthlessness
C. Intrigue
Madeline: Navigating deep regrets about her life choices while also embracing them
Celeste: Keeping the secret of her abuse
Jane: What is the ghost of her past?
Renata: Longs to be liked, desired, and fun
D. Moral issue
Madeline: Shows a willingness to sacrifice the well-being of children in service of her anger
Celeste: Subjects herself and her children to a violent home
Jane: Sleeps with a gun under her pillow, protective instincts trump moral decisions
Renata: Controlling and ruthless
E. Unpredictable
Madeline: Never know what she’s going to say or do, she’s always willing to engage conflict head on
Celeste: Paradoxical behavior of the violence in her marriage both damaging her and arousing her
Jane: Questionable psychological/mental state due to trauma in her past. And that gun!
Renata: Despite her need for control, will she lose control of her anger?
F. Empathetic
Madeline: Struggling with her own self-worth and her place in the life of a daughter on the verge of adulthood
Celeste: Victim of domestic violence, sacrificed her successful career
Jane: Single mom struggling to make ends meet while raising the son the man who raped her
Renata: Fiercely protective mother with a hard exterior masking the toll the pressure of her
life is taking on herLesson 3, Assignment 2:
Engaging Characters: Tin Men
What I learned doing this assignment is that my main characters need work.
Journey: Four Colorado sheetmetal workers stash a million dollars worth of contraband inside the ductwork of a new maximum security prison during its last month of construction.
Characters that sell this show: John and Dana (brother and sister)
A. Role in the show
John: A regular guy who gets sucked into a world of crime when his estranged sister returns with a price on her head.
Dana: Insatiable drifter, not content to live a banal existence.
Gary: John’s best friend, dreamed of being a metal sculptor but settled for life as a shop teacher.
Chick: He’s a wild card, a daredevil. The guy John wishes he could be.
Keira: John’s wife, a park ranger and born rescuer.
B. Unique purpose/expertise
John:
Expertise: Mechanical wizard and highly skilled sheet metal fabricator.
Purpose: To save his sister and live vicariously through her.
Dana:
Expertise: Understands the criminal underworld that is so foreign to John.
Purpose: Forces John to take risks.
Gary: Creativity
Chick: Fearlessness
Keira: Born rescuer
C. Intrigue: What secrets are beneath the surface?
John: Why did he suddenly quit the academy and pursue a trade instead of going into law enforcement like his father and grandfather? What’s the source of his discontent?
Dana: Who is she running form and what did she do that got her into so much trouble?
Gary: His wife (a corrections officer) has accumulated a six figure gambling debt.
Chick: He has a kid no one knows about.
Keira: I don’t know yet.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
John: He’s no criminal but will commit crimes out of loyalty to his sister while keeping dangerous secrets from his wife and kids.
Dana: Is she willing to put her brother and his family in jeopardy to save her own skin?
Gary: Recruiting his student to help carry out their crime.
Chick: He abandoned his family.
Keira: I don’t know yet.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
John: John is happiest when his work takes him away from home for extended periods. Will he act on his thirst for freedom and adventure?
Dana: She is completely unreliable and has been known to vanish when things get hot.
Gary: Has an uncanny knack for making a bad situation worse.
Chick: Always leaps before he looks.
Keira: Can be more committed to her cause than to her family.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
John: John is loyal to his family and friends to a fault.
Dana: Her intentions are good even if her actions are bad.
Gary: He gave up his dream for the woman he loved.
Chick: He’s fun and exciting.
Keira: She’s passionate about everything she does.
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I’m confused by the Day numbers vs Lesson numbers – 11 Lessons and 12 Days. So is Day 1 the Pre-course, then Days 2-12 are Lessons 1-11? Should what I just posted here for Lesson 3 be on Day 4? Does it matter? Is Pi involved in this math?
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I’m posting the assignments for Design Lesson #3 in “Post Day 3 Assignment Here”
We are missing the “Post Day 12 Assignment Here,” but Cheryl can add that. Or we can just post Lesson #12 stuff into the end of the Day 11 post.
Mostly, we were missing the post where we could share our story concepts. But I used the Introductions post to put mine up. And over time, it will be relatively clear what our story concepts are.
Pi is involved in everything.
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Example Show: Mare of Easttown – Engaging Character Model: Mare
A. Role in the show – Lead, the show is her journey. She is the lead Detective Sergeant in Easttown during when a series of girls go missing and one is murdered.
Unique Purpose / Expertise: her purpose is solve crimes
in a close-knit town where every suspect is a relative or friend. She’s
tough, but we see her vulnerability. She’s a good cop, but her character
flaws get in her way.C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? The secret just beneath the surface is that she is haunted by her son’s death, feels responsible, thinks she’s a failure, and has trouble controlling her anger.
Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
When she’s willing to plant drugs on the Drew’s mother, Carrie, she gets
put on leave, loses her badge and gun, and sets back her own case to get
custody of Drew. <div>Unpredictable: What will they do next? When Mare barges
into Frank’s house and accuses him in front of family and friends of
sleeping with the dead girl. When she erases Betty’s surveillance video.
When she has sex with Richard.F. Empathetic: Why do we care? She lost her father, a cop, when she was 13. Her son committed suicide. She lost her marriage. She’s embittered about being called “Lady Hawke,” the basketball hero of the town. Maybe she feels undeserving of the praise, or annoyed that they keep bringing up the past.
Example Show: Mare of Easttown – Engaging Character Model: Mare’s daughter, Siobhan
A. Role in the show – She’s the daughter of lead, she reflects and conflicts with her mother.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: she’s got to be a good kid, support her mom and grandma, help take care of Drew, get good grades. She brings back her dead brother through her project.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? Her brother’s suicide, trying to make sense of it, being gay in a small town, that she’s doing a journalistic project on her brother’s suicide, which brings the issue front and center for everyone.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? When she decides to take her Dad’s side in the choice of his fiancée, (helping plan the party) and when she decides to accept the overture of the black DJ and dumps her old girlfriend.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? When she makes a secret pact with her new girlfriend to apply to Berkeley (and leave town).
F. Empathetic: Why do we care? Because she lost her brother. Because she’s sweet, strong, beautiful and helpful at home, and ambitious with her project, school and her band.
</div>
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Emmanuel Sullivan’s Engaging Main Characters
What I learned doing this assignment is characters, which we all can be for any show, have many facets to our lives. Some characters have secrets, regrets, perhaps painful experiences. Overall, characters should be three-dimensional.
Assignment #1
Show – The Americans
Journey: Married KGB agents move to America to spy on the US government and infiltrate political life.
Characters that sell this show: Philip and Elizabeth Jennings
A. Role in the show:
Philip Jennings: KGB agent, travel agent, father and married to Elizabeth.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Philip Jennings: A foreign spy that blends into American life very well.
C. Intrigue: What is the secret beneath the surface?
Philip Jennings: A caring parent and husband but he can turn violent without notice. He left the love of his life back in Russia.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Philip Jennings: Living a double life with his children. Involving innocent people that could be injured or murdered.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Philip Jennings: The ability to create spy techniques to harm and manipulate. To what level will he injure an opponent to squash the threat?
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Philip Jennings: He doesn’t receive the same type of attention from his wife as he gives her.
Assignment #2
Journey: Two former presidents from opposing political ideologies embark on building an innovative, bipartisan foundation.
Characters that sell this show: Mark Cason and Andrew Brice
A. Role in the show:
Mark Cason: Former democrat president, senator, father of two and married to Sarah Cason.
Andrew Brice: Former republican president, governor, father of three and married to Molly Brice.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Mark Cason: Expert at networking and building political relationships.
Andrew Brice: Knows how to get things done even if he has to manipulate.
C. Intrigue: What is the secret beneath the surface?
Mark Cason: His alternative activities are unbecoming of a former president.
Andrew Brice: Winning is the name of the game and gambling feeds that desire.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Mark Cason: Using others to achieve personal vices.
Andrew Brice: His family is fair game to satisfy his appetite to win at all costs.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Mark Cason: Outside interests damage family relationships.
Andrew Brice: Acts on instinct that derails the foundation’s growth.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Mark Cason: A one-term president that was betrayed by cabinet members.
Andrew Brice: Grew up poor and struggled in high school but excelled in college.
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(Patricia Jan Ruland’s) Three Circles of Characters
[Binge Worthy TV] Lesson 2: Three Circles of Characters
What I learned doing this assignment is:
I need to add characters to the Connected Circle and Environmental Circle for my show.
ASSIGNMENT 1:
Watch the next episode of your Example Show to see how the characters fit into these three circles:
Gossip Girl
Main Characters Circle:
What makes a lead characters engaging on multiple levels?
A. Role in the show:
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Serena
A. Role in the show:
Serena is the main character, “the ultimate insider,” who finds herself the ultimate outsider by the end of Episode 2.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Serena makes the heroine’s journey: her path is to leave the past behind even though it keeps catching up with her.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
Her personal life is everybody’s business, thanks to the Gossip Girl, the blogger who narrates the show. However, she has not yet revealed why she left Manhattan, why she went to boarding school, why it was so bad, what made her decide to turn over a new leaf.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Serena is found out—the guy who is Blair’s boyfriend tells Blair he slept with Serena the previous year. This is the past bad girl she thought she left behind. The guy, the good guy, Dan, finds out when Blair tells him for revenge.
E. Unpredictable: The implication at the end is that Serena may return to her bad girl ways because now she is alone and no one considers her “the ultimate insider” anymore
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
We care because we start pulling for Serena from the start—everything about her—her demeanor, her empathy for her brother, her kindness to everyone, her interest in the “good guy” Dan–all make us root for her. She is nursing deep wounds—that she is a bad sister to her brother and her neglect may have been a part of his decision to take his own life. She feels horrible guilt over both of these major transgressions. We want to believe she has really changed.
Blair
A. Role in the show:
Blair plays the part of both friend and foe to Serena—best friend, once, and current nemesis.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Blair is the daughter of a fashion designer and is the fashion icon of her elite group. She is the other ultimate insider in the story.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
She presumably is ashamed she is a virgin—mainly because her boyfriend remains reluctant to be her full intimate partner. She is hurt when Serena abandons her, and she never gets over it. But maybe she prefers this adversarial role—it gives her a chance to depose the person everyone considers the real Queen B, Serena.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
She makes no bones about excluding and controlling and dictating the terms to anyone who knows her. She uses people—like Jenna—to step on others. She ambushes Dan and tells him how Serena slept with her boyfriend—achieving the desired result—that Serena would fall completely from grace in her circle.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Even though Nate joins her in her bed, she looks off with a conniving expression on her face. Who knows what she will do next? That’s her value as a villain.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
At first, she wins some empathy from the audience—she lost her best friend and then she finds out he cheated on her with her best friend Serena. However, the way she gloats over the misery she causes for others makes our empathy for her well run dry.
B. Connected Circle:
Dan, Nate, Jenna, Chuck
C. Environment Circle:
Immediate family: Serena’s Mom, Jenna and Dan’s Dad, Nate’s father, Blair’s clique, the Brunch crowd
Give us a quick list for each circle.
ASSIGNMENT 2:
Create the three circles of characters for your show.
Main Characters Circle: Caren Cay, FO!, Boomer wife and husband.
What makes a lead characters engaging on multiple levels?
A. Role in the show:
Caren Cay is the principle character who makes the hero’s journey—she goes in and out of sanity as she weighs her need to stay mother and wife with her need to live the kind of life she missed and find her true soulmate.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
She is an accomplished guitarist, singer, and performer. She justifies and maintains the soundtrack that consists of the Boomer canon of rock music.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
She is woefully lonely and unfulfilled, so much so that she concocts trysts with “Imaginary Lovers” in her episodes of detachment from reality—this makes being “Caren Cray Cray” more appealing.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
She has one emotional affair after another; she presents herself as the ultimate flower child but she has just a fierce temper as her husband, FO!
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
From dancing a mock provocative dance on the kitchen counters to smashing her guitar onstage to end out her show, Caren Cay likes to entertain people and goes to great lengths to go over the top with that.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
We care because Caren Cay, the woman who haves just about everything, needs so much more, needs so much different. She is trapped in a marriage that has given her children but denied her a truly fulfilling intimate life with a worthy soulmate; we care for her because the stress of being trapped and of coping with her husbands unfailing instinct to sabotage drives her mad.
FO!
FO!s main roles are consort to Caren Cay, father of ok.
Caren Cay, wife; FO! husband; ok, the twins
Connected Circle
ok, the twins; Candi, the Governor
Environment Circle:
Boomers’ neighbors and friends; Caren Cay’s band; fans and media who follow Caren Cay; FO!s work and political associates.
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Ben’s Engaging Main Characters
Assignment 2
What I learned doing this assignment is … by establishing a main character’s role in the story, finding their unique purpose and/or expertise to make them active and move the story forward, discovering a secret they have that generates questions about them, giving them moral boundaries to navigate, keeping them unpredictable to keep the audience guessing, and finally making them someone the audience can empathise with makes these characters infinitely more identifiable and attractive to audiences.
The journey of your show
Start – a highly respected and credible investigative journalist, who does not believe in aliens; Finish – a deeply disrespected and discredited investigative journalist, who does believe in aliens.
Who are the main characters that will sell your show?
Jack Freidman and Gina Lang.
Answer these questions for each of those characters
Jack Friedman:
A. Role in the show Investigative journalist B. Unique Purpose / ExpertiseInvestigating the abduction and disappearance of government employeesC. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?They haven’t been abducted by aliens but by a government department bent on keeping their UFO program secretD. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?Jack does whatever it takes to get to the truthE. Unpredictable: What will they do next?Jack is all sophistication on the surface but underneath he’s a brawler and a chameleon F. Empathetic: Why do we care?He’s gone from the pinnacle of the journalistic world to the laughing stock
Gina Lang:
A. Role in the showShe was abducted B. Unique Purpose / ExpertiseShe wants to blow the whistle on who abducted her and whyC. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?She’s not an “alien abductee” seeking attention, she’s a physicist D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?She is in breach of a confidentiality agreement and an oath to keep the program secretE. Unpredictable: What will they do next?She’s in fear of her life, so terrified that she’s not sure if she sees threats or not. F. Empathetic: Why do we care?She’s been abducted and pursued and is in fear of her life.
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Stuart’s Three Circles of Characters
What I learned doing this assignment is…? This was quite helpful allowing me to make sure I focused the series on the Main Characters, and what they represent in the series development. Also, it helped me explore and expand a significant circle of characters, the “Connected Circle.” I’m finding the “Connected Circle” may be the most important circle of characters in series development. I also learned the challenge of distilling the main characters into a single sentence…. Continuing to work on it.
The Series Title: Poe Forevermore “Hop-Frog”
This is a seasonal anthology like American Horror Story with each season a re-imagining of one of Poe’s works. The first season is based on his dark fairy tale “Hop-Frog.”
My Working Plotline:
Serving as the court jester, a crippled dwarf “Hop-Frog” seeks revenge against the demented king and his ministers who have usurped his land, massacred his family, and enslaved his secret love.
Three Circles of Characters
A. Main Characters Circle:
Hop-Frog: a crippled dwarf, enslaved as the court fool, uses his wit and his skills creating lavish events with clockwork mechanicals to become the minister of death against King Goplik and his ministers who destroyed his homeland, and enslaved his secret love, Trippetta.
Trippetta: unable to shake her romantic dream of being a princess, but fiercely independent, Trippetta needs to survive her servitude using intelligence and athleticism (especially her enchanting dance skills). She had often treated her best friend, Hop-Frog, as her pet and now must trust him as an ally for vengeance and freedom.
King Goplik of Brattvia: terrorizes and rules with a passion for horrific practical jokes. He usurped Hop-Frog’s and Trippetta’s homeland, massacred families, and has enslaved the two for his pleasure.
B. Connected Circle:
Lord Krapp, leader of the Brattvian army and the king’s arm of destruction
Queen of Brattvia
The King’s Ministers:
· Prime Minister of Fear
· Minister of Hunger
· Minister of Poverty
· Minister of Idiocy
· Minister of Disease
King Queeg of Balog, King Goplik’s and Brattvia’s neighbor and rival
C. Environment Circle:
Servants of the King and his Ministers
Citizens of Brattvia
Trippetta’s family, massacred by King Goplik’s army
Prince Brann of Lavinia
King and Queen of Lavinia
Hop-Frog’s mother, family, massacred by King Goplik’s army
Citizens, lords, knights of neighboring Balog
Were-creatures, victims of a plague
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Engaging Main Character – Jessica Jones, in Jessica Jones
A. Role in the show: Jessica Jones – who this story is about
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: superpowers, gets DA’s dirty jobs done
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? She is hurt/ PTSD from past job as superhero
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? Hurting people to get the job done
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? She wants to escape her past and the ghosts that remind her, through booze and threatening to leave the DA’s grip.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care? Single woman feeling alone in the world, hurt by past boyfriend and past career.Donna Stockwell’s Engaging Main Characters
What I learned from this assignment is, that I needed to introduce these engaging characters, and I think I may need to add more characters and do this exercise with them.
Journey – from traditional marriage to midnight serial killer filling need of revenge
Characters that sell this show – Petrina, Ben, Celeste, JasperWhat makes a lead characters engaging on multiple levels?
A. Role in the show:
Petrina – narcissistic wife in loveless marriage
Ben – hardworking man in security sales, satisfied in traditional marriage
Celeste – not a good relationship with mother, trying to start adult life
Jasper – brother of Ben, follows Ben’s instructions, lives on property
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Petrina – break up the family
Ben – Expertise – wizard in tracking people and setting up surveillance
Celeste- introduces the boyfriend to the family
Jasper – gravedigger, able to hide bodies
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
Petrina is dating daughter’s boyfriend
Ben – controlling financial and emotional
Celeste – apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, common path to her mother’s upbringing
Jasper – talks to deer, focus on one thing only, moral conscious to Ben
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Petrina – loyalty to husband and daughter
Ben- spying on wife and all her contacts
Celeste – uncertain of a normal family, but the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree
Jasper – helps Ben, but consistently questions “why”
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
What kind of relationship will Petrina have with her husband? Will Celeste speak to her again.. what kind of contact will they have?
What will Ben do with all this information that he gathers – on Petrina and on her contacts?
What traits will the daughter harness from Petrina, and how will she deal with her father?
Will Jasper tell anyone of his midnight adventures?
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Petrina is in an emotionally abusive relationship, but turns that into strength.
Ben – takes advantage of people
Celeste only sees one side of mother, and thinks this is the norm, continues to make same mistakes as mother – which puts her down similar path
Jasper is being taken advantage, since he is slow. -
ASSIGNMENT 2:
“What I learned doing this assignment is… once again, by doing these specific character exercises, the plot (which I consider my weak point) is being created organically and it feels right. It’s magic.
1. Tell us the journey of your show.
After a female police detective’s husband, the Chief in a small town, cheats on her, she secretly lures cheating husbands on social media and kills them with insect venom—she’s also the lead investigator on these cases that torment her husband as they go unsolved.
2. Who are the main characters that will sell your show?
Ruby Kane
Brian Vinter
3. Answer these questions for each of those characters.
A. Role in the show:
Ruby Kane, Lead Detective, in a small-town police department
Brian ‘Thor’ Vinter, her handsome, blond husband and Police Chief
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Ruby: Punish cheating husbands, making them face real consequences in a chilling way that reflects her husband’s behavior smack-back at him.
Brian: Be unable to catch whoever is killing the cheating husbands, even as he continues to cheat, so feels guilty inside and impotent in his job.
C. Intrigue: What is secret
beneath the surface?Ruby: She’s the actual killer who is also investigating the crimes, so she uses clandestine official moves, covert activity while committing the crimes and covering them up, underhanded dealing when interviewing suspects and while writing reports; she schemes to mislead and point the guilt elsewhere, uses outright lies, has secrets about how she commits the crimes and covers them up, a complex mystery of why she’s doing this that continues to haunt, and a professional cover up, as well as a personal cover up at home with husband.
Brian: The secret is that he’s one of those cheaters like the victims who are being killed, so he worries that he might be targeted, and feels guilty about his behavior, and that his department (and he personally) is the face of a failed investigation. He pressures Ruby, but she’s adept at disguising her coverup and coming up with legitimate suspects, who are then found innocent.
D. Moral Issue: What moral
boundaries are they crossing?Ruby: She crosses the moral boundary of committing murder, which deeply troubles her and this creates an even bigger moral dilemma because she’s a sworn officer; her souls is also being corrupted and she knows it. The possible moral ramifications of her actions reverberate everywhere into the environment and inside her. Taking them to an extreme, she may have to kill to cover up her killings. With each murder, the stakes of her crossing moral boundaries get higher and higher, and she may be forced to take more desperate and violent actions.
Brian: His depression and fear at not being able to have his department solve the murders causes him to take more risks and have more and more dangerous and thus exciting and risky liaisons, moving on to women working in his own department.
E. Unpredictable: What will
they do next?Ruby: She does crazy, unpredictable things because she is stepping into new territory. She’s never killed anyone before so she’s dealing with the physical and emotional issues she’s never dealt with before. She’ll make mistakes, react emotionally, get confused, and sometimes do outrageous, brilliant things that we never thought of before. Other times, she starts to black out, so she won’t even know what she did until later, so she has to come up with a system to document her actions, but not leave a trail that can get her caught.
FIND THE DIAMOND: Unexpected behavior. Unexpected external force or situation that causes them to react. When another investigator is brought in, and he gets close, she has to get treacherous to defeat him and keep everyone thinking she’s innocent.
Brian: He brings in an outside agency like the FBI to consult on the crimes, and partly to deflect blame from his own department personnel, including himself, but ends up in a way shielding his wife also.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Ruby: She suffered misfortune when both her first husband and current husband cheated on her.
FIND THE DIAMOND: We need to care. What unique or unfortunate or ironic things will cause us to care?
We find out Ruby’s father, Aviv Karnofsky, (he changed his family surname to “Kane”) also cheated on her mother, and even more shocking, was a Russian Asset who was caught by the Americans and had to chew his cyanide capsule and so committed suicide in the line of duty. He leaves behind his training materials and his untraceable Russian-made PSS-2 silent pistol and 100 rounds of ammunition in her mother’s garage, which Ruby takes and begins to use as the murders escalate.
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Hi Joseph, one question I would have is the way you will address the fact that most people consider killing to be more heinous than adultery. I look forward to seeing how you make Ruby a character we care about!
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This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Meg Stout. Reason: Wrong name for main character
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This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by
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Sherri D. Coffee Module 1 Lesson 3 Assignment 1
Big Little Lies
A) Role in Show
Madeleine – Mother overinvolved in other peoples’ lives.
Celeste – Former attorney who gave up career and friends to marry husband Perry.
Jane – New to town, fish out of water, and Mother without knowing or acknowledging her son’s father.
Renata – Successful career Mother trying to be a good parent.
B) Unique Purpose/Expertise
Madeleine – Establishes friendships with Celeste and Jane and defends and protects them.
Celeste – She is trying to work on her relationship with her husband and struggles with the physical and verbal abuse.
Jane – She is haunted by the memories of the one night with Ziggy’s father.
Renata – She knows the other women do not like her and she overthinks the situation.
C) Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
Madeleine – Insecurity drives her to try and control every situation with anger and manipulation.
Celeste – She is being physically and verbally abused. And afterwards, has sex with her husband – she calls the dirty secret and feels shame.
Jane – Tells Madeleine she doesn’t know her sons’ father but you wonder if she does.
Renata – She is insecure and wonders why.
D) Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Madeleine – She uses her daughter to organize a competing event with Renata’s daughters’ birthday party. She bribes the other children by paying for everything.
Celeste – She violates her moral boundaries when she accepts abuse and has sex with Perry.
Jane – She is denying her son the knowledge of his father.
Renata – She calls Madeleine and begs, bribes her to come to her daughters party.
E) Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Madeleine – She admits and concedes to her ex husband that their daughter may find a better environment living with him.
Celeste – She struggles in therapy to admit the physical abuse. She demonstrates insight when when she tells Perry she is sad and hopeful.
Jane – She tells Madeleine the circumstances surrounding Ziggy’s conception.
Renata – She has physical sex with her husband at his office.
F) Empathetic: Why do we care?
Madeleine – She pulls her car over to cry after learning Janes’ story. She is sad, lonely and abandoned sitting in her daughters’ empty room.
Celeste – She is bruised in the shower but accepts the necklace from Perry and has sex with him.
Jane-She suffers fear of being a victim again with the imagined intruder.
Renata – She is very protective of her daughter.
I learned to develop characters that would be engaging for an audience.
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Big Little Lies
I couldn’t answer all the questions for the five main characters that I’d identified earlier. This made me wonder whether there are five main characters or whether I should circle back on this later. So I’ll focus on two for now.
Madeline Mackenzie:
A. Role in the show: Perfect full-time mom.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: She wants to control everyone and everything in her world.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? she loves her kids and she does everything for them to be the best mom but deep down wishes she wasn’t a full time mom. She also harbors a deep resentment for her ex-husband.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? She threatens to ruin Amabelle’s birthday party if she doesn’t invite Ziggy. Despite only knowing Jane and Ziggy for a day, she believes them when they say that he didn’t hurt Amabelle.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? When she found out that Bonnie had taken her daughter to Planned Parenthood, she confronted Bonnie outside the school.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care? We know that she cares about people and she’s loyal, but she doesn’t always show that and we want her to figure it out before she destroys all of her relationships.
Jane Chapman:
A. Role in the show: is the polar opposite of the other characters: single mom, book keeper.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: is the outsider: is not wealthy, doesn’t have a high profile career.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? Why did she come to live in Monterey.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? Rebuffing her son when he asks who his father is.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? Will she tell her son who his father is?
F. Empathetic: Why do we care? She’s unassuming, modest, she’s not wealthy has to make a living, wants to support her son, get him a good education, and we want her to succeed.
My Show (Green Lake)
Jess Pearson
Role in the Show: Senior Detective
Unique Purpose/ Expertise: She’s a great detective good at solving cases quickly.
Moral Issue: She uses her software engineering background to cross privacy boundaries when investigating her cases.
Unpredictable: She stays at Peggy & Patsy’s which is haunted rather than in a safer location.
Empathetic: She was the last one to see her brother (missing) and his two murdered friends alive. She also discovered the murder scene.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Barbara Gilmore.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by
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Sherri D. Coffee – Engaging Characters – Lesson 3 Assignment 2
A) Role in Show
Grace – 50 year old successful woman in a relationship with Sam.
Sam – 70 year old physician in a relationship with Grace and dying of cancer.
Carlton – 45 year old son, hedge fund manager, and estranged from Sam.
Harmony – 30 something hippie chick who is calm, peaceful, and focused on meditation past life trips.
B) Unique Purpose/Expertise
Grace – To find out why she struggles with relationships.
Sam – To reconcile with his children and take care of Grace.
Carlton – To gain control of his fathers’ estate.
Harmony – to help Grace understand her journey.
C) Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
Grace – feels guilty and trapped in the relationship.
Sam – feels angry, disappointed, and guilty about who his children have become.
Carton – he is being blackmailed by his sisters.
Harmony – She doesn’t know how much she can share with Grace. She knew her in a past life.
D) Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Grace -She is uneasy about the past life journey.
Sam – Is it ok to choose Grace as executor instead of his estranged children?
Carlton – Is it right to remove Grace from Sam’s life?
Harmony – There are consequences when a person sees a past life. Is it fair for Harmony to keep secret from Grace?
E) Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Grace – She calls out the detective following her in a public place.
Sam -believes his children.
Carlton – He gets the detective to mark up false derogatory information about Grace and shares with his father.
Harmony – Throws a vase against a wall when she realizes she must take Grace on the journey and face her own past life.
F) Empathetic: Why do we care?
Grace – she is being victimized by Sam’s family.
Sam – he is being victimized by his children.
Carlton – he is being blackmailed by his sisters.
Harmony – she has a past history that she must face.
What I learned was to ask each question for each character and the answer develops into a much more substantial profile.
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BIG LITTLE LIES ENGAGING MAIN CHARACTERS assignment 1
A. Role in the show:
Main Circle
Madeline Martha Mackenzie – at home mom and leader of team Madeline, the blow up queen
Celeste Wright – at home mom and BF of Madeline, was a powerhouse lawyer, now an abused wife
Jane Chapman – mystery mom from the wrong side of the tracks, destined to be the catalyst for massive clash between madeline and renata
Renata Klein – powerful working mom, leader of team renata, also massively confrontational
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Main Circle
Madeline Martha Mackenzie – theater expert, expert leader and mobilize of her team – purpose is to right what she things of as social wrongs and help strays
Celeste Wright – beauty and grace are her expertise, although we also are led to believe that she is smart and a good lawyer. Her purpose is to make peace, to settle with Perry her husband, and to lawyer the resolution of renata v. Madeline
Jane Chapman – her expertise and purpose are unknown, but she is a victim and very scared. A stray, struggling to protect her son
Renata Klein – powerful and very good at negotiating. Her purpose is to protect her family and grow her power.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
Main Circle
Madeline Martha Mackenzie – her whole nathan-ed marriage turmoil suggests that she is not done with nathan. Her competition with Renata and support for jane suggests she will do anything to help strays
Celeste Wright – what lies beneath the surface is her stockholm syndrome abusinve relationship with perry
Jane Chapman – also someone who was abused, clearly is not over it and there is some hint that she may have moved there either to escape someone or to track someone down
Renata Klein – underneath the surface is her struggle to be a hot wife and mother and to give up control vs. Being a powerful controlling boss.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Main Circle
Madeline Martha Mackenzie – she crosses boundaries with Ed and Nathan, as her hatred for nathan is suspect. And she puts her kids and ed in the middle of it. She also crosses boundaries defending jane, to some extent
Celeste Wright- her acceptance of abuse even at risk to her kids crosses boundaries
Jane Chapman – keeping a gun under your pillow crosses boundaries
Renata Klein – her crushing of Ave Q and looking to fix blame on Ziggy for choking Amabella crosses boundaries. Her brutality in business is no holds barred.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Main Circle
Madeline Martha Mackenzie – From her brain to her lips without a thought
Celeste Wright – never know if she likes the violence or hates it
Jane Chapman – has a gun, traumatic past…anything could happen
Renata Klein – she is controlling, but has trouble controlling her brittle control. Disagree with her and fell the wrath, even her husband gets burned.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Main Circle
Madeline Martha Mackenzie – hard to be a poor mom in such an accomplished world
Celeste Wright – she is an abuse victim
Jane Chapman – she is a rape survivor and poor single mom
Renata Klein- she wants to be fun and lovable but her life and choices force her to be power hungry and controlling. And she has a lot of rage issues she clearly wants to control or overcome
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Assignment 2
What I learned doing this assignment is the importance of differentiating the characters from one another in such a way that they play off of and conflict with one another. The part that stands out most is the need for expertise when it comes to making them an active force in the story. If they don’t have some skill of a kind, they can’t take action, even if the skill is a comparatively modest one.
Journey: A directionless young man in a Midwestern suburb discovers magic and frees himself from the fairy curse he has been under.
Characters that Sell this Show: Tom, Mark and Miguel.
A. Role in the Show:
Tom: Tom is making his way from job to job without any purpose until he finds out that he is under a fairy curse and begins to learn magic.
Mark: Mark is a more experienced, self-taught magician, who has new ideas for magic’s purpose in the world.
Miguel: Miguel is a very successful contractor who is very skeptical of magic’s existence, let alone usefulness.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Tom: Purpose: Tom’s purpose is to figure out how to lift the fairy curse that he is under.
Expertise: Tom knows the more romantic side of magic, driven by strong emotions.
Mark: Purpose: To bring magic into the modern world.
Expertise: Mark’s expertise is in the potential practical use for magic. He has whittled away everything that is unnecessary or anachronistic about magic.
Miguel: Purpose: To make enough money so that he can retire early and send his sons to a good college.
Expertise: Miguel knows just about everything there is to know about architecture and contracting. If you tell him what you want to build, he can build it.
C. Intrigue: What is the secret beneath the surface?
Tom: Tom’s happy family has some very unhappy secrets, and his history with the sorceress who has placed him under the curse goes back farther than he seems willing to admit.
Mark: Mark is hiding a lot of his magical knowledge from Tom, so he claims, because he doesn’t think Tom is ready to learn it.
Miguel: Miguel is hiding some infidelities from his fiancé.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Tom: As Tom grows more and more desperate, he starts alienating his family and then his friends, using magic to upset the normal rhythm of life.
Mark: Mark thinks that he has the right answer about how to use magic and he cuts out everyone he doesn’t think can adapt to his way of viewing things.
Miguel: Miguel is very successful and holds everyone to a high standard. He doesn’t think the least of verbally and often physically abusing anyone who gets in his way.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Tom: As Tom delves deeper into the mysteries of magic, he grows more willing to engage in riskier behaviors to get himself out of his predicament.
Mark: Mark is conflicted about the nature of magic, and it isn’t clear if he will adhere to his more practical code, or if he will embrace the more mysterious and unpredictable side of magic.
Miguel: As Miguel’s goals get farther and farther away, it’s not clear whether he will backslide into his more confrontational and violent method of being or whether he will learn to let go of his anger.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Tom: Tom is a very loving person who wants to help his family and friends. His fairy curse also seems to have descended on him out of his control.
Mark: Mark’s wife divorced him and he is clearly in a lot of pain about it.
Miguel: Miguel experienced some abuse when he was younger and he has not fully come to terms with it.
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Here’s my Lesson 3 Assignments Part 1 and 2:
Assignment 1:
Watchmen Engaging Main Characters
Character: Angela Abar
No, not a lot of screen time for Angela Abar in Episode 3 (interesting choice to focus episode on FBI agent Laurie Blake, Veidt, and Senator Keene)…but I’ve chosen to focus on Angela, the lead character I’ve been identifying with so far.
Role in the show:
Masked detective working undercover for Tulsa Police to defeat the Seventh Kavalry and solve the murder of Chief Judd Crawford.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Unique Purpose: she has a close relationship with Judd Crawford, and mysterious connection with her grandfather, the man in the wheelchair.
Expertise: Smart, strong instincts, physical abilities.
Flaw: she can lose her cool.
Diamond: the mystery of her connections to Judd and Will is very intriguing.
C. Intrigue: What is the secret beneath the surface?
What was her relationship with Judd? Why is she protecting him (hiding the KKK cloak she found hidden in his closet)? And what does she know about her heritage, her connection with grandfather Will Reeves? It’s a bigger secret she may not know.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
As a private detective, she’ll break police protocol to break her witness and get her lead.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
She reacts to a world that continues to expose more unpredictable events. Her moral compass on family and Cal is strong.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Loving wife and mother and she sees the larger impact on the black community in Tulsa. She was a victim of the White Night. Crawford supported her during her recovery.
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Assignment 2
Stuart’s Engaging Main Characters
What I learned doing this assignment is…?
I had some great discoveries in this assignment, especially questioning unpredictability and exploring moral boundaries. I found great value going through the three main characters of the series (including the central antagonist/opposition). This helped me begin to see these characters, especially Trippetta, and appreciate/elevate them as main characters.
The Series Title: Poe Forevermore “Hop-Frog”
This is a seasonal anthology like American Horror Story with each season a re-imagining of one of Poe’s works. The first season is based on his dark fairy tale “Hop-Frog.”
The journey of your show:
Serving as the court jester, a crippled dwarf “Hop-Frog” seeks revenge against the demented king and his ministers who have usurped his land, massacred his family, and enslaved his secret love.
The main characters that will sell the show:
Hop-Frog: a crippled dwarf, enslaved as the court fool, uses his wit and his skills creating lavish events with clockwork mechanicals to become the minister of death against King Goplik and his ministers.
Trippetta: unable to shake her romantic dream of being a princess, but fiercely independent, Trippetta needs to survive her servitude using intelligence and athleticism (especially her enchanting dance skills).
King Goplik of Brattvia: terrorizes and rules with a passion for horrific practical jokes. He usurped Hop-Frog’s and Trippetta’s homeland, massacred families, and has enslaved the two for his pleasure.
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A. Role in the show:
Hop-Frog: Enslaved as the court fool to serve King Goplik and his ministers.
Trippetta: Enslaved as the court dancer to serve the pleasures of the king and his ministers.
King Goplik: He wants to bring down his rival, King Queeg of Balog.
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B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Hop-Frog:
· Unique Purpose: to turn the tables on King Goplik and his ministers and to use their horrific tactics against them to bring them down.
· Expertise: mastery of creating magical theatricals/events with wondrous clockwork mechanicals
· Irony: he manipulates his prey, so they use their own “swords” and sins to bring themselves down.
Trippetta:
· Unique Purpose: to get revenge for the massacre of her betrothed and her family.
· Expertise: athletic, dancer, fencer; innocence shattered, she discovers her power of seduction
· Irony: she treated childhood friend Hop-Frog as a “pet” and now must trust him as her partner of vengeance.
King Goplik:
· Unique Purpose: to use his horrific practical jokes to finally bring down his rival, King Queeg of Balog
· Expertise: passion for comedy and horror – especially when mixed into a delightfully demented practical joke – practical for Goplik’s gain.
· Irony: he’ll seek the trust and ministerial advice from his fool
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C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
Hop-Frog: he’s secretly in love with Trippetta; he deceives King Goplik and the ministers, and he manipulates them toward their own destruction. As he gets deeper into their heads, he becomes more dangerous.
Diamond: perhaps the most shocking, delightful secret revealed will be when King Goplik realizes he’s been manipulated, humiliated, and destroyed by his own fool.
Trippetta: has she fallen in love with Lord Krapp, the one who murdered her betrothed? Still exploring an answer.
Diamond: Like Daenerys in GOT, does Trippetta’s shattered innocence, and newly framed skills in athletics, seduction make her realize she wants to rule?
King Goplik: envious of King Queeg’s rule and especially his son, the fairest prince in the lands, he wants to destroy King Queeg, force the marriage of the prince with Goplik’s daughter.
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D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Hop-Frog: he deviously weaves his skills with the demented tactics of his prey and gets himself deeper into bloody vengeance.
Trippetta: Like Hop-Frog, Trippetta is shattered; however, she uses her skills initially for survival and escape. Her moral boundaries are challenged as the stakes elevate – and her journey shifts from freedom to vengeance.
King Goplik: he rules for power and there are no moral boundaries as long as he’s not the victim.
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E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Hop-Frog: Hop-Frog is suddenly and tragically thrown into a subverted new world (physically and emotionally). The stakes have been elevated pushing him often toward unpredictable actions. His ordinary world had been colorful, uplifting “faery tale” but that’s been plunged into horrific, bloody darkness. This starkly unpredictable situation motivates unpredictable actions; however, Hop-Frog uses his skills to initially help him navigate the unpredictable situation, and then he’ll need to manipulate those skills to survive and win.
Trippetta: Like Hop-Frog she’s been tragically thrown into horrific, bloody darkness. She will use her skills initially to navigate the unpredictable situation, and then she’ll need to manipulate those skills to survive and win.
King Goplik: as his greater plan plays out and he’s dealing with the growing complications from Hop-Frog, he becomes more desperate and more unpredictable.
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F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Hop-Frog: we’ve witnessed the massacre of his family, his town and enslavement of his secret love, Trippetta. Serving King Goplik, Hop-Frog is continually humiliated and ridiculed.
Trippetta: we’ve witnessed the massacre of her betrothed, family and her town. She doesn’t deserve this situation, and we care whether she’ll protect herself and how she’ll survive as a slave to the king and his ministers.
King Goplik: this is an interesting question. Yes, I’d like us to care, as needed. Still exploring the circumstances of the “why.”
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This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Stuart Voytilla.
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Hi Stuart,
Question – as you are envisioning an anthology show about Poe’s stories, how do you plan on driving the viewer to watch the next episode? It can work – I understand the whole point of the 1001 Arabian Nights tales was that Scheherazade did exactly that, make the pain of missing the story so great that the Sultan kept her alive. So if one were to turn the Arabian Nights into an anthology show, the relationship between Scheherazade and the Sultan would serve as the overarching problem. Just hadn’t seen what you envision being that overarching “must watch!” Open loop for Poe Forevermore.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by
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Prison break
Role in the show:
-Michael – gets himself sent to prison to break out his older brother – Lincoln – on death row
-Lincoln – hit-man who is framed by the CIA for the murder of the vice president’s brother
-Veronica – their attorney and Lincoln’s ex-girl friend
Unique Purpose/ Expertise:
Michael – construction engineer: – has the blueprint of the prison tattooed on his body and a plan
Lincoln – hit-man for hire: street smart
Veronica – defense attorney: collating and analyzing evidence – building a defense case
Intrigue/secrets behind the surface:
Michael – planning a break-out liberating some rea, nasty criminals while being the perfect, non-violent prisoner.
Lincoln – many other crimes on his name – just not this one
Veronica – does not love her fiance but goes along with marriage plans, still loves Lincoln but dumped him
Moral Issue/ crossing of boundaries:
Michael – turns criminal and within the prison walls turns to violence in order to realize the break-out
Lincoln – a religious man – despite his violent life of crime
Veronica – loses her trust in the justice system and must now “turn to the other side” to clear Lincoln’s name and expose the real criminals
Unpredictable:
Michael – full of intrigues and set-ups to test his cell-mates reliability; uses violence unpredictably; seeks unexpected alliances
Lincoln – a religious man – despite his violent life of crime – impulsive
Veronica – starts to help Lincoln – despite the clear evidence
Empathetic: why do we care?
Michael – Michael suffers immensely, physically, emotionally, financially, in order to break out his brother
Lincoln – he might be a criminal – but he lives by a code and this time – he’s innocent. He’s been a great big brother to Michael – despite his criminal path. Tries to be a good dad.
Veronica – wants to put the real criminals to justice – even if they are government people
My Show
Selling characters – Amanda and Anna
Journey
From penniless refugees (from the law) to wealthy moon-shiners and supporters of jazz
Role in the show:
– Amanda (35), wise, hardworking, the silent type, responsible, determination, a-sexual. Head of the family (A-female) after the death of their parents. Believer in the American dream.
Anna (28) a singer talent, talkative, curious, passionate, impulsive.
Unique Purpose/ Expertise:
-Amanda knows how to make great moon-shine aquavit out of raw potatoes.
-Anna knows the way into the houses of (rivaling and ally) gangsters via their wives, girlfriends and mistresses.
Intrigue/secrets behind the surface:
-Amanda bumped Anna’s abusive husband off. She has a child she had to hand over for foster care as she wasn’t married at the time.
-Anna helps hide the body, forbidden love
Moral Issue/ crossing of boundaries:
-Amanda ventures into organised crime – that’s something different than an act of passion to protect a loved one from harm – which is Ok according to her version of the Bible.
-Anna becomes an accomplice.
-Amanda can be very violent without any warning (poker-face) – bumps off Anna’s abusive husband with an ax, suddenly, from behind, not saying a word. The ax she used to get some firewood to set coffee for the guest – him.
Anna – Puts everything at risk (also Amanda’s venture and Bertil’s double life) for her cause – fight against discrimination.
Empathetic: why do we care?
-Amanda – her wounds go deep – and she keeps them a secret. She’s determined not to be a burden to anybody and struggles on – despite the odds.
-Anna’s love for jazz makes the discrimination evident – she picks up the fight as an activist and pays a heavy price.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Camilla Erlandsdotter.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Camilla Erlandsdotter.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by
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Module 1 Lesson 3 Assignment 1
What I learned while doing this assignment is that each layer brings together a better picture of the whole. It also adds to the depth of the characters.
SHOW SUPERGIRL
A. Role in the show:
Supergirl – Has always had super powers that she has suppressed by being normal but is now compelled to be the super hero she always was told she would be.
Alex Supergirl’s sister- To support her sister in fighting aliens and bad guys she was always told to protect her sister.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Supergirl Expertise – Has super powers and is nearly indestructible
Supergirl Purpose – to save the people of the city/ to be the hero she was told to be
Irony – To fight the bad guys that she brought onto the planet upon her arrival
Alex Expertise – How to fight aliens with the DEO
Alex’s purpose – to be supergirls partner fighting crime and to protect her.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
Alex has been working with the DEO because of living with her sister who is an alien. They find out Alex’s dad worked for the DEO too, Supergirl is pretending to be Kara the assistant to Cat Grant the head of the media company, hoping she won’t get caught.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Alex continues to disobey the rules of the DEO in order to keep people safe from criminals. Is it ok for Supergirl to lie to her boss to hide she truly is Supergirl?
E. Unpredictable:What will they do next?
Alex is not afraid to disobey orders to do the right thing.
Supergirl will take on bigger and bigger risks in order to prove her worth
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Supergirl continues to want to live up to her supergirl power but struggles with living up to being a woman and a superhero, her confidence waivers and it is relatable.
Alex never feels good enough even though she is excellent at her job
Module 1 Lesson 3 Assignment 2
Molly’s show Carrington Manor
The journey of my show is to develop Gwenn from a naive hopeful therapist to a person who tries to save every patient from being mistreated at the facility in order to cover up her lack of ability to save herself financially and her own mother who is declining.
The main characters that will sell the show are
Gwenn
Terry
A. Role in the show:
Gwenn 33 year old therapist who has moved to take care of her mother is now stuck in the worst skilled nursing facility with patients who cannot get better.
Terry is the Director of rehab who is inappropriate in every way, she continues to be in incompetent but makes the corporation happy by hitting her numbers and getting her employees to comply.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Gwenn Expertise – making people happy and being codependent. (if I do everything right then everyone will be happy!)
Gwenn’s purpose – to save the patients that need help in the awful facility, to help her mother who shouldn’t be living alone and to get out of financial debt and hideous student loans.
The irony- Gwenn can’t even save her own mother who is senile and still living alone, Adult protective services are constantly being called and Gwenn is under scrutiny for being daughter who doesn’t take care of her mother but at work she is a hero.
Terry Expertise – Making people happy, especially her company. Although she attempts to make her employees happy because it is very important she is liked.
Terry’s Purpose – To make the company money and move up in the world of skilled nursing.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
Gwenn – Is falsifying medicare and medicaid records in order to look good in her facility and as a therapist but in reality is just doing the day to day to keep the patients alive and taken care of. Her financial insecurities drive her to get out of debt, even though she is breaking the law. She is secretly having an affair with the married Dr.
Terry – is hiding the fact that she knows Gwenn is lying on her records to make her look good. She is secretly in love with Gwenn.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Is Gwenn really ok with medicare fraud and adultery in order to keep her boss afloat and to save her patients and make herself look good?
Is Terry Ok with her staff falsifying records in order to make her look good? To constantly make her staff uncomfortable with her undiscovered sexuality? Will Gwenn or her other staff go to HR to get her written up for sexual harassment and for signing off on falsified patient records?
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Gwenn is willing to take more risks in order to save her patients. By the end of the first season she saves one of her patients from being taken to jail by the FBI.
Terry is emotional, going through a divorce and sexual identity crisis. She does more and more to be true to her company no matter what they ask of her.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Gwenn really wants to do the right thing for everyone. She is a pleaser and will do what it takes so people get the right care, even if it means putting herself or her job at risk.
Terry is lost in her own sexuality, she is a good therapist who does care about the patients but has lost her way.
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Sean’s Engaging Main Characters
What I learned doing this assignment is:
1. I have already had a breakthrough with my Main Characters and see them differently. Meaning this assignment helped me narrow down and define Cian Shea’s journey and by doing so, I can see Bridget McCabe’s and the Devil’s journeys almost crystal clear. I knew what I wanted them to be or do (sort of), but now I know exactly why, how, when, to what depth etc. So cool, so awesome, thanks!
2. This assignment helped me pinpoint specifics about my characters that I was not able to define two days ago. By putting each through the Character Model, I know my characters better and where they are going, what they are going to do and why! Awesome!
Assignment 1
From the show SUPERNATURAL
Sam Winchester
Role in the show:
Sam is clearly defining his role as the more intelligent and intuitive of the two brothers and hunters. His success at Stanford is showing up.
Unique Purpose / Expertise
Sam is more tech savvy, better at research and more likely to keep both out of jail or worse.
Intrigue
Sam was the child in the crib underneath his mother when the evil killed her, and we are beginning to see a connection to this fact in the difference between him and Dean. Sam is more intense, intuitive, unpredictable, and complex. Dean is who he is already, but Sam has not revealed all that he is yet.
Moral Issue
Sam was going to interview to get full scholarship to Stanford Law, so he obviously knows impersonating law officials is unlawful and can harm his future after hunting more than Dean’s.
Unpredictable
It was Sam that saw his mother die as a child and it was Sam’s girlfriend that the same evil took to make him pass on his interview with Stanford, which is why he is even hunting now. Sam has become more urgent to find his father and is showing that he is now more unpredictable than Dean.
Empathetic
We saw the love and support that Sam’s girlfriend, Jessica showed, and we saw how much he loved her in return. Jessica was killed the same way his mother was killed by the same evil and both times Sam was underneath as the drops of blood fell. Before that shocking twist, we thought Jessica was with Sam the whole show. Now, we see the pain Sam carries underneath.
Assignment 2
The journey of my show… The S tories A ngels T ell
The SAT
The Devil threateningly mocks a twelve-year-old boy and challenges him to rid the world of him. The boy becomes Cian Shea, the man who will rid the world of evil and the Devil to its fullest implications and change the darkening world we know into a world he only dreamed about, a world with no governments, no currency, and the right to watch evil die.
The Main Characters that will sell my show…
Bridget McCabe
The Devil
Engaging Character Model for the main characters
Role in the show
Cian Shea – Envisions the world without the Devil and evil to the fullest implication and becomes the driving force behind completing his vision down to the tiniest detail.
Bridget McCabe – Cian’s colleague, love interest and greatest help to push his dream through to completion, despite the enormity and reality of risk, failure, and consequences.
The Devil – To carelessly provoke Cian Shea as a child, unafraid and not considering consequence, then fight Cian Shea to the end to kill his relentless pursuit and prevent him from meeting the devil’s challenge.
Unique Purpose / Expertise
Cian Shea – the younger brother of the world’s most prolific and elusive serial killer, challenged by the Devil as a child to rid the world of him, sees and talks to angels and demons as an adult, first hand interactions with powerful secret societies, world-renowned as an FBI profiler, musician, entertainer, actor and overall social influence, making him the only one that can literally rid the world of evil and the Devil and change the world completely.
Bridget McCabe – Bridget is just as unique, intelligent, and powerful as Cian Shea in the FBI and in life, making her literally the only one that help Cian achieve his goal.
The Devil – The Devil terrorizes, influences, provokes, and even kills entirely with chaotic purpose and desire. His prolific and insatiable brutality to some is an endless lure and beauty to others by design.
Intrigue
Cian Shea – Cian is as innocent as he is vicious in his pursuit to rid the world of the Devil. He may sob violently to himself or scream violently to the heavens upon the same thought or realization on where he is in his secret mission, all while pointing his service weapon at you and trying to remember when band rehearsal is that night.
Bridget McCabe – very intelligent, ambitious, sensual/sexual for pleasure and business, and relentless when given a case as a FBI profiler. She will not fail considering everything at her disposal.
The Devil – The power, darkness, brutality, influence, ageless fallen angel. In this story, we will see most of that undone leaving the Devil powerless and almost mortal.
Moral Issue
Cian Shea – The more Cian leaves the normal world to live a supernatural mission to rid the world of evil, the less concerned Cian becomes with the laws and rules of the world he believes he will change.
Bridget McCabe – FBI profiler who does not break the law, but slowly finds she will have to do so to stay with Cian.
The Devil – the things he will do to stop Cian makes him more and more afraid of God.
Unpredictable
Cian Shea – Cian Shea goes from a terrified boy because of his psychopath older brother and the Devil to a man who sees and talks to angels and demons on a regular basis, being introduced to secret societies, good and evil and consumed with the need to meet the Devil’s challenge at all cost.
Bridget McCabe – no love for the Devil, but no knowledge of angels or what she will have to do to play her part. Bridget may bend rules to her will, but never breaks them. Cian will need her to break them.
The Devil – once he realizes that Cian may be part of a divine plan or simply able to meet his challenge like no one else ever could, the Devil will use every evil possible to defeat Cian.
Empathetic
Cian Shea – was a terrified 12-year-old boy challenged by the Devil to rid the world of him who loses his mother and father before he turns 20 because of that challenge.
Bridget McCabe – has no idea what she is getting into with Cian and how far she is going to have to go.
The Devil – it was the Devil’s challenge that drives Cian to meet that challenge to its fullest implications and beyond.
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Lesson 3 – Assignment #1
Engaging Characters: Revenge
A: Role in the Show
Emily Thorne: Young, wealthy heiress who moved back to the Hamptons, her childhood home, to seek revenge for the framing and untimely death of her father.
Victoria Grayson: The matriarch of the wealthy Grayson family.
Nolan Ross: Billionaire and computer guru.
Jack Porter: Childhood friend of Emily who still lives in the Hamptons and owns a seaside bar.
B: Unique Purpose/Expertise
Emily: Purpose: To exact revenge on everyone responsible in the framing of her father for a crime he didn’t commit.
Victoria: Purpose: To protect her family against all threats. Irony: She is jealous and distrustful of her husband Conrad, who had an affair with her best friend, yet she had the affair with David Clarke years before.
Nolan: Expertise: Tech expert who assists Emily in her vengeful pursuits.
Jack: Purpose: To keep his family bar afloat. Also, is a source of great conflict for Emily, who still loves him, but cannot reveal herself.
C: Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
Emily: The most secretive of all, Emily is the alias for Amanda Clarke, a new resident whose sole purpose is to infiltrate and seek revenge:
Victoria: Although she stood by her husband and was complicit in the betrayal of David Clark, her heart is still broken. Her intuition tells her that she shouldn’t trust Emily.
Nolan: The wealthiest man in the Hamptons is quite insecure and wants to be accepted. He is in love with Emily.
Jack: Although not yet revealed, he is the one who either shot Daniel or found him at the very beginning of the show.
D: Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Emily: Although she could stop short at just ruining the careers of her targets, she prefers to ruin their lives. She is also very fond of Daniel Grayson, despite her contempt for his parents.
Victoria: She will use anyone necessary to achieve her objectives.
Nolan: He just wants to treat people fairly and to be liked by others, but he is complicit in the revenge tactics of Emily, which go beyond his level of reasonableness.
Jack: This is a truly good guy, who has not yet revealed any moral issues being crossed.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Emily: Seemingly ruthless, she is garnering great pleasure at inflicting pain on her targets and seems capable of anything.
Victoria: She also is conniving and seemingly willing to do just about anything to protect her family.
Nolan: Tends to pop up at every event to see Emily, who has repeatedly told him to stay away. Will he compromise her mission?
Jack: He was willing to sell his most prized possession, his boat named after his childhood friend, to save his family’s bar.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Emily: The betrayal of her father shattered her world as a child and still haunts her to this day.
Victoria: She loved David Clarke, albeit an apparent participant in his betrayal.
Nolan: An outcast who desperately wants to fit in.
Jack: A truly good guy.
Lesson 3 – Assignment #2
Marc Armstrong’s Engaging Main Characters
What I learned doing this assignment is that not really knowing anything about my characters beforehand, this process is truly opening them up and revealing them to me as we go.
Show – Catch and Release
Journey – In the beginning, Nikolas Sutton is a naïve, devout Christian who always puts others first. Once he is faced with an incomprehensible loss with no remaining mechanism in place to bring justice, he is overpowered with a strong need for personal revenge. He tries to reconcile both his values and this overwhelming need for vengeance, but he ultimately loses this internal struggle and transforms into a competent hunter of human misfits.
A: Role in the Show
Nikolas Sutton: The vigilante and antihero who is on a personal quest to bring justice to all who have been wronged.
Bryson Volgard: The brother of one of Nik’s first vigilante targets, whose sole mission is to track down and kill Nik.
B: Unique Purpose/Expertise
Nikolas: Purpose: to avenge the murder of his family, initially, and then to similarly avenge similar crimes against others.
Bryson: Purpose: To avenge the death of his brother by Nik. Expertise: A dishonorably discharged special forces veteran. Irony: He has become a vigilante hunting his brother’s vigilante.
C: Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
Nikolas: This devout Christian begins to feel euphoria over his personal pursuit of justice.
Bryson: Was dishonorably charged from the military for using excessive and inhumane force upon his enemies.
D: Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Nikolas: His whole mission contradicts his Christian values of the commandment to not commit murder, to turn the other cheek, and to serve his neighbor. Everything he does crosses his moral boundary.
Bryson: He vowed to his wife before they were married that he left his violent ways in the Middle East and would never return to them. He has a daughter who adores him as her hero.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Nikolas: Initially inept with a gun and tracking, as his competence increases, he rationalizes his actions as just steps in his sporting game, and his overwhelming desire to win leads to gruesome consequences.
Bryson: As in the military, he is still a wildcard who will pursue his target without regard to unintended carnage.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Nikolas: Undeserved misfortune: lost his whole family in a senseless violent crime. Despite its questionable legality and unconventional approach, he is cleaning up society.
Bryson: Terrible childhood with a second chance at a good life with an amazing wife and loving daughter. We know he is risking it all by taking on this personal quest.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Marcus Armstrong.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Marcus Armstrong.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Marcus Armstrong. Reason: Adding Assignment #2
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This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Marcus Armstrong.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by Marcus Armstrong.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by
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Jane’s Engaging Main Characters – What I learned doing this assignment is that in order to write binge worthy programs, I can’t just do the regular “nice person who has something happen that sets them on a journey.” It has to be extraordinary, almost over the top. For instance, I never thought about Jodie as going on a journey to kidnap her sister to get her away from her mom. She was just supposed to find her dad in the wilderness. This one decision to have her plotting a kidnapping ramps up her interest as a character 1,000%!!!!
Assignment 1: Riverdale – Archie
Role in Show: Atomic center of his group of friends.
Unique Purpose/Expertise: To provide flawed leadership to those around him. To be a model of good.
Intrigue: Archie is not good. He keeps his own secrets, like having an affair with Miss Grundy and holding back information on Jason’s murder.
Moral Issue: Should he remain silent in order to protect Miss Grundy? Lying to his dad.
Unpredictable: Fights Reggie when Reggie picks on Jughead.
Empathetic: He is by nature good. That he screws up and is conflicted makes us root for him.
13 WEEKS – Multiple Character Journeys
Jodie: A leader who takes us into uncharted territory.
Susie: An innocent on a mission in a strange world.
Lucas: A pro on a mission in a bigger world.
Miguel: An outsider who disrupts the current world.
A. Role in the show:
Jodie: Daughter sent on a mission to find father and save family financially
Susie: Girl hiding from an abusive boyfriend
Lucas: Gang member in hiding
Miguel: Brother looking for older brother who disappeared 5 years ago
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Jodie: Planner extraordinaire, capable of 30 mile high decisions and the details needed
Susie: A genuine chameleon – able to pull off any act the situation requires.
Lucas: Street smarts keep him alive and come in useful when boyfriend is dead
Miguel: Quiet, understated and patient during any situation, no matter how stressful
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
Jodie: Plans to take her dad’s money, kidnap her sister and get away from their mother.
Susie: Plans to use abusive boyfriend as a stepping stone to his rich relative’s wealth.
Lucas: He recognized one of the cops in charge of him as friendly with the gang.
Miguel: He’s part of the drug cartel that his brother ran from and has been sent by them.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Jodie: Plotting against her mother; covering up a murder.
Susie: Lying to her father; killing boyfriend; getting away with murder
Lucas: Lying to the cops to clear a friend and save his family; covering up a murder.
Miguel: Mission is to kill his own brother; covering up a murder.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Jodie: Helps Susie cover up the murder
Susie: Kills boyfriend
Lucas: Attempts suicide to get away from cop in charge of him.
Miguel: Lets brother go because kids are coming to camp. No death around kids.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Jodie: Her love for her younger, blind sister and desire to do anything to get her away from her negligent mother.
Susie: Her unrelenting optimism that everything will be okay. She inspires others, even if she is totally wrong about herself and her own future.
Lucas: His guilt about his family now being targeted by both gangs and cops and his journey to save them at all costs.
Miguel: His brother was supposed to protect the family, but left and the responsibility fell to him and sent his mother into a mental breakdown.
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It seems we have 2 UFO Alien Abduction stories being created in this program.
Assignment 2
1. Tell us the journey of your show – A group of people investigate an abduction by the side of a road and uncover the meaning of humanity and the deepest secrets of the Universe.
2. Who are the main characters that will sell your show?
Jacob – Police Officer – Investigator – Non-Believer even though he witnessed an event and it goes against everything he believes it. Always wants to do the right thing and is now harrassed about reporting his experience. Church, family, and friends are telling him to forget it and move on with his life.
Rebecca – UN Diplomat – Driven towards success and has connections all over the world. She has had dreams all her life that are supernatural in nature. This investigation is distracting her from their career, everything she has worked for, and helping other people. Will she go on and risk everything?
Lukas – Naval Commander – Long-time friend of Rebecca, from childhood – Has access to more knowledge than most other people. Will he lead Rebecca down a path of destruction and possible death or help he find the answers. We see the two kids in flashback when they were innocent and friends. Growing up together. He has always done everything by the book and it has cost him his family. Can he see that happen to someone else?
Julia – Single parent of 2 teenagers – Abductee – Goes to a Psychologist. Regression memories. Disappears – Doesn’t know if her memories/thoughts are true – Alien programming hers or theirs. Takes care of a next-door neighbor and their child, almost to a fault.
Dr. ? – Psychologist investigating Alien abductions. Expert in and connected to the UFO/Parapsychology world. Has never seen a UFO. Sometimes he is not sure if the people he sees are crazy, or there is a malady or this is a real physical event. Is coerced to denigrate and smear his patient’s credibility to save his own and advance in his Professor’s world.
4. Answer the question, “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.
I learned how important the intertwining of the characters around the main storyline is to achieving the goal of the main character. Differentiating between secondary characters and characters that move the plot along.
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This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by David Stam.
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Hi David,
Nice to meet you.
Thanks for raising that we’re both doing UFO alien abduction stories.
Our stories seem to have the obvious similarities – genre tropes and information in the public domain – but they also<font face=”inherit”> appear to be coming at it from different angles – police vs journalist investigation – and from your title “Hybrids”, am I correct that it’s perhaps referring to alien-human-hybrids(?) and a cover-up or invasion(?) versus a journalistic investigation into a cover-up about the existence of </font>aliens<font face=”inherit”> and our possession of their technology, which is the angle I’m pursuing. </font>
Are you happy just to keep moving forward on that basis?
I’m happy to discuss further or go through Hal?
Kind regards,
Ben
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Hey Ben,
I was surprised to read your TV creation. Just a few hours earlier I had lunch with another creative friend. She asked my advice about “posting a Play online” for production consideration. So that made me even more amused about the situation a few hours later. I took it from 3 different angles.
1. Nobody has created a new story since the Greeks wrote it down. It is not about the subject matter as much as the story of the characters.
2. It is about the dramatist and HOW the person approaches the story. You and I could write the same exact story and have thousands of different narrative techniques, interpretations, and tropes. My style is different from your style. My experiences and knowledge are different from yours.
3. These are also just first drafts. I am still working out the scope. I have been thinking of this project for probably 5 or 6 years. And am taking this excellent course to get it down on paper. In the end, I am sure your pilot will be much different than mine because you are the only person who can tell your story and I am the only person who can tell my story.
Who knows. Maybe we should do some sort of information exchange and enjoy our similarities and our differences.
David
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This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by David Stam.
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Hi David,
Thank you for setting that out. I completely agree with all of what you said.
It would be great to do some sort of information exchange. I do think this might actually make our stories all the better.
Look forward to it.
Ben
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This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by
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This reply was modified 3 years, 11 months ago by
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John Anderson’s Engaging Main Characters
Lesson 3
What I learned doing this assignment is: I am not sure I have a binge worthy story based on the criteria so far and what I know about my book. I think I will need more main characters and character development than what’s in the book (really just one man’s story). I also think that the MiG-25 Aircraft it’s self may be considered a character but I’m not yet sure.
The Americans – Phillip
A.
Role in the show: The
father/husband spy in deep cover who works for KGB.B. Unique
Purpose / Expertise: He is in deep cover with his wife to work for the
USSR and has been trained on many espionage technics (well versed in fighting,
covert electronics, dead drops, interrogation, etc.),
C. Intrigue:
What is secret beneath the surface? He’s falling for the American way
of life and his partner/wife. He
thinks of fellow travelers as his actual friends. He is super competitive and will win at
any cost – even cheating. He is a
hothead. He likes control.D. Moral Issue:
What moral boundaries are they crossing? Sex is a means to an end and
uses people sexually. He is now allowing
personal feelings as an excuse to betray his vows to his country. He will kill for revenge and then lie
about the reason. Cowardly – He doesn’t want to know the truth when it’s
hard to hear (what will they do with his partner’s wife and baby?) Thinks he’s above the law. The ends justify the means. Begins
breaking rules about talking about past.E. Unpredictable:
What will they do next? What will make him turn himself in? He changes his mind. He is breaking rules after years, where
will this lead? He lies at times to
superiors and what would happen if they found out? He has allowed many others to know who
he is.F. Empathetic:
Why do we care? Easy to understand that he started out with only
propaganda to guide him to the decisions he’s made to spy on the USA. He is seeing the light of freedom and we
want to believe he will be changed by it.
He is going through relatable emotions because of his love for Elizabeth
and her lack of reciprocation. He
finds out she’s been lying to him for over a dozen years about loving
someone else and it crushes him. He
cares about his kids. He doesn’t want
to get caught by either side. He wants to protect Elizabeth.ASSIGNMENT 2:
Now, do the process with your show.
1. Tell us the journey of your show.
A boy becomes a man in Soviet Russia in the late 1960s/early 1970s and rises to the top of the military pilot heap. He is assigned a MiG25 and marries and fathers a child. He becomes disillusioned with the USSR and decides to defect to the west (along with his super-secret jet). Once here, he must learn to trust people.
2. Who are the main characters that will sell your show?
Lt. Belenko, The female CIA agent, the male CIA agent, Main KGB Agent
3. Answer these questions for each of those characters.
A. Role in the show:
Belenko – he is the main character who we will mostly empathize with as his frustration builds when he tries to make sense of a totalitarian government and a life filled with gas-lighting and outright lies.
Male CIA agent – He will show us what the challenges are when he must decide if he can trust that what he sees in Belenko is the truth or a clever communist set up.
Female CIA Agent – She will fulfill her role as a woman with both compassion and a life and death job.
Main KGB Agent – he will expose the real truth behind the Soviet Union awareness of what the country really is as they try every trick to regain control of Belenko.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Belenko – top pilot with the intelligence to escape with the prize of the century aircraft and also the flight abilities to evade two countries attempts to shoot him down in the process.
Male CIA Agent – A top pilot himself as well as a top professional at the art of spy craft – He able to suss out the truth and ask questions as he disarms the person being interrogated.
Female CIA agent – She must use her feminine charm to disarm and draw Belenko out. Top agent just learning spy craft but a natural.
Main KGB Agent – He is a bitter fighter to the end for the USSR and trained in every way to protect the mother country and her secrets. He knows Belenko’s weak spots and tries them all in order to get him back.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
Belenko – is growing disillusioned but he still loves mother Russia and even after defecting, believes the west is evil because he has been totally indoctrinated.
Male CIA Agent – Is not flushed out yet (will he put Belenko in jail or send him back to face Russia after they drain him of information?)
Female CIA agent – is falling in love with Belenko – or…. is it fake?
Main KGB Agent – is not yet flushed out (will he make a run for the west himself?
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Belenko – is leaving his wife and child. His parents and friends could all be killed or imprisoned. He is betraying his country and his service to the air force.
Male CIA Agent – becomes too trusting of his female inferior officer. Lies to Belenko as he pretends to befriend him (it’s his job)
Female CIA agent – becoming personally involved with a subject and lying about it. Could be putting national security at risk.
Main KGB Agent – Threatening to kill Belenko and anyone he ever cared about. Would kill him if the opportunity presented itself.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Belenko – will he leave and how? Will he be institutionalized or play along with the base commander who threatens to ruin him. Will he be successful in escaping? Will he return to Russia? What will befall his wife? Will he believe in the west and trust Americans? Is he using the female CIA agent to gain information? Will he run to the Russian embassy?
Male CIA agent – will he send Belenko back or put him in American jail? Does he believe in trust Belenko or not?
Female CIA agent – will she come clean about the relationship? Is the emotion real or is it part of her job?
Main KGB Agent – will he defect to protect himself? Is he in on something with Belenko against the west or against the USSR?
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Belenko – He cares about other people. He has tried to fit in and survive, but everywhere he turns, the soviet world is shit. We want him to see America and understand the true depth of the lies coming at him. Yet, once he’s in USA, he gets homesick as it was the only world he ever knew.
Male CIA agent – He is working for the good of America and freedom and the pressure to do it right is huge. We believe it’s in Belenko’s best interest to stay in America.
Female CIA agent – She is caring and afraid and wants to do the right thing but she also has feelings.
Main KGB Agent – he is doing what he must to save his own ass. He has been given an impossible task that is a mess not of his making.
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Hey Ben,
I was surprised to read your TV creation. Just a few hours earlier I had lunch with another creative friend. She asked if I would feel comfortable posting a Play online for production consideration. I took it from 3 different angles.
1. Nobody has created a new story since the Greeks wrote it down. It is not about the subject matter as much as the story of the characters.
2. It is about the dramatist and HOW the person approaches the story. You and I could write the same exact story and have thousands of different narrative techniques, interpretations, and tropes. My style is different from your style. My experiences and knowledge are different from yours.
3. These are also just first drafts. I am still working out the scope. I have been thinking of this project for probably 5 or 6 years. And am taking this excellent course to get it down on paper. In the end, I am sure your pilot will be much different than mine because you are the only person who can tell your story and I am the only person who can tell my story.
Who knows. Maybe we should do some sort of information exchange and enjoy our similarities and our differences.
David
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Jason Bortz’ Engaging Main Characters
What I learned from this assignment is I need to work on brevity and single-line descriptions; it’s hard for me to describe ‘engaging and incredibly intriguing characters’ with a single line of text. Something I’ll have to work on. I’m also realizing that it’s difficult to build out this character module for series on an episode-by-episode basis; we’re barely meeting these characters at the onset, so many secrets have yet to be revealed. Likewise, in the series I’m writing, I’m only now building the Villain for an introduction in Episode 3…I write backstories for my characters, but haven’t followed a diagram like this, so it’s just a new way of thinking/adjusting.ASSIGNMENT 1
L O S T
Character: Jack
A. Role in the Show? Hero by proxy, 40-year old Jack is actions-oriented and is the only doctor on Oceanic flight 815.
B. Unique Purpose/Expertise? At the onset, his purpose is to save the lives of the wounded, and to find the transceiver to facilitate the survivors’ rescue.
C. Intrigue/Hidden Secrets? So far, we know Jack drinks, so something may be troubling him.
D. Moral Issue? Jack doesn’t display any moral quandaries yet, mediating between fighting passengers and helping all in need.
E. Unpredictability? Jack disappears momentarily when fleeing a mysterious, terrible creature in the jungle; when he reappears, we don’t know where he went. He, Kate and Charlie are also willing to keep the fate of the pilot, killed by the creature, a secret from the rest of the passengers
F. Why do we care? Jack offers stability, protection and the objectivity required of a leadership; other characters immediately trust him due to his willingness to tend to, serve and keep the peace between passengers. He’s also handsome and, so far, straightforward.
Character: Kate
A. Role in the Show? Kate is determined to do what it takes to survive regardless of her fears or others’ impressions of her.
B. Unique Purpose/Expertise? At the onset, Kate allies with Jack in support of finding the other half of the plane; she’s instantly supportive.
C. Intrigue? Despite her servitude and willingness to risk her life to help others, Kate was under escort by Federal Marshal, something she keeps from the others.
D. Moral Issue? Kate hides her prisoner status, aligning herself with Jack as he appears to be the strongest and safest of the passengers?
E. Unpredictable? Kate struggles with panic attacks. She also has no problem omitting information or keeping it to herself. When Sawyer and Sayid suspect each other of being the prisoner the Federal Marshal was transporting, she steals the gun from Sawyer, training it on him before giving the bullets to Sayid–and gives the pistol back, thereby allying with both.
F. Why do we care? Her fears are relatable, her support seems genuine (though it may be a means of protecting herself ). She’s quick to help the others and to lead a team to find a signal for the transceiver. She’s also beautiful, savvy and quick thinking.
ASSIGNMENT 2
“Dreaming Wide Awake”
A Romantic Dramedy
Show Journey
A reclusive genius in a remote coastal town is plagued by overnight celebrity when her journal is made public without her consent, but soon finds her words have opened floodgates in others to share parts of themselves long locked away.
Gina Semple – The Muse
A. Role in the Show? Gina is a creative, hyper-intelligent temp for a small business in a remote town; her social reclusiveness is starkly juxtaposed with her vibrant, dreamlike existence in the pages of her journal, something she’s kept a lifelong secret—until now.
B. Unique Purpose/Expertise? Gina’s writing is mesmerizing; a mixture of human observations, fantastic settings and soulful insights, her unique style instantly captivates and transports (often visually!) her readers and listeners. When her work is ‘discovered’, she becomes an overnight hometown celebrity—which terrifies her.
C. Intrigue? Gina’s past is logged on many hard drives in years of journal entries. She’s private and guarded, doling out bits and pieces of herself a little at a time—is this her personality, or did something happen to make her this way? Brief flashes of her past offer clues, not the bigger picture.
D. Moral Issue? A portion of Gina’s journal is made public by a well-meaning friend, which mortifies Gina to the point of considering jumping off her roof; the sudden popularity she receives forces her from her comfort zone, and she must discover how to navigate relationships after being alone for years, how to respond to the relationships of those her words have transformed, and how to reconcile her own heartache over her past.
E. Unpredictable? Gina’s awkward but not naïve; when circumstances are beyond her control, her “survival mode” kicks in, revealing a social “alter-ego” with a keen grasp of observation, logic, memory and surprising wit, but leaving her unsettled—are they a coping mechanism, or her true self? Flashes of her past offer clues, but no big picture…yet.
F. Empathetic? Gina’s a wistful hero for those who feel their inner life is much richer than what they must deal with every day, and when she is ‘discovered’, her obstacles and victories are universal to those dealing with social anxiety or personalities that don’t click with the rest of the world. She gives permission for her readers/listeners to be themselves—the most wonderful, flawed, fantastic selves they can be—and learns, through her unlikely new friends, that she can too.
Maggie Ketchum – The Instigator
A. Role in the Show? Gina’s direct boss and friend, lives vicariously through Gina’s writing.
B. Purpose/Expertise? Wants Gina to succeed, shares Gina’s journal with the local news affiliate to prove she’d be a successful author.
C. Intrigue? Maggie was a dreamer once and wants that passion for life back for her and her husband Mark, both resigned to living responsibly.
D. Moral Issue? Maggie questions whether her decision to interfere with Gina’s life was motivated by missing her own chance to be free, and whether the effects of what she’s done are wrong or not. She’s also torn between a ‘safe’ life and convincing her husband to fight for dreams again.
E. Unpredictable? Maggie confronts her husband about the state of their lives, risking her marriage—then breaks her tailbone and winds up prone in the hospital.
F. Why do we care? Maggie is well meaning, grounded and fiercely loyal, and directly confronts the ‘What if’ driving many to mid-life crises. She loves her husband, but is deeply saddened by what they’ve given up.
Mark Ketchum – The Provider
A. Role in the Show? Gina’s bear-like employer, Maggie’s good-natured and dutiful husband.
B. Purpose/Expertise? Creator of the business, invests his life in being a solid, responsible husband.
C. Intrigue? Mark is a talented welding artist who also used to have big dreams; Maggie’s interference in Gina’s life unsettles his marriage and reveals his own compromises and fears.
D. Moral Issue? Mark is torn between his wife’s newfound desire for shared freedom and maintaining the safety of everything they’ve built. He also feels Maggie is wrong for upending Gina’s life for her own satisfaction.
E. Unpredictable? When his marriage goes from stable to questionable overnight, Mark must make some big decisions he’s not prepared for.
F. Why do we care? Mark is a both sympathetic and rough, scary at times but very kind. His love for his wife is palpable, and his angst at the thought of losing her—to new ideals or death itself—terrifies him.
Chris MacAllister – The Star
A. Role in Show? Broadway actor/writer, in town workshopping a passion project before his touring continues in the City.
B. Unique Purpose/Expertise? At the station for a promotional segment when Gina’s work is read live. Falls in love with her writing.
C. Intrigue? Chris is in town temporarily, but wants to spend time with Gina, his motivations seem to be purely professional, she fascinates him.
D. Moral Issue? Chris is thrown when he realizes Gina may be developing feelings for him–of course she knows he’s gay!– He hopes he’s wrong. He’s not wrong.
E. Unpredictable? Chris is an actor, at times he easily lies out of convenience—but with Gina, he becomes quick to go back and admit it. Chris reveals his sexuality to Gina; later, when she’s come to terms with it, he reveals he’s been HIV+ for ten years.
F. Why do we care? Chris’ sexuality is not the center of his life; relationships are, and connection; he loves Gina for who she is.
Parker Lang – The Nice Guy
A. Role in Show? Bartender, came to Point North to start over, relates to Gina within moments. The Ketchums are friends, regulars where he works.
B. Unique Purpose/Expertise? Becomes instrumental in Gina’s growth and protection socially as he reluctantly acts as Maggie’s proxy after she’s hospitalized.
C. Intrigue? Parker can sing karaoke like a star, is an excellent bartender with a sharp sense of humor, but refuses to speak of his backstory.
D. Moral Issue? Parker finds himself protective of Gina, then jealous of Chris—when he Googles him, he decides to confront him inre: Gina’s heart—but Chris questions whether Parker isn’t projecting. He is.
E. Unpredictable? Parker’s prone to using humor in his job and has a hard time turning it off. As his friendship grows with Gina, he purposefully keeps an emotional distance with his own feelings, available for her to talk, but not forthcoming. He was married before, ending tragically due to a mistake he cannot forgive himself for. When its revealed, it’s the catalyst Gina needs to break through her own unresolved grief.
F. Why do we care? Parker is a great guy but very protective of his own world, similar to Gina; as he comes to terms with his past through helping Gina through her present, his own heart is loosened and set free.
Thanos – The Villain
As I’m only halfway through Episode Two, this archetype hasn’t been fully developed yet. Will revisit and rename. -
Cooper James – Engaging Characters
Assignment #1 Handmaid’s Tale
A. Role in show: Offred – she must have a baby for Commander Waterford.
B. Unique Purpose/Expertise: Offred is able to have a baby
Purpose: to help populate the country
C. Intrigue: Offred is hiding that is becoming a part of the resistance.
D. Moral Issue: will Offred use her sexuality on the Commander’s Driver, Nick?
E. Unpredictable: Offred is willing to risk her safety to help others.
F. Empathetic: Offred discovers she is not pregnant and Mrs. Waterford will make life harder on her.
Assignment #2
EDGEMONT
The character SIMONE is going from being a “stay-at-home-mom” to a leader of a coup to save her twin sons, her father, and their fortune.
A. Role in show:
Simone: the reluctant hero who must save her family from almost certain demise.
King: her 70-year-old father who gets a second chance as a leader.
B. Unique Purpose/Expertise:
Simone: Expertise: an ultra-marathon runner, weapons expert, and ruthless fighter who in battle will do anything to win.
Purpose: to save her sons, father, and their family fortune.
King: Expertise: strong understanding of politics.
Purpose: to help his daughter at all costs.
C. Intrigue:
Simone: she is a trained killer leading an army of killers. She knows the Senator’s secrets and his weaknesses.
King: He secretly has political aspirations for his daughter.
D. Moral Issue:
Simone: Will kill and use her sexuality whenever necessary.
King: Secretly planning for his daughter to get into politics against her desires.
E. Unpredictable:
Simone: She ventures into Region 26 to take down the Senator before he can take her down.
King: Time is running out and he will do everything in his power to see his daughter become a Senator before he dies.
F. Empathetic:
Simone: Is raising her twin sons alone. She must teach them how to fight and lead them to victory to save the family’s fortune.
King: He is dying, but wants to help his daughter take down the Senator before he does.
I learned how to focus on the main characters and make them as interesting and intriguing as possible at this stage of developing them, knowing that it all might change.
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A. Role in the show
Emily: Woman who’s life was destroyed is out to get revenge on the rich and powerful people who are responsible for her father’s imprisonment and death.
VIctoria: Uber rich and manipulative wife who rules over the Hamptons.
B. Unique purpose/expertise
Emily: Her whole life has been training and setting things up to get revenge on the rich and powerful.
Victoria: Powerful woman who has used manipulation and power plays to stay at the top and who will continue to do so.
C. Intrigue
Emily: Every action she takes is to follow a process of revenge against the most powerful in society.
Victoria: She takes ruthless action to keep power constantly…but also tried to help Emily’s dad before it all went down.
D. Moral issue
Emily: Emily is constantly having to deal with the fact that she is doing immoral things to get vengeance for good people.
Victoria: Victoria went against her own morals in the past, which she regrets, and now is ruthless to others.
E. Unpredictable
Emily: Emily has to hide her true feelings, which means she’s pulled in different directions a lot. And, since she is, we don’t know which route she will follow.
Victoria: Just when you think she is just a ruthless woman, you find out she actually tried to save Emily’s dad and was really in love with him. After that, it’s hard to tell what her motive is for any action.
F. Empathetic
Emily: We find about Emily’s past and how these people took everything from her while destroying her father.
Victoria: We find out that she used to love Emily’s dad and even tried to have him freed, but was trapped in her old life for reasons we don’t yet know.
My show’s journey.
A girl’s sister is taken and killed by “witches.” She becomes obsessed with finding the witches and joins the king’s army. When she finds them, things aren’t as she thought they were…
Role in the show:
Robyn – Girl whose sister was killed and is obsessed with finding the one’s responsible.
Sheriff – A holy man who does what he thinks he has to, even if it goes against his own moral code.
Unique purpose / expertise:
Robyn – After training with King’s men, she is well versed in battle and knows all about the king’s men.
Sheriff – A man who committed violence as a criminal before joining the “good” side, he now inflicts pain on “bad” guys to make himself good again.
Intrigue:
Robyn – Her only thought is to find her sister’s killer…and bring them down for good. But she also has magical abilities of her own.
Sheriff – The sheriff harbors deep guilt about one crime he committed…and tries to keep it secret.
Moral Issue:
Robyn – She has to rethink her whole moral code and what is right or wrong. This means she makes errors since she doesn’t really know.
Sheriff – He is doing harm for “good” and has to deal with that harm. He does so by cutting himself for every evil action taken for the church.
Unpredictable:
Robyn – She doesn’t know what is right or wrong the whole first season, or who is good or bad. This makes her question herself and act unpredictably.
Sheriff – He is “righting wrongs,” but also has his own morals in play. He also has to do what the church wants, which he doesn’t always agree with.
Empathetic:
Robyn – Her sister was killed, which was the only family she had. She was then lied to for years.
Sheriff – His guilt has been used against him to make him vicious. And he has had his losses in this battle as well.
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Lisa Mangan Engaging Characters Assignment #1
Example Show: Scandal
A. Role in the show:
Olivia Pope: Former Communications Director runs her own “crisis management” company
Quinn Perkins: Newly hired firm associate for Olivia’s company
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Olivia Pope: Expert strategist who uses former connections to solve client problems.
Quinn Perkins: Up and comer in the firm, just getting her feet wet, learning about the organization as the audience does.
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
Olivia Pope: Olivia had an affair with the president while she was Communications Director.
Quinn Perkins: Appears naïve and quirky but there are hints that there is more beneath the surface with her. She uses her “gut” as Olivia does regarding cases and challenges Olivia with her intuition.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Olivia Pope: Solves client dilemmas outside of the legal system, often bending, breaking rules and laws to do so.
Quinn Perkins: Following the lead of Olivia, often see her discomfort with actions of the firm.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Olivia Pope: After learning the President lied to her, after she trusted her “gut,” she becomes less sharp and is showing signs of unraveling. Her team is beginning to notice. There is no limit to what she will do to resolve a client situation.
Quinn Perkins: She is passive but developing boldness. She wants to please Olivia but is dealing with her own uncomfortability and “break out” moments. She seems emotionally volatile.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Olivia Pope: Olivia is intelligent and “knows her stuff.” She appears ice cold but we get glimpses of her humanity and underlying brokenness, especially in regard to the President.
Quinn Perkins: She strives to learn her role, do well and is juggling the unorthodox manner the firm operates in.
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Lisa Mangan’s Engaging Characters Assignment #2
What I learned from doing this assignment is how the main character’s lives are interwoven and how with just these few assignments, my show concept is starting to take shape.
Show Title: Karma is Alice
Journey: From burned out juvenile probation officer to rogue “detective” exposing the underground dysfunction of the juvenile justice system that exploits youth.
Main Characters:
Alice Nichols: A by-the-book juvenile probation officer, turns rogue when she discovers an underground exploitation system imbedded within the juvenile justice system.
Mike Peterson: Alice’s direct supervisor, is known as the office misogynist and has it in for her by-the-book methods and thinks she needs to lighten up.
Patricia Thompson: Alice’s best friend who becomes suspicious when Alice’s behaviors begin to change.
A. Role in the show:
Alice Nichols: Juvenile Probation Officer who works for Mike Peterson
Mike Peterson: Alice’s direct supervisor
Patricia Thompson: Alice’s best friend since college
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
Alice Nichols: Expose exploitive underground system that harms youth
Mike Peterson: Part of the underground system
Patricia Thompson: Renown lawyer and professor
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
Alice Nichols: Her abuse in adolescence fuels her persistence
Mike Peterson: He helps funnel probationers into the secret system
Patricia Thompson: She’s in love with Alice.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
Alice Nichols: Breaking the law to protect youth
Mike Peterson: Breaking the law to harm youth
Patricia Thompson: Covering for Alice when she finds out
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
Alice Nichols: Alice wanders farther & farther away from her law-abiding beliefs and begins drinking more heavily to compensate
Mike Peterson: He thinks he’s about to be exposed for sexual harassment at work. If he gets fired, he can’t funnel kids into the system. His behaviors become more sporadic and irrational.
Patricia Thompson: Unsure what steps she will take to cover for Alice. Does it become too risky with her career?
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
Alice Nichols: She cares about young people and does what it takes to help
Mike Peterson: He seems like he was forced into the underground system, rather than choosing that path.
Patricia Thompson: She is well-intentioned and loves Alice; she is torn between her morals and emotions.
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Lesson 3
Renee Brown’s Engaging Main Characters
ASSIGNMENT 1:
What I learned doing this assignment is…it really does help just to fill in the blanks. I didn’t have any of these characters established in my mind or even named! I’m just spit-balling answers that feel right and I am astonished how close to the right path I feel. I am sure many of these answers will change as I develop the concept, but this is an entirely different process than the usual linear way. Feels freeing. …and fun!
The 100
Character: Clark
A. Role in the show: Expedition’s natural positive leader. B. Unique Purpose / Expertise: Get everyone to keep their wrist bands on and lead them to the mountain where the supplies are. C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? Why is she a prisoner…what did she do?D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? She is falling for Finn who has a love on the Ark, but she doesn’t know it yet. E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? Takes off her wrist band.F. Empathetic: Why do we care? She is the glue to the good world. She is haunted by her father’s death.
ASSIGNMENT 2:
Now, do the process with your show.
1. Journey of Renee Brown’s Alien Mafia
Journey of how 3 alien species came to be on earth, how the state of that world is today, and what the world looks like once the secret is out. Who will the true leader of the new earth be?
A. Who are the main characters that will sell your show? What are their roles:
Tallas: Young (600 yr. old) longhead who is the blood line and leader of the original, underground alien species on earth.
Anauk: Leader of the sky– dwelling alien species who controls access for all aliens on earth to the dark side of the moon where the UN of Alien species lays in shadow.
Saltar: Reptilian / Salamander like leader of the water dwelling (Deepers) alien nation who is playing both sides with the Longheads and the Skyfliers.
Mark Steelman: 5-star general who mediates top secret relations with the alien factions on earth.
Maryum: The One, who the longheads are training, underground, to bring peace to earth and free humanity.
B. Unique Purpose / Expertise:
· Tallas: Train the “one”
· Anauk: To be the rebelion access to the dark side of the moon.
· Saltar: Unites the Longheads and Skyflyers
· Steelman: Stop humanity’s plan to blow up the base on the dark side of the moon.
· Maryum: Become the “One”
C. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface?
· Tallas: Hides the fact that Maryum has the blood lines of all aliens and humanity running in her veins.
· Anauk: He is a Flyer who cannot fly.
· Saltar: Has a thing for Flyers.
· Steelman: Has a child with a Longhead priestess, both of whom are being kept on the dark side of the moon.
· Maryum: Believes there is another “One” and is training her in secret.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing?
· Tallas: Betrays the priests of “The One” to keep the bloodline secret.
· Anauk: Forms friendships with his sworn enemy (the Deepers)
· Saltar: Playing both sides of the Longheads and Skyflyers
· Steelman: Betraying humanity by keeping the secret of the Mafia.
· Maryum: Betraying the Longheads who believe in her by training another “one”
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next?
· Tallas: Alters the ancient scripts to reflect Maryum’s bloodline.
· Anauk: works with the Deepers to develop tech that allows him to fly.
· Saltar: Falls in love with Anauk.
· Steelman: Kills Anauk’s father to keep his secret.
· Maryum: Admit she is training another.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care?
· Tallas: We know history is sometimes made up by those who write it.
· Anauk: We want a bird to fly from his cage
· Saltar: We sometimes love who we are forbidden to love.
· Steelman: We want the big bad military man to be the good guy.
· Maryum: We are imperfect and look to others for perfection.
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Jónelle Berment Engaging Characters
Assignment #1
What I learned doing this assignment was that there is a need to create layers to my characters for future seasons and also as the seasons unfold.
Revenge
Emily Thorne/Amanda Clarke
A. Role in the show: Hero/protagonist set on avenging her father’s framing and death by following clues her Dad left behind.
B. Unique Purpose/Expertise: Leads the charge in destroying each persons life who was responsible for the framing of her Dad.
Expertise: Ultimate mastermind and strategistC. Intrigue: What is secret beneath the surface? She is not who she portrays herself to be. She’s a cunning woman.
D. Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? She’s lying, committing fraud, insider trading and poisoning.
E. Unpredictable: What will they do next? With Emily you never know what she’s going to do next but we know it will be for further revenge.
F. Empathetic: Why do we care? Her father was framed and then killed in jail and she went into the system
Assignment #2
The Commission
Journey: Following the lives of the wives after the murder of their husbands, the revenge they seek and the businesses they now have to run.
Michaela Johnson-Black
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- Role in the show: Hero, CEO of a high profile ad agency, and wife of recently deceased Michael Black
- Unique Purpose/Expertise: She takes the lead of the new organization that they widows formed to avenge their husbands murders
- Intrigue: What is the secret beneath the surface? As a teenager she had a child and hid this fact from everyone including her deceased husband.
- Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? She has to enter the world of narcotics and will avenge her husband by any means necessary.
- Unpredictable: What will they do next? She’s always been seen as prim and proper until she performs her first kill, this lets us know there is no going back for her, she is all in.
- Empathetic: Why do we care? Seeing her husband killed and realizing that her life will never be the same.
Gianna Aiello
- Role in the show: Defense attorney widow of Italian crime family boss
- <b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Unique Purpose/Expertise: Expertise – Defense Law Purpose – Ready to defend the other wives and handle their legal fees should they need it.
- <b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Intrigue: What is the secret beneath the surface? She’s an officer of the court involved in underworld activities.
- <b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? She’s breaking the law.
- <b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Unpredictable: What will they do next? <font face=”inherit”>Lying to family, friends, and being a </font>vigilante.<font face=”inherit”> </font>
- <b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Empathetic: Why do we care? We care because we watched her husband die, the love of her life gone in an instant.
Oksana Babakova
- Role in the show: Widow of KGB operative who appears to be a housewife.
- Unique Purpose/Expertise: Purpose – she plans and handles all of the killings that need to happen. Expertise – Murder
- Intrigue: What is the secret beneath the surface? She is a ghost, there is no background information on her that anyone can find.
- Moral Issue: What moral boundaries are they crossing? Murder and kidnapping.
- Unpredictable: What will they do next? She’s a soldier and follows orders to an extent.
- Empathetic: Why do we care? When her husband was killed her teacher, trainer and mentor were killed all in one.
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Norene Smiley LESSON 3 ASSIGNMENTS – ENGAGING MAIN CHARACTERS
What I learned form this assignment: I have to deepen my understanding of every character and not just make assumptions about the reason for their actions int he story.
ASSIGNMENT 1 – JESSICA JONES: Jessica
Role in the show: to solve crimes for her clients
B. Unique Purpose: to stop Kilgrave from hurting anyone else
C. Intrigue/Secret: she has super powers; she caused the death of Luke’s wife
D. Moral Issue/Boundaries crossed: she
E. Unpredictable: she drinks too much and suffers from past trauma, sometimes making bad decisions
F. Empathetic: she has been a victim of Kigrave’s mind control and done things that she deeply suffers for
…………………………………………
SHADOW AND BONE: Alina
Role in the show: cartographer for the First Army
B. Unique Purpose: she is the Sun Summoner who can help destroy the Shadow Fold
C. Intrigue/Secret: she loves Mal; she is a Grisha
D. Moral Issue/Boundaries crossed: her life-long friendship causes her avoid being tested as a Grisha as a child; she burns maps and then volunteers to travel as a cartographer on the ship through the fold
E. Unpredictable: her new powers as a Grisha are uncontrolled
F. Empathetic: she is new and out of her element with the Grishas, all without the support of Mal
ASSIGNMENT 2 – TROUBLE
1. Journey: Orphan must overcome the curse inside her to save humankind and the natural world.
2. Main characters that sell the show: Scrap/Sybil, Fidget, Ruby & Bardo, Agrippa
ROLE IN SHOW:
SCRAP – sly and daring darkling orphan whose quest to reach safety propels the story.
FIDGET – half cricket/half mechanism with a lisp who is Scrap’s unreliable companion on the journey. He has a secret, but doesn’t everybody.
RUBY & BARDO – shapeshifting guardians tasked with tending The Keep, and Scrap
AGRIPPA – sweet mother-figure to many hapless children, capable of the most vile acts imaginable to seize power
B. UNIQUE PURPOSE:
SCRAP – she unknowingly embodies the fated curse (Sybil), destined to bring chaos and total destruction to the world. Only Scrap can find a solution to the curse before it is too late.
FIDGET – every hero needs a sidekick and this one brings humour as he bumbles along on the journey. He is also there to provide solace and a sounding board for Scrap as she navigates the increasingly dangerous Outside.
RUBY & BARDO – when The Keep is breeched, the Hoaggs hunt for Scrap to try to prevent her from mass destruction. in all their various guises.
AGRIPPA – no one is meaner and more horrible than this lady, and her machinations add more conflict and obstacles for Scrap to overcome.
C. INTRIGUE/SECRET
SCRAP – She doesn’t initially know she is the Curse but when she discovers her fate, she has to use all her resources and learn to trust others to save the world
FIDGET – He is secretly a third guardian for Scrap.
RUBY & BARDO – They always knew Scrap was potentially dangerous but did not read the warning signs until it was too late. Now they take on various shapes in the race to stop her.
AGRIPPA – everyone thinks she is a do-gooder but she really forces orphans in her care to work in the dangerous belly of Outside, keeping the machines running.
D. MORAL ISSUES/BOUNDARIES CROSSED:
SCRAP – she has to lie and cheat to reach her goal. She may have to sacrifice her friends and even herself. How far is she willing to go?
FIDGET – he has very little conscience, programmed to stick by Scrap no matter what he has to do
RUBY & BARDO – these seasoned professionals have been guardians for as long as they can remember and one little girl is not going to stop them from carrying out their duty…or will she
AGRIPPA – if she is willing to sacrifice little children to reach her dastardly ends, will her son be her achilles heel?
E. UNPREDICTABLE:
SCRAP – besides the normal challenges and obstacles on the Outside, Scrap has to contend with the Curse (Sybil) causing her to act out of character, resulting is all kinds of disasters and mayhem at every corner.
FIDGET – he may not be properly wired so it isn’t just his speech patterns that go wonky at times, adding to Scraps troubles
RUBY & BARDO – we never know when they are going to show up in Scrap’s journey and in what form
AGRIPPA – she is a crafty piece of work at the best of times and when Scrap foils her plans, she digs deep and in unexpected ways to get what she wants
F. EMPATHETIC:
SCRAP – she is little and alone in a foreign, unknown landscape, and a naughty voice inside her coercing her to make havoc, and besides that she is a ticking time bomb!
FIDGET – he is a brave companion despite his obvious faults and shortcomings. His heart is non the right place.
RUBY & BARDO – no matter how hard they tried, the breech of the Keep was almost a foregone conclusion with such cataclysmic destructive power under their roof ready to low. Now they have to work hard to patch things up before humankind is gone forever.
AGRIPPA – even evil-to-the-core antagonists have their weak points. She may show the smallest child no mercy, or her son, but how does she feel about Cupcake, her boa constrictor?
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Karl S. Von Senden Engaging Main Character
What I learned doing this assignment is the need for forging a “big picture” plan to allow the inclusion of multiple character layers to emerge as the season progresses.
Assignment#1
American Horror Story
Character – Ben Harmon
Role in the show: A. Protagonist; motivating reason for move family to “murder house” where all begins to unravel; B. Unique Purpose/ Expertise: Driving force to seek a way to mend his marriage; C. Intrigue; Secret beneath the surface; Psychologist, but a seeming sexual sociopath; D. Moral Issue: Cannot unravel himself from his own problems with women; E. Unpredictable: What will they (he) do next?: Goes non-compos menace, apparently loses control of situations – wakes up with no knowledge of what he has done; F. Empathetic: Why do we care?: Man with a troubled past making earnest attempt to rectify cannot seem to get it together while running into more than his share of misfortune and setbacks.
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