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Post Your Lesson 13 Assignment here
Post Your Lesson 13 Assignment here
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3 Replies
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Margaret’s Unique Action!
What I learned doing this assignment: A strategy for brainstorming unique action! Thank you!!
Improvements I made:
What is Unique?
1. Environment: 400 BC
2. Rules: Soldiers follow their orders
3. Villian: Church and State
4. Mission: Save the Christians
5. Struggle: Struggle against morality of killing Christians
6. Unique Skillset: Roman fighting arts
7. Meaning: God is above man’s laws and above out man-made church institutions
8. Allies: The women he is trying to rescue
Strategies:
1. What if?
a. Among the women he is trying to save there are some non-Christians? A Judas that tips off the Romans?
2. Take to an extreme
a. The Barbarians yelled down the threat of finding them at the edge of the cliff?
b. Marcus uses his shield as a weapon? His defense is his offense.
c. Marcus can catch arrows and plumbata hurled at him, wears a leather strap around his hands that the soldiers make fun of, until they realize its purpose.
3. Specific to character or environment
a. Use of “lilies” to stop the barefoot Picts (hidden wooden spikes in the ground)
b. Marcus could teach the women to use what they do every day to fight a soldier?
i. Carry water on the shoulders – twist to heavy wood to smack the enemy
ii. Irish dance to distract – one to play the Irish whistle
iii. Offer a drink – puts them to sleep
4. Shocking or Surprising
a. A twist where one of the women actually turns the group into the Romans they are trying to escape from.
5. Go opposite
a. What if the women he is trying to help save believe differently than he does and doesn’t want to fight, just flee (don’t believe fighting is moral), while he believes in standing ground and fighting
6. What haven’t we seen?
a. Fighting techniques that include Irish dancing
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What I learned doing this assignment is…. WOW – This opened my mind to so many ideas.
I am concentrating on the first action sequence in the parking structure. I’m going from there.
RULES: What if…? The first “killers” was only a test. To see how the small town cop/hero would defend himself. He passes the test by killing them all.
VILLAIN: What if…? The ex-wife/villain sets her plan in motion after that test. She uses cop by kidnapping their daughter to force him, to retrieve contra-band shipment. She knows she cannot get by him in that small town. She just took over as drug lord in the state.
ALLIES: What if…? Another male drug lord wants to take over the state with contra-band distribution. He uses a two-way radio to feed cop information right after the first test ambush. Drug lord doesn’t reveal himself and gives specific information so he can use cop too.
STRUGGLE: What if…? Cop decides to play both sides only to get his daughter back. He knows he is being used. He makes a plan of his own by using unique skills as ex-military.
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<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Madeleine’s Unique Action!
“What I learned doing this assignment is that brainstorming unique action can lead to an entirely new direction. My story has taken a strange turn. No I’m not only dealing with the natural world, but I’m also dealing with the supernatural world. This is totally unexpected. It’s a little bit scary.
1. After doing the brainstorming exercises, I found I liked these results the best:
Environment: Sacred place full of art treasures and crypts, especially the Holy Grail. According to Grail myth from the Last Crusade, if you drink from the Holy Grail, it will grant you immortality.
Rule: The only catch for the villain is that you can’t leave the temple it’s housed in (otherwise known as passing through the Great Seal). Another rule is my rule that you can’t safely handle the Holy Grail unless you are in the state of grace.
Mission: The villain is there to obtain the Holy Grail, not for its value or its religious significance, but for its power.
Struggle: Everything about the struggle to save the hostages and the Basilica revolves around who has possession of the Holy Grail.
Unique Skillset: Someone has supernatural powers.
Allies: Italian Police, Vatican Police, a Vatican exorcist, St. Michael the Archangel, St. Peter.
Go opposite: The priest, not the Swiss Guard, will know the Basilica and underground grottos by heart.
What haven’t we seen? Apparitions/Supernatural phenomenon
2. Here are the improvements I made to my script:
· In the opening scenes, I emphasize the Patron Saint of the Holy Sea and his powers: He is St. Peter.
· In the confession scene, FBI Agent will receive absolution from the Priest after she has confessed her sins. She is the only one definitely in a state of grace when the story begins.
· In each of the scenes, where the FBI Agent takes down a mercenary, she uses a non-fatal means of dispatching them. This allows her to remain in a state of grace. I have therefore added the following weapons to the story: A taser, a laser gun, and a knife. One of the tools taken from the mercenary’s backpack that becomes significant is the package of plastic ties, which the FBI Agent will use to keep the captured mercenaries under control.
· Instead of the Priest trying to avoid killing someone because of his collar and his vocation, it will be the FBI Agent who will try to avoid killing in order to stay in the state of grace.
· I’m considering adding a scene where the lead mercenary will demand the Priest give him absolution for his sins.
· I’m also considering the possibility of adding a battle scene between Lucifer and St. Michael the Archangel. Completely supernatural.
· The end will reveal that the chalice thought to be the Holy Grail is not the real Holy Grail at all. The sacrament of the Eucharist is the Holy Grail. At least that’s the plan for now. Wow!
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