Post Your Lesson 2 Assignment here

[Roscoe Pond]

I must say. What a great 2nd lesson. It is opening up my mind to more ideas. I need to spend equal time on my villains. Thanks Cheryl and Hal. – RP

Concept:

Hero Morally Right — Ex-husband works for the law as a small town cop

Villain Morally Wrong — Ex-wife is drug dealer who comes back to town. She has to intercept a shipment of Contra-band and only has a weekend to do it.

Hero

A. Unique Skill Set — Former military. Knows about guns and is a sniper.

B. Motivation — To protect and serve the small town. The drug deal goes wrong and many innocent people die.

C. Secret or Wound — One of his twin daughter’s was murdered by a drug dealer. The ex-wife returns and decides that she wants her other daughter back.

Villain

A. Unbeatable — Ex-husband taught her how to be a sniper. Ex-wife uses it to deal drugs and to kill. She knows the corrupt cops in town.

B. Plan/Goal — Ex-wife returns to town to intercept a contra-band drop and take back her other daughter. She also decides to take out ex-husband if he tries to stop her.

C. What they lose if Hero survives — Ex-wife loses her life and her daughter. She also loses the contra-band.

Impossible Mission

A. Puts Hero in Action — Ex-husband finds out about the contra-band drop. Dealers are ordered to kill him if he gets in the way. He is wounded.

B. Demands They Go Beyond Their Best — Ex-husband is forced to become the military sniper he used to be. This time he has to kill. He takes out many dealers with different sniper rifles.

C. Destroy the Villain — Ex-husband stops the drug deal. His ex-wife tries to get away after they both use sniper rifles – against each other.

2. Once you have filled in a quick answer to each, go back and extrapolate (If _____, then how might _____?) to elevate any answers you can.

3. Tell us your improved answers. — The time stamp of the contra-band interception. Ex-wife has only a few days. Plus, The couple had twin daughters. One died and the other lives. It raises the stakes for both my hero and my villain.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by  Roscoe Pond.

[Haley Chambers]

Margaret’s Hero and Villain

What I learned: Using creative processes helps one discover the emotional journey of the hero and villain.

THE CROSS & THE SWORD

Concept: When the pope sends the army to kill Irish Christians, a letter from a Bishop turns a Roman soldier’s allegiance from church and country to subvert his own elite unit. Inspired by St. Patrick’s Letter to Coroticus.

Hero Morally Right: Fights to save Christians from an unjust death.

Villain Morally Wrong: Follows the orders of the church even though their decisions are based on greed and jealousy.

Hero: JUSTUS

A. Unique Skill Set – Highly
trained since he was 4-years-old in all Roman fighting skills. Uses unique
tools (Plumbata, staff sling, etc.) at a level that other soldiers can’t
match. <div>

B. Motivation: Oath given to
God to do His will.

C. Secret or Wound: Justus is a
third-generation soldier, taught from birth by his uncle (Coroticus) to be
loyal to the Roman army and the church. He is going against both to follow
what he feels is God’s will, disobeying his uncle who is his direct
commander. His father was a commander killed by barbarians in a skirmish
with the Picts when he was a baby.

<div>

Villain: COROTICUS

A. Unbeatable: A notorious
Roman commander, Coroticus taught the hero everything he knows about and
has the backing of church and state. </div><div>

B. Plan/Goal: To complete the
mission given him by church and state: Annihilate the Christians in
Ireland, who the church considers a cult led by (Saint) Patrick, a bishop.

C. What they lose if Hero
survives: If he doesn’t fulfill his mission, he would lose his reputation
and position in the Roman army.

Impossible Mission

A. Puts Hero in Action: Save
the Irish Christians from annihilation. </div>

B. Demands They Go Beyond Their
Best: In order to win, he must exhibit greater skills than the man who
taught him and sabotage his mission without discovery. He must also betray
his uncle, who is like a father to him, his church and his state.

C. Destroy the Villain: If the
hero wins, he would destroy his beloved uncle’s reputation and his
position as a Roman army commander.

</div>

[Michael Yorick]

David and Gabor

Concept: David, a CIA financial crimes specialist must stop a plot by the head of the Hungarian National Bank to steal the country’s entire foreign exchange reserves and take over the country in the ensuing chaos

Hero Morally Right: stopping a killer from destroying a newly emerging democracy

Villain Morally Wrong: economic devastation of an entire nation and return to Communism

Hero: David: A financial crimes specialist on assignment in Hungary searching for his father’s killer

A. Unique Skill Set: expert at untangling financial crimes… and a former Navy SEA

B. Motivation: Revenge for killing his father and exiling his mother

C. Secret or Wound: Villain killed his father in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution

Villain: Gabor: Former Communist and Head of the National Bank

A. Unbeatable: secretly controls the State security forces and the Russian mafia

B. Plan/Goal: steal the countries’ entire foreign exchange reserves and take over the country

C. What they lose if Hero survives: lose his political power, his freedom and $10B in cash

Impossible Mission: David must uncover the details and expose the plot

A. Puts Hero in Action: in discovering that Gabor has killed his father, David discovers the plot

B. Demands They Go Beyond Their Best: the plotters have the resources of the government and support of the Russians

C. Destroy the Villain: to stop the plot, and to get revenge for his father’s death, Gabor must die

[Brian Jones]

Brian (Hero: Sonny Smith; Villain: Paul Miller)

Concept:

A UFC Professional fighter wants to be a big star. Sonny will not take a paid fall like the boss wants him too. He takes a different approach by making an agreement with his UFC boss Paul to sign well paid sports athletes for his organization. So that Sonny can get big fights. Now he has 30 days to sign 10 athletes for $100,000 and 2 big fights. If Sonny can’t deliver he and his family will be handed over to the Gotti family who Paul work for.

Hero
Morally Right: Sonny is trying to sign athletes so that he can get paid
and fulfill his dream of being a star.
Villain
Morally Wrong: Paul doesn’t like Sonny he’s jealous of him and will lie,
kill and steal to keep Sonny in his shadow.

Hero

A.
Unique Skill Set: Sonny Smith a professional UFC fighter with a wrestling
background and trains as a May Thai Karate.
B.
Motivation: Wants to do the right thing and keep his wife and kids proud
of him, happy and financially rich.
C.
Secret or Wound: Sonny lies to his wife and tells her his boss came to him
with the idea of signing sports athletes. However, it was Sonny who came
up with the idea after hearing a friend at the gym talk about some of Paul’s
other businesses.

Villain

A.
Unbeatable: He works for the Gotti family who is notorious for murdering people,
controlling many business including Paul and his gym and Paul brings well
paid professional athletes into the organization for a 25% fee, and 20%
goes to Gotti family.
B.
Plan/Goal: He knows every step that Sonny takes he s
C.
What they lose if Hero survives: He loses the $100,000 that he gave Sonny,
but also loses his place with the Gotti family cause his numbers are going
down.

Impossible Mission

A.
Puts Hero in Action: When he can’t sign all 10 athletes he tries to run
with his family, but Paul and his men with the help of the Gotti family is
on his trail.
B.
Demands They Go Beyond Their Best: He is not just at war with killers that
use their hands, but those killers that prefer to shoot first.
C.
Destroy the Villain: He decides to try and kill Paul when his daughter is
killed by one of his men.

[Matthew Abaya]

I learned that all the hero and the villain need to have clearly defined goals and consequences for not achieving their goals.

Hero: Jun vs. Villian: Sen

Concept:

Hero Morally Right: Jun wants to earn some easy money to help a sick relative

Villain Morally Wrong: Sen wants to kill an innocent kid just because there is a contact on his head

Hero

A. Unique Skill Set: Jun is Streetwise hacker who studied Eskrima

B. Motivation: Jun wants to earn some cash to help sick relative

C. Secret or Wound: If Jun doesn’t get the money, a loved one will die

Villain

A. Unbeatable: Sen has unlimited resources of assassins and technology

B. Plan/Goal: Sen plans kill the hero so he doesn’t leak information he uncovered

C. What they lose if Hero survives: Sen’s payment and his reputation as the best in the business

Impossible Mission

A. Puts Hero in Action: a hacker job gone wrong, Jun is suddenly being hunted by Sen

B. Demands They Go Beyond Their Best: Armed with only his eskrima sticks and his ability to hack technology, Jun must fight an onslaught of Sen’s highly trained and skilled hit people.

C. Destroy the Villain: After defeating legions of hit people and foiling the plan in an epic chess like game, Jun must beat Sen in a final battle.

[Cheryl Cain]

Cheryl’s Hero & Villain:

Concept: An assassin for hire must save the life of the scientist she’s supposed to kill after he infects her with nanobots that he shares – so if he dies, she dies.

Hero Morally
Right: Mercury must save the life of
the scientist, if she wants to save her own life.

Villain Morally
Wrong: Ember Fortin doesn’t care
who lives or dies in the world as long as she gets her paycheck.

<b style=”background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”><div><b style=”background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>
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<b style=”background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Hero: Mercury Villanova. Ex-Army sniper and assassin.

<div>

A. Unique Skill
Set: Hand-to-hand combat, martial arts, sniper.

B. Motivation: To
keep the scientist alive so she can stay alive.

C. Secret or
Wound: She thought she was doing
good for her country until she realized not all of the bad guys she was
assassinating were bad and she got out after she killed an innocent man in
front of his young daughter.

Villain: Ember Fortin – Billionaire biotech owner who sells illegal tech to the highest bidder.

A. Unbeatable: Has
killers at her disposal on her private island in the South Pacific where
her secret lab is located. The compound is surrounded by saltwater crocodiles.
No one gets in or out without her approval.

B. Plan/Goal: To kill the scientist and harvest the
only remaining nanobots from his experiments and sell them.

C. What they
lose if Hero survives: She’ll lose
billions of dollars and her life to the bigger, baddest terrorist she
promised to sell the tech to.

Impossible Mission: Mercury and the scientist needs to survive the jungle and find a way to get off this island before they’re killed.

A. Puts Hero in
Action: Mercury escapes into the dangerous
jungle with the scientist with the other killers in pursuit. They have to
stay alive long enough to figure out how to get off this island.

B. Demands They
Go Beyond Their Best: Someone who’s
trained to be a killer now has to switch her thinking to how does she keep
someone alive.

C. Destroy the
Villain: After barely keeping them
both alive, she needs to sneak them back inside the compound to steal a boat
to get off the island

</div>

• This reply was modified 4 years, 3 months ago by  Cheryl Cain.

[Nancy Meyer]

What I learned: The existing action script I am working on is missing a number of conventions and this process is helping me smooth out the story and answer questions:

Hero Morally Right: Reina schooled in justice will fight to save her sister and family legacy.

<u style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Villain Morally Wrong: Head of French mob uses extortion to maintain control over Isa and family property.

a. Hero: Reina, nerves of steel, intense loyalty, lightning-fast reflexes will seek justice at all costs

b. Motivation: Save her sister, their legacy and revenge for the murder of her parents.

c. Secret or wound: Feels deep abandonment from death of parents, isolation from her family.

Villain: Head of French mob from Marseille

a. Unbeatable: Plenty of money for resources to threaten Reina/Isa and family, put up unlimited money for a hit if necessary.

b. Plan/Goal: Drive Isa out of business to take over the land, hire her to kill the one man who has evidence to stop him/put him away.

c. What they lose if Hero survives: Isa dies, the whole family may die and then they lose their family legacy – the wine vineyard. By the time it is done, Reina becomes a skilled killer and eliminates the head of the mob (or son to set up the next one).

Impossible Mission: Reina is going to kill the head of the French mob, if she can find him, but she’s can’t let him know who she is.

a. Puts the hero in action: Reina must train to be an assassin to help her sister, complete the next mission and hunt down the head of the French mob to kill him.

b. Demands they go beyond their best: Reina will have to train in all the skills of an assassin and be willing to take a life.

c. Destroy the Villain: Reina will try to get close to the villain without him suspecting who she is, she needs to win his trust and kill him.

[Alfred Dunham]

ASSIGNMENT 2: ACTION CLASS

Subject line: Alfred Dunham’s Hero and Villain

What I learned from this assignment is:

I learned that the Action Genra is considerably broader than I expected. Most of what I’ve written is Drama-based explorations of Character, Morals, Ethics, and Behavior, which is de-emphasized in Action Scripts, but not necessarily excluded. In an Action Script, a “Hero” and a “Villain” are pitted against each other and while it is important to define Moral rightness and wrongness in terms of the ongoing fight, it is the Action that takes center stage, not Character.

I spent time in Google going over lists of acclaimed Action Movies and was quite surprised to find that the Genre covers a LOT of ground. After Star Wars I should have known, I suppose, but it never really sunk in. That was Sci-Fi, but it was also ACTION! And on can say the same thing for Action Comedy, Action Fantasy, and so on. So, I think I’m okay, thinking in terms of doing whatever I need to do to push the action in any way I can. That’s a relief!

CONCEPTS

1. The Hero Morally Right.

2. The Villain Morally Wrong.

3. The Conflict between the Hero and the Villain is a unique expression of who/what they are.

4. It is the Combination of Hero vs. Villain that makes the movie work.

5. While the script is not specifically about Character, per se, it is about powerful Characters, and it is these Characters that sell their roles to actors.

HERO

1. Unique Skill Set

a. A Highly Capable high school science teacher, who is skilled at thinking outside the box in both the science lab and in the wilderness, he grew up in.

b. He is also highly disciplined and moral in both thoughts and actions, but pushed too far, he knows how to push back in unexpected ways.

c. And he has a volatile background with the Villain that he is not generally known or appreciated.

2. Motivation

[Every (Person) has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, i.e., self-determination]

a. The Villain and the Hero have an unpleasant past in which the Villain essentially ruined his career/life.

b. The Hero feels he has little more to lose.

c. Except when the Villain threatens the Hero’s innocent family.

d. The freedom of an entire community is at stake, and he feels he has a moral obligation to help them.

3. Secret(s) or wound(s)

a. The hero has multiple wounds:

i. starting with his partial and never claimed Native American Heritage

ii. his superior mental capacity that is being defamed by the Villain

iii. and he is being punished for not having the “acceptable” belief structure of the Villain.

b. The hero also has multiple secrets:

i. having lived a largely secluded life, he places to hide, knows wild things to eat

ii. discoveries in his lab, stunning advances in technology that no one knows about.

UNBEATABLE VILLAIN

1. Unbeatable

a. Villain has no scruples, having climbed the ladder of infamy within a quasi-religious community that has gone from corrupt to clearly malicious and evil, except in the eyes of a well-manipulated following that is growing rapidly in strength and numbers.

2. Plan/Goal

a. To stay as far away from the Hero as possible. He senses ultimate danger.

b. To get the Hero to condemn himself.

c. To kill the Hero, if necessary, and make it look like an accident, and

d. To try and turn the Hero’s death into the ideology of weakness or judgment.

3. What they lose if Hero survives

a. Everything: Power, Prestige, Money, Face, and maybe even the Villain’s life

IMPOSSIBLE MISSION

NOTE:

Among the Plains Indians of North America, counting coup involved the winning of prestige against an enemy. Native American warriors won prestige by acts of bravery in the face of the enemy, which could be recorded in various ways and retold as stories.

The most prestigious act was to touch or strike an enemy warrior [or even just his plans], leave him alive, then escaping unharmed. That was Counting or Touching Coup.

1. Puts Hero in Action

With all other ordinary options closed, there ONLY remains two options left.

a. The Hero can choose to kill the Villain, but this will not eliminate the problem.

b. The Hero can choose to Count or Touch Coup and spare the Villain’s life, but he must also discredit him in order to do so.

c. The Villain is outmaneuvered and outsmarted at every turn and now he is desperate to kill the Hero.

d. This necessitates the Hero to take the risky course of “Touching or Counting Coup” in order to win.

2. Demands they go beyond their best

a. This has become a winner takes all battle to the “death,” whether figuratively or actually.

b. Destroy the Villain

a. The Villain has all the power and backing he needs to become triumphant in his demonic desire to take over the world and destroy the Hero, but

b. With his faulty ideology, he sets himself up for a fall of monumental proportions.

c. The Villain

EVELATED ANSWERS, IF POSSIBLE

None at this time.

[Alan Peterson]

Alan Peterson’s Hero and Villain

Yeah… it’s a Taken rip-off.

Concept:

Hero Morally Right:

Fighting to save her husband and his daughter from a cartel of sex-traffickers and drug dealers. AND must fight to free the townspeople from the crushing tyranny of the cartel and local politicians on the take.

Villain Morally Wrong:

Drug kingpin murdered her husband’s close friend, kidnapped husband’s daughter, and terrorizes the townspeople.

Hero

A. Unique Skill Set:

Skilled outdoorswoman, excellent shot, hunter. Taught by her father.

B. Motivation:

Love; save husband. Deliver town from cartel, prove to themselves they aren’t a failure.

C. Secret or Wound:

Blames herself for her father’s death on a hunting trip.

Villain

A. Unbeatable:

Has money, power, trained para-military soldiers at his command, political protection

B. Plan/Goal:

Sell-off prized victims, continue to grow empire by diversifying and adding sex-trafficking. Prove he can beat out competing cartels.

C. What they lose if Hero survives:

Organization exposed, business destroyed, killed

Impossible Mission

A. Puts Hero in Action:

Husband goes missing. No one else seems willing to dig deep enough to find answers. She must go to Mexico in person and put herself at risk.

B. Demands They Go Beyond Their Best:

Have never faced this level of challenge in their life. Must use all her skills. Must allow herself to be captured to know where husband is then, must escape.

C. Destroy the Villain:

She finds her husband and escapes but realizes that the cartel leader will never quit trying to find them and will take out his rage on the innocent townspeople. So, they must kill the cartel leader and his political protectors to be free of them.

4. Answer the question, “What I learned doing this assignment is…?” and put it at the top of your work.

The consequence/failure for the Villain must be at least as serious as the consequence of failure for the hero.

[Dimitri Davis]

teset 2

[Bob DeCarli]

Bob DeCarli’s Hero and Villain

What I Learned: The process of “just filling in the blanks” worked extremely well, sparking some quick, on-the-fly brainstorming.

Concept:

· Hero Morally Right: He has forsworn killing and indeed all violence, so he will do whatever is necessary – short of killing – to stop a terrorist attack from taking place by stopping it in the past.

· Villain Morally Wrong: He’s willing to kill hundreds of millions of people to achieve his goal of an Earth with far fewer humans, thereby decreasing consumption of the Earth’s natural resources. He is not only willing to kill hundred/thousands in a terrorist attack, but worse, wishes to go back to the past himself so that 90% of humanity dies in order to achieve a bright, new, environmentally friendly world with far fewer humans consuming the Earth’s resources.

Hero

· Unique Skill Set: Genius level intelligence.

· Motivation: Literally save the world, or at least 90% of its inhabitants.

· Secret or Wound: he adopted a stance of non-violence, after mistakenly killing a child in the line of duty. He’s a sort of conscientious objector cop.

Villain

· Unbeatable: He is the Richest Man in the World!

· Plan/Goal: After spending years searching for THE DEVICE, he wants to use it to travel back to a key point in history to change it, thereby creating an alternate timeline where 90% of humanity dies.

The Hero thinks the Villain’s plan is a terrorist attack that kills thousands in order to drive up the value of his stock, which the Hero witnesses and travels back in time to prevent. But the Villain actually staged the terrorist attack in order to prompt the Hero to travel to the past where he can be killed so that he does not obtain THE DEVICE.

The “key point in history” is actually when the Villain was a young man, and had he made a different decision than the one he [really] made, 90% of humanity would have ended up dead.

· What they lose if Hero survives: The plan he has worked for his entire life: creating a green, sustainable Earth, with a population of only 10% of Earth’s current population.

Impossible Mission

· Puts Hero in Action: He travels back in time to prevent the terrorist attack

· Demands They Go Beyond Their Best: His adversary is the richest man in the world, who has virtually unlimited resources to draw upon.

· Destroy the Villain: By sabotaging his plan, preventing him from obtaining THE DEVICE, and ultimately defeating the Villain by insuring that the Villain’s Younger Self makes a THIRD CHOICE. It’s not the one that led to the Villain becoming who he initially was, and not the deadly choice the Villain wishes he made, but a third choice that makes everyone happy (basically something that eradicates the Villain’s wound, thereby turning him into a good guy).

[Patricia Brown]

<font color=”#000000″>PATRICIA BROWN </font><font color=”#000000″>HERO & VILLAIN #2</font>

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<font color=”#000000″>What I learned doing this assignment…this is based on a true story—mine. In 1979, I was one of the first women in the state of California to go to Fire Academy and was the only women there for ten days with 35 men. Definitely a FISH OUT OF WATER. I already have made lists of the gradients of obstacles and the gradient of actions based upon what I experienced first-hand. I have made some decisions already based upon earlier classes with Hal: like I want to keep to MY story and a period piece to keep it in the mid-range budget realm, because with all the recent mega fires, I imagine there are bigger, more action-packed and dangerous stories out there by other writers. I also long ago decided to make it a movie and not a novel or documentary. Clearly fiction. Because I am starting with the bones from my own story, I saw once again in this assignment that it is harder for me to stick to the conventions—which I will easily give up if I can sell my script. I got inspired by Hal’s analysis of THE FEMALE EMPOWERMENT MOVIE of “Arrival.” This is not the only real-life one-of-a-kind story I have to tell; I have autobiographical stories of coming of age in a nunnery in Sussex, being a shiksa at a Jewish law school, and my pregnant circumnavigation around the globe on the Concorde in a day and a half. </font>

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<font color=”#000000″>My first blush at the conventions today:</font>

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<font color=”#000000″>CONCEPT</font>

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<font color=”#000000″>HERO MORALLY RIGHT=Women can do anything men can do.</font>

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<font color=”#000000″>VILLAIN MORALLY WRONG=There is no place for women.</font>

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<font color=”#000000″>HERO </font>

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UNIQUE SKILL SET: Her motto is “You are only as good as your tools.” She jerry-rigs (makeshift repairs made with only the tools and material at hand) out of her ordinary, feminine arsenal: bobby pins, tampons, maxy pads, hair gel, K-Y Jelly, and suntan lotion. She also drives the blue roadster that her late father gave her very, very fast on the rough country roads night or day.

MOTIVATION: To avenge her dad’s death by arson and to prove she is her father’s daughter.

SECRET OR WOUND: An only child, she had no brothers, only her late beloved firefighter/father, so all men (her 35 classmates) are an enigma to her. He died from a heart attack after a fire set by an arsonist, and she wants to graduate Fire Academy on her way to being a Captain who carries a gun and arrests arsonists.

VILLAIN

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UNBEATABLE: Four male instructors are furious that she is taking the place of a male recruit

If they can without appearing biased, along with some of her classmates, sabotage and justify flunking her

WHAT THEY LOSE IF THE HERO SURVIVES: loss of self-righteousness, moral superiority, the status quo, and their men’s-only club

IMPOSSIBLE MISSION:

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The first and ONLY woman competing with 35 men to graduate from Fire Academy

Demands they go beyond their very best: There are rules and regulations that protect firefighters from life and death. The men don’t think physically she can measure up, even putting themselves in danger. She is totally alone and isolated the whole ten-days. This is before cellphones. The burden of proving that women can do anything men can do is agonizing. She is a pioneer.

Destroys the Villain: Like “Dead Poet’s Society”, there is one hold-out from her class that can’t give up his hostility at the end of Fire Academy. Like “Arrival”, she never bad-mouths the male “instructors,” who come around to seeing her worth and value as a team-player, but she has won them over. Especially the cute, young instructor who almost had to flunk her. This hard-fought perilous shift in their gestalt reflects the changes in 1979 in our society as a whole. Sometimes it is easy to forget that somebody had to go first.

IMPROVED ANSWERS:

HERO: Sidney Gideon discovers when she arrives at Fire Academy that it is the son of the Lead Instructor who intentionally set the fireworks starting the fire where her father died

MISSION: Graduate, earning a position as a Fire Captain that allows her to carry a gun and arrest the villain for covering up for his son, getting justice for her father

UNBEATABLE VILLAIN: Ranger Lloyd Lemprecht, lead Fire Academy Instructor, assembles instructors under him requiring them to conspire to flunk her, even kill her

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[Madeleine Vessel]

Madeleine’s Hero and Villain

What I learned doing this assignment is it takes several passes to come up with approximately I want in the story. I’ve still got a ways to go, but this is it for now.

Concept:

Hero Morally Right: She is fighting to stop a group of pitiless mercenaries from killing hostages and destroying St. Peter’s Basilica. <div>
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Villain Morally Wrong: The villain, a rogue member of the Swiss Guard, takes St. Peter’s Basilica and its occupants hostage.

Hero: An FBI Agent

Hero’s Unique Skill Set: FBI Agent: physically fit, trained in defensive tactics, trained in practical applications, including hostage negotiation and the use of firearms.

Motivation: Save the hostages and the Basilica.</div><div>
</div><div>Secret: One of the hostages is her ten-year-old son.</div><div>
</div><div>

Villain: A Rogue Member of the Swiss Guard and a team of merciless mercenaries.

Unbeatable: A rogue member of the Swiss Guard has a team of greedy mercenaries equipped with guns, explosives, and expert knowledge of the ins and outs of Vatican City.</div><div>

Plan/Goal: Knows everything about Vatican City and how the Swiss Guard and the Italian police work. He uses that knowledge to protect his team of mercenaries until he can exchange his hostage for a hefty ransom and escape.

Maybe one of the hostages is especially valuable.

What they lose if Hero survives: $1 billion dollars.</div><div>

Impossible Mission

Puts Hero in Action: With the help of her confessor, she starts taking down the mercenaries, one at a time.</div><div class=””>
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Demands They Go Beyond Their Best: She’s not just solving a crime or negotiating the release of hostages. She is in a non-stop battle with well trained and knowledgable mercenaries.

Destroy the Villain. First by saving the Basilica, the hostages, and finally by taking down the rogue member of the Swiss Guard.

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[Patricia Brown]

@2021 Patricia Brown

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TITLE: “VANESSA SQUARED”:

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UNIQUE HEROES: There are two both named Vanessa, best friends since middle school. V1 is white, goes to UCSC, where she does outdoor Shakespeare under the redwoods, California girl all the way, loosey-goosey. V2 is Latina, goes to Columbia U, serious, scientific, ambitious, sophisticated. They talk or text every day.

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UNIQUE MISSION: They must race from each of their schools to meet in the middle of the country after they have each stolen from their school labs half of the secret, that combined together can provide the formula for the earth-shattering CRISPR technology that can cut out the DNA for Alzheimer’s of Vanessa2’s grandmother (who raised her) who has early on-set Alzheimer’s and can literally cure her before it gets worse if they get to St. Louis in six days before grandma’s point of no return.

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MOTIVATION: Both raised poor, the friends want to make sure the patent for the formula falls safely in the hands of the public domain, and not Dr. Wilson who wants the monopoly on the patent so he can drive the price up and make billions, winning a Noble Prize for chemistry. Hence, there are two simultaneous chases by the bad guys: one after V1 from San Francisco and after V2 from New York. Along the way, the two Vs (“VANESSA SQUARED”) text and call each other with the secret “code” they have had since middle school to avoid getting caught.

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HEROES’ SECRETS: In middle school, V1 would go over to V2’s grandma’s house. Grandma had taken V2 into her home because V2’s mother was a drug addict. But, V1 witnessed Grandma’s horrific and secretive abuse of V2: she locked V2 in her room, rationing her food, demanding she takes anti-depressants and calling her fat. V1 would sneak her food, smuggle her anti-depressants out so Grandma thought V2 was taking them when she counted the pills every night, and the girls devised a secret code so Grandma wouldn’t know what they were doing. The girls were so young, they hardly understood at the time that Grandma’s memory loss and abuse were all signs of early on-set of Alzheimer’s. V2 got as far away from grandma to study psychology at Columbia U when she finally realized that Grandma wasn’t at fault, and, more importantly, that there was revolutionary new technology that could cure Grandma from any more descent into oblivion. V1 would do anything for her BFF.

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VILLAIN: Dr. Charles Wilson, whose lab on the West Coast, V1 stole the sample from. His hubris is greater than his bank account and he is banking on his lab getting the exclusive patent to make billions for perpetuity. He can’t keep it out of the public domain if he can’t publish his lab’s scientific research by midnight in a week in the Scientific Journal Breakthrough. He will lose the financial benefits of his life’s work not to mention the fame, awards and accolades.

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ACTION: They can’t fly. V1 starts on the San Francisco Zephyr, using her thespian roots in disguise to hide from Dr. Wilson’s henchmen; then she hitchhikes, then tries “Hop a Dog”–i.e. their code for Greyhound where she meets a warlock on the back of the bus who protects her for a short time, and finally gets her a car for the last leg to St. Louis to meet V2. V2 starts at Penn Station at midnight, mistaking an undercover cop laying in the station dirty floor as a homeless man, she gives him some cash, he reveals himself when he tries to return the money to her. They bond and he helps to get her out of the city to hook up with a lorry driver who takes her on the next leg. Dr. Wilson’s lab assistant had gone to work in the Columbia U. in order to steal the other half of the formula, but V2 had beat him to it; so, he leads the chase after V2 from the East Coast. The girls’ code for Dr. Wilson is the UCSC mascot “Banana Slug,” and for Dr. Wilson’s lab assistant, the Columbia U. mascot “Roar-ee” (a lion).

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Essentially, a female buddy action movie that uniquely the buddies are not traveling together and the action naturally comes out of their respective personalities. Also, the real-life science is a hot topic, coming out of the development of the Covid-19 vaccines.

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[Denice Lewis]

Denice’s Hero and Villain

What I learned doing this assignment is that there are always more ideas if you allow your mind to be flexible.

Concept:

¥ Hero Morally Right: To find her kidnapped mother

¥ Villain Morally Wrong: He kidnaps his own mother

Hero

¥ A. Unique Skill Set: Telekinetic, trained in martial arts and defense her whole life

¥ B. Motivation: Save her mother

¥ C. Secret or Wound: Her father lied to her.

Villain

¥ A. Unbeatable: He’s a billionaire.

¥ B. Plan/Goal: To kill his family and control the silver market

¥ C. What they lose if Hero survives: His life.

Impossible Mission

¥ A. Puts Hero in Action: Finding her mother

¥ B. Demands They Go Beyond Their Best: She’s 17, has never fought for her life.

¥ C. Destroy the Villain: Kill the villain

Improved Answers:

Concept:

¥ Hero Morally Right: Save her kidnapped mother and be free from her restricted life.

¥ Villain Morally Wrong: He kidnaps his mother who doesn’t know he’s her son. Wants to rule the world.

Hero

¥ A. Unique Skill Set: Uses her telekinetic abilities with martial arts, especially Capoeira.

¥ B. Motivation: To find her mother, even though she’s never been out in the world.

¥ C. Secret or Wound: She’s a test-tube baby. Her father has lied to her about her training. He’s not going to let her work for MI-8 or anyone.

Villain

¥ A. Unbeatable: He’s a billionaire with killers at his disposal. Also skilled in martial arts with a special silver foot. Was a secret test-tube baby.

¥ B. Plan/Goal: To kill his family and takeover the world by controlling all silver production.

¥ C. What they lose if Hero survives: His life

Impossible Mission

¥ A. Puts Hero in Action: Finding her mother in an unknown world, fighting assassins, thwarting the villain’s plan, saving the world

¥ B. Demands They Go Beyond Their Best: She’s highly skilled, but an inexperienced teenager.

¥ C. Destroy the Villain: Save her father, kill the villain

[Renee Miller]

Renee’s Heroes and Villains

What I learned doing this assignment is how important it is to think about how the villain can challenge the hero to make things more interesting.

Title: Saving Isaiah

Concept:

Hero Morally Right: Destroy a child sex trafficking ring in Thailand.

Villain Morally Wrong: kidnapping and forcing children into sex trafficking.

Hero: retired FBI agent

A. Unique skillset: Former green beret and retired FBI agent

B. Motivation: he doesn’t want anyone else to suffer the pain and loss that he has.

C. Secret or Wound: He was unable to save his daughter from a sex trafficking operation, and his wife left him.

Villain: head of the Thai sex trafficking ring

A. Unbeatable: the ring leader has the Thai police and government in his back pocket.

B. Plan/Goal: The only way he will let the hero leave Thailand is in a body bag.

C. What they lose if Hero survives: They will lose their multi-billion dollar empire.

Impossible Mission: to save a young boy and escape Thailand

A. Puts Hero in Action: He is called to go undercover in Thailand as a potential buyer.

B. Demands they go beyond their best: Not only does he have to take on the gang their leader, but has to evade the police and other government officials to escape.

C. Destroy the Villain: Destroy the sex trafficking ring and kill the leader.

[Margaret Valentine]

Margaret Valentine’s Hero and Villain

Hero morally right – saving her planet

Villain morally wrong – invading the planet, rob it of its riches and then destroy it

Hero

Unique skill set – exceptional thief, con artist and extremely good at combat

Motivation – save herself and her planet

Secret or wound – she was betrayed which is how she was captured and her true identity

Villain

Unbeatable – Champion of the invading force has never been beaten

Plan/Goal – destroy the planet and the people and steal all its riches

What they lose if Hero survives – Untold wealth and own life

Impossible Mission

Puts Hero in action – forced to be her planet’s champion and has to complete all the challenges to win

Demands they go beyond their best – the challenges are all rigged, she has to win a rigged game

Destroy the Villian – kill the Champion and destroy the rest of the invading force